The inner west's long-dreamed-about Greenway — a 5.8 kilometre, car-free path linking the Cooks River and Iron Cove, following the light rail's route — is finally set to become a reality. Last month, federal Labor promised $7.5 million to the project, in the event of being elected. And, it appears the NSW Government has responded to the pressure by pledging $7 million of its own. Convenient timing, before a federal election. Just sayin'. This money will be matched by another $7 million from the newly created (and highly controversial) Inner West Council — an amalgamation of Leichhardt, Ashfield and Marrickville Councils. Over three years, the $14 million will go towards mending the Greenway's eleven 'missing links' – spots where the path is broken by obstacles, like bridges and tunnels. "The great advantage of doing this is that it does get cyclists off roadways and onto the type of infrastructure that they deserve to have. The cycling community is only going to increasingly grow," said transport minister Andrew Constance. Honestly, this is pretty transparent timing. Local MPs, councillors and residents have been hassling the State Government for help for years. However, in 2011, then transport minister Gladys Berejiklian rejected the plans. Since then, local councils have built bits and pieces of the Greenway with their own money — its current length is now 2.6 kilometres. "It is very much a priority for this council. We have been seeking the finalisation of a funding commitment from the state government for some time so it will be well received," said Inner West Council administrator Richard Pearson. Via SMH.
Earlier this year, some of Australia's best bar teams went head-to-head to nab mad bragging rights, an epic photo shoot and a huge trip to Glasgow for Auchentoshan Whisky's national Distilled Different competition. Bar teams across Australia created an Auchentoshan American Oak cocktail for the competition, and twelve were then paired with an up-and-coming Australian photographer who worked with them to create a photographic masterpiece to reflect the team's personality. On Tuesday October 18, the winner of the cocktail competition was crowned. Sydney bar team Eau De Vie won for the originality of their cocktail and portrait, which was snapped by Brendan Fitzpatrick in a fully-styled photo shoot that judges agreed captured the essence of their bar. Eau De Vie and Fitzpatrick were chosen as the winning team by a panel of industry professionals, including our very own managing editor Shannon Connellan. The team from Eau De Vie will be jet-setting off to Glasgow as part of their prize. Glasgow is the home of Auchentoshan — the only triple distilled Scottish single malt whisky in the world. Triple distilled, people. The winners will of course get to visit the Auchentoshan distillery while they're there. The team at Ramblin' Rascal Tavern were also chosen on the night as the winners of the People's Choice Award. Take a look at what went down on the night.
From award-winning Australian novel to sold-out mainstage production, Jasper Jones is now getting the long-awaited big screen treatment it deserves. Madman Entertainment has today released the trailer for the anticipated film version of Craig Silvey's lauded novel, a revisualisation directed by Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae, Radiance, One Night the Moon) and produced by Vincent Sheehan (Animal Kingdom, The Hunter) and David Jowsey (Mystery Road, Goldstone). Jasper Jones follows the classic story of 14-year-old Charlie Bucktin, a wide-eyed, book-loving kid living in small-town Western Australia in the summer of 1969. When local mixed-race outcast Jasper Jones wakes him up in the middle of the night, one heck of a mystery starts for the pair (and the town). Who's in the cast? Oh, just Australian royalty Toni Collette and Hugo Weaving, alongside Levi Miller (Pan, upcoming Red Dog: True Blue), Angourie Rice (These Final Hours, The Nice Guys), Dan Wyllie (Offspring, Muriel's Wedding), Matt Nable (Riddick, Son of a Gun) and Aaron McGrath (GLITCH). Get your eyes all over the trailer, it comes with a new song from Sydney lad Dustin Tebbutt, 'Atlas in Your Eyes'. Jasper Jones will be released in cinemas on March 2, 2017.
What can you achieve in 5 minutes? Devise an uber-witty 'Gram caption? Shoot a spectacular Snapchat story? Consume an obscene quantity of tacos? Respondents with the latter, it's your time to shine. Redfern's local landmark The Norfolk is celebrating its fourth birthday by dishing up some killer Mexican delicacies, ready to be inhaled by the eager participants in this year's 'Annual World Famous Taco Eating Competition'. The night is set to include an array of mouth-watering options for competitors and spectators alike. Those brave enough to tackle the almighty taco challenge will have five minutes to gulp down as many of the spicy little suckers as they can manage. Everyone else can leisurely nibble on the special birthday burger on the menu for the event. Wash down the gluttonous feast with $10 Lageritas, coconuts slushies or any one of the beers from the Norfolk's impressive selection while recovering from your post-comp food coma in the pub's spacious outdoor courtyard. Get in quick if you want to compete, as spots are strictly limited. Email mark@thenorfolk.co to register.
After one humdinger of a debut year, Young Henrys are bringing back their highly successful celebrating of all things inner west Sydney: Small World Festival. Pairing their beloved craft beer with some of Sydney's best live bands and the inner west's most beloved food joints. Young Henrys have turned it to 11 this year, announcing the 2015 lineup this morning. Locked in for Saturday, September 19, at a new location at Sydney Park, Alexandria, Small Worlds will see Australian rock royalty The Church headline one heck of an Aussie bill. Formed in the inner west some 35 years ago, The Church will be burling out everything from 'Under the Milky Way' to new album gems. They'll be joined by Brisbane's face-melting lads DZ Deathrays, Sydney's long-labouring electronic barons PVT (celebrating ten years since releasing debut album Make Me Love You), Sydney supergroup Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders (Jack Ladder, Kirin J. Callinan, Laurence Pike and Donny Benet), beloved wailers PALMS, haunting foursome All Our Exes Live In Texas, a SPOD-fronted Bon Scott era ACDC cover band called Bon Voyage and more. Plus, monthly artist showcasers VISIONS will kick things off with a mystery happening. Making sure you fill your belly between sets, the inner west's leading culinary crews are bringing their nosh to Small World: Mary’s, Bloodwood, Porteño and Black Betty. And of course, Young Henrys will keep punters well quenched on the day with their celebrated brews. SMALL WORLD FESTIVAL 2015 LINEUP: Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders All Our Exes Live In Texas The Church DZ Deathrays PVT PALMS Bon Voyage Summer Flake Green Buzzard The Lulu Raes Local Artist Showcase (presented by Visions) Young Henrys Small World Festival is happening on Saturday, September 19 at Sydney Park, off Euston Road, Alexandria. Tickets are $69+BF, on sale Thursday, July 9 at 9am from the Small World website.
Kicking off with a light-hearted caper, ending with happy tears — that's what we look for in an Italian jaunt. And even if you're not heading over to Europe anytime soon, sitting in a cinema this September might be the next best thing, in the form of the 2017 Italian Film Festival. Marking its 18th year, Australia's annual celebration of Italy's filmmaking finest will kick off with screwball effort Let Yourself Go!, which won the 2017 Italian Golden Globe for best comedy, stars The Great Beauty's Toni Servillo, and follows a tightly wound psychoanalyst's dalliance with an upbeat personal trainer. Bookending the festival is a 20th anniversary screening of Roberto Benigni's bittersweet Life Is Beautiful, an Academy Award winner for best foreign language film. One of the more popular film events in Australia, IFF's 28-film, six-week national tour features brand new highlights, excursions off the beaten track, jaunts all over the country and an ode to coffee. Yes, there really is a film called Coffee in the program, which intertwines three tales about everyone's favourite caffeinated brew, and was inspired by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 2006 Oscar-winner Babel. As for the rest of the fest, highlights include the tender portrait of conjoined twin sisters that is Indivisible (the festival's centrepiece), to Sea Girls Dreaming, a documentary about carefree grandmothers living in the tiny Italian mountain village of Daone. Plus, Italian movie buffs can also enjoy romantic comedy Emma, which comes to Australia straight from the Venice Film Festival, and the based-on-a-true-tale Sicilian Ghost Story, about the disappeared teenage son of a Mafia informant. There's more where they came from, including Roman ex-cons attempting to start a new life, broad Christmas comedies and topical accounts of ex-terrorists fleeing extradition — and a special guest and a new initiative. This year's festival will welcome Australian-Italian actor Greta Scacchi, who'll attend screenings of her latest effort Tenderness, and sit on IFF's first jury. The Looking for Alibrandi star will help pick the festival's best from a six-film competition, with help from The Space Between's Ruth Borgobello, actor Daniela Farinacci, actor Damian Walshe-Howling and Radio National's Jason di Rosso. The 2017 Italian Film Festival tours Australia between September 12 and October 25, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona and Chauvel Cinemas from September 12 to October 8; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Kino Cinemas and The Astor Theatre from September 14 to October 8; and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from September 20 to October 8. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the festival website.
There's a brand new eatery in Cronulla by the name of Blackwood Pantry. Opening last week, the cafe-restaurant is the domain of chef Rob Lechowicz, a local lad who's spent the last few years honing his skills in Michelin-starred establishments in London and Paris. Now he's taking everything he learnt abroad and bringing it back home. In the food department, expect an all-day menu made up of some seriously appetising dishes. The vegetarian Buddha Bowl is made with fried eggs, quinoa, kale, roasted cauliflower, picked red cabbage, toasted almonds, lemon and buttermilk dressing; while the 'Miss Piggy' consists of crispy pork belly, roasted peaches, chimichurri and goat's cheese on toasted ciabatta. You can also grab a range of gluten-free salads, including a roast beetroot number made with yellow beans, pickled onions, goat's cheese and toasted pistachio. Those of you with a sweet tooth can indulge in their daily pastry offerings, or even grab a fresh fruit paddle pop. Okay so technically that last item is on the kids menu, but we're sure they'll let you order one for yourself if you ask them nicely. Drink options include coffee, tea and a variety of fresh squeezed juices, plus a cookies and cream milkshake we can't wait to try for ourselves. If you're looking for something a little stronger, they've also got beer, wine and cocktails, as well as white sangria with peaches by the jug. Blackwood Pantry is located at 5/33 Surf Lane, Cronulla. For more information including operating hours visit www.blackwoodpantry.com.au. Via Good Food.
In light of the devastation caused by this season's bushfires and the ongoing long-term drought felt throughout the state, the Taronga Conservation Society Australia invites you to take a moment to reflect and focus on what's to come at a guided group meditation. Mindful Mornings at Taronga will be a chance for the community to gather and support Taronga Zoo's ongoing response to the bushfire crisis, with proceeds from the events going towards the Taronga Wildlife Crisis Appeal. Plus, you'll get to hear more about what the zoo is doing to help the thousands of injured Australian animals. Over three mornings — on Friday, March 6; Sunday, March 8; and Sunday, March 29 — Nicho Plowman will lead you through a 25-minute meditation aimed at calming minds. Plowman is a vedic meditation teacher and co-founder of the app Insight Timer. The meditation will then be followed by a talk with a keeper about Taronga's commitment to supporting wildlife. Tickets are $55 per person and include all-day zoo entry so you can make a day of it with a visit to meet the koalas, elephants, tree kangaroos and more. CORRECTION: FEBRUARY 18, 2020 — This article previously stated that the meditation session would run for 90 minutes, but this is incorrect. It will run for 25 minutes and will be followed by a talk with a Taronga keeper. The above copy has been updated to reflect this.
