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| 13 February 2006 |
| Gallery Ghosts |
| Do you believe in ghosts? Well many staff and visitors to the Art Gallery of South Australia do. |
PATRICK EMMETT: It was early one morning while he was checking the halls of the Art Gallery before opening that Trent had his first close encounter of a different kind. 'TRENT': I was almost in the door. It was pitch black. There was no lights on and, all of a sudden, there was this - this great burst of white light that went across the room and it actually made me fully step back. I went 'Ooh crikey, what was that?' PATRICK EMMETT: Shaken, he checked what security cameras had picked up and what he saw surprised him even more. They showed him entering the room, reacting, but no sign of the mysterious light. 'TRENT': It's quite regular that you will see a frightened patron who wants to leave a particular area or a frightened staff member who's seen a ghost. PATRICK EMMETT: Trent's story is one of many you will hear from those who patrol the Art Gallery on North Terrace. There are tales of mysterious old ladies, pictures that move on their own and unexplainable spine-tingling draughts. Another visitor has warned staff that this painting is evil and the source of the unrest. It's not clear what its background is but one worker believes he's seen this woman walking the halls. But there are strange happenings in other galleries as well. There was the green glow in a recent Egyptian exhibition, and books and chairs sliding around by themselves. And then there was the day two guards opened these rarely used doors that look into a car park. MALE: They opened them and this particular guy, he said 'Did you see', and he didn't even get that out and the other guy said 'I never want to talk about this again. I saw nothing' and apparently what they saw was just scrub and desert outside the doors when they opened them for a few seconds and then it went back to car park. PATRICK EMMETT: Some say the hauntings are because the gallery is built on an old gravesite. Others say they're because two people were once hanged in the grounds, and there are the cynics that say they're just the product of fertile imaginations. But the believers say they were once also cynics, but they can't disbelieve the evidence of their own eyes. MALE: I'm not into that sort of thing and, quite frankly, I didn't believe anything like that existed but you have to change your mind when you see things like this and they're unexplained. FEMALE: They're here. They haven't actually hurt anyone. They just live here as part of us. It's part of the gallery so we just don't worry about them. |
story notes |
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picked up Here to pick up means to be recorded by. Example: The tape recorder picked up the sound of him snoring at the other end of the house. For more meanings of the phrasal verb pick up and examples you can listen to, follow the link below. more information: pick up seen Seen is the past participle of the irregular verb see. Follow the link below to find out more and to listen to some examples. more information: see ghost A ghost is the spirit of a dead person.  tales stories unexplainable If something is unexplainable, it cannot be explained.To explain is to define and make clear .And a way of explaining something is called an explanation. spine-tingling To tingle means to have a prickling sensation. When something is spine tingling, it makes you feel so nervous or excited that you feel a shiver along your spine. draughts A draught is a current of air, like a small wind or breeze inside. source The source is the origin of something, the place where something comes from. unrest Unrest describes a troubled or uneasy state. saw Saw is the past tense of the irregular verb see. Follow the link below to listen to some examples. more information: see hauntings When people believe there’s a ghost in a place, they say that the place is haunted. The phenomenon of a ghost being in a place is called a haunting. gravesite A gravesite is the place where bodies are buried. hanged Here hanged is the past paticiple of hang when hang means being executed by being suspended by the neck with a rope. For all other meanings of the word hang, the past participle and past tense is hung. Follow the link below to listen to some examples. more information: hang grounds The grounds refers to the land surrounding a building. cynics A cynic is someone who doesn’t believe. It can also refer to someone who is negative about things. A better word to use might be sceptic. fertile imaginations Fertile means rich and productive. If something is fertile, it is able to support growth. So, for example, fertile land is good for growing crops. If you have a fertile imagination, you’re good at imagining things - you’re good at dreaming up new and original ideas.
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