culture.gov.au

Connecting you with Australian culture online

ozculture newsletter November 2007

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Australia's Culture and Recreation Portal Newsletter - Monthly roundup
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November marks the durability of several significant Australian iconic events. It is 130 years since the first Tuesday in November was declared a public holiday in 1877 when a crowd of 150,000 flocked to Flemington - as much for the frocks as for a flutter on the Melbourne Cup. The popularity of Australian race meets was spawned by Governor Macquarie's patronage of the first meet in 1810 - which was declared a means for all classes of people to meet and mix. The ethos of political representation for all classes of people (men at least) was laid down when a meeting of 10,000 miners or 'diggers' formed the Ballarat Reform League on 11 November 1854, precipitating the Eureka Stockade a few weeks later.

The characteristics of courage and resilience adopted by the ANZACS, calling themselves 'diggers', are recalled with the observation of Remembrance Day, 11 November, first held in 1919, to remember those who died, especially soldiers with 'no known grave'. This year marks the commemoration of 90 years since the battle of Passchendaele which saw 300,000 Allied casualties at the Third Battle of Ypres and more than 100,000 men who died with no known graves.

The spirit of battlers during a testing period is expressed in 'Scarred and Strengthened: Australians in the Great Depression' in Canberra (until 25 November) with stories of courage, resilience and humour coming to the fore. In line with the strength of Irish diggers inside the Eureka Stockade, a celebration of Scottish and Irish roots, mayhem and myth is seen in the 'Beechworth Celtic Festival', in Beechworth, Victoria (9-11 November).

'Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial', in Canberra (until 10 February 2008), is a dynamic, stimulating survey of contemporary Indigenous art practice including painting on bark, installation and photo media. The 'Arc Art, Design and Craft Biennial', in Brisbane (until 2 December), appropriately for November, seeks connections between people, places and perspectives.

Risk-taking, innovation and radical approaches, relevant to punters, fashion aficionados and diggers alike, are encouraged in the 2008 ArtLab program funding for media arts - applications are now available. Fashion punters will agree that Katie Pye is one of Australia's durable fashion icons with her 'Clothes for Modern Lovers' exhibition showing in Melbourne (until January 2008). Concomitant qualities of durability and flexibility being promoted this month are directly relevant to the use of zinc as a building construction material, espoused by VM Zinc.

Flexibility is the modus operandi for contemporary jazz quintet Resurgence - led by Mark Isaacs performing a national 13-concert tour. Jazz is one of the musical forms which has influenced indie music. Popularity, courage and humour are the pre-requisites for Poetry Slam, which showcases the art of performance poetry in a series of state finals throughout November before the grand final on 7 December, Sydney.

The iCinema Digital Media Seminar Series explores issues of relevance in how the digital media is being deployed and used to embody and imagine new ways of living, and what are the limits of this new imaginary world - testing notions of durability.

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New and revised Australian Stories
Remembrance Day: http://culture.gov.au/articles/remembrance/
Melbourne Cup: http://culture.gov.au/articles/melbournecup/
Australian indie music: http://www.culture.gov.au/articles/music/indie/
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Portal news

Welcome to the first ozculture newsletter designed for browsers. It has a new format and a new name, and we hope it is more user-friendly by summarising the news and providing links to more information. Your comments on the new format are welcome. Does it work for you? Are there any changes that could improve it? Please email us at editor@culture.gov.au.

We also have renamed the 'Announcements' news page to 'Resources and funding' to better reflect the information available.

The Culture and Recreation Portal's Caretaker Period Policy (http://www.culture.gov.au/caretaker/) is now in operation. Please note that the Culture and Recreation Portal is not responsible for the opinions expressed on websites or documents accessible through its search facility.

Remember to subscribe to our new RSS new feed at http://culture.gov.au/news/ for all the latest weekly updates on news and events - and pass the word on to others about how the Portal can promote arts, sport and culture news and events.
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Featured event

Portable Worlds - Port Augusta, South Australia
1-27 November

Portable Worlds is a survey of contemporary Australian new media artists working specifically for the mobile phone screen. The selected works reflect on the changing shape of communication and community, utilise the mobile phone as a creation tool and a personalised viewing space, explore miniatures and reflect on movement through Australian spaces. The Portable Worlds program presents both the exhibition and youth workshop programs. A two-day workshop developed to complement the exhibition is available for young artists 13 - 19 years. Fountain Gallery.
http://www.anat.org.au/portableworlds/
http://www.portaugusta.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=821
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Snippets from our regularly updated News pages
http://culture.gov.au/news/
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Design and architecture
http://culture.gov.au/news/design.htm

Katie Pye, Clothes for Modern Lovers - Melbourne
26 May 2007 - 13 January 2008
Clothes for Modern Lovers charts Pye's work from the late 1970s through to 1990. The exhibition features Pye's early avant-garde works, signature explorations of graphic form and innovative fabric treatments, her rule-breaking art wear and key examples from her commercial ranges. Over 30 outfits will be displayed alongside contextual photography and video works. Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria.
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/katiepye/
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngvaustralia/
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Digital media and film
http://culture.gov.au/news/digitalmedia.htm

iCinema Digital Media Seminar Series - Sydney
21 November

This series investigates what it means to be living in the world, how the digital media are being deployed and used to embody and imagine new ways of living, and what are the limits of this new imaginary world. Speakers are: Professor Lev Manovich (iCinema/University of California) November 21; and Professor Julian Murphet (UNSW) 2008. iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research , Robert Webster Building, University of New South Wales, Kensington.
http://www.icinema.unsw.edu.au/seminars/digital_media_seminar.html
http://www.unsw.edu.au/
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Festivals and conferences
http://culture.gov.au/news/festivalsandconferences.htm