Contemporary art fans are in for a treat this March. Sydney Art Month is returning for another year with a stellar line-up of talks, tours, and exhibitions across the city. The fun doesn't end when the sun goes down — quite the opposite, actually. Art at Night gives you after-dark access to the city's premier galleries and creative spaces for free, followed by some epic after-parties. So, clear your calendar, grab your mates, download an Art Month precinct map, and get ready for some artsy adventuring. The Art at Night program takes over three precincts throughout Sydney for one night only. It kicks off in Redfern and Chippendale on March 1, then it moves on to East Sydney on March 8 and finishes up in Paddington and Woollahra on March 15. In Paddington and Woollahra, one of the city's original art precincts, you can expect massive sculptures from Sri Lankan-born, Sydney-based artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran. These explicitly political works explore issues of gender, religion, and sex in a unique and enticing format. As well, look out for artist Rosie Deacon — she'll be constructing a large, site-specific work that plays with kitsch, colour and spectacle of obsession. Galleries on the trail include COMA, Sabia Gallery, and Wagner Contemporary. End the night with music and drinks at the Cake Wines after-party (that takes place at the Paddington Uniting Church). The Art at Night Paddington/Woollahra trail will run from 6-8pm, followed by the Cake Wines Art Bar at the UNSW Art + Design Building on Greens Rd, Paddington, from 7.30-10.30pm.
This stirring piece by famed Indonesian choreographer Eko Supriyanto explores the diverse roles women play in the country's society. With choreography inspired by traditional Indonesian martial arts, and performed by five young female dancers from the remote coastal town of Jailolo, Balabala will pull at your heartstrings and challenge your perceptions. Balabala will be performed at Carriageworks from January 7-10. This is a world premiere show at Sydney Festival 2017. Check out more world firsts coming to the festival over here.
Feel like greening up your life with and giving a little back to your city while you're at it? Good news. The City of Sydney is giving away one thousand trees next month, with the aim of increasing the size of the city’s urban canopy while promoting green action— all while helping you tick something off your bucket list. To nab your free tree, be at Sydney Park Road car park in St Peters on Saturday, March 12 from 10am. Like all good community weekend events, there'll be a tasty, tasty barbecue and experts on hand to give you planting, fertilising and nurturing tips. There'll be small or medium trees in native, exotic, evergreen and deciduous varieties, to ensure you find your perfect match. The free tree giveaway is only available to people living in Alexandria, Annandale, Barangaroo, Beaconsfield, Camperdown, Centennial Park, Chippendale, Darlinghurst, Darlington, Dawes Point, Elizabeth Bay, Erskineville, Eveleigh, Forest Lodge, Glebe, Haymarket, Millers Point, Moore Park, Newtown, Paddington, Potts Point, Pyrmont, Redfern, Rosebery, Rushcutters Bay, St Peters, Surry Hills, Sydney, The Rocks, Ultimo, Waterloo, Woolloomooloo and Zetland. Make sure you bring along proof of residence, like a bank statement or driver's licence. The City of Sydney's Tree Giveaway is happening on Saturday, March 12 from 10am at the Sydney Park Road car park. For more information, go here.
Gourmet providores Salt Meats Cheese may soon be forced to add another food group to their name, with the upcoming launch of a brand new patisserie at their site in Alexandria. Set to open on August 1, the new concept store and bakery will supply freshly made breads, cakes and pastries to SMC venues around Sydney, while also selling directly to the public. Just imagine all the ways they'll be able to incorporate Nutella. Located at 21 Fountain Street, the patisserie will be headed by chef Laurence Pagano, who spent eight years training under the legendary Adriano Zumbo before managing the patisserie at Mercato and Cucina. "This is a new chapter in my career and I'm excited to be joining the vibrant team at Salt Meats Cheese to create a signature range of cakes and sweets that's on a whole new level," said Pagano. In addition to functioning as a patisserie during the day, Salt Meats Cheese Alexandria will be available as an event space, and will play host to cooking classes on weekday evenings and on the weekend. According to SMC co-director Stefano De Blasi, "the shop will be open every day for walk-ins to buy the freshly baked cakes and pastries and this new venue will enable us to host three times the number of guests and cooking classes per week to meet demand." Last but not least, the venue will be the home of The Chef's Table Restaurant, a new Italian offering featuring an ever-changing seasonal menu. Find Salt Meats Cheese Patisserie at 21 Fountain Street, Alexandria. For more information stay tuned to their Facebook or visit www.saltmeatscheese.com.au.
"I always quote Einstein, who said that if an idea is not at first absurd, then there's no hope for it," says artist Konstantin Dimopoulos. "I guess what Einstein meant was that normal ideas don't go anywhere." Einstein may very well have been onto something. As a general rule, human beings tend to be attracted to things outside of the ordinary, and are more likely to consider big ideas if they're delivered in a way that grabs our attention. It's for this reason that Dimopolous, intent on generating discussion about deforestation, is colouring the trees in Pyrmont's leafy Pirrara Park a radioactive shade of blue. Part of this year's Art and About program in Sydney, The Blue Trees is actually an ongoing project, with Melbourne-based Dimopoulos having previously tampered with the foliage in a number of global cities including London, Vancouver and Seattle. Ahead of its debut in Sydney, we spoke with the artist about what he hopes audiences will make of his endeavour, and the importance of public artwork in shaping the way people think. Where did the idea for The Blue Trees come from? "I moved from New Zealand to Australia in 2003, and what we don't have in Wellington is a lot of trees, because it's so windy. So the first thing I saw was the amazing trees. Then I got to talk to people from [Melbourne community-based activist organisation] Friends of the Earth. One person who'd just come back from South East Asia showed me images of huge deforestation. I remember his comment was 'I wish we could get it on the front page of the newspapers instead of just a postscript.' "I've always had in the back of my mind the idea of social art. And it comes from people like Joseph Beuys, the German artist. It's using art to highlight issues that happen outside of that arena. We're highlighting, through colour and through art, a hugely serious issue of global deforestation." So once you've decided to make art about deforestation, how do you settle on colouring trees blue? "That is a question that I really don't have an answer to. I was walking by the MCG, and the way they set the trees, they're on both sides of the road, and they almost create this church-like canopy over the top of you, and the trunks are like the pillars. And I saw that and for some reason I had this idea of blue trees. I don’t know what it was. "It's such a bizarre colour for a tree, and that was the idea. You colour something completely different from what people expect. I've said to people that if I coloured them brown, nobody would care. It's about creating something that has a magical quality that makes people stop. And it's not just a blue, but an electric blue. When people see it on my website they think it's been photoshopped. It almost looks like it's glowing, or like it's some form of radiation." It really does look quite unnatural. "That's exactly it. It looks unnatural. But what we're trying to say is that the real unnaturalness is when you have human beings destroying huge amounts of forest without any thought that we're changing the environment and the ecosystem. And once that habitat goes, [animals] disappear. We don't think about that. We tend to think that we're the top dog. "There are statistics, which I won't go too much in to, but there was one recently from a guy called Matt Hansen, a professor at the University of Maryland, who said that we lose 50 football fields of forest every minute... These forests have no voices. What I'm trying to do is raise a voice." What has the reaction to the work been like in other cities? "Often you can put the most non-toxic of artwork out there, and there'll be someone who dislikes it. People don't have any opinions on life and death, but they have opinions on public sculpture. So whenever you create a public work, there's always someone asking why we've spent money on it. But art is where ideas come from. It's an artistic process. Whether it's Steve Jobs or Picasso, ideas come from that point of wanting to create something. It'd be much cheaper if we removed all the architecture, and all the sculpture, and all the landscape from a community, and just concreted everything. But the people who change the world love theatre, love music, love architecture, love public art. "I'll give you a quote from Warren Buffett, who said 'I don't know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everyone.' Public art isn't going to do that, and The Blue Trees isn't going to do that. But what it does is raise awareness. And it isn't possible for me not to do something when you hear the statistics about global deforestation. As an artist, I'd rather be in the ring throwing the punches than be one of the observers sitting and booing." The Blue Trees will be coloured by the community from 10am – 4pm on Saturday March 5. More details over here. Images: Nikki To.
Sydney mega-restaurateur and MasterChef hanger-on Matt Moran is taking over ownership of the Abercrombie Hotel. Located on the corner of Abercrombie Street and Broadway, the iconic Chippendale venue, officially known as The Australian Hotel, was renowned for its sticky floors and raucous club nights, but ceased operation in 2014. A resurrection has been on the cards for a while now, with Moran's company Solotel Hospitality Group inking the deal this week. Just don't expect the return of S.A.S.H. or Purple Sneakers. "Our refurbishment of The Australian Hotel will see the pub restored to its original art-deco glory including its rear courtyard beer garden," said Solotel co-owner Bruce Solomon. "Solotel will deliver a contemporary expression within the original heritage character of the pub reminiscent of this bygone era whilst ensuring its seamless integration into the broader Central Park precinct." In addition to the main building, Moran and Solomon have acquired the three adjacent terrace houses facing Abercrombie Street, with an eye to opening a European-style wine bar. With work on final Central Park plans still ongoing, however, neither venue is expected to begin trading before 2018. Moran is but the latest in a string of high-profile chefs to dip his toes into the publican game this year. Iceberg's Maurice Terzini recently took over The Dolphin in Surry Hills, while Guillaume Brahimi is revamping the dining room at Paddington's The Four in Hand.
If you haven't heard of Shenanigans Brewing Company, this Sydney Craft Beer Week event should be at the top of your list. If you have heard of them, then we're sure it's already at the top of your list. Combine one of our personal favourite Sydney brewers with The Hive Bar, one of the best small bars in the city, and you've got yourself one serious Sunday session. The event will include a special SCBW beer launch, along with specially paired dishes and beer-inspired cocktails.
