The Adelaide Review July 2013

THE ADELAIDE

REVIEW ISSUE 401 JULY 2013

ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU

WATERHOUSE With a record number of entries, the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize is set for its biggest year yet

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ANNA GOLDSWORTHY

LOCAL ENSEMBLES

ARCHITECTURE AWARDS

Patrick Allington interviews the author of the latest Quarterly Essay, Anna Goldsworthy

Chamber music is alive in Adelaide with new groups forming plus old ones rebuilding

The SA Architecture Awards recently celebrated the best of South Australian architecture

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4 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

WELCOME

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ISSUE 401

GENERAL MANAGER Luke Stegemann luke@adelaidereview.com.au

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SENIOR STAFF WRITER David Knight davidknight@adelaidereview.com.au STAFF WRITERS Nina Bertok Miranda Freeman Lachlan Aird DIGITAL MEDIA COORDINATOR Jess Bayly jessbayly@adelaidereview.com.au

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Submissions are open and the judges have been announced for The Adelaide Review’s Hot 100 South Australian Wines competition

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Fashion Performing Arts Visual Arts Food. Wine. Coffee Travel FORM

05 08 11 16 18 20 23 24 30 38 ACSA MOVE The future of the Adelaide Central School of Art is 50 looking bright as it settles into its new premises 51

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42 THE RISE OF THE VEGANS Adelaide has well and truly embraced the vegan movement with quality restaurants and shops

Cover credit: Kate Bergin, The Art of Patience, 2013 (detail), oil on canvas, 165 x 140 cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Mossgreen Gallery, mossgreen.com.au

THE ADELAIDE

REVIEW

CONTRIBUTORS. Leanne Amodeo, Annabelle Baker, David Bradley, John Bridgland, Michael Browne, Helen Dinmore, Alexander Downer, Robert Dunstan, James Erskine, Andrea Frost, Charles Gent, Koren Helbig, Andrew Hunter, Ashleigh Knott, Stephanie Johnston, Kiera Lindsey, Jane Llewellyn, Kris Lloyd, Scott McLennan, John Neylon, Nigel Randall, Margaret Simons, John Spoehr, Shirley Stott Despoja, Rebecca Sullivan, Matt Wallace PHOTOGRAPHER. Jonathan van der Knaap

CALLING SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S BRIGHT, YOUNG THINGS! Applications are now open for the 2013 Young Investigator Award (YIA) The YIA is a unique award recognising excellence in South Australia’s young researchers and their ability to communicate their work.

Proudly supported by the Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS IS MONDAY 15 JULY 2013 AT 4 PM. Further information and application criteria at www.wchfoundation.org.au or call (08) 8161 7703

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 5

ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU

FEATURE

OFF TOPIC: TIMOTHY SEXTON

Off Topic and on the record as South Australian identities talk about whatever they want... as long as it’s not their day job. State Opera CEO and Artistic Director Timothy Sexton was set to be a scientist until he decided to be a musician. But his passion for science hasn’t diminished.

BY DAVID KNIGHT

“

I started getting into natural history when I was five years old, it was just something I gravitated towards,” Sexton – who collects fossils, meteorites and is a keen astronomer and scuba diver – explains.

“I wrote a book on it when I was six, would you believe, that I illustrated myself. It actually wasn’t a bad effort,” he laughs. “I wrote another book when I was 10. I used to collect things. All children go through a collecting stage; I just never got out of it. I was fascinated by science, I was the youngest of five boys and my second brother down was a scientist. All my brothers are pretty bright and would introduce me to science and my father, as well, was very much into the natural world and told me about things.

I developed an interest at an incredibly young age and really took that interest on. I would have been a scientist until I decided to be a musician in my teens. I got into astronomy when I was 12 but I had a big fossil collection, a big rock collection, seashells and a whole raft of other things. It was just part of satisfying a

desire to find out about the natural world.”

When he was 12, Sexton and one of his brothers started to build telescopes from scratch.

“We constructed our own reflecting telescope, and that really got me into astronomy. I have my own observatory at home, as well. It’s good fun. It’s such an incredible area, looking at the history of life, the size of the universe and our place. It’s all about finding my place in the universe, both the micro and the macro.

“It’s amazing looking up and seeing a thousand galaxies outside of our own, it’s humbling. You think about life’s problems and then you look up and think, ‘Actually... let’s put all of this into perspective, shall we?’”

Sexton only recently started collecting meteorites.

“You purchase those over the net and from suppliers, there are certain reputable suppliers, usually overseas, but there are a few dodgy ones on the market. The meteorites are amazing.

These things are as old or older than the solar system – five-and-a-half billion years old. It’s sobering, put it that way.”

Would Sexton describe himself as an amateur scientist?

“I think that’s probably a fair description.

I scuba dive as well, I’m interested in marine biology too. I used to grab my microscope and look at the pond life and all those sorts of things, and I still do. I’ve still got a microscope and I can’t go past a creek without getting a sample and putting it under the microscope to have a look.

“As a scuba diver you dive down and see amazing things. With the climate we have,

Timothy Sexton

temperate to sub tropical, there is just an incredible range of marine life that we encounter. It’s noisy. It’s really, really noisy down there. You go down and you can hear the little scallops and the fish grinding away at coral and all sorts of stuff – really incredible.”

your naked eye, your eye isn’t that receptive.

It’s subtle. It’s generally black and white, some colour, but usually black and white. The fine details you see are amazing. It’s about testing yourself to find these objects, which is like finding needles in haystacks.”

Scuba diving has an additional benefit for Sexton.

Has Sexton’s love of the stars and music crossed?

“It’s the one place where I don’t hear music in my head. I go down and I don’t hear music – peace – it’s great.”

“We did a concert some years back with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, which was a Star Trek concert. Interestingly, because I’m a real Star Trek and science fiction fan, it was when Andy Thomas was on the Mir Space Station and he actually recorded something for us to be played at the concert. It was incredible.

It had to be beamed from the Mir Space Station down to Russia’s Baikonur Space Station. From there it was beamed over to NASA in Florida and then Florida shipped the video to us. The cost - $80! It was inconceivable.”

Looking up at the stars is a different matter.

“It’s actually really good if you’ve got a nice classical soundtrack playing away gently in the background while watching the stars. The thing about observing is that you need to be relaxed. Your eyes and body need to be relaxed because you are looking for very fine details.

