Right time, right place

Friendship and serendipity were keys to Geoff Raby’s collection of Chinese art, which he donated to an Australian university in 2019, and about half of it is on show in Sydney

By Charmaine Chan (SCMP)

Soon after assuming his post as Australian ambassador to China in 2007, Geoff Raby visited a restaurant in Beijing’s Songzhuang neighbourhood and was captivated by what he saw: oil paintings of cheerfully industrious pigs.

So taken was the diplomat by the works that he asked for an introduction to the artist. An invitation to Li D…