During the working week, time away from your desk is a rare and precious commodity. We're all guilty of killing time mindlessly trawling the web, but as excellent as cat GIFs may be there's far more exciting things we could be doing on our coffee break. Make even the shortest of respites count and carve out time in your day for a bit of adventure, whether it's a morning mission or an after-work moment to blow off steam. Take the break you, as a hardworking human being, deserve. [caption id="attachment_537982" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Barangaroo Delivery Authority.[/caption] TAKE A WALK ALONG BARANGAROO RESERVE If you work in the city and are looking to step out and clear your head, go check out Barangaroo Reserve. Starting at Circular Quay, if you keep up a brisk pace you should have time to explore some of the finger wharfs and the foreshore at Barangaroo. Once a concrete slab, the area now boasts tiered lawns sectioned off by 6500 sandstone blocks — and of course a harbour backdrop. If you've got the time, it's a transformation worth checking out. And, from January 7-29, a giant ball pit will be set up at The Cutaway as part of Sydney Festival for you to jump into. [caption id="attachment_531698" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Centred Meditation.[/caption] MEDITATE We've all experienced those work days where it feels like you're devoting more energy to keeping your rage at bay than you are to the task at hand. On those days, more than any other, you need to take a break. If you're in dire need of a bit of zen, Centred Meditation offers 30-minute meditation classes in the centre of the city. And if you're struggling to achieve inner calm, don't stress, you can always squeeze in a quick nap before heading back to the office. If it will stop you from having a rage blackout, it's $16 well spent. [caption id="attachment_583596" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Endota Spa.[/caption] GET A MORNING MASSAGE It may be decadent, but it's hard to think of a better way to break up your morning than with a quick massage. Endota spas are located across Sydney and offer 30-minute massages for around $65. But if you want to achieve peak relaxation in a short amount of time, Nature's Energy's Bath House in Balmain is where it's at. Don't let the unassuming shopfront fool you, hidden out the back is a hot and cold spa, a sauna and a steam room. Only $28 for 30 minutes, you'll be on cloud nine for the rest of the day. LISTEN TO A PODCAST Walking the streets of Sydney these days you need to keep your wits about you or risk running into someone blindly trying to catch them all. Along with the added benefit of making it through your break injury-free, listening to a podcast means you can also enjoy your surrounds. Find your nearest park, or better yet a local dog park — pup time and podcasts, the ultimate combo — and simply sit and listen. Our picks are Girls creator Lena Dunham's series Women of the Hour, Dinner Party Download and Conversations with Richard Fidler, a podcast devoted to telling the stories of interesting people, famous or otherwise. TAKE A GUILT-FREE SNACK BREAK Anything you eat from Gratia in Surry Hills is by definition guilt-free. Gratia donates 100 percent of their profits to charity — 50 percent to a charity nominated by their customers and 50 percent to a long-standing charity of their choosing. So, when the mid-morning hunger pangs strike — or you're simply looking for an excuse to get away from your desk — do the right thing, don't resist the call of the protein pancakes topped with rhubarb, ginger honey and goats cheese ($16). Once you're fed, head upstairs to Folonomo Gallery, where 100 percent of the profits go to a charity of the exhibiting artist's choosing.
Australian dance theatre company Force Majeure creates theatrical movement-based storytelling that really is unforgettable. We're still recovering from the tour de force of 2018's You Animal, You, programmed as part of Sydney Festival, and its latest show has us just as hyped. Inspired by the themes of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, the world premiere production prods questions about human survival, ageing and environmental destruction — so, just the little things. And performers Pamela Rabe, Paul Capsis and Olwen Fouéré will be joined by 13 young performers to tussle with those intergenerational questions.
After nearly five decades roaming the globe and shooting images, American photographer and icon Roger Ballen is finally coming to Sydney to hold a major solo exhibition at the Sydney College of the Arts. His show, which coincides with the 20th Biennale of Sydney, is a retrospective of 75 works from the last two decades and has been carefully curated by SCA Dean at the University of Sydney, Colin Rhodes. Aptly titled Roger Ballen’s Theatre of the Mind, the show will feature new work inspired by the SCA site’s history as a mental asylum. The new work will be on show in the underground cells so bring your best scream and a spooky ghost preparedness kit too. Although Ballen has spent five decades pursuing photography and travelling extensively through South Africa, he’s best known by the younger generation for the Die Antwoord video clip for 'I Fink U Freaky'. Ballen collaborated with Die Antwoord to produce a clip that brings his still-life photography work to life and references elements of his unique, bleak and uncanny imagery. The clip has been viewed in excess of 76 million times, pushing Ballen into favour with digital natives and Die Antwoord fans everywhere. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uee_mcxvrw[/embed] But outside of this wildly successful contemporary collab, Ballen is an old-school film photographer and possibly the last of his kind. His work is shot in black and white because he believes it to be an abstraction on the way we naturally perceive the world (that is, in colour). Often photographers have an affinity for reflecting the world around them, turning the lens outward and sometimes hiding behind the lens. Interestingly, Ballen has frequently noted that the motivation for his work is a journey of self-discovery, a "fundamentally… psychological and existential journey". Roger Ballen's Theatre of the Mind descends upon Sydney College of the Arts from March 16 to April 30 at Sydney College of the Arts, Callan Park, Rozelle. Images: Roger Ballen, still from 'I Fink U Freeky' video, Die Antwoord 2012; Caged, 2011; Mirrored, 2012; Bewitched, 2012. Images courtesy of the artist.
The solar battery industry is still very much in its infancy, but already there's an Aussie upstart taking the challenge to a major brand. The Brisbane-based, Indigenous-owned AllGrid Energy is currently offering its ten kilowatt-hour home battery at a rate significantly cheaper than Tesla's much-touted Powerwall, which is due to enter the local market next year. Like the Powerwall, the AllGrid GridWatt system stores power collected by solar panels, and according to the company can reduce your reliance on the national power grid by up to 75 percent. The system costs $12,000, which they say comes in at about 30 per cent less than the Tesla option – although due to its reliance on old lead acid gel batteries, the system must be installed outside. AllGrid currently services Queensland and South Australia, and sees remote indigenous communities as a potential area for growth. "Obviously as an Indigenous company working with Indigenous communities, it’s a really big area of traction for us," AllGrid marketing manager Deborah Oberon told The Guardian. The company plans to train Indigenous electricians to help install the units, with the hope that they could be used to replace costly diesel generators. "Once Tesla's system is available in February, that will be the moment that the game really starts to change...with the coverage and publicity that a company like Tesla get, we’re really confident the market will heat up," said Oberon, further predicting that 2016 would be "the year that storage really starts to kick off in Australia." For more information about AllGrid, visit their website. Via The Guardian. Image via Dollar Photo Club.
A supermarket in Denmark has committed to fighting food wastage by only selling produce past its use-by date. Located in Copenhagen, the recently opened Wefood has been set up by not-for-profit organisation Folkekirkens Nødhjælp, selling expired food at a discounted rate with the hope of reducing the 700,000 tonnes of food that goes to waste in Denmark each year. "Wefood is the first supermarket of its kind in Denmark and perhaps the world as it is not just aimed at low-income shoppers but anyone who is concerned about the amount of food waste produced in this country," spokesperson Per Bjerre told The Independent. The supermarket came into being on the back of a successful crowdfunding campaign, which raised one million Danish kroner, or just over $200,000. The supermarket is staffed by volunteers, with profits being used to help fund Folkekirkens Nødhjælp's work in some of the poorest countries in the world. The supermarket also has the support of local government officials. "It's ridiculous that food is just thrown out or goes to waste," said Eva Kjer Hansen, Danish Minister for Food and the Environment. "A supermarket like Wefood makes so much sense and is an important step in the battle to combat food waste." According to the United Nations, human beings throw away around 1.3 billion tonnes of food each year. Given that one in nine people around the world don't have enough to eat, that's a fairly depressing statistic. In Australia alone we waste more than four million tonnes a year, although organisations like Second Bite and OzHarvest are doing their best to reduce that number. Perhaps we could use a Wefood of our own? Via The Independent.
Been sailing the internet seas and plundering its illegal film bounties, movie pirates? Yarrr, well you just might find yourself at the centre of a new round of legal action. Australian film company Village Roadshow has revealed that their attempts to stamp out copyright theft will soon extend to suing individual infringers. If you've downloaded one of their flicks, yes, that could mean you. No, this isn't another Dallas Buyers Club situation exactly, however if you're the swashbuckling type, you might receive a letter in the mail. Village Roadshow's new tactics involve going after repeat culprits and asking for a fee of around $300. "Not for a king's ransom but akin to the penalty for parking a car in a loading zone. If the price of an act of thievery is set at say $300, we believe most people will think twice," said Village Roadshow co-chief executive Graham Burke. Deterrence, rather than punishment, is the aim here — and continuing to try to convince everyone that they should bite the bullet and pay to watch Game of Thrones. "Any revenue derived from this proposed legal program will be devoted to positive education on piracy," Burke continued. "I should also point out that it is our intent with this strategy that, should anyone be caught in the net who has dire health or difficult circumstances, we would waive the action providing they undertake not to infringe again." Just when the lawsuits will start wasn't announced, though Village Roadshow have a history of being active in the area, with the company initiating court action against movie streaming website SolarMovie earlier this year. Burke also holds the role of Creative Content Australia chair — aka the head of the film industry's anti-piracy arm — and advised that, once the precedent for blocking websites has been clearly established under Australia's current site-blocking legislation, "We will be ready to immediately bring another court action requesting the blocking of an additional 100 criminal sites." The plan was revealed as part of a speech entitled 'The Piracy Plague', which was delivered at the Australian International Movie Convention on the Gold Coast this week. And no, the link between the Goldie and that other form of piracy wasn't lost on anyone. In fact, it was even mentioned. You can thank Johnny Depp, his dogs and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales for that, obviously.
Sure, we love winter's hot mugs of mulled things, snuggly wardrobe options and tendency to coincide with national film festivals, but the season calls for a well-earned weekend away every now and again. Perhaps you'd like to completely ditch the city's chilly winds for a stylish Californian-style beach motel with an ex-Noma chef. Or maybe you're one to embrace winter like a woolly jumper-loving fiend. How about a private mountain villa with your own in-room, temperature-controlled swimming pool? We've teamed up with Mr & Mrs Smith to give you five ideas for winter weekend getaways from their collection of pretty, pretty accommodation options. Pick a date, pack your bags and get outta town. DRIFT HOUSE, PORT FAIRY Breakfast hampers, salvaged timber, Japanese tiles — Drift House is all about the details. It's a pretty little beach boutique in Port Fairy, the Great Ocean Road's charming fishing village. Rooms are designed for dining in, because Drift House knows what's up. You'll have little reason to venture out into the chill with your own 'maxibar' at home, stocked with baked beans, pasta, parmesan, pasta sauces, organic crisps, popcorn and other nibbles, alongside a stash of locally sourced Basalt Vineyard red and white wine. ARKABA Escape the wind tunnels of the city and set yourself up in an elegant 1850s homestead in the Flinders Ranges. A heritage-style property, Arkaba channels a good ol' Australian vibe from its wool sack-wrapped bedside tables to sheepskin hot-water bottles. It's also a private wildlife sanctuary, so expect a few kangaroos and emus to stop by. Your dining is all-inclusive (and features some of the world's best wines), and if you're keen to get a little more adventurous, Arkaba does a swag-camp glamping trek. HALCYON HOUSE No better way to beat the cold than escaping to a faded Californian-style surf motel. Fusing elements of Long Island nauticalia and Mediterranean pool chic, it's the kind of place that looks made for surfwear magazine fashion shoots. Located right on Cabarita Beach near Tweed Heads, Halcyon is a beach holiday haven with all the trimmings — and an ex-Noma chef. Ben Devlin, 2014's Queensland Chef of the Year, runs the delightfully artful Paper Daisy restaurant, where you'll be inhaling fresh crumpets, locally-grown coffee and honey roasted fruit. That's before you while the afternoon away on the poolside deck, sipping wines picked by sommelier Peter Marchant. CAPELLA LODGE Feel like a Bond villain in a high-flying tropical paradise retreat at Capella Lodge, a stunning nine-suite hideaway on Lord Howe Island. Surrounded by turquoise lagoons, coral reefs and rare tropical birds, the lodge is a glorious natural oasis from a wintry city — but with every last modern creature comfort. Infinity pools, outdoor stone baths, sprawling seaside verandahs. The place even has its own spa. Hire a lagoon kayak and snorkelling gear and explore the area — you'll forget its cold anywhere else. O&O WOLGAN VALLEY If you're one to relish in wintry weather as a means to get amongst misty mountains, head for O&O Wolgan Valley. This Blue Mountains gem sees 40 villas, including two- and three-bedroom retreats, over 7000 acres of rolling hills and pristine wilderness. It's Australia's first conservation-based luxury resort and is accredited by international group CarboNZero. There's a world-class spa, a big wine cellar, mountain bikes for you to use, and a killer restaurant, bar and eatery showcasing seasonal, local, organic produce. Best bit? Each Federation-style bungalow comes with an in-room, temperature-controlled, private swimming pool. Keen to get going? Concrete Playground readers special treatment from Mr & Mrs Smith, with exclusive discount offers at hotels from Bali to Brisbane. You can save 25 percent or more if you book any of these retreats by 30 July (and you can stay any time until 30 September, 2016). Details here.