Things don’t look like they do in the picture books - they’re done in massive observatories with long exposures. When you’re looking with

saopera.sa.gov.au

6 The Adelaide Review July 2013

tribute

Christopher Pearson In March 1984, a young Mark Jamieson founded a magazine known as The Adelaide Review, editing it from a small office at number 13 Hindley Street in the city. The fledgling publication aimed to “reflect the intensive motivation and enthusiasm of innovative people who believe in freedom of speech and the public’s right to alternative news sources.” After half a dozen issues, the magazine fell on hard times and one of Mark’s writers, Christopher Pearson, took up the reins. Mark Jamieson had written in that first editorial that many independent publications had been started in South Australia, yet none had survived; next year, 2014, The Adelaide Review will celebrate 30 years of contribution to the life of both Adelaide and the nation. That longevity is due in no small part to the remarkable achievements of Christopher Pearson.

This month, we pay tribute to the recently departed, central figure in our publication’s history. The Adelaide Review asked some of those who knew Christopher Pearson well, and worked with him across his career, to pen words by way of tribute.

Photo: Newspix / James Knowler

I have given up on fathoming

I met Christopher in 1996.

The Adelaide Review may be

His friends feel the loss of

how the universe plies its

It was a bit like meeting

Christopher Pearson’s chief

Christopher more and more

trade. A short while ago I

a rather grand ruin, and

monument but it is certainly

with each passing day. I first

found myself locked in one of

this was matched by my

not the only one. Under

got to know him in the mid-

those intense conversations

experience of his crumbling

Christopher’s editorship,

1990s. It was Auberon Waugh

with Christopher. The subject

nineteenth century country

the Review was not only a

who brought us together, or

was an obit he was writing

house at Delamere. There

lively chronicler of the life of

more precisely Senator (as

on Howard Twelftree to appear in the following

one would progress from rather impressive

this city but also sought to influence national

she then was) Amanda Vanstone who had invited

day’s Australian. In a curious reversal of roles I

front rooms to the bedrooms, with their damp

debates, in part through giving a platform to

Waugh to South Australia to promote the wine

found myself at Christopher’s invitation ‘editing’

patches and mice, to the kitchen where

members of parliament who Christopher thought

industry. Waugh introduced me to Christopher.

bits of his piece for accuracy and balance. The

anything left out would draw the attention of

had something useful to say.

He said I was ‘a brother.’ (I think he meant we

tenor of this conversation weighed heavily when

larger rodents. As a former book publisher

I read a day later of his sudden death. It was

himself, Christopher was very kind to me then,

column that ran in the Review for about a decade

Review, Christopher of The Adelaide Review, I

Howard who suggested I turn up at Paringa

and this continued when I wrote my biography

and also for priceless, lasting lessons casually

of Quadrant.) Christopher thereupon recruited

Building in Hindley Street for a launch party of

of Tony Abbott. He did mention once that he

imparted over the phone in how to write better:

me as an occasional writer and later regular

something called The Adelaide Review. On a ‘let’s

dropped people who no longer interested him,

make every sentence count; always know exactly

columnist for The Adelaide Review. I found him a

see what you’ve got’ basis, Christopher took

and that was my fate years later, when I turned

what you want to say and say it clearly; never

sympathetic and always helpful editor – one of

me on as the Review’s visual art writer for the

from politics to the writing of detective fiction.

use ten words when one will do; and if it sounds

the best I have ever worked for.

princely sum of an occasional bottle of Petaluma

He was never a man for popular culture. But

contrived, don’t let it appear in print.

which Michael Vanstone somehow managed to

we were friends for a long time, and I valued

Christopher was a fine writer but he was a

keep from Pearson’s grasp for the contributors.

this deeply, not least because there were so

peerless editor. There has been almost nothing

to a symposium I was editing for the publisher

I recall that the general mood of the gathering.

few conservatives in the arts, then as now.

that I have drafted since becoming an MP that

Jennifer Byrne called Double Take; Six Incorrect

It seemed that I had walked into a Thomas

He was very generous with his advice and a

Christopher did not cast his expert eye over. He

Essays. His chapter, ‘The Ambiguous Business of

Rowlandson early 19th century print with ‘Lord’

fabulous conversationalist. He was an exotic

inspired the writing of my first book, The Minimal

Coming Out’, was at once memoir, manifesto and

Pearson holding court in the company of various

creature, and there was something magnificent

Monarchy, which was edited around the kitchen

harbinger of his conversion to the Catholic faith.

sparkish gentlemen. From my experience he

and brave about his complete dedication to

table at his beloved country house at Delamere.

A couple of years later Christopher persuaded me

was a gimlet-eyed but supportive arts editor

the pleasures of the table and his determined

My most recent book, Battlelines, was edited in

to serve with the late John Wheeldon, formerly a

in that he rarely slashed or rewrote, even

lack of interest, by the time I knew him, in all

his upstairs room at Hurtle Square.

Whitlam minister, on Tony Abbott’s ‘Australians for

when confronted with my attempts to explain

forms of physical activity. I always thought

such things as installation art to a skeptical

of it as a form of defiance against the spirit

first and foremost he was my friend. To know

combat Hansonism. In recent years he wrote a

public (and editor). Only on one occasion did

of the times, although it might well have had

Christopher well was to have a grandstand

weekly and characteristically unpredictable column

he weigh in, when my review of a tepid Blake

deeper psychological roots. In one of our last

seat at the clash of mighty emotions as well as

for The Australian. His was a unique voice in our

Prize show aroused some public ire because I

conversations, when he was typically stoical

to have the benefit of a fine mind and a good

newspapers – liberal and conservative, learned and

quoted William Blake to suggest the organisers

about his cancer, he told me how he’d had to

heart. For many, certainly for me, the world is

stylish, generous and discriminating. The column

have a good look at themselves. In formulating

tell a doctor who’d prescribed a ridiculously

now painted in richer, truer colours thanks to

had far more influence than he seemed aware of.

a response Christopher was in his element.

moderate quantity of painkiller that he was a

Christopher. His spirit lives on in the hearts of

A few weeks ago Nick Cater invited me to a small

When the legacy of the Review’s significant

“bottle and a half a day man”, and would need

those who loved him.

party at his home in Sydney where Christopher was

coverage and promotion of visual arts and

something stronger. I miss him very much.

design in Adelaide over the last thirty years is

Michael Duffy

I am indebted to Christopher for a monthly

For twenty years, he was my editor but

Tony Abbott

were all editors – Waugh of the London Literary

In 1996 I was able to persuade him to contribute his brilliant autobiographical essay on homosexuality

Honest Government’ which Abbott had set up to

to be one of the guests. Unfortunately I was unable to make it. For the rest of my life I will regret this

evaluated Christopher’s editorial role deserves

last and missed opportunity to say hullo to an old

full measure.

and irreplaceable friend.

