News Watch this space for news related to artists and art lovers living in the Western suburbs of Sydney, well sometimes very loosely speaking. Elements & Environment Exhibition of paintings by Susan Hayward & Robyn Woodward At Robyn Woodward Gallery Shop A/ 11 Ross St Glenbrook Opens on Tues 21st Nov - Exhibition will continue till Sun 26th Nov More info: (02) 4739 8788 Image: Shadows by Susan Kirtan-satsang by Vicki and Ron Vicki and Ron are back to do a winter kirtan-satsang. This one will have more of a concert feel, according to Nick Alias, one of the organisers. Come along to the Tantric Turtle studio for music, song, chai and fire! Details below: Yia and Nick Alias invite you to an evening of Kirtan and Satsang (ancient Vedic chanting) with Ron Ragel and Vikki Hansen, from Medicine Music Events. Vikki and Ron have released several albums and run workshops nationally and internationally. Date: Saturday August 12th, 4:30 - 7:00pm The Turtle Studio - 633 Old Northern Rd, Round Corner, NSW opposite Lorien Novalis. Indian food, chai and refreshments available. Bring cushion and drum optional. Entry $20 - includes a chai and a Tantric Turtle treat! For bookings call Yia on 02-96539250. Winter Market on 19th August Don't forget the Winter Market on 19th August at Lorien Novalis Steiner School (opposite Tantric Turtle studio). There's a great variety of stalls, including organics, beauty care, gifts, plants, pony rides, chai, Rainbow Cafe, drumming and dance demo, great musicians and lots of beautiful handcrafted goods, toys, felt, silks etc. A great day out. Any enquiries call Yia on 02-9653 9250. Newington Art Group exhibition at TAP Gallery VIBGYOR 20-26 November 2006 Tap Gallery, Lvl 1, 278 Palmer St, Darlinghurst View the leaflet Joanne Grieve in Chalk the Walk again Joanne Grieve is again a finalist in Chalk the Walk 2006. Here's an image of her entry Rainbow Goddess from last year. Best of luck Joanne! Nudes of Whitespace The upcoming exhibition at the Whitespace Art Gallery in Parramatta is Nudes of Whitespace. It starts on 15th of September and will mostly consist of works done at or inspired by the life drawing classes at Whitespace that takes place every Monday evening. For more info, please contact Craig Moffat (mob: 0405 605 979) or Patrycja Nedziak (mob: 0413 172 241) or email Whitespace. Artistic Licence This is the first HomeWord Event for 2006 in conjunction with Sydney Writers Festival and Parramatta City Council. Artistic Licence - A free forum (Appropriation of other people’s work.) Riverside Theatres, Church & Market St. Parramatta Thursday 25th May 8.45 – 9.45pm follows Sydney Writers Festival forum See flyer Life Drawing at Parramatta Good news! A new venue for life drawing is about to open in Parramatta. Join in celebrating the opening of this life drawing venue this Friday the 26th of May 2006 from 8pm till late at the WHITESPACE, 115-125 Church St Parramatta. See PDF flyer for more info Drawn Together - The drawing lives of Nora Heysen, Judy Cassab and Margaret Woodward is a fabulous exhibition that highlights drawings by the artists. It originated at the Parramatta Heritage Centre, NSW and is touring the state between 2005 and 2007. Find out the tour calendar here. Sydney: United Against Racism rally The National Union of Students is calling a rally to protest the recent race riots in Cronulla. The rally, to be called United Against Racism, will protest the racist violence in Cronulla last Sunday, and the ongoing racist acts that have followed from them. The rally details are: When: Sunday, 18th December 2005 Time: 1pm Where: Town Hall Square (Sydney) The National Union of Students Anti-Racism Officer Mr Osmond Chiu said: "Racism from some of the media and political leaders have whipped up fear and anger to lead to the disgraceful violence at Cronulla. This rally wants to show that people are fed up with this racist violence and that enough is enough." Come Full Circle Come Full Circle is a community exhibition by 7 Ripples Artist Group which consists of teachers and former students of culturally diverse backgrounds associated with Catherine McAuley College, Westmead. In this exhibition, they explore connections between people and place. Exhibition runs between 5 May and 30th July 2006 at