Sunday Arts Magazine

Mr Macrame also known as Pete has always been interested in knitting stitching and handmade crafts. With an obsession that stemmed back from his childhood, his grandparents owned an arts and crafts store in Newcastle in the UK.

In the wake of the pandemic he started his own little business hand making macrame plant hangers which has now led into hosting macrame plant hanger workshops at St Kilda Artworks Collective. Where he also uses the space as an art studio and gallery.

His latest macrame wall hanging series is using raffia, jute and crushed velvets all while working on a few larger ongoing projects; up cycling bamboo room divider and modifying a Levis denim tank top.

He is back with his fortnightly update on what is happening in the Arts World.

Across February and March of 2022, Theatre Works will present the inaugural FIRST STORIES FESTIVAL – a Deadly new writers festival for First Nations storytellers, proudly delivered #ByMob4Mob. We are currently seeking expressions of interest from First Nations and Torres Strait Islander participants, with applications open until October 29. 

About the festival

The week-long program aims to empower emerging  First Nations writers to find their voice in their own way. 

5 selected writers will be asked to bring a dream project to work on throughout the week, with the opportunity to share with the group and receive dramaturgical advice for their piece, while exploring new creative methods to inspire their writing practice. Participating writers will be paid MEAA rates for their time, and regional/interstate writers are encouraged to apply also. 

The festival is led by industry professionals Brittanie Shipway and Sermsah Bin Saad, and will feature sessions from esteemed creative mentors including musician Mitch Tambo (Australia’s Got Talent), playwright Jane Harrison (Stolen, Rainbow’s End), actor Uncle Jack Charles (Mystery Road, Blackfellas), dramaturg Kamarra Bell-Wykes (Chopped Liver) and more. 

Rachel Burke is a practicing multidisciplinary artist, designer, and author based in Brisbane, Australia.

Known for her vibrant, tactile designs and iconic tinsel creations, her work is inspired by a love for naive craft materials and transforming the mundane into the magical.

Rachel has exhibited her work in gallery spaces across Australia, including Saint Cloche Gallery, Hamer Hall, The Australian Centre of the Moving image, Enough Space, GAFFA, and the Redlands Art Gallery.

Let’s be real. We can’t all quit our day jobs and make art for a living. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be passionate about it. And it certainly doesn’t mean we should give it up.

That’s what we’re here for. To be a full time friend to other part time artists. To support creatives who are not creatively employed. Helping them see value in their creativity – and helping others see it too.

A simple and effective tool to help our friends share and sell their art and for our other friends to find and buy it.

It’s like the straight up, genuine and friendly alternative to snobby art galleries and online poster-print sweatshops. Connecting amazing, part time artists with people who want to buy amazing, original art. Online and super personal. Nice and easy.

So, from one part time artist to another. Let’s be friends. Let’s get more original art out into the world.

Richard Watts is an arts writer and broadcaster who lives on Wurundjeri country in inner-city Melbourne. Since 2009 he has written for the arts industry website ArtsHub.com.au, where he is currently employed as the National Performing Arts Editor. Richard is also a volunteer broadcaster at community radio station Three Triple R FM, where he has hosted the weekly program SmartArts since December 2004.

The founder of the Pink Magpies (the first LGBTIQ supporters group in the AFL) and the Emerging Writers Festival, Richard currently serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre’s volunteer Committee of Management. He has also served as President of the Green Room Awards Association, as the Chair of Melbourne Fringe, and as a member of the Green Room Awards’ Independent Theatre panel.

Richard was a co-founder of the popular Thursday night club Q + A (Queer + Alternative) which ran from 1995 – 2007 and edited the queer weekly newspaper MCV for several years. A life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, he was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. Most recently Richard was presented with the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards’ Facilitator’s Prize for 2019.

Yep, he is back to talk about films and even more films…….

The Musical Comedy Jukebox. A dash of theatre, a pinch of comedy, a splash of cabaret and a smidge of technology set this up to be a unique, high-energy musical experience.

After 18 months of online performances during COVID, Richard expected to bring his digital shows to life. But with Melbourne’s extended lockdown, he will be back behind the camera! An on-screen QR code lets you control the song list and some unique interactions. Every show will be a totally unique experience.

His original songs draw from the moments we all experience; wasting hours on the phone to call centres, accidentally telling an inappropriate joke at the office, family dramas at Christmas… You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll want to see the show more than once. And his Sunday show is kid-friendly!

Cabaret Artist Tash York talks to the Sunday Arts Magazine team.

In response to COVID lockdowns in regional Victoria, Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery is proud to present the online presentation of The Artist and the Mermaid, a new artwork by Catherine Bell, presented as part of exhibition Video Now in partnership with NETS Victoria.

The Artist and The Mermaid (2020) is a silent film that documents the shared artist residency undertaken by “The Two Cathies” at Venus Bay 2020. Cathy Staughton and Catherine Bell are artist collaborators and have been each other’s muse since 2009 when they met at Arts

Project Australia. The silent film genre has been selected because for a brief time in history, it provided an inclusive experience for the hearing impaired who could fully participate in this popular cultural form as equal members of the audience. This silent film is both a documentary and performance artwork. It documents Cathy painting a series of nude portraits of Catherine Bell, while she performs the role of a mermaid that Cathy Staughton discovers on the beach.

Director of NETS Victoria, Claire Watson says: “NETS Victoria is excited to work with Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery to present Catherine Bell’s The Artist and the Mermaid online. Until audiences can once again visit the gallery in person, everyone with a screen and Wi-Fi can enjoy a part of the exhibition Video Now from home.” Catherine Bell says: “The film and portraits explore the ageing female body and bodily difference through this mythological character. The seaside is a site where negative body image is often experienced, so selecting the beach setting and mermaid guise aims to promote positive images of older women and dispel negative stereotypes of ageing. Mermaids are usually depicted as young women and their transition from sea to land involves surrendering their unique anatomy. Cathy’s acceptance of her mermaid friend’s bodily difference subverts this traditional narrative, and through their creative exchange, promotes body positivity, interdependence and empowerment.”