John Neylon

Peter Coleman

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 7

ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU

TRIBUTE 300 words on the subject

‘Uncle Christopher’ was a

of Christopher Pearson?

fixture of my childhood, but I

a man of the right. And he was a true intellectual:

Enter, stage right, Christopher Pearson. He was

died peacefully in his sleep. I

Shakespeare had a

came to know him better after

well read, fascinated by the central theological and

hope it was peaceful. These last

vocabulary of 30,000 words

I finished school, and began

political debates of our times – and earlier times

years, since losing control of his

and Christopher probably

proof-reading at this newspaper.

– and determined to explore through scholarship

life’s great work, The Adelaide

wasn’t far behind, but they

The Adelaide Review was

truth as he saw it. Christopher was not just a

Review, he generally looked quite

wouldn’t be enough to do

Christopher, and contained

scholar; he was a writer of rare ability. He had the

The papers tell us Chris Pearson

glum to me, on my rare visits to

him justice. Here are a few, often contradictory:

all of his contradictions. He was a gifted collector,

capacity to describe what these days are called

Adelaide. Would that he had died hereafter – or found

erudite in his speech, epicurean in his appetites,

and stocked its pages with talent. It presented a

complex issues in simple and clear terms. But he

revival in another high project.

elephantine in his memory of poetry and

version of Adelaide that was enlightened and urbane,

could do more than that. He could combine his

grudges, but equally and often instantly forgiving.

committed to the examined (if chardonnay-soaked)

scholarship, his clarity and a prodigious vocabulary

last year’s Adelaide Festival, was about cremation

He could be malicious, he could be generous

life. Proof-reading it was an education, when I allowed

to articulate a compelling argument.

versus burial. I was for cremation, till he informed

and loving. He was a serious hypochondriac who

myself to pay attention to meaning. When not out to

also had more serious co-morbidities than could

lunch, Christopher seemed to spend his days on the

write speeches for me. The first was the Sir Thomas

a pagan defiance of Christianity, which held the

fit on his death certificate. He was a wind tunnel

telephone: king-maker, town gossip, consigliore. He

Playford lecture at Adelaide University which was a

body sacred. In the high days of his journal’s fight

of gossip about his friends, but when we were

could be stern – as when I allowed an errant ‘n’ to

call to the churches to promote theology and hope

against the left’s cultural hegemony in Australia,

in trouble there was no safer harbour. I was his

sneak past in restaurateur, a misspelling that terrifies

rather than play ephemeral politics. The other was

our yarns had been merry, full of the clatter from

often astonished confidant, he was an uncle to

me to this day – and was always keen to engage me

the Earl Page lecture at New England University which

his city’s best stables. And I still owe him for at

my children. He was a reliable Miss Manners in

in office politics. But he was also generous. After a

challenged the leftist and seemingly accepted version of

least two great favours. One was several years

matters of social etiquette, who was also often

few months, my name appeared in the inside cover,

history denying the huge achievements of conservative

ago, when I’d been invited to the festival but was

personally rude. In other words, he was like most

in very small font but nonetheless – as I’m sure he

leaders from Hughes to Lyons to Menzies to Howard.

not really welcome: he arranged a reading for me

of us, but even more torn. And not so much

anticipated – gloriously. Sometime later I resigned, in

larger than life, as larger than any attempt to

order to concentrate on the piano, and he dressed me

and we discussed at great length the ideas I wanted

when I’d embarked on a very long verse novel

understand his life. He was a sexual libertarian

down as a ‘scapegrace’. But he forgave me enough to

to articulate. He then crafted the speeches, draft after

and, having seen only the first of its five sections,

who became an abstinent Catholic. He was a

publish me occasionally over my student years, and

draft, like a painter trying to get the right tone in his

he undertook to publish the whole thing serial

wild young man who stood for parliament after

then monthly. I cannot think of a better first byline.

work. The speeches themselves caused the predicted

fashion. Each year, a whole book of what would

and desired controversy.

be titled Fredy Neptune appeared in The Adelaide

Anna Goldsworthy

changing his name by deed poll to ‘Pure Fruit and Nuts’, then later became a speech-writer for

I’ll let you into a secret. Twice I used Christopher to

On both occasions, Christopher came to my office

My advice to all young people is simple: live a

a conservative PM.

To give some idea, our very last talk, during

me it had been pushed in late Roman times as

away from the mob-ruled venue. The other was

Review’s centre pages. No critical needles, no

In 2008, after nearly a quarter of

useful life. Christopher Pearson did more than that. He

pleas for abridgement: his trust in his author was

a century as a parliamentarian

was one of the defining intellectuals of our age. His

total. And five successive payments by installment

Micawber, Machiavelli. I often shaved off bits of

and Cabinet minister, I began

premature and unexpected death was, yes, a disaster

added to an eventual advance and royalties were a

him for my characters: a gay IVF embryologist in

work as a visiting professor of

for so many of us.

very real help to our family’s financial survival.

a novel, a sexually secretive medical professor

politics at Adelaide University.

in a short story. I split him in two to create a

Within weeks of holding this

He contained multitudes. He was Rumpole, Mr

lesbian couple in my last novel, but I only scraped

august role, I read a circular

a parodic surface. I fondly remember him at the

email from a fellow academic asking the academic

opening night party after the stage adaptation

staff in the School of History and Politics to explain

of Honk If You Are Jesus, sharing a drink with the

why all academics were left wing. I cautiously sent a

actor who played ‘him’ and offering advice. He

brief explanation that relatively low paid pedagogic

had been an altar boy at St Augustine’s Anglican

work was less attractive to bright, ambitious young

Unley, and St Augustine was great touchstone

people than the professions, banking and the key

for him, from his early years – ‘Lord make me

areas of public service like Treasury and Foreign

chaste, but not yet’ to his later look-back-in-

Affairs and Trade.

pained-surprise years. I urged him for a decade to

It seemed a reasonable reply but the email

break his addiction to the daily breathlessness of

sender replied aggressively that the most intelligent

Canberra politics, and write his own Confessions,

people are left wing. Wow, I thought. I didn’t know

the story of his astonishing intellectual and

academics were society’s most intelligent people!

emotional trajectory. I desperately hope that the

But I do know that in Australia the academic and

manuscript turns up among his papers, or his

intellectual communities have been hijacked by social

hard discs. It would put to shame everything the

democrats, socialists, Marxists and other variations

rest of us can write about him.

of paternalistic left wing sects. It’s the fashion and

Peter Goldsworthy

has been for decades.