the Parramatta Heritage Centre. View the PDF flyer for Come Full Circle. Visible - An Exhibition of Photography by Bangladeshi Street Children Nov 20 - Dec 04, Kulcha, Fremantle, Australia Jan 21 - Feb 26, 2006, National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh Celebrating universal children's day at Kulcha Launch/Fund-raiser: Sunday Nov 20, 2005 2pm - 4pm In accompaniment of food and Bangladeshi music All proceeds to help Dhaka street children More info: visibleworld Movement and Quiescence - Megalith Cityscapes of Asia is Cherilene Chan's most recent body of work in print media which - in her words - "takes Traditional Chinese Landscape to a new level of Taoist principles"... She got her inspiration from the unworldly energy in Asian big cities. At: 6-8pm On: Friday 2 September 2005 At: Kyotap, 21 Mary St, Surry Hills, NSW Tell Me the Truth About Peace: Through Music and Poetry The Sydney Peace Foundation and Gleebooks present a night of theatre at the Seymour Centre. Featuring Colin Friels, Phillip Adams, Bob Hawke, Lior, Sydney Soloists, Ross Edwards, Terri Janke, Paul Goodchild, The Solidarity Choir, Sister Susan Connelly, Aaron McMillan, Emma Worthington-Lees, Steven Smyth, Larissa Behrendt, Ann Marie Skinner, Sydney Childrens Choir, Kuranda Seyit and Sam Wagan Watson. Monday 15 August at 7.00 pm York Theatre, Seymour Centre Tickets available from Seymour Centre Box Office 9351 7940 $27.60 adult $22.60 Gleeclub members $17.60 concession View PDF flyer More info: www.sydneypeacefoundation.org.au Lounge about Arts with Guan Wei It seems Wei's talk titled You, too can become an Australian artist! is going to be a lot of fun and will have scathing insights into the Australian art scene. Saturday 16 July, 2.30pm Liverpool Regional Museum, Cnr Hume Hwy & Congressional Drive Liverpool $10/$7 (students) (includes exquisite Chinese sweets) Booking essential: (02) 9824 1121 or email reception@casulapowerhouse.com Forum: Art is a Social Space A half day forum, moderated by Katherine Knight, which explores individual roles in the theme Art is a Social Space within the Western Front: Contemporary Art from Western Sydney current exhibition program, and draws on her current research for a history of arts activism in western Sydney. Four recognised arts activists of diverse experience to be interviewed by the moderator individually, before an audience, to be followed by a panel discussion in which the four activists respond to one question from the moderator and then to others from the audience. The speakers are - David Hollywood - Q Theatre , Patricia Parker - arts consultant, Fida Haq - Western Front artist and Kon Gouriotis - Director Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Liverpool Regional Museum. Venue: Blacktown Arts Centre, 78 Flushcombe Road, Blacktown, NSW Date and time: Wednesday, July 13, from 1.30pm to 5pm. Solo exhibition by Abu Taher Probably the first ever (and hopefully not the last) exhibition of a top-rated Bangladeshi artist in Australia. Abu Taher, who retired as assistant professor of fine arts from Dhaka University School and College, Dhaka and recipient of Ekushe Padak (21st February Medal) - the country's highest honour attributed to an individual for contribution in arts and literature, is to have a solo exhibition in Canberra, Australia at the ACT Legislative Assembly (Civic Square, London Circuit) between December 16 and 22, 2004. The exhibition is being held to commemorate the Victory Day (16th December) of Bangladesh. The exhibition will remain open for public from 12:30 p.m on 16 December. From 17 December 2004, viewing hours will be from 09:30 a.m to 04:30 p.m (except weekends). Divine Places Divine places will be a performance celebration of the many beliefs and religions that are found in the Fairfield community. The launch will bring together all the different religious groups that we have been consulting with. It will be an evening to share stories of faith, present traditional dance and song, and to get to know each other. Presented by:Powerhouse Youth Theatre When: Friday 10th December, 7pm Where:Fairfield School of Arts, Harris St, Fairfield, NSW Enquiries: 9724 6077. Art exhibition by Afforable Australian Art Extends an invitation to you and your friends to an