In a rare instance of critics and audiences agreeing with each other, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Dressmaker were the two big winners at the 2016 Australian Film Critics Association Awards. Held last night at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne, the ceremony reflected on the past 12 months of Australian cinema, with the year's two biggest box office takers proving popular with critics as well. Critically acclaimed action blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road took home the award for Best Film, as well as Best Director for George Miller and Best Cinematography for John Seale. The Dressmaker, meanwhile, swept through the acting categories, with Best Actress for Kate Winslet, Best Supporting Actress for Judy Davis and Best Supporting Actor for Hugo Weaving. The film's director and co-writer Jocelyn Moorhouse was present to accept the awards of behalf of her cast, while also taking home the Best Screenplay Award for herself and husband P. J. Hogan. Ryan Corr won Best Actor for his work in Holding the Man. In the international film categories, last year's Oscar winner Birdman took home Best English Language Film, while German drama Phoenix won for Best Foreign Language Film. Amy Winehouse doco Amy won Best Documentary. The association also gave out its annual writing awards, bestowed by a panel of journalists and film industry practitioners. This year's winners were critics Rebecca Harkins-Cross, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Luke Goodsell. You can check out the winners here. To get a head start on the next crop of likely AFCA Award winners, check out our list of the ten Australian films to watch out for in 2016.
Until the Internet becomes a universal, ever-present thing that radiates down from the sky and lets us check Instagram anywhere in the world, we're apparently destined to be stuck with offline maps and or paying through the nose for international roaming when travelling (read: getting lost) overseas. Until that blessed day comes, Google is trying to make life easier for travelling smartphone-wielding folk with their new travel planner app, Google Trips. Earlier this week Google unveiled the new app (which is available on iOS and Android), which is designed to help you plan your trip and help you explore your destination when you get there. It's both a planning tool and a place to store all your important travel docs in one place — and it lets you access that information when you're out and about and without access to 4G or Wi-Fi. So what can you use it for? First off, it will pull all your important travel info like flights, bookings and reservation numbers from your Gmail inbox and organises them into a chronological 'trip'. You can save these to access offline; it's meant to help you avoid that momentary panic where you get off the plane, go to look up the information for your Airbnb and then realise you can't access your emails. The more fun aspect of Trips though are the planning features. The Things to Do feature will give you a list of, well, things to do in the city you're in. These are pulled from what both you and other Google users have searched for in that city, and can be filtered by area of interest. The Day Plans feature gets a little more specific. The app will suggest a whole heap of things to do based on where you're staying and how much time you have — so if you only have an afternoon in a city, it will bring up the best things to do based on what's around you and what's open. You can then create a point-to-point itinerary that will show you where everything is and how to get there. You can save this offline too. Google have called this app "magic", and while we certainly wouldn't go that far (can tech companies stop calling themselves wizards?), it is a very useful tool if you're travelling without access to internet and is a handy way to use Google Maps offline. The planning tool looks like a smoother version of Stay.com, an app we've found useful for pinning places on a map when travelling. You can download the Google Trips app here.
Wiz Khalifa is heading to Sydney's Luna Park in September, as part of Optus RockCorps 2015. The American hip hop star has added the NSW performance to his Australian tour schedule, alongside previously announced shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. And the best part? Tickets won't cost you a cent. Instead, fans will be able to earn free entry into the Sydney show by donating their time to charity. Four hours of volunteering will get you into the concert, which will be held in Luna Park's Big Top on Wednesday September 30. Khalifa will headline the event, which will also feature Australian electronic duo Peking Duk. Additional acts will be announced in the coming weeks. Volunteers from outside Sydney can also get involved, and will be rewarded with a $70 Ticketmaster voucher. "I'm excited to be part of the Optus RockCorps Project," said Khalifa. "Giving back to the community is something I’m passionate about and support wherever I can. I can’t wait to play in Sydney and see all the Aussie fans." Now in its third year, Optus RockCorps aims to treat young Australians to unique performances in return for their contribution to their local communities. More than 9500 people have donated over 36,000 volunteer hours over the past two years, and have been rewarded with tickets to shows featuring acts such as American Authors, Guy Sebastian, Rudimental and Empire of the Sun. Anyone keen on volunteering for a RockCorps 2015 project will be able to register their interest starting August 10 via the Optus RockCorps website or by calling 1800 ROCK 800.
Ramen is not an easy dish to make. The broth alone can take a dozen hours to simmer down to flavoursome perfection and recipes are jealously guarded by ramen masters. So when a new ramen joint opens, there's always a collective intake of breath. How will it fare? Will it live up to competition? Please god, let them serve tonkotsu. This drama is also as delicious as the ramen itself which is why we’re so overwhelmingly excited by Surry Hills newest noodle bar, Salaryman which will open its doors next week. Salaryman (A+ name there, guys) is a reference to the punch-in-punch-out hordes of white collar workers that modern day Tokyo is famous for. They’re efficient in everything they do, including smashing down a bowl of ramen at a high bench noodle bar after a 16-hour workday, but somehow we doubt you’ll find anything mass-produced or impersonal here. The venue is the passion project of Stephen Seckold, executive chef of Flying Fish, and his 18 years in the industry and expertise with seafood stands him in good stead to meet our lofty ramen standards. Salaryman will serve seasonal broths, misos fermented in-house and specialty ramen with a focus on crustacea and pork. Alongside the ramen will be a fluid izakaya-style menu with small share dishes like chicken wings stuffed with sea plant butter, smoked albacore with gooseberries and takoyaki (those tasty, tasty batter balls stuffed with octopus and sauced to the hilt). Plus, Salaryman will open as BYO until the liquor licence is finalised in early December. To complete the experience, Salaryman features a cute little takeaway window for taiyaki, which sound similar to takoyaki, but are actually sweet fish-shaped cakes made from pancake or waffle batter and stuffed with custard or red bean paste. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Is it too early to start lining up now? Find Salaryman at 52-54 Albion Street, Surry Hills from next week.
How does chicken salt work? What's the deal with cereal puffing guns? What is the future of meat? If you're into your food and drink in a nerdier way than most, you'd better book yourself a ticket to New York this Halloween. The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) is about to open in Brooklyn on October 28 — with exhibits you can eat. Food's had its fair share of pop-up museums and major exhibitions worldwide. There's even museums dedicated to individual foods like cheese, chocolate and Spam (yep, The Museum of Spam is opening in 2016). But after furiously fundraising for years, New York's first museum focused on food will find a permanent bricks and mortar space in Brooklyn this year. "Our mission is to change the way people think about food and inspire day-to-day curiosity about what we eat and why," says the MOFAD website. With a series of rotating exhibitions, visitors will be able to see, touch, smell and taste food, while learning about the culture, history, science, production, and commerce of food and drink. Think tastings, live demos, hands-on activities, talks, debates, heated roundtables. It's a whole multisensory, interactive museum experience to get to the bottom of noshing. How did the search for spices drive the age of exploration? What is the socioeconomic role of street food in cities? Where does soil come from, and why does it matter? How is breakfast cereal made? What is the impact of coffee on world trade? The idea is to enable people to make better, more informed food choices for themselves, their communities, and the environment, through kickass museum interactivity, like this cereal puff installation MOFAD did last year. "Why isn't there a museum devoted to food at the same level of something that's like the Natural History Museum or the Smithsonian?" MOFAD president and founder Dave Arnold asked CNN. "If I want to learn about you, I'm going to go to your house and we'll break bread. We'll have dinner. Then I feel like I'll know who you are. And it's that idea that we can experience cultures through what we eat and how we eat and the history of how we eat. That (idea) needs a museum because you can't eat on TV. You can't read about food and have tasted it." MOFAD's first exhibition, according to NPR, will focus on the flavour industry and the modern quest to manufacture smell and taste. You can probably assume it'll touch on ol' wafty Subway. The Museum of Food and Drink will open its permanent site on October 28 in Brooklyn, site yet to be revealed. For more info, check out the website. Via NPR. Images: MOFAD, Dollar Photo Club.
It’s been 22 years since the first Jurassic Park movie aired, which — incidentally — is also how long it’s been since the last good Jurassic Park movie aired. Now, though, we’ve reason to be cautiously optimistic. Earlier today the second full trailer for Jurassic World landed in our news feeds and, after several repeat viewings, we see plenty to be hopeful about. CHRIS PRATT IS THE VELOCIWHISPERER When the first trailer dropped back in November of last year, the internet went into Dennis Nedry-like digital chaos over what looked like Chris Pratt’s character taming some velociraptors. It seemed like a pretty hokey idea, but Trailer #2 seems to have settled that concern somewhat, with his character, Owen Grady, explaining: “It’s not about control, it’s a relationship based on respect,” while he stands eye-to-eye with three of them. That, or he’s doing some extreme tai-chi. Either way, ‘respect’ is the key word here, because it means the raptors haven’t been reduced to domesticated turkeys; they could still kill him at any moment. THE NEW DINO IS A BLOCKBUSTERSAURUS We already knew the ‘villain' in Jurassic World was to be a genetically engineered dino of such scale it would make the T-Rex look like a pug, and now it has a face. Sporting the name ‘Indominus Rex’, it’s got the head of a dragon and the jaw span of a Steven Tyler. Our relief here stems from the fact that it looks entirely plausible. It’s a hybrid dinosaur in the sense that it’s got spliced DNA with other animals, not spliced DNA with lasers or a BMW for some tier 1 brand placement. INDOMINUS HAS A VERY PARTICULAR SET OF SKILLS Let’s start with the smarts. Indominus is crafty. Really crafty. If Jurassic Park’s gamekeeper Robert Muldoon saw Indominus, he'd say, well, nothing, because raptors tore his stomach open and ate him alive back in 1993. But he’d want us to say “clever girl”, because this manmade man-eater tore out his own subcutaneous electronic tracker so that the humans wouldn’t know where it was (aside from being able to spot a giant lizard in the middle of a theme park). The reason we like this is because it takes the franchise to a new place rather than sticking with ‘dinosaur big, dinosaur scary’. Bourne Legacy did the same thing three years ago, realising the only way to stay fresh was to find someone better than Bourne, not just different. NATURAL BORN KILLERS First there’s the smarts, then there’s the disposition, because it seems Indominus isn’t like other dinosaurs. As Grady explains in the trailer, other dinosaurs are thinking: “I’ve got to eat. I’ve got to hunt,” but Indominus, “she's killing for sport”. First the franchise ups the stakes, then it changes the game. What makes both Jaws and The Ghost and the Darkness such compelling tales isn't the ‘killer beast’ plot; it’s the fact that they’re creatures baring the uncomfortable human quality of killing for reasons other than survival. Killing for sport isn’t just unnatural, it’s evil. We can only presume Ricky Gervais is tracking down Indominus’s Twitter handle as we speak. LEMME HEAR YOU SAY GRRRRNNNNNRRRROOOOARRRRR Indominus, aka ‘the D-Rex’ can talk to the animals. Not in a 'Dr Doolittle meets Aaron Sorkin witty repartee' kind of way, but enough to get Pteranodons to help it out in killing tourists. We like this because it adds an alliance feel to the plot, almost as though sides are forming in a prehistoric battle. With the introduction of each new dinosaur, you’ll find yourself wondering: “And whose side are you on?" Jurassic World hits Australian cinemas on June 11, so get ready to hold onto your butts.
