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Australia's Culture and Recreation Portal Newsletter - Monthly roundup
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The ability to be 'able to turn off the raucous babble of everyday Sydney, like a radio, and to produce the piercing, rinsed-clean order of words'* is often sought by writers. A writer's ability to tell lucid stories and truths with poetic significance so that 'they sear into the soul and can never be untold'† is celebrated and explored with this month's writers' festivals.
The Byron Bay Writers Festival (26 - 29 July), North Coast NSW, challenges writers and readers with theories of place and history, conversations with authors and panel discussions. High-profile celebrities will tempt readers to explore the best of literary worlds.
'The Colonial Present: Australian Writing for the 21st Century' in Brisbane (1 - 4 July) focused on topics from publishing to the theories of place, history and performance. The Mackay Festival of Arts (21 - 28 July), features the Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival and a wine and food day - promising a vibrant, sensory feast of art, performance and food.
The Queensland Music Festival, in Brisbane before a tour of regional towns (13 - 29 July), aims to celebrate shared stories, cultures and experiences that epitomise the diversity of Queensland's musical and geographical landscapes.
'Windmill Baby', by David Milroy, in Perth (until 14 July), the first Aboriginal script to win the Patrick White Award, is a story of redemption, of an old Aboriginal woman who returns to her old home in the Kimberleys. The play is delivered with 'the poetry of a campfire storyteller', and musical backing that brings the feel of dust and bush to the stage.
'Sydney Light', showing in Sydney (21 June - 14 July) depicts poetry and significance in the theatricality of street lights and other forms of artificial lighting picking objects out in a dark street. 'Cooee: Australia in the 19th Century', in Canberra (until 9 September), concentrates on the history in places and situations of everyday happenings - ordinary people working, shopping and spending their leisure time, the hardships and successes of people in a new land.
Features and shorts that reflect people's stories are showcased at the Revelation Perth International Film Festival (12 - 22 July), while the new Popcorn Taxi film website features film trailers, podcasts and ticketing.
Recognition for the vibrancy and significance of Indigenous stories, expressed in Indigenous painting, has been recognised by the Senate Inquiry, which has recommended $25 million over five years for infrastructure and industry support - to help nurture, protect and ensure outlets for stories 'that can never be untold'.
*Philip Mead on Kenneth Slessor, 1997.
†Dorothy Porter.
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Portal announcements
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* The Portal's 'Website Collection' policy has been reviewed, with submissions received from users. The new policy outlines the process for selecting and collecting Australian culture and recreation websites, and can be viewed at http://www.culture/gov.au/policy. The review was conducted online, and the process and findings can be viewed at http://www.culture.gov.au/survey/databasepaper/index.htm.
* A new HTML newsletter is coming soon.
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Check out our new Australian Stories:
Australian Indigenous cultural heritage: http://www.culture.gov.au/articles/indigenous/
Australian Indigenous ceremony: http://www.culture.gov.au/articles/indigenous/ceremony/
The Dreaming: http://www.culture.gov.au/articles/indigenous/dreamtime/
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Featured event
Byron Bay Writers Festival - Byron Bay, New South Wales
26 - 29 July
The Festival features a Primary Schools Program, with storytelling and live theatre, and a Secondary Schools Program, with poetry and life writing. The main program features readings, conversations with authors, performances, film screenings and panel discussions. Guests include Marieke Hardy, Piers Akerman, Jennifer Byrne, Dr Barry Jones and Robert Dessaix. Various venues.
http://www.byronbaywritersfestival.com.au/
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Snippets from our regularly updated News pages
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/
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Announcements
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/announcements.htm
Senate Committee reports on Indigenous Arts Inquiry
20 June
The Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has completed an inquiry into Australia's Indigenous visual arts and crafts sector. The 28 recommendations outline a fresh approach to the Indigenous culture market. Key recommendations include: establish a new infrastructure fund for $25 million to be spent on new buildings; expand funding under the existing National Arts and Crafts Industry Support scheme; develop a proposal, including a funding bid, for an art centre in Alice Springs; fund the ACCC to increase its scrutiny of the Indigenous art industry; and introduce an Indigenous Art Commercial Code of Conduct which will establish a regulated, ethical Indigenous art market.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ecita_ctte/
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ecita_ctte/indigenous_arts/index.htm
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Design and architecture
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/design.htm
Freestyle: New Australian Design for Living - Brisbane & Adelaide
1 June - 22 July (Brisbane), 17 August - 14 October (Adelaide)
'Freestyle' brings together the work and stories of 40 Australian designers. The exhibition presents contemporary objects for the home and body, ranging from one-off pieces and limited edition objects to industrially manufactured items and prototypes. QUT Art Museum, Art Gallery of South Australia.