exhibition of works from 25 emerging artists from the Sydney community. Enter the lucky draw for a chance to win a beautiful charcoal drawing - drawn on Sunday 3pm. When: Launch: Friday 3 December 2004 at 6:30pm Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December from 10am - 4pm. Where:St Bartholomew's, Ponds Rd (Bartholomew Place) Contact: Jenny (0407 109 043) and Mia (0412 077 239) or Office: 02-9920 3263 Public Forum - Christians & Muslims Growing Peace in Fairfield Why: The aim of this forum is to foster an interest and understanding of cultural diversity and to provide an opportunity for dialogue on different cultures within the community contributing to community harmony within the Fairfield area. When: Sunday 28th November at 3pm-4:30pm, followed by refreshments Where:Fairfield Community Hall, 25 Barbara St, Fairfield, NSW More details: This is a public forum open to all people from all faiths to promote non-violence as the way to grow peace and mutual understanding. Each speaker will share aspects of their respective faith tradition and how it promotes peace and non-violence, resolves conflicts, and contributes to promoting harmony in society by addressing social needs and building local community. Speakers on the day will include: Nursen Ozger, Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, Anne Lanyon, Father Charles Rue. This is an initiative of the Columban Mission Institute Centres for Christian - Muslim Relations and Peace, Ecology and Justice in partnership with the Interfaith Committee of Fairfield and Fairfield Councils' Multicultural Advisory Committee. More info: Contact Mira Martic on 9725 0757 or Marlene Henry on 9725 0230. Artist Get-together Why: To discuss the issues raised at the last meeting. The Artist Get-together want to pursue an Artist Action Project that will address the needs of the local Parramatta and Holroyd artists. Artist's of all artforms welcome to participate. The outcome will be a collective exhibition highlighting the need for more exhibition spaces, as well as showcasing local talent. When: Rescheduled to Tuesday 30th November 6.30 - 8.30pm Where: Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) AMWU Building 1/133 Parramatta Road, Granville (Corner of Good St and Parrmatta Rd) RSVP: Essential!! The last meeting was cancelled due to few RSVP's. Fadia Abboud, e-mail: Fadia Abboud, ph: 9897 5744 ext 6 Vocal hues Auburn Community Development Network presents.... An evening featuring reading and poetry from both emerging and professional writers from diverse backgrounds local to Auburn and Sydney. Read the PDF document. September gathering of Pathways to Peace Pathways to Peace is a quarterly interfaith gathering aimed at fostering dialogue among faiths. Its September gathering is taking place at Malvern Hill Uniting Church Hall, Murray St, Croydon on Thursday 23 September 2004 between 7pm and 9:30pm. For more info, contact Stewart Mills from Pathways to Peace. ace - a new magazine for the creative types! ace is a 100% contribution based new magazine first issue of which is going to be out towards the end of this month, i.e. September 2004. You'll probably get a better idea about ace if I reprint part of the blurb on their introductory PDF document: "Think of ace as a blank canvas that will be filled with a variety of contributions, to become a bi-monthly snap shot of Australian creative culture. The words that intrigue us, the art that engages us, the issues that matter to us, ... - the only aims of ace are to entertain and inform, and whatever form ace takes is up to the creative community who are invited to make submissions." Read the PDF document to find out more about ace. Alternatively, you can e-mail the editor for submissions and more info. Artist Get-Together The Arts Matter! Have your say and get involved in the cultural and arts discussion. Meet other local artists and find out what can happen at the Parramatta Heritage Centre and beyond. Guest speaker: Gay Hendriksen, Curator, Parramatta Heritage Centre. When: Thursday 2nd September, 6:00PM - 7:30PM Where: Parramatta Heritage Centre, 346 Church Street, Parramatta (Opposite Riverside Theatres) RSVP by Tuesday 30 August to: Fadia Abboud, e-mail: Fadia Abboud, ph: 9897 5744 Light refreshments