Wayne Quilliam, recognised as National NAIDOC Artist of the Year in 2009, was in Canberra on 13
February 2008 to record the historic occasion and has since curated a photographic exhibition of the day called Sorry: more than a word.

To be launched by Professor Mick Dodson and Tim O’Leary, General Manager Corporate Responsibility &
Brands, NAB, the exhibition offers the people of Melbourne the opportunity to reflect on the Apology and
learn more about reconciliation.

The exhibition will be on display at NAB’s Docklands headquarters for one day only before it travels to Brisbane for the first time.

Where: Auditorium, Ground Floor
800 Bourke St Docklands, VIC
When: Friday 12 February, 2010
10am – 4pm
This event is part of NAB’s commitment to address Indigenous disadvantage as identified in the
Reconciliation Action Plan.

Dr Anita Heiss is a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales and is one of Australia’s most prolific and well-known authors of Indigenous literature. She is the author of the best-selling books, Not Meeting Mr Right and Avoiding Mr Right.

When: 6pm, 4 March 2010

Where: Level 9 Function Room, Wollongong City Council, Burelli Street, Wollongong
Bookings: scwc@1earth.net or 02 4228 0151
Free event, all welcome

In 1967 surfing was about to undergo a shift – to smaller boards with developed rails and fin areas – that would affect every surfer in the world. The era of a surfing culture was burgeoning throughout the world and one young 23-year-old Australian surfer, photographer and freelance writer, John Witzig, was capturing the moments.

An exhibition of the major photographic works by John Witzig will be on exhibition at the Shoalhaven City Arts Centre from 11 December.

Phil Jarratt, former editor of Tracks, said: “John Witzig’s idea was that a core of young Australians (and an expatriate Californian) had redefined the sport of surfing by focusing on riding the wave, rather than riding the board. Ahead of his time by a full year, Witzig contended that this development had been brought about by the design of new, more sensitive wave-riding equipment (the real innovations were to come during the winter of 1967), and almost immediately he was proven correct when Australian surfer Nat Young, used the techniques to blitz a star-studded international field and win the 1966 world surfing championships in San Diego.”

Mark Cherry, a Sydney-based writer and surfer, describes the influence of Witzig in a foreword to the book, John Witzig: Surfing Photographs from the 1960s and 1970s: “At times ethnographic, Witzig’s [photographs are] not items of nostalgic fetish, but forensic traces of lives that revolved around surfing and were active in creating it. He had a knack for this type of thing. It wasn’t just that he was good with a camera. His photographs are more than a technical exercise – they are intuitive pieces of art-directed reportage.

“John Witzig’s photography and writing made a difference. Often political in subtext and pointed in effect, it is no surprise that his time at Sydney University coincided with a period of aggressive student politics. He studied architecture, a discipline that closely relies on the symbiosis of function and aesthetics. This period was the grounding for the electric confidence in his written voice and the cultural focus of his photography.”

The exhibition provides clear insights into the burgeoning culture or surfers and surfing that are well established on the South Coast. Witzig’s photographs also roam around the surfing spots on the Australian east coast as well as international sites such as Honolua Bay and the north shore of Hawaii.

Aspiring children’s writers are invited to join this half-day workshop led by Sydney-based writing teacher and children’s literature specialist, Judith Ridge. Judith returns to Nowra by popular demand to share the techniques that will bring your stories for children to life.

About Judith Ridge:

Judith has specialised in children’s and young adult literature for past 20 years, working as an editor, community arts coordinator and writer and critic. She has taught courses in writing for children and young adults for the past six years, at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Writers Centre. Since December 2007, she has held the position of development officer for the Western Sydney Young People’s Literature Project, a community-based project designed to engage young people with reading and literature. She has worked as a children’s editor at The School Magazine and ABC Books and as a freelancer for Random House Australia. Judith was on the executive of the Children’s Book Council (NSW Branch) for several years in the 1990s, during which time she ran the highly successful ALOUD weekend program of children’s literature activities and the ALOUD West authors in disadvantaged school program.

