In a world that seems to scream “More Womaen in High Places Please!” Australia’s penultimate writers award – the Miles Franklin – has an all-female shortlist its 2013 Award, Australia’s most prestigious literary prize. First timer – novelists that is – Romy Ash, Annah Faulkner and Drusilla Modjeska are among the five nominees competing for the $60,000 prize.
Author of Questions of Travel, Michelle de Kretser, and Carrie Tiffany, who penned Mateship with Birds, complete the shortlist. Romy Ash says she is excited to be a part of the female dominated list. She says her book Floundering is a simple story about a mother who effectively kidnaps her two sons from their grandmother’s house :: Read the full article »»»»
One of Australia’s most revered rock legends, Chrissy Amphlett, best known as the singer of the Divinyls, has died in New York aged 53. The charismatic front-woman was surrounded by family and friends at her home when she died on Monday morning.
Her husband of 14 years, former Divinyls drummer Charley Drayton, says Amphlett died of breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. In a statement released by ARIA, he added she had fought the diseases with “exceptional bravery and dignity”
Christine Joy Amphlett was born in Geelong, Victoria, in 1959.
She gained fans – including this fan – for her energetic performances, complete with a signature outfit of a school uniform and fishnet stockings. Amphlett revealed her fight against multiple sclerosis in 2007 and in 2010 announced she had breast cancer :: Read the full article »»»»
REPEAT:first posted July 2011! Admission: this tune is making my insides feel funny, in the nicest possible way. About a month ago, someone kicked Fugazi’s awesomely epic - Blueprint - from their amazing album Repeater. When it landed at my feet I wasn’t sure where or when I’d get a chance to play it, but something about Guy Picciotto’s vocals, along with that woe-some backbeat, just seemed like it would rock the headphones right of my skull. Ouch, now that I’ve played it, I seriously regret the time my ears have missed out on this tune!! This is the second posting of this track, 2 reasons, I LOVE THE F_CK OUT OF IT! + I’m over dredging through the archives to find it. Check the Video below:
Six of Australia’s leading art galleries are among the first in the southern hemisphere – Oceania – to join the Google Art Project, providing access to their collections online. The initiative, launched last year by our favourite internet behemoth, provides art lovers with an online platform to view super high-resolution – gigapixel – images of works from anywhere in the world. The images can show brushwork details that are not visible to the human eye.
Google’s Art Project is all about accessibility, bringing art to the people. The Rock Art Research Centre currently has 70 artworks on display, the National Gallery in Canberra will be showcasing a painting by Clifford Possum – a pioneer Aboriginal dot artist. Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art is showcasing 18 artists. while the NGV – National Gallery of Victoria – has a broad sweeping selecting of it’s collection online. London’s Tate Modern was the first gallery to provide free access to its collection via the project last year.
In Oceana – Australia/New Zealand – New Zealand has two galleries showcased in the Google Art Project, Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tamaki as well as Wellington’s Te Papa. Te Papa is New Zealands national museum, renowned for being bi-cultural and innovative.
A requiem composed by Nigel Westlake as a tribute to his murdered son has been named Orchestral Work of the Year at the Art Music Awards in Sydney. Eli Westlake was killed in June 2008 when Sarah May Ward deliberately ran the 21-year-old down in her car as he walked with his brother and a group of friends at St Leonards in Sydney’s north.
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The work, Missa Solis – Requiem for Eli, was named a significant and accomplished work at the awards ceremony last night.
Brett Dean’s work, Sextet, won Instrumental Work of the Year while Clare Maclean won the Vocal or Choral Work of the Year with her Osanna Mass. Andrea Keller won in the Jazz Work of the Year category with her piece, Affectations, while the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra won Performance of the Year. Composer Peter Sculthorpe was given the award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music. Read the full article »»»»
REPEAT: 