provided Open community dialogue Muslims and Chrsitians - more in common than we think an open dialogue chaired by Richard Glover (Presenter of Drive Program, 702, ABC, Sydney) is being held at Benildus Hall, Oakhill College, Old Northern Road, Castle Hill on Friday the 30th July, 7:30 to 9:45pm. Sounds like something interesting and probably something that should be attended if you are free on that Friday eveining, especially after the Muslim prayer hall in Annangrove was recently vandalised. Here's the flyer for the dialogue event. Get enlisted in Artfiles If you are an existing Artfiler or want to be one, now is the time to get yourself listed in their ubiquitous and very useful Arts Directory for Western Sydney and website.

Commentary Some quite random commentaries on news and happenings that have caught my attention: Armory bunny cleaning teeth by the river Photo: Sue Irvin Armory bunny cleaning teeth by the river by Sue Irvin Sue Irvin, an artist from the South Coast of NSW, carried out a series of works with bunnies in them during her brief residency at Newington Armory in November 2006. I believe she mostly commented on other Armory artists' works in this interesting series. Armory bunny cleaning teeth by the river was her take on my Animals brush teeth in front of river/mirror series. I find the work brilliantly amusing! A New York gallery with an international taste Located in Chelsea and SoHo in New York, Agora Gallery has an interesting web presence. Visit them at www.agora-gallery.com to find out more about their exhibition programs. A timely article on contemporary Bangladeshi art and artists In Asian Art Achive's August 2006 Newsletter, Ziaul Karim - the executive editor of Jamini, probably the only art journal from Bangladesh that covers the international art scene fairly extensively - has written a timely and informative article about contemporary Bangladeshi art. Named Bangladeshi Art in the 1990s - A survey of the 1990s generation of Bangladeshi artists", the article is a must read for anyone and everyone who wants to know what is happening in the art scene of this teeming country of 150 million. One man's trash is another man's Christmas The work above is Liam Ellis's artwork for his end of primary school assignment that involved producing an artwork using recycled material. It is a lovely practical decoration as well as a work of art. Liam, who is from Cherrybrook, NSW has aptly called the work One man's trash is another man's Christmas. As his mother Elizabeth Ellis explains "It is made of 100% recycled products, right down to the broken coffee table that is used as the backing board and old Christmas lights that didn't used to work and simply required a few lightbulbs. The mosaic is made of recycled drink cans the same material you've got a liking for." I believe it's a wonderful piece of work that deserves to be interpreted at many levels. Keep up the good work Liam! Sydney: United Against Racism rally In Janus' Footsteps Recently stumbled across an essay, In Janus' Footsteps, by Adib Khan, the Bangladeshi-born Melbourne-living Australian writer which I believe will ring true to every migrant-at-heart in terms of their perception of self and sense of belonging. Or the lack of it. Or the fact that there is nothing so special about it after all. Though Khan penned it in 2001 (a shorter version of the essay was presented at the 2001 Sydney Writers Festival), it has things in it which are what I'd call universal truths. A must read. Of Hamlet, Macbeth, Twombly and Capon An article by none other than Edmund Capon, the director of Art Gallery of New South Wales, in Look's - that's the magazine the Gallery publishes for its members - February issue tries to justify the recent acquisition of the Twomblys by the Gallery. Capon pompously starts with a soliloquy that he ascribes to Hamlet: "Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Everything is fine, except that it is from Macbeth. (V.v. 17-28). I tried bringing this to their attention by posting a small note on SMH's Column 8 a while ago but to this day Look has not cared to publish any corrigenda. It is 'interesting' to see Capon mixing his Macbeth up with his Hamlet. Hope the $4.5 million spent on the Twomblys were not misplaced. Rickshaw