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Alexander Downer

Les Murray

8 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

POLITICS MODERN TIMES The School of Life

BY ANDREW HUNTER

I

f the spirit of enquiry ceases to be a central purpose of education in Australia, our capacity to generate wealth through economic growth might continue unabated but Australian society will come to a full stop.

The desire to encourage this spirit of enquiry has been the driving purpose of education since the Enlightenment. What purpose does education serve in Australia today?

Teaching skills that can be used in the workplace is essential, not only for our economy but also for society. There is dignity to be found in secure full time work. It is an important way that an individual can contribute to society.

The recent focus on improving fundamental literacy and numeracy skills, and on monitoring any progress made through standardised testing, has merit. Standardised tests must not, however, become the sole focus of pedagogy in Australia.

If formal education does not promote the ongoing search for truth, so central to its original purpose, we cease to be citizens in a society but assume the less fulfilling role of actors in an economy. The search for understanding and the pursuit of perpetual self-cultivation encourages a full contribution to society.

Many of the critical challenges we face as a nation are social rather than economic. For over half a century, prosperity in Australia has

blossomed yet according to a report released by the World Health Organisation in 2012, depression and anxiety doubled during the corresponding period. Obesity, alcoholism, and suicide are issues that increasingly and disproportionately affect young Australians.

The next significant improvement to the nation’s productivity will be achieved by enhancing wellbeing in our workforce. The prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression and dislocation in Australian workplaces severely limits the nation’s productivity.

Our attitude to education currently does little to encourage a pedagogy capable addressing this growing problem, but instead seeks to improve productivity through the development of skills that serve a uniquely economic purpose. Schools and universities structure their curriculums accordingly.

Modern attitudes to education ignore the original purpose of the universities and of the academies. The term `university’ is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium: a community of teachers and scholars. Does such a community still exist, or do students and teachers now act as individuals uniquely interested in enhancing future employment prospects?

Universities are increasingly reluctant to teach philosophy, let alone encourage it as a central purpose of university education, as it once was. Plato believed that it was the study of philosophy that allowed one to understand the virtues and actions that guide human beings.

The soul of a university is ripped out when philosophy is removed from its curriculum.

The exploration of ideas, a concept intrinsically linked to the study of philosophy, is also vital to our progress as a society. It is relevant to almost every conceivable context: politics, business, management, sport, family and other social interactions.

Education should not be limited to the development of skills useful to a modern economy – as important as that is. Education should also play a role in the development of the individual, and provide a context conducive to the search for truth. It should encourage creativity and innovation.

Without the spirit of critical thinking, we will lose our capacity to discern the shadows from reality. We will struggle to consciously separate right and wrong. We won’t know when to look away from advertising’s moronic gaze. We will turn from the path of perpetual self-cultivation that has in the past challenged a man to be a better husband, a better father. Without the spirit of critical thinking, and the search for truth and understanding that flows from it, we will fail to realise the limitless potential of human existence.

A perception that Australian children are falling behind international standards has further sharpened our focus on standardised testing. The concern that we are slipping behind our economic competitors overlooks the comparative national advantage we hold in critical thinking. The uncritical reconstruction of our education system that is taking place, motivated by a determination to improve results in standardised tests, will dilute or diminish this advantage. Critical thinking enhances our capacity to create and innovate, and has helped us build a modern society that is envied around the world.

Proposed changes to the current schools funding model, based on the recommendations made in the Gonski report, currently dominate public discussions about education in Australia.

These are important and necessary reforms.

School funding reforms will give more people the opportunity to participate in the economy.

It should be followed by a reconsideration of what is being taught, to ensure that future generations of Australians are not merely actors in an economy, but citizens who contribute fully to the search for a better society.

The Adelaide Review July 2013 9

adelaidereview.com.au

politics

American Gas

by Alexander Downer

F

racking has become something of a bogeyman in Australia, which is interesting, because Australia has made a sizeable share of its national income from energy and it is fracking which is going to cost us and dearly.

The problem isn’t solely that we are doubtful about fracking, with many believing it could damage the water table and destroy agriculture; although clearly Australia’s dislike of fracking will cost us. The real issue is across the Pacific in America and Canada. Fracking has led to a remarkable increase in gas production in the US. In 2008 alone there was a 71 percent increase in gas production in the US and the following year an increase of over 50 percent.

This simply enormous increase in domestic gas production in the US will have several long term consequences, not just for the Americans but for all of us.

Let’s look at it from a selfish Australian point of view. The supply of energy globally is increasing substantially and that is going to have a negative impact on energy prices.

For most people that’s good news. But for our coal producers as well as natural gas industry it could very well mean lower prices and lower returns. Already we’ve seen a dramatic fall in coal prices. They’ve dropped by about one third over the last five years.

some manufacturing sectors is starting to grow again and jobs are being created. Needless to say, American industry is arguing that US sourced gas should be priced at below world parity prices to give home grown industries a competitive edge.

Secondly, the Obama administration has begun to approve the export of LNG from the US. They say exports will favour allies and countries with which America has trade agreements. One country in particular is a target for American gas exports: Japan.

And Japan is one of our most treasured gas markets so expect some new and tough competition from Uncle Sam in that market. No doubt the Americans will favour markets like Taiwan as well, another of our important markets.

In Australia, we are loading up our energy costs through the carbon tax, the 20 percent renewable energy target and by limiting fracking – Victoria has a moratorium on fracking. We’re doing this, as you know, as a contribution to combatting global warming and preserving the environment.

So for the Australian government and our energy exporters, the next few years promise to be challenging. At the moment we are the world’s largest coal exporter and the fourth largest exporter of LNG. We’ve been doing great business in energy markets but that boom looks as though it’s over.

For the Americans, the domestic gas boom is already having a positive impact on the local economy. Manufacturers, particularly of chemicals, have suddenly discovered a source of cheap energy. Profits are up, investment in

There’s an issue here. For a start, we produce less than 1.5 percent of global man made CO2 emissions. America produces 18 percent, so what it does really matters; what we do doesn’t matter much at all. And what America has done as a result of fracking and replacing coal with cheap domestic gas is to reduce its CO2 emissions to below the levels they were in 1994. That’s an incredible statistic. US CO2 emissions reached their record high in 2005 and have fallen by 12 percent since then. These days, 30 percent of America’s electricity is generated by natural gas compared with 16 percent in 2000. It’s cleaner and it’s cheaper than coal – at least for them.