Summer's not the only time of year Sydneysiders can wander through night markets brimming with freshly cooked local nosh. Carriageworks plans to continue this insanely popular Sydney pastime into the colder months, announcing a brand new winter night market for Vivid today. It's (somewhat straightforwardly) called The Night Market, with over 50 stallholders taking over Carriageworks on two winter evenings: June 4 and June 18. Expect to sample goods from NSW's top tier of restaurants, winemakers, spiritmakers, breweries and providores, including Archie Rose, Cornersmith, Porteno, Billy Kwong, Icebergs, Efendy, Thievery, Young Henrys, Cake Wines, Single Origin Roasters, Pepe Saya and more. Curated by Sydney chef (of the just-opened No. 1 Bent Street) and Carriageworks Farmers Market creative director Mike McEnearney, The Night Market is inspired by the theme 'Cooking with Fire' — and the chefs involved will be doing just that, cooking live over open flames. Each stallholder will be able to clue you into the regional source of their produce — a requirement that could only come from the paddock-to-plate-focused McEnearney. The Night Market marks the second Vivid food-focused project for Carriageworks this year, following the sold-out Sydney Table series announcement. Both ride the success of the recent Carriageworks Christmas Twilight Market, which saw a casual 8000 visitors/late present buyers. THE NIGHT MARKET STALLHOLDER LINEUP: A&W Muscat Archie Rose Ashtons Australian Coffee Billy Kwong Blini Bar Brilliant Food Burrawong Gaian Cake Wines Ce Ce Liqueur Chrissy's Cuts Sausages Cornersmith Country Valley Dairy Dessertmakers Ding the Recipe Efendy Freeman Vineyards Gumnut Chocolates and Biscuits Hand N Hoe Organic Macadamias Icebergs Jollie Gourmet Jonima Flowers Juicing by Colours Kemps Creek Farms Kitchen Green Kurrawong Organics La Bastide Linga Longa Farm Melanda Park Pasture Raised Pork Millamolong Australia Moobi Valley Mountain Goat Naturally Falafel Neo Organic Tea Pasta Emilia Pepe Saya Porteno Prickle Hill Produce Pukara Estate Salads Direct Shepherd's Artisan Bakehouse Single Origin Roasters Slow Wine Co. Sweetness the Patisserie The Herb Store The Pines Kiama Thievery Thirlmere Poultry Vale Creek Wines Watkins Family Farm Willowbrae Chevre Cheese Yalla Foods Young Henrys Brewing Company The Night Market is coming to Carriageworks on June 4 and 18. Entry is free. Image: Andrew Quilty.
“People wrongly assume the council or the government pays for Wendy’s Secret Garden and wrongly assume it is permanent and secure,” says journalist Janet Hawley. “But Wendy has paid for everything, and, alongside her four gardeners, done all the work from day one. And now that she’s 74, she’s worried about the garden’s future.” Thousands of people spend time strolling, picnicking and organising wedding shoots among the sinuous valley and terraced slopes of Wendy’s Secret Garden, on the harbourfront in Lavender Bay. But few realise that it is a guerrilla garden occupying land belonging to NSW RailCorp. Its existence depends on a temporary beautification lease. So, as reported on Australian Story this week, campaigners are calling for the garden to be turned into a public park. “Wendy and those who love the garden fear the lease could be revoked at any time, the land sold off to a developer and the garden bulldozed, to be replaced by high rise buildings,” says Hawley, who spent thirty years as a senior feature writer at Good Weekend. Over the past two years, Hawley has been documenting the garden for her book, Wendy Whiteley and the Secret Garden, published by Penguin and to be launched on September 23. “Wendy's garden has never been properly documented. The book tells the full story of Wendy's 23 years transforming a bleak rubbish dump, covered in noxious weeds, into a unique and magical sanctuary, designed like a living painting. It’s a huge philanthropic gift and provides a wonderful cultural heritage, to join Brett’s legacy.” Richly illustrated with photographs, artworks and maps, Whiteley and the Secret Garden argues that the garden should be “preserved in perpetuity”. “It’s a no-brainer that we should treasure it and keep it forever more. People need to escape from air-conditioned blocks and screens, immerse themselves in nature and fresh air, reset their brains, feel connected with grass, trees, flowers, birds and be reminded of nature's wonders every day.” ????? So beautiful like a painting ? and then you read "please clean up after yourself and your dog" ? #wendyssecretgarden #sydneyharbourbridge #lavenderbay #sydney #australia #travelwithlori A photo posted by @lorilychu on Aug 26, 2015 at 7:14am PDT Janet Hawley and Wendy Whiteley will appear in conversation at venues all over Sydney and further afield during the next few months: September 26 – Kinokuniya Bookshop, 2pm, free bubbles and sweet treats, RSVP essential (promotions-aus@kinokuniya.com) October 7 – Art After Hours, 5.30pm, The Balcony 2, free October 8 – Stanton Library, 12.30pm free October 14 – Centennial Vineyards, Bowral, 10am, $25 with morning tea (organised by Bowral Bookshop) October 20 — MUSE Food, Wine and Books, 7.30pm, East Hotel, Kingston, ACT October 23 — Avalon Community Hall, (organised by Bookoccino Bookshop) November 11 — The Queens Club, Sydney, 10.30am, members and guests of members only November 12 — Member’s Talk, AGNSW Domain Theatre, 10.30am, $15 /$25 , includes refreshments November 24 — Berkelouw Books, 6.30pm, $10, includes $5 credit December 7, 9.30am – Kirribilli Club, includes tour of Wendy’s Garden, organised by Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens, for members and guests of members only
Your workday is about to get a whole lot more bearable, courtesy of the marketing department at Uber. Starting from midday today, the ridesharing service is teaming up with Purina's Pets at Work mission to deliver puppies to offices around Australia. We'll give you a minute to process that information. UberPUPPIES will be available in the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast CBDs. All you need to do is log into the Uber app at noon, hit the 'puppies' button (squee!), and a four-legged friend will be whisked to your place of work for 15 minutes of quality cuddle time. It'll run you up a bill of $40, so you might want to go in with a few of your co-workers. Either that, or try and convince your boss it'll be good for employee morale. Which, to be fair, it most definitely will be. Money raised will be used to support local animal shelters. Each puppy will also be accompanied by a shelter representative, who'll be all too happy to accept any additional cash donations. And in case you form an extra special connection, all UberPUPPIES are available for permanent adoption. UberPUPPIES is the latest in a string of awesome Uber promotions, with the company having previously delivered everything from kittens to ice cream to backyard cricket umpires. Fair warning though: these things tend to generate a lot of demand, so make sure you're hovering over the Uber app come 11.59am. The puppies will be cruising around town until 4pm.
What’s that in the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, you dunces, this is actually a 26-metre-high aerial playground that’s opening in Adelaide next month. The aptly named Mega Adventure Park (for, you know, mega adventures) is currently being finished on the West Beach foreshore, and while it looks like an alien spacecraft come earthward to take all our women for breeding, it’s actually an extreme jungle gym for adults. So what's on the maxtreme menu for kidults? Scramble nets, rope bridges, beams, swings, log steps, mega bungee trampoline, aerial surfboards and Adelaide wine barrel steps. Boom. There’ll be 54 activity stations for those who want to push themselves to the extremes, viewing platforms for the resters, and a Mega Adventure Kiosk for those who want to kick back with a vino and watch the madness unfold. It’s basically American Ninja Warrior but for people who lack upper arm strength and need to be securely fastened at all times. And if you're way too chill to be jumpin' off of crazy stuff, you can instead head straight to the top and take in some pretty breathtaking views of Adelaide. Find Mega Adventure Park at 4 Hamra Avenue, Adelaide Shores, West Beach. For more info, give 1300 634 269 a buzz. Images: Mega Adventure Park/Facebook.
Fancy yourself a citizen of the world? An ambitious new startup could help you make it so. Roam is a co-living service that gives you access to communal living spaces in countries around the globe. With spaces currently available in Bali and Miami, and with further locations in Madrid, Buenos Aires and London set to open soon, Roam isn't designed for holidaymakers, but rather "location-independent people" looking for a way to combine work and travel, and to find a community in a city that's not their own. You can book for a week (US $500) or a month (US $1800), although residents are encouraged to stay longer in order to promote "better friendships and a stronger community". Once you've signed up, you're free to come and go as you please, and can book into different locations through their online system. "With new opportunities for location-independent work, we can now mix careers and travel in ways that haven't been seen before," reads a statement on the Roam website. "Over time, we want to have our spaces mix and integrate newcomers with the surrounding community and its longstanding local institutions and culture." The properties are large, with 38 rooms available in Miami and 24 in Bali, respectively. Each room is fully furnished, with its own private bathroom along with a queen or king size bed, while residents share communal spaces like living areas and kitchens. [caption id="attachment_571002" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Roam Ubud, Bali[/caption] The whole premise is built around giving people the freedom to live a nomadic lifestyle but still maintain their careers at the same time. Each property has high-speed internet and a co-working space for optimal productivity. Certainly sounds better than working from a hostel bunk bed, battling shitty Wi-Fi just to send an email. For more information about Roam, visit roam.co. Via Co.Exist.
The Alliance Francaise French Film Festival is back for its 26th year and with 49 feature films to be screened at cinemas across eight cities, you'd best prepare yourself for everything from the flirting, whimsy, mishaps and misunderstandings that come with French comedy to the passion, ennui, coming-of-age rebellion, thrilling crime and non-conformist romance that come with French drama. Highlights include: gala opening night feature Gemma Bovery, an endearing comedy starring Gemma Arterton that drops the characters of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary into a small Normandy town; the Saint Laurent biopic exploring the inspirations and struggles of the acclaimed designer Yves Saint Laurent at the height of his career; and Samba, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and star of The Intouchables Omar Sy in a cross-cultural romance that looks at the hardships faced by French immigrants. See more of our highlights in this list of top five films to see at the French Film Festival. Read our top five picks of the French Film Festival here.
