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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-21/hamilton-gallery-exhibition-hamish-hidden-artist-secret-show/105869326>
“For most of Hamish Elsmann's adult life, communication has felt an impossibly
distant task.
Then, one day, he sat at a public piano and began to play.
As his fingers fumbled up and down the keys, something clicked. Music became a
language his mind could grasp.
Hamish, 42, has autism and schizoaffective disorder and lives with his father
in Merino, a tiny town four hours west of Melbourne.
Every week, the father and son make the hour-long round trip to Hamilton, where
Hamish plays the grand piano at the local art gallery before sketching at the
library next door.
He then leaves his finished drawings for staff at the gallery’s front desk —
sometimes simply sliding them under the door.
The ritual has opened a world that once felt closed.
His responses, once fragmented and brief, grew into full conversations. Words
that had felt trapped began to flow.
"It all translated into him being able to actually express himself in a way
that we could all understand," his father, Johan, 79 said.
"I was totally astonished at the impact of just having access to music and art
… it allowed his brain to structure his thoughts in a way he could communicate
them with the rest of us."”
Via Clarice Boomshakala.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