The gas revolution in the US also has

important strategic implications for the world. The Americans are becoming less dependent on imported energy, in particular hydrocarbons from the Middle East. Some analysts have argued this will lead to greater US disengagement from the Middle East and a deeper engagement with Asia – where the markets are. This is simplistic but it may have an element of truth. For a start, America is not going to turn its back on Israel. That locks it into the difficult architecture of the Middle East. And secondly, the Americans won’t abandon their other key ally in the region – Saudi Arabia. Although the Americans may have less need for Saudi oil, that isn’t true of America’s European allies – or Japan.

And to abandon Saudi Arabia would risk allowing deeply hostile Iran to dominate the politics of the Middle East. And it isn’t just hostile to the West; Iran is also inherently sectarian promoting tensions between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

But having said that, the Obama administration is loathe to get too heavily engaged with Syria’s civil war and nor did it play a leading role in oil rich Libya. So there it is; the world is changing perhaps to our disadvantage because of fracking in America.

It will be an education to see whether the Australian government after the general election in September has some answer to this challenge.

10 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

FEATURE

QUALITY IN OUR BACK YARDS Proposed legislation for higher-density precincts in the inner suburbs has got Adelaide talking.

BY STEPHANIE JOHNSTON

A

spreading disquiet around the State Government’s proposed urban renewal legislation and associated new governance structures for higher-density urban precincts in Adelaide’s inner suburbs has got community groups talking and the experts engaged in debate.

They are asking whether genuine community consultation grounded in an understanding of the psychology of place might help us achieve an urban form that is driven by design quality, rather than strict (and often manipulative) adherence to statutory planning processes.

Architect and former Commissioner for Integrated Design, Tim Horton, told a recent public forum at the Norwood Town Hall that how you think about a problem defines the tools you use to fix it. “Viewing the renewal of inner Adelaide as a problem of planning law assures us that we’ll reach for planning law fixes,” he suggests, in a recently published essay referring to the broad planning review launched by Minister Rau earlier this year.

Horton believes that the shape and character of our neighbourhoods is being dictated by a vocabulary that many of us simply don’t understand: “Without a radical redirection swiftly deployed, the chance of consensus becomes more and more remote,” he argues.

Australian social planner and ethicist Dr Wendy Sarkissian told another packed-out forum at the Hawke Centre that NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) responses to housing density increases can be reasonable, helpful and understandable. She asks: “What if so-

called NIMBYism is justified because what is planned for your back yard is really something that shouldn’t be there?” Sarkissian says that negative reactions to change can often be attributed to insensitive or poor quality design, and tokenistic community engagement processes that ignore basic human emotions and instincts.

According to Urban Renewal Authority Chief Executive Fred Hansen, the challenge is how to make community involvement work, while not allowing a small number of people to derail projects for purely selfish reasons.

Hansen’s original Thinkers in Residence report declared that, “It is never too early to involve the community in issues directly affecting their neighbourhoods”. The report placed responsibility with the proponents of new policy, or new development to work through possible concerns early, and directly with those likely to be affected. Hansen believes that government and private enterprise must recognise and truly believe that the outcome of this process isn’t just about getting neighbourhood acceptance (although it will do that) but that the process will actually produce a better proposal.

These experts are pointing to community participation models developed over 40 years ago, in the 1960s and 1970s, and an associated body of sociological and psychological discourse.

According to Sarkissian, who lived, worked and taught in Adelaide during the 1970s, we seem to have lost the basic fundamental building blocks of an inclusive professional practice

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According to Sarkissian we seem to have lost the basic fundamental building blocks of an inclusive professional practice that could help us create more acceptable, and better designed higher density housing, and encourage its positive reception in existing residential neighbourhoods. that could help us create more acceptable, and better designed higher density housing, and encourage its positive reception in existing residential neighbourhoods.

Sarkissian cites the observation of British sociologist, Peter Marris, that people find it difficult to reconcile themselves with the loss of the familiar for some impersonal utilitarian

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calculation of the common good. People need to find their own meaning in changes to their environment before they can accept them. So instead of vilifying or dismissing resistance to change, we might be better off slowing down to the psychological limits of what communities can handle. In a similar vein, Horton refers to the ‘Planning for Real’ toolkit developed in the UK in the 1970s, and deployed worldwide to give local people a voice, and professionals a clear idea of a community’s needs and desires.

My favourite piece of wisdom from this era is Sherry Arnstein’s 1969 ‘Ladder of Citizen Participation’, with its eight ‘rungs’ or levels of participation that reflect the extent to which participants can determine the end result.

At the bottom is non-participation, defined

by Arnstein as manipulation or ‘therapy’, where the real objective is to educate or ‘cure’ participants to those in power’s point of view.

The middle rungs represent various forms of tokenism – placation, consultation and the provision of information (perhaps reflecting the ‘tell and sell’ practices employed in this state of late) – while the top rungs of the ladder symbolise real power, in the form of negotiated partnerships and citizen control.

Horton refers to Grattan Institute recommendations to institute neighbourhood development corporations that combine residents, experts and policy-makers in the actual delivery of urban renewal projects. If we are looking at establishing new governance structures for higher density precincts, we need to make sure that the members of the community who will be affected have real power in influencing the final design outcomes.

So just as we have created a design review process that works as an early warning system for design issues, we need to install effective radar systems for detecting and addressing community concerns early, and governance models that give people on the ground a genuine stake in their future. A revised regulatory framework that fails to deliver on these two key realms of design quality and local engagement will inevitably fail.

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 11

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BUSINESS The CBD and the Suburbs

BY JOHN SPOEHR

F

or decades the prosperity and wellbeing of our suburbs was sustained by great postwar investments in social and physical infrastructure – much of this to support the burgeoning defence, white-goods and automotive industries in the suburbs. These industries fuelled the growth of other sectors, creating complex webs of interlinked firms that we call industry networks and clusters today.

There is a view prevailing in some policy and academic circles today that the CBD is the motor force of the modern economy and that much industrial development in suburban Australia cannot be sustained in the face of globalisation.

The Grattan Institute’s recent ‘Productive Cities’ report is a case in point, reinforcing the global cities agenda of the last decade without acknowledging the critical role that our suburbs have played and continue to play in economic development.