Camping season is about to kick off hard but, as the folks at Simple Pleasures Camping Co. are happy to show, that needn't necessarily mean sandy sleeping bags and dusty bush treks. The luxury camping pros are set to take over Sydney Harbour's North Head, with a seven-week pop-up glampsite that'll see happy campers enjoying the great outdoors in style. Running from December 14 to January 31, the Bedouin on the Beaches pop-up will feature ten plush furnished tents overlooking Manly Beach. These luxe lodgings are about as far from roughing it as you can get, each one tricked out with Persian rugs, cloud-like Hugo Sleep mattresses and linen by IN BED. And, with some local favourites on board, the food situation is also a far cry from that of your childhood camping trips. Each booking includes a lavish breakfast at The Boathouse Shelly Beach (which is just a stroll away), and nearby Papi Chulo has created a special set menu for guests wanting lunch or dinner. There's also the option of arriving at your tent to a chilled bottle of Laurent Perrier and one of the Artisan Cheese Room's tasting boards. Bedouin on the Beaches is just one of Sydney's glamping options — Cockatoo Island has been doing glamping for a while now, and a glamping hotel is set to pop up next year on Clark Island. And if you want to rough it is, take a look at our best camping spots around Sydney and guide to camping along the east coast. Find Bedouin on the Beaches on the grounds of the International College of Management at North Head, Manly from December 14 to January 31. Tent bookings are open now.
Tired of stale old superhero stories with their predictable Hollywood plotlines? Wouldn't you rather watch a movie about a half-man, half-fish instead? If your answer to either one of those questions is yes, then it's time to dive into the program at KOFFIA, aka the Korean Film Festival in Australia. Merman comedies aside, the lineup at this year's festival is packed full of highlights. Genre fans can scream through exorcism flick The Priests, and be pushed to the edge of their seats by supernatural thriller The Wailing. We're also extremely keen for zombie apocalypse tale Train to Busan, although unfortunately for cinephiles in Brisbane and Melbourne the film is only screening in Sydney. Viewers after something a little less on the gruesome side won't be disappointed either. This year's program boasts a number of Korean rom-coms, headlined by Cho Sung-kyu's disarming relationship farce Two Rooms, Two Nights. Check out our list of the five must-see films of KOFFIA 2016 below. COLLECTIVE INVENTION Is he a man? Is he a fish? Whatever he is, he causes quite a stir in this very strange offering from first-time filmmaker Kwon Oh-kwang. Combining playful social satire with a healthy touch of the absurd, the film tracks a wannabe journalist who discovers a man online who, after a series of misguided medical experiments, has been transformed into a gigantic mutant fish. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Collective Invention skewers big pharma, tabloid media and the public's unhealthy obsession with the grotesque. Calling it now: this will be better than DC's upcoming Aquaman movie. A CRYBABY BOXING CLUB Students at a Korean high school in Tokyo make plans for life after graduation, even as members of a right wing extremist group yell xenophobic slogans just outside. A documentary that doubles as a non-fiction coming-of-age tale, A Crybaby Boxing Club follows a group of boys on the school's boxing team as they prepare not just for an upcoming tournament but for the realities of adult life. Screening in Australia for the very first time, the film shapes up as an inspiring tale about hope in the face of adversity. ALICE IN EARNESTLAND A black comedy/revenge tale soaked in grisly violence, Alice in Earnestland is the startling feature debut of director Ahn Gook-jin. K-pop sensation Lee Jung-hyun stars as the increasingly unstable Soo-nam, who finds herself struggling with spiralling debt after a suicide attempt lands her husband in a very expensive coma. Things take a turn for the nasty after a local politician gets involved, although the truly vicious places the movie ends up going really need to be seen to be believed. Alice split critics on the international circuit, and we fully expect a similar reaction from audiences in Australia. TWO ROOMS, TWO NIGHTS A philandering filmmaker tries to keep his deceptions in check after a chance encounter between his current girlfriend and the ex he wants desperately to win back. Directed by Cho Sung-kyu, Two Rooms, Two Nights has all the makings of a classic romantic farce, but the real selling point is the comparison that several critics have made to the gentle, heartwarming masterworks of Cho's compatriot Hong Sang-soo. Incidentally, Hong's latest film Right Now, Wrong Then screens in Sydney (but not Melbourne or Brisbane) as part of the KOFFIA program, and is definitely worth checking out too. THE WAILING If anything, we might have saved the best for last. The Wailing is the new film from acclaimed director Na Hong-jin, whose previous picture The Yellow Sea is one of the most visceral, compelling crime thrillers of the past ten years. His follow-up focuses on a string of deaths in a small town and a police officer who begins to fear that the cause may be somehow supernatural. The reviews for the film have been absolutely stellar (think 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), with critics praising its blend of suspense and stomach-churning violence. Not for the faint of heart. Otherwise, don't miss it. KOFFIA takes place in Sydney from August 10-18, in Brisbane from August 23-29, and in Melbourne from September 1-8 . For more information visit koffia.com.au.
Sydney is getting its very own version of New York City's High Line. Opening this weekend along a 500 metre stretch of disused rail line that runs parallel to Harris Street through Ultimo, the $15 million Goods Line is a pedestrian walkway connecting Central Station to Darling Harbour. But there's a lot more to it than that. Boasting full Wi-Fi connectivity, public entertainment spaces, table tennis tables and study pods, this is Sydney's newest urban playground. "It's a public campus for the area of Ultimo and all the people and buildings around it," said Sacha Cole, director of ASPECT studios, which handled the design of the Goods Line along with architecture firm CHROFI at the direction of the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. "It really is going to be a catalyst for people to come down from Central Station to Darling Harbour, which is undergoing a massive, once in a generation transformation." Like Manhattan's lauded 2 kilometre stretch of elevated public park, Sydney's newest urban renewal project was once a piece of rail corridor, one that transported meat, wheat and wool to and from the city for well over a century. But Cole sees the Goods Line as a much more active destination than its tranquil NYC equivalent. "They're both transformations of heritage rail lines, so in that they're very similar," he says. "But in terms of what the public will see, and how the public will use it, they're very different. The High Line is quite a quiet, passive destination. The Goods Line is all about engaging people." Additional features of the Goods Line include an amphitheatre, a bike path and a children's water playground, as well as grassed areas and elevated platforms designed for public performances and events. Cole also points to nearby arts, education and cultural entities, such as the Powerhouse Museum and UTS. "A core principal for us was that we were really respectful of the history of the place," explains Cole. We talk about it as a conduit for exchange. It used to be the old rail line that brought in all of the primary industry from the West ... so we had to think about the 21st century version of that kind of industry. And in this area here, it's all about ideas, and it's all about innovation." The corridor's history also provided inspiration for the physical design of the space, with Cole and his team making use of industrial material in its construction. "We tried to use really robust materials, rail materials, in a very elegant way," he explains. "The concrete has all been pre-fabricated; the materials have all been laser cut. It's really quite a refined version of rail infrastructure."
Sydney chef Mike McEnearney, of Rosebery's beloved and now-closed Kitchen by Mike, finally opened the doors of his much anticipated new fine-dining restaurant No.1 Bent Street by Mike today. A huge departure from McEnearney's beloved canteen style dining, No. 1 embodies classy eating with a casual air. The location, adjacent to the CBD's Wintergarden, may not resemble KBM in style — except for a few old favourites — but the food is very reminiscent of the canteen's simple, generous food ethos. Mike's got a good team helping him steer the ship at No. 1 Bent Street, with longtime collaborator and general manager Greg Frazer (who has worked alongside Mike for around 25 years, including at Rockpool and Kitchen By Mike). He's also worked with David Lowe from Lowe Family wines to create the restaurant's house white, WHITE by Mike, and the house red (you guessed it) RED by Mike is a collaboration with Rose Kentish of Ulithorne wines SA. The market driven menu will change constantly — nearly daily — and focus on fresh, local and seasonal produce, much the way KBM did. Ethical eaters will be glad to hear that all meat served at No. 1 is sustainably farmed, grass fed, hand reared, hormone and chemical free. That's one big mouthful of moral eating right there that we're happy to get behind. Designed to share, the dishes just wouldn't work in a canteen style restaurant and deserve the fine-dining atmosphere they're given at No. 1 — KMB's beloved watermelon, haloumi and mint salad ($16) has made the journey, alongside blood orange cured mackerel ($19) and beef cheek, tail and suet pot pie ($36). The current menu includes a cup mushroom and chestnut soup ($15) that begs for Mike's homemade sourdough, back as an accompaniment ($4) served with Pepe Saya salted butter. The gorgeous desserts are on another level as well, like the woodfired quince, saffron custard and pistachio brittle ($17) that we hope claims a semi-regular spot on the menu, and the simple but delightful rice pudding with honeycomb and jam. Mike's signature nosh comes paired with the aforementioned RED and WHITE by Mike, alongside a generous wine list from around 50 options from small producers worldwide — with a strong Australian focus, of course. While McEnearney clearly has his hands full with this new opening and as the creative director for Carriageworks Farmers Markets, he hasn't given up on KBM either and is still looking for a new location in which to reopen his much loved canteen. "Kitchen By Mike will always be my love and passion, however there are dishes I am unable to execute within a canteen format. The more traditional style of No.1 Bent St provides me with the opportunity to offer a wider choice of more composed dishes," says Mike. "As a chef, and as someone who loves to take care of people, I still want guests to feel comfortable and welcome, as though they are eating at my house." No. 1 Bent St by Mike is now open at 1-7 Bent Street, Sydney. The restaurant will be open for lunch Monday through Friday and for dinner Monday through Saturday. Reservations are available here.
A woman and her young daughter, alone in their apartment, begin to worry that something is amiss. Personal items start disappearing, there's a feeling of tension in the air, and a shadowy figure seems to lurk just out of sight. On its face, Under the Shadow sounds like a fairly standard haunted house movie, but Iranian-born, London-based filmmaker Babak Anvari has delivered anything but. Setting his film in Tehran during the late 1980s, a time when the city was being bombed by neighbouring Iraq, Anvari uses horror movie trappings to explore the various social issues that have affected his native country for so long — from the rights of women under a religiously conservative regime, to the traumas of war creeping into everyday civilian life. After a rapturous premiere at Sundance back in January, Under the Shadow screened at the Sydney and Melbourne International Film Festivals, ahead of a planned theatrical release on October 7 (you can read our review of the film here). It was in Melbourne that Concrete Playground managed to catch up with the talented young writer-director, for a chat on everything from growing up during wartime to the challenges of funding a Farsi-language horror film in the West. A CLASSIC HORROR STORY IN AN UNFAMILIAR SETTING When talking about Under the Shadow, the most obvious comparison for critics is A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night – if only because it's the only other Farsi-language horror movie people have heard of. But where that film draws on vampire tales, Westerns and ultra-cool American indie flicks, Anvari's movie feels closer to classic psychological thrillers. Think The Haunting, Rosemary's Baby or even the recent Australian spooker The Babadook. "I love smart horror films," stresses Anvari. "I'm not one of those genre fanatics who watches every B-movie and grindhouse film. But I do love smart horror. With Under the Shadow, it just made sense to me, because I'm setting it in such a dark period... I just found it was a great setting for horror." In addition to his various filmic inspirations, he also drew on his own experiences growing up in Tehran. "Obviously it's not autobiographical, but a lot of it comes from a very personal place, tapping in to my memories from childhood," says Anvari. "I was born right in the middle of the Iran-Iraq war. [I took] stories I heard from relatives and family friends, combined them and added the genre beats, and [the film] became what you have now." CAN'T WE JUST MAKE IT IN ENGLISH? Of course it's one thing to write a horror movie in Farsi, and something very different to actually get it funded. "I met producers who were like, 'Great script, but is there any way we can shoot it in English?'" recalls Anvari. "I just thought it would look so fake and unbelievable if it was set in period Iran and people were walking around speaking English with a weird accent. Even for an international audience I think it would have been strange." While the language hurdle was eventually overcome thanks to the support of production company Wigwam Films, shooting the film in Tehran was never really an option. "I don't think there's anything offensive in the film, but [there are] limitations one has when making film in Iran," says Anvari, who ended up shooting in nearby Jordan instead. "Even very minor things like, in Iran, if you're shooting a female character, they have to cover their hair. But a majority of this film is a woman in her own personal space, and even the most religious person wouldn't go to bed wearing a head scarf." "There are fantastic filmmakers in Iran who are still working there, and they always find a way to go around these limitations and censorships," he adds. "But having worked in England, and having been so spoiled, I just wanted to tell my story the way I wanted." OPENING A WINDOW While the comparison to A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night can be a little misleading, one thing that both films definitely have in common is that they've sparked renewed interest in films about the Middle East that depict the region in ways that Western audiences may not be used to. "That was one of the reasons I was so interested in this story," says Anvari. "Not many people know about the Iran-Iraq war. So I just thought it would be great to use genre tropes as a hook to keep people interested, and open a window to that period and that region." Whatever the draw, Anvari just wants people to go and see the film — and preferably in a cinema. Recounting a story from Sundance where audience members were so frightened that they had to leave the cinema, the filmmaker stresses the importance of the atmosphere you get with a crowd. "It's great to watch such films in a cinema," he says. "The fear is contagious." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_ATX4C8Pmw Under the Shadow is currently screening at Cinema Nova in Melbourne.
