Sunday Arts Magazine

Dr Judith Buckrich was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1950 and emigrated to Melbourne in

1958. She has several entries in the Encyclopedia of Melbourne and Remembering Melbourne 1850-

1960. Her book The Village of Ripponlea won a Victorian Community History Award in 2016

and Acland Street: the Grand Lady of St Kilda won the 2018 Fellowship of Australian Writers

(VIC) Award for non fiction. She is at present working on the story of the making of the

Victorian Pride Centre in St Kilda, to be published in December 2022 and a history of the

Yarra River in Melbourne.

Stephen talks to Neal and the crew about all things films. 

Returning to Elisabeth Murdoch Hall for the second time in 2022, Cheetham presents Woven Song, a contemporary chamber series inspired by the Australian Tapestry Workshop Embassy Tapestries.

The Embassy Tapestries are a vibrant collaboration between Indigenous artists and the master weavers at the Australian Tapestry Workshop that places large-scale hand-woven tapestries on loan to selected overseas Australian Diplomatic Missions.

Through this important project, Cheetham gives voice to the material works, engaging in the telling of First Nations stories. Woven Song is a unique collaboration across cultures and art forms, building international creative communities. Cheetham performs with musicians local to each country – Singapore, Japan, France, Ireland, China and India – breathing new life into each work.

Woven Song celebrates works of art from an ancient culture, reinterpreted and recreated by the exceptional weavers at the Australian Tapestry Workshop, inspiring a contemporary response in current classical music practice.

ARTISTS

Deborah Cheetham soprano

Mindy Meng Wang guzheng

Reison Kuroda shakuhachi

Musicians from Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Ensemble Dutala, PLEXUS, and Rubiks Collective

 

The Australian Ballet School, the national centre for elite ballet, presents its much-loved end of year performance with over 100 of their full-time artists in training taking to stage for Summer Season with Butterfly at Arts Centre Melbourne on 9 and 10 December 2022.

The dynamic ability and grace of the students will be showcased as they perform a program of classical and contemporary works created by Australian choreographers Lucas Jervies, Simon Dow, Stephen Baynes and Paul Knobloch.

At the heart of the program is the magical title work Butterfly, which recently toured to Sydney receiving critical praise.  Choreographed by former graduate Lucas Jervies, this modern fairy tale told through movement, beautifully blends themes of realism and magic with classic and contemporary techniques.

The extraordinary artistry of the cast of 60 pre-professional dancers, transports audiences to a magical world through transformative sets and costumes by revered designer Hugh Colman.

“Reflection and journey are the heart of Butterfly. It’s an honour to work on this production with young emerging artists who are now in the position I was in 24 years ago at The Australian Ballet School. For me, the metaphor of the butterfly – to transform – is infinite. It’s a constantly evolving process. This production itself has evolved, with a new cast of dancers stepping into the roles this year, and making them new,” said Choreographer, Lucas Jervies.

Set to the joyous score ‘Le Papillon’ (The Butterfly) by Jacques Offenbach, Butterfly is a tale of a young boy who vies for the attention of the smartest girl in school. On an excursion to the butterfly enclosure at the Zoo, they immerse themselves in the kingdom of butterflies, momentarily forgetting the world outside and embarking on a magical journey.

In his other work on the program, π, students use their entire bodies as instruments of dance, percussion and vocalisation.  This exhilarating contemporary work was created by choreographer Lucas Jervies in conjunction with musician of The Australian Ballet School Oliver Northam.

Paul Knobloch has also choreographed two dance works for the program including The Jewellery Box, a charming classical ballet featuring symmetry, beauty and some challenging choreographic moments that showcase the Level 5 students’ skilful abilities. His other work is a dynamic movement dialogue with Level 7 students expressing thoughts, feelings, ideas without words and that moment in time when our thoughts become memories, In Memory of The Moment.

Wolfgang Dance, choreographed by Simon Dow and set to music from Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, is a joyous and cheeky performance from Level 4 and 5 students with the young dancers in 18th century-style white wigs and attire.