The reality is that our suburban landscapes remain centrally important to national prosperity. The benefits of industrial agglomeration (networks and clusters of firms, education and research facilities) are evident not only in our city centres but also in our suburbs. What these places lack in large measure is sufficient investment to more rapidly modernise aged housing, transport and social infrastructure. Without this, great areas of our urban landscape will not share the productivity growth and improvements needed

to sustain vibrant and prosperous communities and economies. Every 50 years or so we need to rejuvenate our suburban infrastructure – that time has come again. As the Federal Government’s Population Policy reminds us, the well-being of residents and the prosperity and productivity of regions demands 21st century infrastructure, technology, housing and jobs.

While South Australia is no stranger to integrated approaches to industry, workforce and urban development, the challenge of building more sustainable suburbs requires revisiting some wellestablished principles. In his landmark book, Ideas for Australian Cities, first published in 1971, Hugh Stretton captured the imagination of a generation of urban policymakers and practitioners looking for insights into the complexity and richness of Australian suburban life.

Stretton not only wrote with great compassion about suburban Australia, he engaged in the policy process himself, putting progressive ideas into practice through his role as Deputy Chair of the Housing Trust of SA. Many have looked to his work for inspiration in their attempts to design cities that respond to complex human needs. We would do well to do so again.

Stretton understood more than most the important relationship that exists between industry and urban development. He was a close observer of history and knew how powerful industry development could be a motor force for sustainable suburban development. The Global Financial Crisis, a high Australian dollar and the rise of Asia as an economic superpower have combined to challenge this once dominant model, requiring a radical rethink of how urban, economic and industry policy intersect in Australian suburban areas. We are left in little doubt that transformation of manufacturing must proceed at a much faster pace than it is, a reality acknowledged in the South Australian Government’s ‘Manufacturing Works’ strategy, which has injected a new sense of urgency

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into the need to support the growth of high value advanced manufacturing.

With GMH (Holden) threatening to close in South Australia, pressure is on to put in place strategies that rapidly accelerate the diversification of the automotive components sector to ensure that they don’t go down with the Holden ship. The Northern Adelaide economy must be diversified much more than it is and the pace of transformation accelerated.

The goods news is that plenty of opportunities exist to drive industry and employment growth over the coming years. We know that environmental challenges like climate change and salinity will generate increasing demand for cleantech goods and services over decades to come. Population ageing is generating growing demand for medical and assistive devices, boosted by the introduction by the Australian Government of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, now known as Disability Care and Consumer Directed Care, a new program designed to help older Australians stay in their homes longer. These multi-billion dollar programs have the potential to drive rapid growth of a robust assistive devices and services industry in Australia. This will be sorely needed in areas like Northern Adelaide where traditional forms of mass manufacturing are under threat and unemployment is well above state and national averages.

A mutually reinforcing relationship between population growth, social and physical infrastructure development and workforce and industry development is needed to ensure that people are able to work within a reasonable distance from where they live. Suburban areas slated for population growth, like Playford and Salisbury, will need much faster rates of local employment growth to achieve this outcome.

Declining employment self-sufficiency, inadequate infrastructure and excessive travel

to work times require bold solutions, nation building solutions underpinned by higher levels of public investment.

Too few of us read about our rich history. Hugh Stretton inspired generations to do so. While the great post war industrial transformation that underpinned the establishment of the townships of Salisbury and Elizabeth continues to this day, it is less connected to the local population that once sustained it. A disjuncture between population growth and industrial development has been eating away at the post-war model of suburban development.

There are currently around 82,000 people living in the City of Playford. In just 15 years, according to the NGAA, the City of Playford’s population is projected to rise by 58,000 people. Last month’s population growth announcement by the State Government confirms what has been know for some time, that Northern Adelaide will house tens of thousands more in the decades to come.

This growth presents enormous challenges for policymakers, particularly given high rates of unemployment in the region. Infrastructure deficits need to be overcome and local employment opportunities generated to ensure that our suburban areas are great places to both live and work in. The pace of suburban infrastructure and industry development must accelerate. While this is no easy task and will require substantial additional public and private sector investment, we are not without options to pursue.

» Associate Professor John Spoehr is the Executive Director of the Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre at the University of Adelaide

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12 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

BUSINESS

BUILDING A BETTER BUSINESS

starting point for review conversations around performance and expectations for the year ahead.

For most privately owned businesses, banks tend to conduct their reviews in the September/October period. Using the year end process to prepare for the bank meeting can save time and make for a more productive outcome, including why budgets provided to the bank were achieved or missed as well as ensuring that the facilities that you have in place are appropriate. Being on top of these aspects can enable you to position properly the conversation with your bank.

BY MICHAEL BROWNE

W

ith the end of the financial year behind us, many businesses are now focusing on compliance matters such as balancing the books and reviewing statutory obligations. These tasks are generally seen as a necessary cost of doing business but maybe it’s time to take a fresh look at compliance and see how it can help your business to be more effective.

Often year end tends to coincide with finalising budgets, staff reviews, strategic plans and bank reviews. The compliance function can play an important part in each of these. Leading up to the end of financial year and the start of the new financial year is a good time to make

plans and assess how the business performed, as well as where it might be heading through refining budgets and projections.

Whilst strategic planning doesn’t at a first glance revolve around financial performance, the process has as a key outcome improving the overall business result. Year end numbers provide a sound base for reviewing the strategic plan to ensure it remains relevant and based upon actual financial performance.

Staff is another key component of all businesses, so using the results of the past financial year and projections for next year in reviews is beneficial. Overall actual financial performance provides a helpful

Clearly understanding what needs to be disclosed in the financial accounts is important.

Privately owned business generally has a desire to keep financial matters private, so ensuring you only disclose what is required in the financial accounts requires careful consideration. Reducing the disclosure of sensitive information in financial accounts is often achievable, whilst still being fully compliant.

Finally, no discussion about year end is complete without considering income tax. The Australian Tax Office is becoming more vigilant, so ensuring you understand obligations early and with adequate time to address the issues is vital.

Understanding changes to the tax laws that impact your business is crucial. For example, for the first time, at year end on June 30, 2013, there is the ability for losses made by eligible companies to not just to be carried forward but also carried back. Under this rule companies will be allowed to offset a tax loss from a current year against taxable income from the previous year. Eligible companies can claim up to $300,000 as a carry-back offset. If this measure is applicable, what impact will it have on your business and its cashflow?

Whilst on cashflow, remember that for the financial year ending June 30, 2014, there is a rise in the super guarantee contribution from nine percent to 9.25 percent. Businesses need to ensure they have costed this item and are prepared for the impact on their bottom line.