There's no shortage of bright lights in Tokyo, but one particular patch of grass is currently shining more vividly than most. Indeed, located next to an inner-city mall until November 5, a pop-up plastic greenhouse is positively glowing — all in the name of combining agriculture, technology and design in a fun and immersive fashion, and with a swelling soundtrack to match. The interactive installation might be called Digital Vegetables, but no one in its vicinity will feel like they're being forced to consume something they don't want. Rather, trying to avoid The Garden Square outside Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi is futile — the lure of technicolour illumination paired with symphonic music is something you can't ignore. A project by creative firm PARTY, Digital Vegetables combines its greenery-filled structure with plenty of incandescent bulbs, and asks visitors to not only watch, but touch, play, wander, listen and drop their jaws in awe. As attendees walk through the free-to-enter space, they're encouraged to gently roam their hands over the cherry tomatoes, eggplants, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, radishes, carrots and cabbages blossoming in the soil inside. With patrons getting hands-on with the growing plants with each touch — and taking in not only their texture, but their scent — the LEDs and sounds respond. [caption id="attachment_644147" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sarah Ward[/caption] While the bright lights part of the piece may seem straightforward, the display includes animated projections of fresh produce twinkling up and down the greenhouse's ceiling. On the music side of things, sound designer Ray Kunimoto actually recorded real plants (that is, the sounds that emanate from rubbing their seeds, touching their leaves and eating their fruit). He then mixed them with orchestra instruments such as the violin, trumpet, oboe, flute, piano, harp and clarinet, and created a melody. Basically, if you've ever wanted to control your own multi-sensory, multi-coloured light show — and you happen to be in Japan at present — this is your chance. If you've ever wanted to use a veggie garden as a musical instrument, here's your opportunity as well. Unsurprisingly, the results are overwhelmingly gorgeous. Seeing folks audibly exclaiming in wonder (when they're not staring up and taking a constant stream of snaps, that is) is all part and parcel of the experience. https://vimeo.com/238703497 If you're in Tokyo, Digital Vegetables is now open outside Tokyo Midtown until November 5. For more info visit digivege.jp. Images: Sarah Ward and Kenta Hasegawa.
FOMO — Australia's clash-free, one-day summer festival — is back for a third year. After a Brisbane debut in 2016, this time, the event is hitting Melbourne for the first time too, with a new evening edition called FOMO by Night, as well as making a return to Sydney and Adelaide. Leading the program is California's RL Grime, who's been headlining festivals all over the world with his experimental, high energy mash-ups of sound, colour and texture. Hot on his heels is Montreal's Kaytranada, who was here last year and bass lines have had him topping hip hop and dance charts (that is, when he's not collaborating with Alicia Keys or Chance the Rapper). Meanwhile, New Jersey-based neo-soul singer SZA is making her Australian debut on the back of debut album CTRL, and Texan rapper-singer Post Malone is coming back, after winning a lot of love during his Australian tour earlier this year. Also on the schedule is Grammy nominee ZHU with a brand new show and a live band, performing tunes from his dark and mesmerising EP Stardustexhalemarrakechdreams, along with London-based Grammy winner Tourist, and LA's Drezo, whose underground house has won admiration from Diplo, Destructo and Porter Robinson, among others. As always, FOMO is lining up homegrown talent up next to international stars. Representing Australia are The Kite String Triangle, Nina Las Vegas and Sweat It Out signee Dena Amy. Plus, there's an Australia-wide competition on the boil, which will see four emerging local artists join the bill. FOMO will kick off on Brisbane's Riverstage on Saturday, January 6, before moving to Parramatta Park in Sydney, on Saturday, January 13. Melbourne will get a slightly smaller lineup at their FOMO by Night, which will take place at Festival Hall on Thursday, January 11. Pre-sales start at 10am on Tuesday, September 5 and general sales on Wednesday, September 6. $1 from every sale is going to music charity Heaps Decent and, if you can't afford your ticket in one fell swoop, you can opt for a payment plan, which lets you pay it off via monthly instalments. Here's the full lineup. FOMO 2018 LINEUP RL Grime Kaytranada ZHU Post Malone SZA Tourist The Kite String Tangle Drezo Stööki Sound Nina Las Vegas Dena Amy FOMO BY NIGHT 2018 LINEUP Kaytranada Post Malone SZA The Kite String Tangle Dena Amy Mimi FOMO 2018 DATES Saturday, January 6 — Riverstage, Brisbane Sunday, January 7 — Elder Park, Adelaide Thursday, January 11 — Festival Hall, Melbourne Saturday, January 13 — Parramatta Park, Sydney FOMO will take place in January 2018. Tickets go on sale this week. For more info, visit fomofestival.com.au. Image: Mitch Lowe.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales is set to double in size, with the NSW Government confirming a $224 million investment in the ambitious Sydney Modern expansion project. First proposed in 2013, the plan is to extend the historic gallery to the north east. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2019, and is expected to be completed in time for the gallery's 150 year anniversary celebrations in 2021. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the extension will include eight low lying pavilions that will come to rest on two decommissioned oil tanks, that will themselves be turned into exhibition spaces. The additional floor space will allow the gallery to display more of its $1.3 billion collection, including a large amount of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, the bulk of which is currently in storage. It will also include areas for education programs, film screenings and live performances. "Our expanded gallery will deliver an iconic building that combines art, architecture and landscape in an extraordinary way, and in one of the most breathtaking locations in the world," said gallery director Dr. Michael Brand. It is estimated that the expanded gallery will attract around two million visitors a year, and is more likely to snag touring international exhibitions. In addition to the $224 million from taxpayers, the gallery will seek a further $100 million in private donations, $70 million of which has already been pledged. The plan is to launch a fundraising campaign to make up the remaining $30 million later this year.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, quit your desk job and start that no-guarantees creative career you've always had in the back of your mind? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. Who doesn't want to watch movies all day, and get paid for the privilege? That's not all Kate Jinx does as the director of programming at Sydney's Golden Age Cinema and Bar; however finding challenging features you wouldn't see elsewhere and championing under-appreciated classics really is how she has made a living since the boutique theatrette opened in September 2013. You can read the interview over here. Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Kate's being a total legend and helping us give away a late night private screening party for you and up to 50 of your friends, so you can see for yourself what happens when bold humans take big creative chances with big payoffs. Pick a film from the current program, on a Friday of your choosing, invite your friends, complimentary popcorn and a Jameson for all! Enter here to win. And enjoy Jameson responsibly, folks.
Australian farmers put out some seriously delicious cheese, but, if you live in the city, the best stuff isn't necessarily easy to find. Most are made on country farms, several hours' drive away, and don't often make it to major supermarkets. The good news is that a cheese lover by the name of Anna Perejma wants to change all that. She's the founder of The Cheese Riot, a brand new service that will soon bring boutique Aussie cheeses to your doorstep. "I love Australian cheeses," says Perejma. "Our products are just as good as anything you'll find internationally, but don't get enough recognition." Before you start wondering about Perejma's credentials, her resume includes events officer at the Australian Specialist Cheesemakers' Association — yes, the ASCA really exists — where she recently organised the & Cheese event series that included a Young Henrys beer and cheese pairing and a Four Pillars gin cocktails and cheese pairing at Moya's Juniper Lounge. We're pretty confident you can trust her palate. If that isn't enough, right now Perejma is travelling the length and breadth of the country, sampling all the cheese she can get her hands on. Once she has made her picks, she'll be popping them into boxes and sending them to subscribers all over Australia. Each delivery will also include a bunch of Aussie-made accompaniments, such as chutney, pastes, honey and matching teas. "It's like the Dollar Shave Club, but for cheese," says Perejma. "Every month, you'll get a selection of cheeses delivered to your house, most made by small producers who live in the middle of nowhere. The idea is to unlock products people want but can't get." On top of that, Perejma wants to "take the wank out of cheese" and encourage a sense of community around sharing it. "You can enjoy cheese any way you like, be that on your own with Netflix and a glass of wine or with a bunch of friends at a picnic in the park." The Cheese Riot hasn't launched quite yet, but, to keep an eye on developments and go into a draw to win a free cheese box, head over here.