Beechworth Celtic Festival - Beechworth, Victoria
9-11 November

This event will celebrate Beechworth's Celtic past, present and future. The Festival offers a wide-ranging Celtic experience to delight young and old. Guest performers include the Canberra Celtic Choir, The Scottish Gaelic Society of Victoria Ceilidh, Miles to Go Trio, and Cassidy's Ceili.
http://www.beechworthcelticfestival.com.au/
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History and identity
http://culture.gov.au/news/museums.htm

Scarred and Strengthened: Australians in the Great Depression - Canberra
17 May - 25 November

Discover the remarkable Australian spirit in this exhibition and how, as a nation, Australia overcame the turmoil of one of the most significant events in Australian history. See personal letters and diaries, depression-crafted objects, photographs and much more when learning of the untold stories of the Great Depression.
http://www.oph.gov.au/exhibitions.asp
http://www.oph.gov.au/
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Indigenous arts
http://culture.gov.au/news/indigenousarts.htm

Culture Warriors - National Indigenous Art Triennial - Canberra
13 October 2007 - 10 February 2008

Presenting the work of 30 artists from each state and territory, the Triennial demonstrates the range of contemporary Indigenous art practice. The survey features up to four works by each artist created during the past three years in a variety of media, including painting on bark and canvas, sculpture, textiles, weaving, new media, photomedia, printmaking and installation.
http://www.nga.gov.au/NIAT07/
http://www.nga.gov.au/Home/index.cfm
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Language and literature
http://culture.gov.au/news/languageandliterature.htm

Australian Poetry Slam '07 - National
State finals (12 October - 30 November), Grand final (7 December)

The Poetry Slam showcases the art of performance poetry, and all poets, hip-hop artists and wordsmiths are encouraged to perform at a series of regional heats. The heats lead up to state finals in November, and finally to the grand final in Sydney. Contestants are given a microphone, a live audience and just two minutes to impress the judges with spoken word, poetry, hip-hop, monologue and stories. State finals - various venues, Grand final - State Library of New South Wales.
http://australianpoetryslam07.org/
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/
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Performance
http://culture.gov.au/news/performance.htm

Mark Isaacs Resurgence Band tour - National
25 October - 25 November

Contemporary jazz quintet Resurgence, led by Mark Isaacs, has been funded for a 13-concert tour to reach new audiences and assist the promotion of the group's new CD. Overseas concert locations between July and September include Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Istanbul, Vienna, Budapest and Paris. Resurgence will return to Australia in October for concerts in Canberra, Wollongong, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Burnie, Hobart, Wangaratta, Bellingen, Darwin, Surfers Paradise and Nowra.
http://www.markisaacs.com/
http://www.dcita.gov.au/arts_culture/arts/contemporary_music_touring_program/successful_applicants/contemporary_music_touring_program_-_round_13_successful_applicants
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=117503977
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Resources and funding
http://culture.gov.au/news/resourcesandfunding.htm

ArtLab 2008 funding
October, entries by 14 December

Submissions are invited for funding grants by ArtLab, which aims to foster experimentation and collaboration between artists from multiple disciplines to explore new artistic practice. It aims to establish an environment that encourages genre-crossing collaborations and the creation of original, cross-media arts projects with emphasis placed upon innovation, risk, artistic integrity and the creation of new ideas.
http://www.ozco.gov.au/grants/inter-arts/artlab
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Sport and recreation
http://culture.gov.au/news/sportandrecreation.htm

Tasmania Classic - Devonport, Tasmania
8-13 November

The Tasmania Classic is a six day/five night lifestyle touring rally for interesting people who enjoy fascinating old cars. The course is for sporting and classic cars 1945 to 1975, and takes in the spectacular countryside of Cradle Mountain and Freycinet National Park.
http://www.tasmaniaclassic.com/
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Visual arts and crafts
http://culture.gov.au/news/visualarts.htm

2007 Arc Biennial, To Be Confirmed - Brisbane
6 October - 10 December

This exhibition showcases 50 artists across the fields of fashion, jewellery, furniture and interior design, visual art and craft, with a focus on Queensland-based practitioners. The Arc Biennial also includes a three-day symposium celebrating Queensland art, craft, and design. It includes many free public programs in which the public are invited to take part. Artists include Krista Berga, Ben Quilty, Rebecca Ward, Judith Wright and Judy Watson. QUT Art Museum, Gardens Point.
http://www.artmuseum.qut.com/exhibit/news-event.jsp?news-event-id=11185
http://www.artmuseum.qut.com/
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Websites - new
http://culture.gov.au/news/websites.htm

Bridezilla
November

Bridezilla is a five-piece indie rock band from Sydney which formed in 2005 and is fronted by Holiday Carmen-Sparks. The instrumentals include saxophone and violin, and their music is described as folk rock with real bite. As young as the band members are (16 to 18), they are making inroads to the indie scene and have already supported bands such as Midlake and Youth Group. The website has reviews, pictures, videos, a gig guide, links and even merchandise.
http://www.bridezillamusic.com/
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