Writing for Children Workshop:
When: 9.30am - 1pm, Saturday 5 December 2009
Where: Shoalhaven Arts Centre Meeting Room, Berry Street, Nowra
Cost: $25 South Coast Writers Centre and FAW members / $45 non-members
To book or for more information: Please phone SCWC on 02 4228 0151 or emailscwc@1earth.net

Writing for Children with Judith Ridge is supported by Shoalhaven City Council’s Arts Board. South Coast Writers Centre is supported by Arts NSW and University of Wollongong.

When: 6pm, 8 December 2009

Where: Phoenix Theatre, corner of Bridge Street and Gladstone Avenue, Coniston (next door to Coniston Railway Station)

Cost: Free event, all welcome

Bookings and information: contact SCWC on 02 4228 0151 or email scwc@1earth.net.

Scores of South Coast people have taken pen to paper to add an Illawarra feel to a national literary project that is seeking to portray Australian’s love affair with the ocean through verse.

A duffle bag that arrived in Port Kembla a week ago on the third leg of the Sea Things project is now bulging with poems and stories and will set sail today on the Hoegh Transporter bound for Brisbane.

“The response to our call-out has been fantastic…we’ve received emails, letters and hand delivered verse from all over…and from people of all ages,” commented Johanna Featherstone, the Artistic Director of the Red Room Company, the event organiser.

“We knew when we started the venture that this stretch of coastline, which has an incredible maritime history, would be very generous in its participation.

“The duffle bag is now bursting with material from amateurs, part-time poets and professional writers from the district like Mark Miller, Colleen Duncan, Ron Vale, Ali Smith and Casse Charlton.”

The Sea Things project is a unique two month long initiative to encourage new verse and to explore and celebrate Australia’s longstanding obsession with the ocean.

Duffle bags of poems are travelling on two sea routes north from Hobart and Fremantle, with stopovers in Devonport, Melbourne, Darwin, Port Kembla, Brisbane and Cairns. The final destination is Thursday Island in Torres Strait, where the journey will collect work composed and performed by the community and students of the Tagai State College.

The two duffle bags containing the final works will then be flown to Sydney in November for a public performance on Sydney Harbour.

A bon voyage-style reading of some of the new works will take place today at 11am beside the Wollongong Harbour Lighthouse.

People can continue to submit poems for placing in the bags in several ways:

Email them (click here)

2. Post them, no later than Monday 9th November, to: The Red Room Company, PO Box 1389, Darlinghurst, NSW 1300.

3. Post them on the POOL website: http://www.pool.org.au/

Starting on 25 September at the Shoalhaven City Arts Centre is a collaborative exhibition of craft by woodworkers, ceramicists, spinners and weavers.

The Shoalhaven Woodcraft Society, formed in 1987, is comprised of people interested in developing skills and an understanding of the many diverse forms of woodcraft. The society aims to foster an understanding and appreciation of woodcraft, provide mutual advice, help and a  problem solving forum. Exhibitions have been held annually for 20 years.

For the last 15 years the woodworkers invited potters, spinners and weavers to present an annual exhibition of their work.  This exhibition, Creative Moments, showcases work of the highest standard from the Woodcraft Society, the Shoalhaven  Potters and the Nowra Spinners and Weavers. It is an opportunity for skilled,  local artisans to showcase their work in a complementary exhibition in the Shoalhaven City Arts Centre.

This is an exhibition that viewers are drawn to by its variety and textures. The beautiful works resonate with the creative thoughts and skills of the maker creating works that can be collected,  kept and enjoyed for a lifetime. The works highlight the  colours and textures of the medium used in the process connected through touch,  whether it be the silky smoothness of finely sanded wood, the cool of a rich glaze on ceramic or the tactile invitation of natural fibre  in woven cloth.

There is something for everyone in this exhibition. Features include wooden bowls and furniture pieces that highlight exquisite wood grain, ceramics including sculptural and practical homewares and  handwoven, handspun and felted garments from wool, silk, alpaca and mohair.

The availability of mass-produced product in our world make us long for items that are more personal and timeless. Today more than ever we want our style to reflect  individual taste. This exhibition offers the  opportunity to purchase unique items that combine artistic and functional intention.
Exhibition dates are 25 September to 14 October.  Please join the participants at the official opening 5–7pm on 25 September.