Dow is set to retire from The Australian Ballet School at the end of the year, having fulfilled a spectacular 10-year tenure.  The widely admired dancer, choreographer and educator graduated from The Australian Ballet School before going on to dance with the Stuttgart Ballet and become Principal Dancer with The Australian Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Boston Ballet and an international guest artist. Dow also held leadership positions as Artistic Director of Milwaukee Ballet and West Australian Ballet, and was Associate Artistic Director for Washington Ballet, during his remarkable career.

Set to a stunning musical mix of Argentinian composers, El Tango choreographed by Stephen Baynes is performed by Level 8 students – their final performance before they graduate.  A social gathering around tables and chairs providing the setting for this evocative performance piece.

Lisa Pavane, Director of The Australian Ballet School says,

NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER captures a moment before childhood is lost forever.

Hovering between dance and theatre, NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER is a portrait of a

friendship that unfolds between two physically different bodies.

Devised over five years between 36-year-old Aaron Orzech and 13-year-old Sol Feldman, this

new work looks at the fleetingness of childhood. It shows a man and a boy dodging each other’s

shadows and refusing to stay still – they slide in and out of unison, pull apart and traverse the ghostly

landscape of an abandoned Neverland.

Years ago, someone noticed a strange resemblance between Orzech and Feldman and joked they

should create a work where they each played a version of the other. That was the beginning of this

special collaboration.

“As we’ve collaborated over a long period, our connection and understanding for each other has

grown stronger. Ultimately, we’ve made a work that is centred on our friendship that looks at boyhood

and never growing up,” said Orzech.

“We’ve created something full of energy, movement, fun, action, excitement and sadness. We’ve also

been inspired by the fantasy of Peter Pan, its author J M Barrie and the loss of his brother who died

while ice-skating,” explained Feldman.

NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER playfully explores the taboo relationships between

adults and children as well as manhood and boyhood.

BIG Sculpture St Kilda Biennale 2022 is an outdoor sculpture exhibition and competition and is the

largest outdoor BIG Sculpture exhibition and competition in the Melbourne metropolitan area.

The 2022 exhibition will exhibit 22 extraordinary artists, all of whom live in Victoria. Many of the

artists in this Biennale have exhibited in the finest galleries and competitions in Australia and have

been commissioned to create artworks for permanent exhibitions throughout the state. A number

have won awards and accolades and are represented in national collections. Many of these artists

have helped define what sculpture is in Australia today.

Visitors will see 22 extraordinary BIG Sculptures, and can vote for the People’s Prize at the

community open day on 27th November. There are a number of prizes on offer, amounting to

$15,000 in total. The Grand BIG Sculpture St Kilda Biennale prize for 2022 will be awarded by the

judge, Professor Callum Morton, director of Monash Art Projects, Department of Fine Art, an

internationally recognised artist who has represented Australia at the Venice Biennale.

The 2022 Biennale follows on from the inaugural exhibition competition in 2019 when there

were 19 sculptures on display. Following on from the 2019 exhibition the 2022 exhibition has

expanded the number of sculptures, increased the prize money and has set the tone for future

BIG Sculpture biennales to follow. In 2022, with the pandemic receding, we intend that even

more people attend and celebrate this spectacular and free sculptural event.

In 2019 we had 3,500 documented visitors; any gallery would be happy with this attendance

over a five-week period of time. We offer artists maximum exposure, the opportunity for their

works to be seen by the arts establishment and the one in four chances of receiving a prize.

Yep he is back talking about the Art scene in Melbourne.

I have attended life drawing groups for many years and enjoy these sessions immensely.

There are not enough spaces in Melbourne that provide opportunities to draw the male figure. I believe there is an unmet demand.

Therefore, I recently established a life drawing group focussed on the male form. Mr Manns Life DrawingMr Manns Life Drawing provides a chill and safe space for anyone interested in practicing drawing regardless of skill level.

