culture.gov.au

Connecting you with Australian culture online

ausculture newsletter June 2006

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Welcome to Australia's Culture and Recreation Portal Newsletter for June 2006.
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June sees a celebration of Indigenous culture with Reconciliation and NAIDOC weeks being celebrated at the beginning and end of the month. This 'offers an opportunity to focus on reconciliation and to learn about the culture and history of Australia's Indigenous people'.

In the winter of our continent, it is time to explore contemplative and challenging cultural activities: the Melbourne Design Festival, the Biennale of Sydney, the Barunga Festival via Katherine, Hermannsburg Art in the Alice, the Revelation Film Festival in Perth, Bangarra Dance Theatre's Clan in Canberra, the international Indigenous festival The Dreaming in Woodford, Queensland, and an upcoming national tour of the Australian play Hotel Sorrento.

The challenges continue with submissions open for the QANTAS Spirit of Youth Awards 2006, and Allen and Unwin seeking suitable Australian fiction for their new imprint. In meeting challenges, the good news is that Artworkers Alliance, a peak advocacy body in Queensland, will be offering insurance to arts workers in NSW and Victoria.

Check out cultural news and events at http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/

Check out our Australian Stories this month <http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au>
* National Reconciliation Week
* Antarctica: a virtual visit
* Children's Books

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News
Snippets from our regularly updated News pages for June 2006 below:

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Announcements
(http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/announcements.htm):
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Queensland organisation extends insurance coverage to NSW and Victorian artists

A Queensland artist organisation is extending its insurance coverage to New South Wales and Victorian visual artists, craft practitioners and designers. Artworkers Alliance, a peak advocacy body for visual art, craft and design practitioners, has announced that visual artists, craft practitioners and designers working in NSW and VIC can also access the insurance, as part of an Artworkers' accredited membership. The deadline for applications is 7 July.

http://www.artworkers.org/

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Festivals (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/festivalsandconferences.htm):
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Biennale of Sydney - international festival of contemporary art

The Biennale of Sydney is Australia's largest and most exciting international visual arts event. The festival is held in Sydney's leading museums and galleries and is renowned for showcasing the freshest and most innovative contemporary art from Australia and around the world. It runs from 8 June - 27 August.

http://www.biennaleofsydney.com/

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Exhibitions and Events (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/exhibitionsandevents.htm):
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The Hermannsburg School of Art: Contemporary Responses in a Continuing Tradition - Alice Springs

A new watercolour exhibition - The Hermannsburg School of Art - Contemporary Responses in a Continuing Tradition - is on at the Araluen Centre's Sitzler Gallery from 6 May - 2 July, in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. More than forty landscape paintings by eleven artists will be on display. All works are for sale. The exhibition is presented by the Araluen Centre in conjunction with Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra 'Many Hands' Art Centre.

http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/arts/araluencentre/

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Hotel Sorrento - Ballarat, Victoria

Hotel Sorrento, a comedy/drama written by Australian playwright Hannie Rayson, is a touring HIT Production visiting 20 locations in Victoria and then moving on to New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland. Hotel Sorrento examines the complexities and constraints of family relationships, as three sisters reunite at their family home after 10 years apart. The tour runs from March - July.

http://www.hitproductions.com.au/

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Design (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/design.htm):
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Melbourne Design Festival

The Melbourne Design Festival runs from 6-16 July and will include exhibitions, design shows, launches, forums, workshops, a design market, a design film weekend, and many other events all based on this year's theme, 'Glow'. Presented by the National Design Centre, the Melbourne Design Festival includes events developed by designers for the general community to celebrate design and promote the further understanding of design across all its disciplines.

http://nationaldesigncentre.com/index.php?c=77

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Digital Media
(http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/digitalmedia.htm):
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Revelation Film Festival - Perth

This year's Revelation Film Festival features 23 Australian premieres, guests that include directors, sales agents, investors, film support agency representatives, producers, critics and craft organisations representatives. There will also be over 100 individual films, docs, features, shorts, animations, experimental works, filmmaker discussions, master classes, workshops and concept hothouses. The festival runs from 13-23 July.

http://www.revelationfilmfest.org/

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Submissions open (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/awardsandcompetitions.htm):
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Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards (SOYA) 2006 - national

Australian artists, aged 25 and under, are invited to enter their work to SOYA for the chance to win $5,000 in cash, $5,000 in Qantas flights and mentorships with some of the leading lights of the international creative community. There are seven categories: Moving pictures; Fashion Design; Industrial and Object Design; Pictures; Music; Photography; and Words. Entries close 31 July.

http://www.noise.net/project.asp?id=29

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Language and Literature (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/languageandliterature.htm)
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Allen & Unwin seeking fiction submissions

Louise Thurtell, publisher at Allen and Unwin, is seeking suitable fiction for her new imprint and is making every Friday her 'pitch day' - where authors can send her their first chapter and a synopsis by email or mail and she will go through them. Louise has worked with Peter Temple and Gabrielle Lord and is looking for crime, romance, thriller, history - just as long as it's fiction.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/arts/articulate/200603/s1605408.htm
http://www.allenandunwin.com/

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Sport and Recreation
(http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/ sportandrecreation.htm)
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National Capital DanceSport Championships - Canberra

Enjoy the glitz and glamour of Australia's leading professional and amateur dancers competing in Latin American, Ballroom and New Vogue dance styles in two days of dance magic at the National Capital DanceSport Championships on 24-25 June.

http://www.pennydekauwe.com.au/NCDC/index.html

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For further details of these and other Australian cultural and recreational news items visit our regularly updated News pages at http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/.

The news pages are updated weekly.
They cover
- Announcements (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/announcements.htm)
- Awards and Competitions (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/awardsandcompetitions.htm)
-Design (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/design.htm)
-Digital Media (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/digitalmedia.htm)
-Exhibitions and Events (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/exhibitionsandevents.htm)
-Festivals and Conferences (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/festivalsandconferences.htm)
-Language and Literature
(http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/languageandliterature.htm)
-Sports and Recreation (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/sportandrecreation.htm)
-Websites (http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/websites.htm).

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