Highly Commended
‘Asperger’s Eyes’. David Campbell. Beaumaris Vic
‘Did I Tell You?’ David Campbell

Commended
‘Deconstructing Dan Brown’. John Carey. Chatswood NSW
‘Downstream’.  John Egan. Ashfield NSW

Shortlisted
‘Memory’.  Joanne Mills. Darlington WA
‘Mute’.  Joanne Mills
‘High Summer’. Dorothy Swoope. Milton  NSW

Congratulations to everyone. These poems gave us as much pleasure in the reading as you must have had in the writing. Enthusiasm shines through.

Comments have been sent to as many poets as possible. We hope that, after further work, these poems can be sent out again. Even those poems that have won cash prizes can still be accepted by some magazines as we do not publish your work anywhere.

Tips
Stick to the rules ie  Line Limit , SSAE, number of copies.
Watch rhythm, Even free verse should show a subliminal rhythm.
Edit your work for typos, omissions, and spelling mistakes.
Be wary of too many adjectives.
Make your choice of word match the subject, tone.
Avoid cliché.
Improvement can be made by listening to criticism and by reading modern poetry ie Best Australian Poems, Best Australian Poetry. Blue Dog etc. By all means read all those classic poems you love but take care not to use archaic language in your own poetry. Use the speech of today.

We look for innovation and difference in imagery, language and subject. Humour and wit are always welcome.
From The Kitchen Table Poets whose book, Tangents is now available.
To buy Tangents, email Kitchen Table Poets. ($22 – postage included)

Chip Fesko

It’s been said that somewhere between John James Audubon, Henri Rousseau and the folk art style of Grandma Moses lies the watercolor artwork of Chip Fesko.

Finding inspiration in the Back Bay in Newport Beach, California, Fesko’s bird watercolours were featured in his first show recently held at the Newport Beach City Hall, located at 3300 Newport Beach., CA 92663.

http://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/artsculture/exhibitionsgalleries.asp

This was Fesko’s first public art showing following the considerations of the Newport Beach Cultural Arts Division about a year ago. Chip said it was a great when he received a call from Jana Barbier, the Arts Coordinator who told him the good news that his works were chosen for public viewing at City Hall from March to the end of May, 2009.

Fesko studied art at the State University of New York at Fredonia as an undergraduate and graphic design and photography at the S.I Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University in graduate school. He’s currently the Sr Director of Advertising & Strategic Alliances for the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a non-profit foundation that has been around for 17 years. Edutopia.org

Because of the success of his first show, Fesko has been invited by Dr Lila Crespin, Chair, Newport Beach Arts Foundation, to participate in Newport Beach’s third bi-annual “ART IN THE PARK”. This is a one-day event on June 13 at Grant Howald Park from 9AM – 4PM. Select artist are invited to display and sell their works with 30% of all sales being donated to the Newport Beach Arts Foundation.

Bundanon’s sought-after Artist in Residence Program for 2010 is open for applications from Friday 1 May to Friday 31 July 2009.

The Bundanon Trust offers an inspirational setting for creative thinkers, professional artists and groups, from all disciplines of the arts, to create, rejuvenate, explore ideas, embrace change, and exemplify excellence in contemporary arts practice.

A residency at Bundanon is often one of the highlights of an artist’s career and an opportunity for the development of their art form.

Residencies are usually available between two and five weeks in Bundanon’s purpose-built artist-in-residence complex. The program offers free residency and studio space for the development of artists’ new work, research and collaborations.

This year a welcome addition will be the availability of Bundanon’s new-purpose built rehearsal studio – with a sprung floor suitable for all kinds of collaborative projects and movement. The Australian Ballet will be the first to use the studio during their residency in 2009.

In 2009, over 250 artists were accepted into residency including Katie Noonan, Ironwood, Lior, Maria Cardoso, Marcia Langton and William Barton as well as international artists from around the globe. Icons such as Katie Noonan have said they found Bundanon an incredible place to make music.

The panel reviewing the application, which includes Michael Snelling - Bundanon Board Member, John Davis - Chief Executive Officer, Australian Music Centre, Wendy Were - Artistic Director and CEO, Sydney Writers’ Festival and Bec Dean - Associate Director for The Performance Space@Carriageworks, will be assessing applications based on the rationale for the residency and how it will contribute as an artist.

Applications are downloadable from Bundanon’s website www.bundanon.com.au

For further information call (02) 4422 2100 or email tracie[at]bundanon.com.au