culture.gov.au

Connecting you with Australian culture online

ausculture newsletter October 2006

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Welcome to Australia's Culture and Recreation Portal Newsletter
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Feathers and fashion seem a reasonable plaudit for October as we head down a straight course for the Melbourne Cup. Horses and feathers have a long association with the Melbourne Cup - and not only with women's fashion.
Since 1890, an emu feather plume has adorned the slouch hats of the Australian Light Horsemen, worn on active service in the Boer War and again in Egypt during World War I. Jimmy Pike who rode Phar Lap to victory in the 1930 Melbourne Cup did his apprenticeship at the Tantanoola stables which trained the Light Horses for the Boer War.

This month, the fashions of the 1920s and 30s are a feature of the Harold Cazneaux exhibition of photographs of influential modernist artists, designers and architects, whose work exemplified 'good taste' (Museum of Sydney). Eighty years later, arts and literary modernism shows its strength at the Society of Women Writers Biennial Literary Seminar (Victoria) and Salisbury Writers Festival (South Australia) with a nod to Writers and the Law as part of Perth Arts Law Week.

Feathers in a post-modern context can be seen at Robyn Stacey, Stills Gallery, Sydney. Stacey has photographed birds and other specimens from the Macleay Museum and then presented these works in a contemporary context.
Michael Riley's photographic retrospective at the National Gallery suspends our beliefs with a feather and beasts in mid-air. Parks Week (15-22
October) offers the opportunity to learn about real birds and beasts from guided tours.

Another fashion reminder this month is the tour by the pop band The Church, known in the 1980s 'as much for their paisley shirts as their catchy melodies' although their shows today are part of their 'stubborn longevity'.
The Church, Magnetic Strip Tour includes Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.

Melbourne, of course, is the focus for fashion, feathers, horses, art and modernism with the Melbourne International Arts Festival when over 500 artists converge on the city from 12-28 October. This focus will extend to the Melbourne Cup upon which Mark Twain commented; 'Nowhere in the world have I encountered a festival of people that has such a magnificent appeal to the whole nation. The Cup astonishes me'.

Check out our revised Australian Stories:
Melbourne Cup:
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au./articles/melbournecup/
Boer War: http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au./articles/boerwar/
Australian Fashion:
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au./articles/fashion/

Featured Site
Melbourne International Arts Festival
http://svc057.wic028p.server-web.com/

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Snippets from our regularly updated News pages for October 2006 http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/

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Design and Architecture
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/design.htm

McGlashan and Everist, Living in landscape: Heide and houses - Melbourne
18 July - 5 November 2006

This exhibition presents the architectural inspiration for Heide II, the celebrated modernist home of John and Sunday Reed, within the wider context of McGlashan and Everist's early domestic practice. Venue: Heide Museum of Modern Art.
http://www.heide.com.au/exhibitions/living_in_landscape?exhib=3

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Digital Media and Film
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/digitalmedia.htm

Schallmachine 06 - Federation Square, Melbourne
22 - 28 October
Australia's own Speak Percussion will join the Aphids along with duo:
percussionist Fritz Hauser and architect Boa Baumann, for an adventure in music for percussion in a nexus of sound and space. Bookings - Melbourne International Arts Festival.

http://www.speakpercussion.com/
http://www.aphids.net/aphids.php
http://svc057.wic028p.server-web.com/events/view-production/more-detail/68/3022/schallmachine-06/detail.aspx

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Festivals and Conferences
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/festivalsandconferences.htm

Melbourne International Arts Festival
12 - 28 October
http://svc057.wic028p.server-web.com/

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History and Identity
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/museums.htm

Thoroughly Modern Sydney - Museum of Sydney
1 July - 15 October
http://www.hht.net.au/museums/mos/exhibitions#modern

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Indigenous Arts
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au./news/indigenousarts.htm

Michael Riley, sights unseen - National Gallery of Australia, Canberra until 22 October 2006 Works range across photomedia, films and video as well as many photographic images previously unseen in the public domain.
http://www.nga.gov.au/Exhibition/Riley/DEFAULT.cfm

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Language and Literature
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/languageandliterature.htm

Perth Arts Law Week - Writers and the Law 10 October http://www.artslaw.com.au/Events/ArtsLawInWesternAustralia.asp

Salisbury Writers Festival- Salisbury SA
13-21 October 2006
http://cweb.salisbury.sa.gov.au/manifest/servlet/page?amp;pg=13053&stypen=html

Society of Women Writers Victoria Biennial Literary Seminar - Frankston Vic
10-12 November 2006
http://home.vicnet.net.au/%7Eswwvic/

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Performance
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/performance.htm

The Church, Magnetic Strip Tour - Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne
29 September - 14 October
http://www.thechurchband.com/

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Sport and Recreation
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au./news/sportandrecreation.htm

Parks Week - New South Wales
15-22 October

Guided walks and tours will help you discover wildflowers, monuments, birds and beasts and game trails.
http://parksweek.com.au/about/

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Visual Arts and Crafts
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/visualarts.htm

Robyn Stacey, Beau Monde - Stills Gallery, Sydney 20 September - 21 October http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/exhibitions/

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Websites - new
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au./news/websites.htm

Film Australia and video.google
A small selection from the Film Australia Library of over 5000 titles is now available online at video.google. Selections include the categories of 'national treasures', 'rare moments in our history' and Australian stories.
http://video.google.com.au/fa.html

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