culture.gov.au

Connecting you with Australian culture online

ausculture newsletter January 2007

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Welcome to Australia's Culture and Recreation Portal Newsletter
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Tenacious describes the people at the centre of events in January 2007 as we look to the experience of European discovery of the 'unknown southern land' (Terra Australis Incognita) and tantalising describes some of the presentations.

European discovery of Australia is represented in three new online exhibitions. South Land to New Holland celebrates the early Dutch exploration of Australia's coastline, shipping, trade and the mapping of New Holland. Joie de vivre: The French in Australia showcases the arrival of the La Perouse expedition at Botany Bay in 1788 just days after the landing of the English First Fleet on 26 January.

Concomitantly, Eora: Mapping Aboriginal Sydney 1770-1850 offers an insight into Sydney and the local Indigenous community following the arrival of the Beerewaljal 'people from the clouds' in 1788. Creation tracks and trade winds presents a rare collection of 36 bark paintings from Groote Eylandt of historical meetings between Aborigines and Macassan traders from Indonesia, from the time of Matthew Flinders.

The meetings of the tenacious Europeans and Indigenous peoples over generations on the beaches and in the bush is reflected in the development of the Australian surf life saving, river descents and bush music traditions. Between the Flags: 100 years of Surf Lifesaving (Canberra) celebrates the centenary of surf lifesaving.

Bondi Beach, an iconic and tantalising place for surf lifesaving, is the venue for Flickerfest - Australia's premier international short film festival. Surfing the 1960s at the Gold Coast Gallery presents over 70 photographs, surfboards and memorabilia.

From the beach to the bush: tenacious best describes the 2007 TEVA Cataract Adventure Sport Festival at Cataract Gorge, Tasmania while Tamworth, New South Wales is obviously tantalising to the 50,000 visitors who are expected there this January for Australia's best known Country Music Festival. The Bush Laureate Awards will also be presented to Australia's finest bush poets in Tamworth.

The 25th anniversary Cygnet Folk Festival in Tasmania will be a celebration of a tenacious generation of musicians from many genres. This year's concerts will feature local and interstate artists who appeared at the first festival. The Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, a tantalising celebration of tenacious Australians over generations, is the Manning Clark House (MCH) National Cultural Awards 2006 group winner, recognising 'national co-operative enterprise in historical scholarship'.

Tantalising designs are on show at F!NK in Sydney. A new icon, the F!NK jug (1993), is described as a post-modern icon - made by a new school of tenacious designers. Best wishes for a tantalising New Year!

Check out our Australian Stories:
Surf lifesaving: http://www.culture.gov.au/articles/surflifesaving/
Bush music: http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au./articles/music/bush/
European discovery: http://www.culture.gov.au/articles/australianhistory/

Featured Site
Between the Flags: 100 years of Surf Lifesaving - Canberra
6 December 2006 - 11 February 2007
http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/now_showing/between_the_flags/

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Snippets from our regularly updated News pages for January 2007 http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/

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Announcements
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/announcements.htm

Manning Clark House (MCH) National Cultural Awards 2006
8 December

In 2006, the National Cultural Awards was given in two categories: to an individual and to a group, for an outstanding contribution to the quality of Australian cultural life. Entries may include any innovative project or achievement which has enriched the Australian community - a project of intellectual inquiry, a cultural event or a book. The individual winner is Kate Crawford, the author of Adult Themes: Rewriting the Rules of Adulthood (Pan Macmillan). The group winner is the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, a national co-operative enterprise in historical scholarship founded and maintained by the Australian National University.
http://www.manningclark.org.au/awards/cultural06/announce.html
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/adbonline.htm

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

F!NK & FRIENDS - Sydney
8 December 2006 - 27 January 2007

F!NK & FRIENDS showcases the work of artists who have collaborated with F!NK and Co. Established in 1993 by silversmith and designer Robert Foster, F!NK is an Australian design company known for producing contemporary objects with a focus on functionality, performance and quality. The F!NK jug has been described as an Australian design icon. F!NK and Co.
http://www.dhub.org/articles/821
http://www.finkdesign.com/

