Bookoccino Conversations

A fascinating evening of art and history with Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic Sebastian Smee. The Washington Post writer discusses his new book Paris in Ruins: Love, War and the Birth of Impressionism with curator and Vault editor Alison Kubler. 

Impressionism was a complex reaction to 1870, otherwise known as 'The Terrible Year’. Fighting a losing war with Prussia, Napoleon III was swiftly defeated, deposed and exiled. A fledging republican government came to power at the same time as Paris entered a long siege. Rebellion, starvation and horrific violence ensued.

Smee tells this story through the eyes of key artists, with a special focus on the intimate, enigmatic relationship between Manet and Morisot. Paris in Ruins is both an indelible portrait of the city and of modern art.

The Northern Beaches has a highly engaged conservation community. With a full house overlooking Avalon Beach we gathered for an important discussion on native forests, legislation and environmental activism with two of Australia's foremost experts - Dr David Lindenmayer and Geoff Cousins. They were joined by Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps who recently launched her native forest pledge. 

We hope you enjoy this stimulating conversation, with some clever pointers on effectively campaigning for our forests.

Terra Nullius. A No Man’s Land.

Met with European notions of civilisation, Indigenous Australia was brutally overlooked. But the worlds oldest living culture survives. Indigenous approaches to architecture are gaining ground. Indigenous voices are demanding respect and self-determination. 2023 will likely reveal how far we've come…

Paul Memmott is an anthropologist and architect. For 5 decades he has been Director of the Aboriginal Environments Research Centre. His work has focussed on a range of topics including institutional architecture, indigenous housing, crowding, governance, well-being, homelessness, family violence and social planning. He has is referenced by many scholars, including in Dark Emuby Bruce Pascoe, and in the rebuttal to Dark Emu: Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? by Peter Sutton and Keryn Walshe. He is the author of 11 books, including the magisterial Gunyah Goodie and Wurley: the Aboriginal Architecture of Australia. 

Peter Stutchbury is an acclaimed and award-winning architect known for his innovative approach to sustainability and design. He has a deep appreciation for the Australian landscape, having spent his formative years in the desert country of western NSW. He was winner of the International 'Living Steel' competition for extreme climate housing in Cherepovets, Russia, held the Catedra Luis Barragán in Mexico and has been a tutor on McKay-Lyons Ghost Studio in Canada.

On January night a large group gathered at Moby Dicks, Whale Beach for Bookoccino's annual 'China Night', a foreign policy conversation hosted by Jane Perlez. This year we welcomed Michael Green of the US Studies Centre, author Linda Jaivin and Lowy Fellow Richard McGregor. If you would like to learn more about Bookoccino's acclaimed event series please join our mailing list