Try and see the necessity of compliance as an opportunity to position your business for the year ahead. Start early and the results will speak for themselves.

» Michael Browne is a Partner at PwC pwc.com.au

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The Adelaide Review July 2013 13

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business

Family Business ‘Elders’

by Sam Wells

“

It takes two to speak the truth – one to speak and another to hear.” Henry David Thoreau.

There is an increasing awareness of the central part played in the South Australian economy by family business. Over 60 percent of all South Australian businesses are family businesses, and they account for more than half the employees in the state.

Former Thinker in Residence, Dr Dennis Jaffe, defined family business as a “business in which two or more family members work in the business and share or expect to share ownership, and want to pass ownership on to the next generation”.

Although many such enterprises do not see themselves as ‘family businesses’, a growing number are becoming aware of the special challenges and opportunities that present to the family business, and are looking for guidance

from those who have studied or experienced the special (sometimes exasperating) blend of commercial and family dynamics.

This growing prominence has been reflected in, and to some extent prompted by, the research and thinking of academics in the field and practitioners of management education. In the Adelaide Business School at the University of Adelaide, FBERG – the Family Business Education and Research Group – is in its second year (business.adelaide.edu.au/fberg) and the Adelaide MBA boasts a popular elective course on ‘Family Business Issues and Perspectives’. For the last 10 years, individuals directly involved in South Australian family businesses have been coming together in forums, under the auspices of Family Business Australia, the sector’s peak body, to share their rich and varied experiences, solve problems together, learn from each other and discover their own family business wisdom.

Dennis Jaffe calls this latter kind of informal forum a “community of learning”, in which participants “look first at themselves; learn from each other’s shared experiences, thoughts, and feelings; develop skills that help them become more effective in their roles in the family or the business, and learn from the development of insights through the activities of the community.”

In his final report as Thinker in Residence, Jaffe touches on the merits of, and endorses, a

particular kind of community of learning, which he calls the “Community of Elders”. He characterises the members of this community as “leaders, most often second, third or later generation heirs of noted family businesses, who have begun to move on from serving their family businesses to promoting, supporting and advocating for other family businesses in the community.” Taking up Jaffe’s notion, a family business Community of Elders has been formed in Adelaide. The Community was inaugurated at Government House by His Excellency the Governor. That first gathering, and each subsequent meeting of elders, has taken place in a venue representing one of our central institutions – the parliament, the courts, the church and so on – where the elders have been addressed by a representative of that institution, exploring the nature of learning and ‘elderhood’ in different institutional contexts. The Community of Elders has no affiliations and no religious or political leanings – it is an independent community of learning.

The guiding principle in the interaction of the elders with each other and with the wider family business community is ‘wise listening’. Listening, not telling, is how the elders add value. Rather than ‘solving’ the problems of others, the elders create a space in which by listening and by asking questions that prompt reflection, they help others to uncover their own solutions, their own wisdom. This is not about providing advice or ‘right answers’, so much as providing an opportunity for the interlocutors to discover what they already

know, but did not know that they knew!

Individually and collectively, the elders are available for a quiet, informal chat. This is not mentoring or professional advice. No money changes hands. Elders lend a ready ear to family business people who need to talk an issue over with someone who will not judge or pontificate or condescend. In the words of St Francis, they “seek first to understand, rather than to be understood”, and the questions that they ask as they seek to understand tease out the wisdom and insight of those who come to them for a chat.

Adelaide’s Community of Elders is ‘open for business’. The elders continue to build their own resources as a community of learning, and they are keen to bring their experience and wise listening to the service of other family business people who need to chew over an issue. An approach to the elders is through their coordinator, Alan Reddrop, who will make an initial suggestion as to which elder or elders might fit well with the particular needs of whoever has approached him. Contact Alan Reddrop – info@familybusinesselders.org.au.

»»Dr Sam Wells is a Lecturer in the Adelaide MBA at The University of Adelaide adelaide.edu.au/mba

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14 The Adelaide Review July 2013

feature (and in assessments of her body parts), it’s apt that Goldsworthy’s essay begins with a careful appraisal of Gillard’s now-famous misogyny speech.

Goldsworthy identifies two very different reactions to the speech. Even as the press gallery gave Gillard a resounding fail, her words took flight via YouTube. “In this version of the speech,” Goldsworthy writes, “the territory being contested was not Labor versus the Coalition, not Gillard versus Abbott, but Woman versus Misogyny. It was not quite I had a dream, but nor was it ‘essentially about herself,’ as the political correspondent Paul Kelly described it.”

“Gillard’s prime ministership has been a sort of litmus test of sexism, revealing social attitudes many of us hoped we had moved beyond,” Goldsworthy says. She rejects the premise that Gillard routinely plays the so-called ‘gender card’, arguing against the notion “that you’re not allowed to call out any sexism, you’re not allowed to call out any misogyny, and by doing so you’re violating a code of conduct or fair play.”

Anna Goldsworthy

Shades of Grey

The Quarterly Essay turns 50 with an outstanding contribution from Anna Goldsworthy.

by Patrick Allington

“

I suspect,” Anna Goldsworthy tells me, “that my recent motherhood memoir is considered more ‘niche’ than any book about male experience would be.” The memoir Goldsworthy speaks of, Welcome to Your New Life (Black Inc.) is a sharp, often bemused account of pregnancy and motherhood: “I had not known of the mucous plug, nor that you were supposed to keep it as a pet.” As a beautifully written and

funny book about life and new life, it should appeal to women and men, parents and nonparents — not only to 21st century mothers.

But Goldsworthy’s aside — more speculation than complaint — rings disconcertingly true.

After 17 years away, Goldsworthy recently returned to Adelaide, where she’s now a Research Fellow at the J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice. But when we speak about

her new Quarterly Essay, Unfinished Business: Sex, Freedom and Misogyny, Goldsworthy is in Brisbane rehearsing for a regional run of the stage adaption of her first memoir, Piano Lessons. Not content with carving out dual careers as a writer and classical pianist (she’s a member of the Seraphim Trio), Goldsworthy acts in the play. Reflecting on the layers of selfhood she’s tangled up in — she plays a version of ‘Anna’ based on her memoir that in turn is based on her actual life — she laughingly admits to sometimes being sick of “the smell of myself on my work”. But she also maintains — correctly — that her two books of memoirs are outward-looking: that is, they are about learning and teaching music and about motherhood more than they are ‘about’ Anna Goldsworthy.