http://www.freestyledesign.info
http://www.artmuseum.qut.com/
http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/
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Digital media and film
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/digitalmedia.htm
Revelation Perth International Film Festival - Perth
12 - 22 July
The Festival includes in excess of 100 international films presented over 75 sessions at established cinema and nightclub venues across Perth and Fremantle. Revelation is Australia's fastest-growing annual film. It has over 500 films submitted for selection from local and international filmmakers and now includes a special screen conference component. Cinema Tabu, the microcinema, will be featured, which leads the way in alternative exhibition, there are filmmaker and industry guests, masterclasses and workshops and production concept hot-houses. Luna Cinemas and other venues.
http://www.revelationfilmfest.org/
http://www.luna.com.au/
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Festivals and conferences
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/festivalsandconferences.htm
Mackay Festival of Arts - Mackay, Queensland
21 - 28 July
The Festival showcases theatre, dance, music, literature, film, fashion and comedy. Special events include the Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival, lunchtime concerts, the Student Festival of Fashion, G & S Engineering Wine and Food Day, and the Sound Lounge. It also caters for all ages with a strong element of children- and family-friendly performance. Various venues.
http://www.festivalmackay.org.au/
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History and identity
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/museums.htm
Cooee: Australia in the 19th Century - Canberra
14 June - 9 September
The exhibition concentrates on everyday happenings - ordinary people working, shopping, going to church, travelling and spending their leisure time. It is the history of those whose lives were never celebrated in books or made the headlines in newspapers. It demonstrates the growth of the colonies and the hardships and successes of those who came to a new land hoping to build a better life for themselves. National Library of Australia.
http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/events/
http://www.nla.gov.au/
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Indigenous arts
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/indigenousarts.htm
David Milroy, Windmill Baby - Perth
29 June - 14 July
Winner of the 2003 Patrick White Award, 'Windmill Baby' is a one-woman redemption piece told by Maymay, an old Aboriginal woman who returns to the deserted Kimberley cattle station that was her home 50 years ago. Told by Indigenous voices, with the endearing characters of Wun-man, Two-man, Aunty Darbella and old Maymay, this play is delivered with the poetry of a campfire storyteller. The set is awash with the scorching Kimberley earth and a simply stated sense of abandonment that is brought back to life by the squeak of a bedspring or the shadow of the windmill. Subiaco Arts Centre.
http://www.yirrayaakin.asn.au/spip.php?rubrique65
http://www.subiacoartscentre.com.au/
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Language and literature
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/languageandliterature.htm
The Colonial Present: Australian Writing For The 21st Century - Brisbane
1 - 4 July
The Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature addresses the following themes: legacies, complicities and implications across the South; transnational and postcolonial frameworks in current criticism; the role of testimony, memoir and life narrative; the presence of poetry; and the historical novel and millennial writing. University of Queensland.
http://www.emsah.uq.edu.au/ASAL2007/index.html
http://www.uq.edu.au
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Performance
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/performance.htm
Queensland Music Festival - Brisbane and regional Queensland
13 - 29 July
The Queensland Music Festival (QMF), under the artistic direction of musician Paul Grabowsky, will bring together several thousand Australian and international musicians to present a diverse program of jazz, opera, musical theatre, classical and contemporary performances to more than 100,000 people throughout greater Brisbane and Queensland's regional communities.
http://www.queenslandmusicfestival.com.au/
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Sport and recreation
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/sportandrecreation.htm
Imparja Camel Cup - Alice Springs, Northern Territory
14 July
The Cup is a fest of camel racing. The start of the race, with up to 15 camels, is confusing - some off in good stride, others still grounded, some going backwards. The day includes rides, belly dancers and a large variety of food and drink stalls with several bars, band, along with Camel Cup souvenir stalls. There is also the Children's Hobby Camel Race, Miss & Mr Camel Cup Challenge, the Carlton & United Midstrength Honeymoon Handicap, the Afghanistan Cup and judging of the prettiest camel. Blatherskite Park.
http://www.camelcup.com.au/
http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/nt/redcentre/alicesprings/listing/gardens/10051891
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Visual arts and crafts
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/visualarts.htm
Rhett Brewer, Sydney Light - Sydney
21 June - 14 July
'Sydney Light' displays paintings of ordinary scenes in and around the Sydney area, observed from moving cars or by foot. Brewer sometimes sees poetry and significance in the theatricality of street lights and other forms of artificial lighting picking objects out in a dark street. Sometimes it's a big late afternoon sky with dark silhouetted clouds cutting shapes in the graded hues of a summer twilight. Sometimes it's a shaft of light splitting two enormous rain clouds above a busy motorway. Wallspace Gallery, Surry Hills.
http://www.wallspacegallery.com.au/pages/exhibitions/current.php
http://www.wallspacegallery.com.au/
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Websites - new
http://www.culture.gov.au/news/websites.htm
Popcorn Taxi
The Popcorn Taxi film website has the option to view photos of past events, plus film trailers of upcoming events online, and the ability to purchase tickets in advance. Podcasts can be viewed online or downloaded for free, and played on a PC or ipod through iTunes. Popcorn Taxi podcasts will be added every few weeks. Presently, only short clips are available to view and download as podcasts.
http://www.popcorntaxi.com.au/
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