On Sunday 13 November, 2022, Ruth Rogers-Wright performs the great songs of Nina Simone in a

concert including original music and poetry evoking the sprit of this acclaimed artist.

Ruth’s smouldering vocals invoke the music of Nina Simone

with soul when she sings her unforgettable songs,

accompanied by a stellar trio featuring the great jazz pianist

Mark Fitzgibbon and Craig Fermanis on electric guitar.

Of her inspiration for the show Ruth said, “When Nina passed

way I felt the press obituary did not do her justice, I felt she

needed a great tribute to celebrate her life and achievement

and so I created my show and it’s in the spirit of celebration that

I always perform it”

Ruth wrote a song ‘Liberian Days’, about Nina’s time spent

there, that she performs in the show – listen here.

Ruth Rogers-Wright is a singer/songwriter from Brixton, S.

London U.K. She has lived in Melbourne Australia for 15 years .

She first came to prominence and artistic acclaim in the mid

80′s with the ‘ new British jazz’ movement as described by

seminal London DJ Giles Peterson. Her band Moontwist

featured Australian pianist Mark Fitzgibbon.

In the time she has lived in Australia she has performed her

jazz originals at Bennett’s Lane, The Butterfly Club, Paris Cat

Jazz Club, Dizzys, York Festival and numerous iconic

Australian venues

Fred Williams:

The London Drawings is the first

exhibition dedicated to

Williams’s London period

(1952–56). The exhibition

explores the range and power of

William’s drawings from this

formative period through some

160 drawings of extraordinary

calligraphic energy. These

include superb series of works

that Williams made in London’s

music halls, at the zoo, on the

city streets, and in formal life

drawing classes.

Presenting a surprising counterpoint to the artist’s celebrated, abstracted landscape paintings, these drawings reveal

Williams’s early aspirations to be a figure painter. This early commitment to drawing and painting the human figure is

less well known to the public and reveals Williams’s extraordinary observational skills and ability to capture the world

around him.

Williams left Melbourne for London in December 1951 and there he turned to observing people in particular:

performers at the music halls; workers going about their business; passers-by in the streets; models in life classes at

the Chelsea Polytechnic; and artist friends and fellow students.

The most important group of works is the large sequence of London’s music halls, which were places of popular

entertainment frequented by the working and middle classes. Williams sketched the performers on stage: jugglers,

acrobats, vaudeville performers, singers and dancers, including such legendary performers as Max Miller and others.

Characterised by a dynamic energy and graphic economy, these drawings capture the actions, gestures and

expressions of the performers. Williams was also interested in the audience and their reactions, with numerous

drawings focussing on the absorbed spectators. These range from amusing caricatures to sensitive studies of

audience members dimly illuminated in the gloom of the auditorium.

A further highlight is a group of drawings completed at London Zoo. These large sequences of drawings show

Williams’ skill in dealing with the forms of exotic creatures – big cats, elephants and giraffes – and in drawing moving

subjects. The drawings were usually drawn in red or black conte crayon, and Williams sometimes added wash back in

his rooms to further accentuate or define details.

The works on display offer a fascinating insight into both post-war London and the artistic processes of one of

Australia’s most significant artists, who often used his drawings as the basis for works in other media, including oils,

gouache, and etching. In addition to the 160 drawings, twelve gouaches and thirty etchings are included in the

exhibition and reveal how the artist explored the same motifs across different media.

A recent gift of more than 600 early drawings by the artist from Lyn Williams AM and Family further strengthens the

NGV’s internationally significant holdings of works on paper by Fred Williams, which comprise nearly 1,500

impressions of the artist’s prints, 286 etching plates and some 120 later gouaches, drawings and watercolours.

Tony Ellwood AM, Director of the NGV, said: ‘Fred Williams is celebrated for his iconic paintings of the Australian

landscape, yet his outstanding achievements as a draughtsman of the human figure are little known. This revealing

exhibition shines a light on Williams’ extraordinary drawing practice and reveals his life-long commitment to the

medium – which he maintained both before and after he developed his distinctive, abstracted style.’