To hear the latest new tunes by Flume, you'll need to make a date with the Art Gallery of New South Wales' Volume music series when it returns for 2024. The Australian talent won't be performing at the event. There's no word of him popping up with Tkay Maidza, who is also on the festival's bill, following their 2023 single 'Silent Assassin'. But he has composed the soundtrack for a world-premiere installation in AGNSW's old Second World War oil tank that's been turned into a performance and art space. Featuring sound, projections, lighting and lasers, Every dull moment (EDM) hails from Flume and multidisciplinary artist Jonathan Zawada, and shows its inspiration right there in its name — EDM festivals, specifically. It has been designed for the unique site in Naala Badu, AGNSW's $344-million extension that opened in late 2022. Comprised of sequences spanning between ten and 90 seconds, the piece goes on continuously and randomly without repeating, paired with Flume's new compositions. It's also on the free portion of Volume's lineup. Not just Zimbabwean Australian singer-songwriter Maidza, but also André 3000's Australian-exclusive shows with his experimental jazz project André 3000 New Blue Sun LIVE, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Ghanaian Australian talent Genesis Owusu are the event's headliners — all at ticketed gigs. As for the rundown of events that won't cost you a cent to enjoy between Friday, July 5–Sunday, July 21, Every dull moment (EDM) has company from a heap of excuses to see live tunes for free, featuring more than 30 local and international artists in total. [caption id="attachment_954052" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sven Mandel via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Another huge highlight: Blak Country, a celebration of Aboriginal country music which will take place during 2024's NAIDOC Week. On the bill: Roger Knox, Kyla-Belle Roberts, Loren Ryan, Frank Yamma, Jarrod Hickling and Kathryn Kelly, as well as a playlist from musical talents from incarcerated First Nations communities as part of the Songbirds project. Volume is devoting another night, dubbed Extasis, to experimental sounds curated by Lawrence English, with Jim O'Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi and Hand to Earth among the artists featured. And, at Future Tilt, it'll spend an afternoon getting creative with salllvage, Lydian Dunbar, DeepFaith and more in experimental pop and electronic drone. Fennesz, amby downs, Jules Reidy, Seaworthy and Matt Rösner will be world-premiering new compositions across both AGNSW buildings — the new north building Naala Badu and the OG south building Naala Nura — in a program called Threshold, while Play on, play again, play forever will see musicians from Asylum Seeker Centre play tunes in response to the site's artworks each weekend. [caption id="attachment_880684" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Aerial view of the Art Gallery of New South Wales' new SANAA-designed building, 2022, photo © Iwan Baan[/caption] Top image: The Tank space in the Art Gallery of New South Wales' new SANAA-designed building, 2022, photo © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter,
When Pinbone, Woollahra's then favourite cafe, closed in August last year, brunch aficionados all over the Eastern Suburbs went into mourning. Time to try to those eyes. Ready? Pinbone chefs Jemma Whiteman and Mike Eggert are moving into 10 William Street for a five-month residency. Taking over from Luke Burgess (former co-owner of Hobart's Garagistes) on Feburary 8, the duo will be hanging about until June. Whiteman and Eggert are already familiar with 10 William Street's kitchen. Over the past few months, they've been working under Burgess. Their intention is to keep the venue's Italian-inspired ethos, but add some of their own ideas and creations. "It's definitely Italian, but with a bit of the Chinese and Japanese we're interested in," Eggert told Gourmet Traveller. "We basically want to keep it really fun and have a lot of snacky things. Jem's really excited about making a lot of different pasta, too." He described the position as a "real honour" and the restaurant as "probably the best in Sydney". Reaching for the phone to reserve yourself a brunch spot? Woah there. If it's a bacon-maple tart you've got your mind on, you'd better book for 'brinner'. The Pinbone team won't be bringing in a morning menu, but they are planning on cooking up night-time brunches. Find 10 William St at 10 William Street (der), Paddington. Via Gourmet Traveller.
Tramsheds Harold Park has announced another new tasty tenant ahead of its launch date on September 22. Sir Chapel Bistro and Brewery is the latest providore to join the menu at Sydney's highly anticipated new food precinct, with restaurateur Tom Chidiac set to serve up hearty bistro-style food alongside a selection of Australian craft beers — including one brew made right there on site. Sir Chapel will join the likes of Belle's Hot Chicken, Gelato Messina and a new restaurant from the team behind Tokyo Bird in the much-hyped new food hall at the heritage-listed Rozelle Tram Depot. "We are excited to launch our new concept at Tramsheds, side by side with some of the most exciting and revolutionary food providores around," said Chidiac, who also operates The Naked Duck in Darling Quarter and Sourdough Bakery & Co. in Westfield Hornsby, among a number of other culinary ventures. "We believe that the table is where memories are made – food is there to be shared, to be enjoyed amongst friends and family," he added. "Developing the concept and menu for Sir Chapel has been a really exciting process." What exactly that menu will include is being kept under wraps for the time being, although word is pizzas and roast dinners are a strong possibility. What we do know for sure is that there'll be a strong focus on locally made craft beer. And when we say local, we mean really local, thanks to an onsite brew team producing a homemade pint in a traditional copper brew house. Team members will even be on hand to offer tailored recommendations based on a drinkers' personal palate. Visit Tramsheds Harold Park at 1 Dalgal Way, Forest Lodge from September 22. For more information head to www.tramshedsharoldpark.com.au.
Fans of stunning audio design and generally beautiful things, listen up. There's a father/son duo in Seattle who want to take your money and turn it into a stunning, stunning wood turntable. You've never played 'Norwegian Wood' like this. Silvan Audio Workshop is one of Kickstarter's latest gems, unearthed by Stoney Roads and seemingly worth every last cent in your piggy bank. Created from individual slices of wood, and audio components from English turntable specialists Rega — including a glass platter for your record, one beautiful tonearm and a low vibration, low noise belt drive — these Silvan turntables are all constructed by hand by the Walters. The Silvan comes in three different models: the Archer, the Champion and the Sampo (increasing in quality of parts as you spend more, obviously) and they'll even align the cartridge and set the counterweight so you can plug in and play. The turntables range from $750 up to $2250, so they're pretty exxy. But hey, handcrafted walnut decks were never going to come cheap. "Our vision is to make one-of-a-kind objects of art that will be the centrepiece of any home entertainment system," says the Kickstarter schpiel. "We believe that if your music is unique, if it has soul and life and beauty, the things you use to play it should have all the same character. Mass-produced just isn’t good enough." Silvan are looking for $14,000 to fund their workshop, so they can crank out more turntables in an more efficient space with less sawdust in every crevice — and get a little publicity while they're at it. Plus, they don't live in the same town, so schleppin' back and forth to your dad's house gets pricey. At the time of writing, they've raised $6,152 so far, from just 44 backers. Perks range from stickers and posters for teeny donations, and whole turntables in the $2250 realms. UPDATE 25/2: It's been brought to our attention that a company called Audiowood has been doing an undeniably similar design since 2009. Maker Joel Scilley told us, "The copy's concept is the same down to the same parts used, glass platter, spike feet, etc. My original design is the 'Audiowood Barky Turntable'. Silvan Audio knew the design already existed and are presenting it as their design... I've asked them to stop stealing my intellectual property, and to remove their Kickstarter, and so far they have refused. " Silvan Audio issued this statement yesterday on Facebook: "It's been a very big day, with coverage from a bunch of places (Hello, Boing Boing, Alternative Press, and Engadget! Thanks for the coverage!) and a good conversation with a great guy named Joel Scilley. Joel has a company called Audiowood, and he makes incredible things. One of them is a turntable very much like what we're making, so he's a bit put out that we'd be making what we're making. "It might cost us some support (this whole thing could rub some of you the wrong way, and we completely respect that), but regardless of the impact, we owe you the respect of being completely open and transparent. We added an FAQ to the page today with this info, but we want to be even more proactively honest with you: we're doing something very similar to what Audiowood has been doing for a while. We were pointed to Joel's work during the build of our first turntable, and we still think it's absolutely awesome. Our initial idea was "original" in that we weren't copying anything we knew of when we set out, but of course it's no more of an Original Idea to us than it was to Audiowood or anyone else who's brainstormed or made something similar at some point. (Google the back cover of Jethro Tull's "Songs from the Wood" at some point.) "Ultimately, what we're jumping into is the market of using factory parts in custom plinths. (Rega parts, specifically, because they're radically easy to work with, the quality is great, and the construction is very straightforward.) Audiowood is in that market, and others — hobbyists as well as resellers — are as well, making cool things from all kinds of materials. Our hope is that the world is big enough that all of us can continue to do a thing that we've really enjoyed so far without getting in each other's way. "We don't have a corner on or a legal claim to Rega's parts, and we certainly don't have a claim to trees either, so our intent is honest and completely friendly competition in an area we arrived at sincerely and really believe we're completely free to work in. "Some of you might be disappointed, or you'd rather support the guy who actually got into the shop and mass produced this idea first, and that's completely fine. The last thing we want is to damage Joel Scilley's business — he seems like a really good guy doing good, honest work. For those who want to enable us to go after an idea we also came by honestly, we appreciate the support." Check out the Silvan Audio Workshop Kickstarter page here. Check out Audiowood over here. Via Stoney Roads.
With the beginning of Art Month coming up on March 1, the program of one of Sydney's foremost art festivals is one of the more impressive in its history. The program includes a wild array of exhibitions, talks, tours and experiences that celebrate the vibrant art scene in Sydney, from the artists to the galleries and creative spaces. The 2017 program includes the return of Art at Night (presented by your friends Concrete Playground), a series of after-hours parties and gallery takeovers in the creative spaces in Paddington/Woolahra, East Sydney, and Chippendale/Redfern. Some of Sydney's best galleries will open their doors after closing time to wanderers of the Art Map trail — a journey that culminates in a trip to the Cake Wines Art Bar. Inner west renegades The Bad Bitch Choir (BBC) will be performing. Architect Tao Gofers will give a special tour of the contentious Brutalist Sirius building in The Rocks. Artist Chris Fox will be attached to a large steel drawing machine in Redfern. Sri Lankan-born, Sydney-based artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran will take over Paddington with his large scale sculptures. Intellectual disability-supporting Studio A will be creating a colourful courtyard site-specific work in Chippendale. And Nothing to Lose creator Kelli Jean Drinkwater is commissioning a new work that explores trends in representations of women's bodies. Sticky beaks will get their nosey fix at Art Month as usual, as private collections and home studios open up to the public. The private collection of the legendary Margaret Woodward will be on display inside the home of Wagner Contemporary director Nadine Wagner. The works will be for sale, so if you're in the market, this would be the time to snap up something that'll be priceless one day, if not already. Plus, Guy Maestri, Laura Jones, Julian Meager and Louis Pratt will open their impressive Marrickville studios to the public. Or pop into the Collectors Space, where the personal collections of Archibald winning artists Del Kathryn Barton and Nicholas Harding, among others, will be on display. Want to hear directly from an artist? Sam Holt will be on hand at the Artereal Gallery in Rozelle, where he'll be delivering a talk on his latest exhibition, The space between… The artworks on display are comments on the life of the individual versus the need of society, reflections on the choices that we all make along our very unique paths. There'll be forums surrounding Myuran Sukumaran's posthumous exhibition, Another Day in Paradise, and two members of the boundary-pushing Ikeyan group, Aoki and Yokoyama, will discuss contemporary Japanese ceramics at the Japan Foundation. Tours throughout living creative spaces are on offer, too. Art walking tour crew Culture Scouts will take groups on artistic adventures through Sydney's suburbs, including a saunter through the bohemian borough of Redfern. Those in attendance will be treated to the tales of local artist Randal Arvilla, as well as an expert on Indigenous art and culture. That's just a snippet of the Art Month program. Check the website for the whole month-long lineup. Art Month runs throughout March across Sydney.
Do you like Italian food? Then let us introduce you to the happiest place on earth. Due to open in Bologna, Italy in the middle of next year, Eataly World will be the world's first Italian food theme park, featuring nearly 20 acres of restaurants, kitchens, grocery stores, classrooms, farms, laboratories and more. The park is the latest venture from Oscar Farinetti, the founder of Italian food and grocery chain Eataly. It was first announced a few years back, with an opening set for last November. Fingers crossed they stick to their revised schedule, because we're already looking into flights to Europe. Speaking to Eater, Eataly vice-president and Eataly World CEO Tiziana Primori said the park would mix entertainment with education. "We call it from the farm to the fork because you can see all the steps of the chain, from the animals to the raw materials and workshops and restaurants." The hope is that the park will attract as many as 10 million visitors each year, providing a boost to Bologna tourism in the process. The city already boasts a number of gastronomic attractions, including a medieval marketplace and the world's only gelato university. Via Eater. Header image via Dollar Photo Club