Art: Transports of Delight Ali Mistri Special © Joanna Kirkpatrick Here is an amazing CD-ROM named Transports of Delight on the Rickshaw arts of Bangladesh by Joanna Kirkpatrick - an American anthropologist who lived for years in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, you cannot get the CD-ROM in Australia unless you request your local or university library to get it for you. Which, in my opinion, you should as it looks to be one of the most all-encompassing resources on Rickshaw arts of Bangladesh. Or you can buy it directly from the publishers site - Indiana University Press if you want to. And I strongly recommend that you visit Joanna's own site to view the largest collection of images and information on rickshaw art that I have seen on the web. Image above of 'Ali Mistri Special' from Dhaka in 1978 is also from this wonderful site. I am also in the process of compiling a list of resources on Rickshaw art here on my site. So if you are an author of material on Rickshaw Arts - especialy if you are France Lasnier - or have come across a good article on Rickshaw art recently, please let me know about it. I'm starting with a link that Joanna sent recently, thanks Joanna for that. Also including a few other links that I found on the Web here. THE RICKSHA ARTS OF BANGLADESH : Conveying the dreams and desires of the man in the street - by Joanna Kirkpatrick. A photo gallery of Dhaka, Bangladesh by Brian McMorrow on PBase Painted Rickshaw from Bangladesh 20th century AD - the British Museum entry Resistance: Chobimela III - Festival of Photography 2004 © Chobimela Chobi Mela III, the International Festival of Photography, Asia, is being organized jointly by Drik Picture Library, Pathshala, The South Asian Institute of Photography and a few sponsors from 6th of December 2004. The Festival is a bi-annual event held in Dhaka, Bangladesh and will showcase, amongst other things, the present state of the art in the region. The theme for the festival this year is Resistance. Read more on the Chobimela site. Link to Drik site. My Architect A Son's Journey This documentary by Nathaniel Kahn is about the secret life of architectural genius Louis I Kahn. One of Kahn's masterpieces is the Shangshad Bhaban (the parliament house) and its surrounding areas in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Bangladesh. More on it from the My Architect site. Michael Riley passes away at 44 Michael Riley - artist, photographer, film maker and winner of the Grand Prize at the 11th Asian Art Biennale in Bangladesh has tragically passed away on August 31, 2004. He was a practicing artist for over 20 years and was also a founder of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative in Sydney. Read more on the ABC Australia site. Michael Riley page on The Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 2002, Brisbane, Queensland site. Michael Riley Wins Grand Prize at Asian Art Biennale The Indigenous Australian filmmaker and photographer Michael Riley won one of the three Grand Prizes at the 11th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh. The artists' work were part of Photographica Australis, an exhibition of Australian photomedia organised by the Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney. The Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh is the longest running biennale in the world to focus on Asian art. More on this news. The Clay Bird (Matir Moina) A movie by the Bangladeshi writer-director Tareque Masud has probably made quite a bit of a stir in and out of Bangladesh since it was released in 2002. Interestingly then, almost unbeknownst to Sydneysiders, the movie was shown at the Adelaide International Film Festival 2003. Can somebody please arrange to show the movie in Sydney? I know I'm sounding parochial, but suffice it to say that Sydney is so rife for such a movie! Visit Matir Moina (The Clay Bird) site. Bibi Russell in Sydney Recently, Bibi Russell had her unique fashion show of indigenous fabrics, dresses and accessories from Bangladesh at the the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour as part of the Bangladesh Festival 2004. Here is the photo album from the Festival website that shows some of her creations. I guess I love those coconut-shell garlands.