Arts

Every picture tells a story. See what 100 years of life looks like at an art exhibition highlighting the experiences, memories and life history of our most senior citizens.  

The Birchip Hotel is building on a traditional theme of celebrating home grown talent on Australia day and this year the event was another resounding success. Bathed in sunlight, and welcoming shade from the trees, picnic rugs were rolled out on the grassy beer garden at the Birchip Hotel, with young families enjoying a jam-packed card of home grown talent.    

Wayne Hawthorne. A UK author of more than 10 books, Gill Tee led an interesting life before moving recently to the Naracoorte district. Gill told Naracoorte Men’s Probus Club members how she spent most of her life living in England, but that she has also lived in Spain and now Australia.

Towong Shire Council is encouraging residents and visitors to discover the newly installed large-scale artworks along the Great River Road, which were unveiled in late December. Towong mayor, Cr Andrew Whitehead, emphasised council’s commitment to the project, providing an enjoyable experience for travellers, allowing them to appreciate the scenery of shire.

Greater Shepparton City Council and The University of Melbourne Department of Rural Health, in collaboration with local artist Eric Brown, have designed the newest addition of the Moooving Art Herd, UniMoo. This is the first addition to the Moooving Art Herd in 2024, with many new designs in the works for the upcoming year.

Southern Downs Regional Council is inviting visitors and locals to explore the region’s rich arts scene which includes the region’s most loved sculptures carved by local and international sculptors ... stop off at PL Travers Park and check out the Mary Poppins monument ...

Frances Evans. Following a few challenging years due to the pandemic and drought, it was a return to big crowds and big temperatures at the 52nd Tamworth Country Music Festival ... One name synonymous with Australian country music is Storer. And Storer did not disappoint.

Nancy Whittaker. My first encounter with Carolyn Vickers was in the MANet Arts Focus Gallery a few months ago when we played ‘duelling camera phones’ ... Carolyn is the next featured artist in the aforesaid gallery ... Carolyn said that her works are her visual notes.

Golden Rivers Theatre Group (GRTG) is receiving the Arts and Culture Award for their outstanding contribution to the local arts space.  GRTG president, Veronica Martens, was thrilled by the group’s recognition.

Narrandera film production When the House Is Empty has wrapped up another shoot in Narrandera in January and has reached the final stages of filming. It was a busy start to the year for all those involved in the upcoming locally made film with all the cast and crew members gathered in Narrandera earlier this month for a week of filming.

Allora locals had the opportunity to vote for their favourite mural to be painted on the wall of the IGA building. There was a good response of 567 votes with 375 going to the red-winged parrot design.

Three recent additions to Yorke Peninsula’s large-scale art scene have been nominated for the 2023 Australian Street Art Awards. Projects at water tanks in Minlacowie and Wool Bay, both completed in the first half of last year, are nominated for Best Mega Mural and Best Rural Art respectively.

Chris Johnston. 2023 was a fantastic year for the Hub: so many highlights it’s hard to choose ... First up this year is our Instrument Makers Gallery, a special event in partnership with Newstead Live.

Wilya Ajjul Janta (we all stand strong together), is a Wumpurrarni housing organisation with its roots in Tennant Creek ... the Papulu-ku Nyinjjiki Junkurrakur Exhibition (seeing houses in Tennant Creek) ... will showcase the models that our founders and architects have designed together ...

Roger Underwood. There was an unusual event in Dryandra Forest in Western Australia in November 2023: a commemoration of 100 years of forestry management. At a large gathering in the forest, beneath the shade of a 100-year-old brown mallet plantation, speeches were made, a plaque unveiled, and this book on the history of the forest was launched.

Gai Pritchett. Whilst the world is in turmoil artist Caroline Varendorff's beautiful paintings of nature in all its purity brings a calmness to the viewer. This local artist has exhibited extensively and now brings to Yamba her collection along with Caroline's husband Paul Varendorff who has included some of his ink sketches in the show.

Elvis has left the building! Around 25,000 Elvis fans donned their bejeweled jumpsuits, poodle skirts and pompadour wigs to shake rattle and roll the week away in Parkes, New South Wales, for the 2024 Parkes Elvis Festival.

Serena Kirby. A capacity crowd turned out at Rockcliffe Winery last weekend for a memorial concert for respected local musician Colin Reeves ... “Colin and I played music together for around 40 years and he had a real passion for classical guitar,"Colin's brother Michael said ... Michael’s son, Sam Reeves, is following in his uncle’s footsteps and is lead guitarist for Night Train who played at the tribute concert.

“Visitors are welcome to our gallery where you can purchase paintings and learn more about the history of Papunya and its artists.” This message is on the Papunya Tjupi  website  and Yuendumu’s Warlukurlangu Artists  have a similar one. Meanwhile the plodding preparations continue for the bombastically named National Aboriginal Arts Gallery (NAAG) in Alice Springs.

This is the very personal life-story of a charismatic Welsh seaman who moved to Australia for love and once there became a captain of industry. The work is ‘as told to’ by Paul Simons to the writer Terry Larder and contains many anecdotes that illuminate aspects of life in wartime Britain and in postwar Australia ... Most of the book is concerned with Paul's life and career, enlivened with some quite racy anecdotes and more serious reflections on the way of the world. Paul has a sense of humour but also a strong moral sense.

A crowd of more than 300 people enjoyed Nhill’s Community Carols last Saturday evening. Perfect weather and an idyllic setting amongst the gum trees at Jaypex Park set the scene for some wonderful music and performances...