Arts

Gemma Purcell. When your father is a physicist it’s hard to avoid experiments and well known Narrandera artist, performer, musician, teacher and conductor Lizzie Walsh happily confesses to being an experiment. "Dad wanted a classical musician in the family, so when my parents were expecting me, he was forever steering Mum’s belly toward the Mozart or Beethoven on the record player. I think it worked!"

The great didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton and powerhouse violinist Véronique Serret blend song lines and storytelling in Heartland, a compelling collaborative work that will tour the Darling and Sunraysia regions this June ... Supporting this tour is Music in the Regions, who, across their three years of operations have made a mark on regional NSW, successfully touring world class classical music…

Warwick Fry. 'Talking' to some (but not all) AI bots can be like talking to salespersons, call centres, MBAs and marketing executives ... The evolution of AI is leading thinkers (and novelists like Gibson) to revisit philosophical questions like what is consciousness, free will, identity? These are fields of enquiry which have been lacking since the commercialisation of academia ...

Bursting with creativity and revolutionary ideas, a bunch of dreamers found shelter from the storm in Nimbin. Whether from pure madness or for the sake of love, the small rural town spawned a big movement. The new audiovisual book Out There chronicles 50 years of alternative revolution ...

The winning architectural designs for the Darling Downs and West Moreton region were celebrated at the Australian Institute of Architects awards evening on Friday 14 June. The diversity of projects - a mental health facility, a museum, a home for a family of six, to a propagation shed - selected by the Awards Jury demonstrated the incredible range of talent and skill of architects throughout the region.

Hop Dac was born in Vietnam and came to Australia as a refugee in 1980 and through a series of life events he now has a connection to Birchip through his partner, a daughter of Maree Harris (Rickard). When approached to be involved in the Birchip Art Show in 2024, following some impressive publicity in “The Age” Culture, Art and Design section, Hop said, “I have heard of Birchip thanks to Maree, but also because of the vanilla slices and the Russell Street bombers.”

Casino filmmaker Jon Bell has had a huge year with his first feature film  The Moogai. In January, it was screened at the  Sundance Film Festival  in Utah, United States. The Moogai  is an Australian horror film showing the ongoing trauma of the Stolen Generations through a bogeyman terrorising a family.

Acclaimed children’s author Rory H. Mather is set to brighten up winter school holidays in Southern Downs Regional Libraries when he visits to take mums, dads and kids on an adventure through his captivating children’s books.

Patricia Gill. A return to a community focus drew 380 artists at the Denmark Festival of Voice packing seven venues for 55 acts over the recent long weekend. First-time festival director Abbie Pedersen was honoured to be part of a long legacy established by previous directors.

NT company Sitzler has been awarded the tender to construct the National Aboriginal Art Gallery. Site preparation and first stage construction works are set to rollout in the coming weeks, according to a government media release.

Everyone has seen wonderful sunsets on TV and social media so the benchmark for an outstanding photo has been set very high. Our judge was Graham Harris and he mentioned that sunrise and sunset photos can be difficult technically ... With "In the palm of my hand", Glenda created her own impact by shooting through a crystal ball ...

On the other side of the Mount, the sky is dark and the conditions are perfect for keen astrophotographer Anne-Maree McComb. By day she takes care of the boarders in her daughter’s kennel, and by night she photographs the night sky.

Sarah Herrmann. Kadina Memorial School created its biggest whole-school artwork yet as part of National Reconciliation Week ... More than 1400 students’ and staff members’ handprints went into creating a rainbow eucalyptus tree on a large canvas ... “It looked quite bleak when it was just a few little handprints… but once we got a third of the primary school on there you could see it start to take shape."

The group exhibition celebrating the creativity of Central Victorian artists at the Central Goldfields Art Gallery continues ... Jackie Gorring, Philip Adams and Craig Barrett all live on Dja Dja Wurrung country, with each acknowledging their own perspective of life on this land as fundamental to their artistic practice and expression.

Through the recounting of various court cases Jamelle provides an insight into the country court system and that of the local reporters who cover the cases. Jamelle spoke to numerous country journalists who acknowledged the difficulty in writing about local people who’ve appeared in court and the retribution they sometimes faced when names and details are published in their local paper.

TAFE NSW Moss Vale is empowering a career musician and Abba tribute band bass player to call the tune on the next chapter in his career: as a farmer. Simon Tonks, 64, has enjoyed a long and illustrious music career, including stints as house engineer/producer at recording giant Sony Music, making records, mixing live shows, and writing television music.

Joanna Tucker. Yorke Peninsula’s premier national park will be hosting an open day for the Narungga community and other visitors to learn about co-management as part of Reconciliation Week. The Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park co-management board is hosting the event ... Narungga Nation Aboriginal Corporation director Jay Milera ... has been practising art for more than 15 years ...

Susannah Begbie grew up in Eden Monaro, practises as a rural doctor, and has written a prize-winning debut novel, The Deed, set in the Riverina. Australian Rural & Regional News contributor, Aedeen Cremin, strongly recommends The Deed, which she concludes is "ultimately a morality tale - a highly enjoyable one" and was able to quiz Susannah about her work, her characters and some plot choices.

A black comedy that becomes a feel-good novel? Hard to believe, but this book manages it and does so with style and charm. At first sight the characters are cartoonish ... Why would we want to read about them? Well, it’s worth doing because the first quick sketch is filled out with a sure hand, adding relief, light and shade and very soon the reader can identify with at least some of the characters. It’s still a cartoon, but now a cartoon for a lovely tapestry set in a fertile landscape.

From little things big things grow and when Mark Hewson made a stained glass window for his new home in Torbay back in the early 1980s he was unaware that it would mark the beginning of a career that would span more than 40 years.  Mark, and his equally-talented wife, Paris Johansen, have now designed, sculptured, moulded and soldered literally thousands of glass artworks.

It's the time of year when many people start wearing beanies. The Alice Springs Beanie Festival is almost here, and we recently had a visiting tutor, Tanya Hattingh, conduct workshops at various venues to help create entries for the festival.

Greater Shepparton City Council, through its destination brand Shepparton & Goulburn Valley, is excited to announce a new addition to the Moooving Art herd.