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

Flickerfest 16th International Short Film Festival - Sydney
5 -14 January 2007

Australia's premier international short film festival, Flickerfest, is to be held at the Bondi Pavilion on Sydney's famous Bondi Beach. Flickerfest screens short films and documentaries from Australia and around the world - all united by their excellence in the short-film genre.
http://www.flickerfest.com.au/

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

Celebrating Generations, Cygnet Folk Festival - Tasmania
12 - 14 January 2007

The 25th anniversary Cygnet Folk Festival will be a celebration of a generation of music from many genres. This year's theme will be reflected in concerts featuring local and interstate artists who appeared at the first festival. Some acts even showcase several generations of a family in their stage line-up. Many performers come from a rich historical tradition passed down through generations for hundreds of years. Mainland acts include Western Australian artists Commedia Viva! featuring The Black Nonnas, and Emily Barker, Queensland Celtic group Sunas Band and Joe Dolce.
http://www.cygnetfolkfestival.org/

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

Between the Flags: 100 years of Surf Lifesaving - Canberra
6 December 2006 - 11 February 2007

This exhibition celebrates the centenary of surf lifesaving. Developed in conjunction with Surf Life Saving Australia, this major exhibition looks at the history of surf lifesaving, the lifesaver as an Australian icon, beach culture and stories of the rescued and rescuers. They are part of a great tradition that echoes across the past 100 years, from Darwin to Devonport and Bondi to Bunbury. National Museum of Australia.
http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/now_showing/between_the_flags/

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

Creation tracks and trade winds - Melbourne
23 September 2006 - 21 January 2007

The University of Melbourne is the custodian of a rare collection of 36 bark paintings from the Aboriginal people of Groote Eylandt. Produced during the early 1940s, these bark paintings are among the earliest representations of the painting style of the people of Groote Eylandt. The paintings show graphic depictions of animal totems, ceremony, creation narratives, geographical mapping and historical events (in particular the interaction with Macassan traders) against stark black and yellow backgrounds. Grimwade Gallery, Ian Potter Museum of Art.
http://www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/art_exhibitions_detail.aspx?view=100&category=current
http://www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/default.aspx

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

Australian Bush Laureate Awards
23 January 2007

The Australian Bush Laureate Awards were instigated in 1995 to recognise excellence in published and recorded Australian bush poetry. During the Tamworth Country Music Festival, a major presentation concert is staged where the highly sought-after Golden Gumleaf trophies are presented to Australia's finest bush poets.
http://www.bushlaureate.com.au/

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

Telstra Tamworth Country Music Festival
19 - 28 January 2007

Best known as Australia's country music capital, Tamworth welcomes over 50,000 visitors each January to the Telstra Tamworth Country Music Festival. The program offers more than 2000 events held in over 130 venues around Tamworth in a ten-day celebration of country music. The unique atmosphere offers a distinctive blend of contemporary and traditional country music, with many shows offering free admission.
http://www.telstra.com/countrywide/countrymusic/tamworth/

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

2007 TEVA Cataract Adventure Sport Festival - Cataract Gorge, Tasmania
13 - 14 January 2007

Adventure Sport Festival including Multisport Race, Social Evening with live music, TEVA Cataract Extreme Race and Head-to-Head Elimination Final Series and Australian Rafting Championships. Multisport 'Sprint' Race with 5km trail run, 9 km MTB and 1 km flat water paddle all based around the First Basin. Cataract Gorge.
http://events.dtpha.tas.gov.au/Events/Controller/view_event.asp?id=2217

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

Surfing the 60's: A Journey of Discovery - Gold Coast
16 December 2006 - 11 February 2007

Surf culture of the 1960s around the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast is captured in the Surfing the 60's exhibition. Over 70 photographs of Mal Sutherland, together with surfboards and other surf memorabilia, will be on display. The stories told by the exhibition cover the key personalities and their surfing styles, the unknowns, the evolution of board design, the impact of surf movies such as Gidget, and the first surf competitions. Gold Coast City Art Gallery.
http://www.gcac.com.au/

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

South Land to New Holland

South Land to New Holland: Dutch Charting of Australia 1606-1756 celebrates early Dutch exploration of the Australian coast, drawing on the rare maps and other resources from the collections of Australia's National, State and Territory libraries. This online exhibition documents 25 of the best and most beautiful Dutch maps.
http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/southland/

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