Unfinished Business appears at a time when the national conversation around issues of sexism and misogyny — the artlessly named ‘gender wars’ — is becoming increasingly polarised, strident and, too often, brutal. Given that much of this messiness is coalescing in the debate over Julia Gillard’s prime ministership

Still, Goldsworthy doesn’t suggest that Gillard is perfect. Like many commentators, she sees the PM’s recent comment about “men in blue ties” as “over-reach”, unhelpfully pitching women and men against each other.

More broadly, in Unfinished Business she

She contrasts Gillard with Barack Obama, whose “virtuosity” stems from balancing rhetoric and pragmatism. While I’d argue that Obama pushes too far the other way, as if rhetoric is action, Goldsworthy’s analysis of Gillard’s flaws is convincing.”

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feature summarises Gillard’s approach to politics as “getting on with it”. While this seems admirable (it’s what so many of us claim to want from politicians), Goldsworthy suggests that “Leadership is not only about doing, but also about being”. She contrasts Gillard with Barack Obama, whose “virtuosity” stems from balancing rhetoric and pragmatism. While I’d argue that Obama pushes too far the other way, as if rhetoric is action, Goldsworthy’s analysis of Gillard’s flaws is convincing.

Still, it’s a brief portrait, one I’d love to see Goldsworthy expand upon.

“Despite everything I’ve said in this essay,” Goldsworthy says, “today is the best time to be a woman, clearly.” But the very fact that feminism has made inroads, that it has endured and endures still, has prompted a backlash (as well as the surfacing of residual sexism and misogyny). Unfinished Business ranges far and wide as it charts various aspects of this cluttered terrain, including reflections on beauty and on shame; the singer Pink’s reclamation of the word ‘slut’; the deeper meaning of the television show Girls; and more.

Goldsworthy offers ‘cautionary tales’ about high-achieving women, including miner Gina Rinehart, novelist Hilary Mantel and classical scholar Mary Beard, who declined to cower when she found herself the subject of a misogynistic internet campaign. “It is a

resists the implications of that support.

Unfinished Business is particularly fascinating when discussing contemporary porn stars, both male and female, who, as Goldsworthy says, have tagged an increase in misogynistic-themed porn as “representing some sort of backlash or some sort of revenge upon women, who they feel are — and clearly are — much more empowered in society than they used to be.” In contrast, Goldsworthy offers a partially positive take on E.L. James’s bestselling and much mocked Fifty Shades of Grey: “It’s not a book I especially admired,” she tells me, “but it is significant, I think, because it allowed many women to own up to the fact of female desire.”

curious thing, our need to cast these eminent women as failures,” Goldsworthy writes. But Unfinished Business also ponders prominent women who seem to embrace feminism even as they disavow it: “I am not a feminist, but I do believe in the strength of women,” as the singer Katy Perry puts it. “Feminism is seen as unsexy, or scary,” Goldsworthy says, “thanks partly to the efforts of anti-feminist propagandists.” Perhaps the male equivalent of such equivocation is the man who expresses vocal support for feminism but in his behaviour

Unfinished Business is a far less personal piece of writing than Piano Lessons or Welcome to Your New Life. “I think women probably feel it most sharply in their teens or early 20s – I certainly did – as a type of condescension,” she says when I ask her to reflect on how her own day-to-day experiences sit with the themes of Unfinished Business. “Although I see sexism all around me, I no longer feel I’m on the receiving end of it in a daily way – perhaps because of the people and situations I surround myself with. Getting older and achieving a degree of professional competence offers a liberation from the imperative of being – as indeed does the enforced hyper-competence of motherhood.

The problems then become more structural, to do with division of labour.”

To me, Unfinished Business is a plea for more nuanced thinking, a plea for more civil and generous debates, and a plea for accommodating more shades of grey (in a non-E.L. James sense).

That’s not to say that Goldsworthy’s conclusions are wishy-washy or that she prevaricates: her prose is forceful and plain speaking but it’s also calm. She doesn’t claim talismanic qualities.

Still, Unfinished Business is not a call for false unity, as if all differences can or should be imagined away. Goldsworthy makes it clear that feminism’s work is not yet complete, and her essay offers ample evidence that further progress will encounter active (and sometimes ferocious) resistance — as well as silent disapproval and apathy. Goldsworthy writes that “A resilient feminism, surely, is a broad church”, one that “has much to offer our daughters”. And, I would add, our sons.

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16 The Adelaide Review July 2013

health

Gastrointestinal health – 10 billion ways to wellness

by Professor Avni Sali

A

healthy gut is an important but often overlooked area of health maintenance and disease prevention. While good nutrition is critical to good health, the body’s ability to absorb nutrients is also vital, and healthy gut flora plays a significant role in nutrient uptake. Gastrointestinal (GI) issues are on the rise, particularly in Western populations and poor diets, stress, the use or overuse of antibiotics and other medications, and various diseases are all considered contributing factors to a range of GI issues. Significant research has been conducted into the role and function of the GI lining, good versus bad bacterial balance, various food sensitivities and the role of digestive enzymes, specifically pancreatic enzymes and stomach acid. Increasingly the role of complementary therapies is being recognised for not only the management of symptoms, but also in the restoration of the GI system to optimal functioning.

As babies we are born with sterile GI tracts and feeding, ideally through breast milk, helps us build healthy colonies of bacteria. There are between 400-500 different species of bacteria in the diverse ecosystem within the human body. We have trillions of bacteria inside our bodies; in fact there are more bacteria in the body than cells. Intestinal microflora makes a significant contribution not only to the healthy functioning of the GI tract, but also to various other metabolic activities,

including immune function, cholesterol metabolism and hormone metabolism.

Fermented dairy products such as yoghurts and other soured milk products have been consumed for hundreds of years in the belief that they provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Specific research was being conducted in the early 20th century and references are made to health and fermented products in early Roman literature and the Old Testament of the Bible. Fermented food and beverage products have a long history of use and account for 40 percent of human food supply worldwide.

The GI tract is segmented into upper, middle and lower sections. The upper GI is the area from the mouth to where the stomach exits, the middle GI the small intestine, and the lower GI the large bowel/colon to anus. While GI issues may be located in a particular area of the GI tract, the system is an interrelated one and flow-on effects are often experienced.

This means that a disturbance in stomach acid can potentially create symptoms further on, for example influencing the types of microbes in the intestine.

The GI tract produces dozens of different enzymes, the secretion of which is controlled by both hormonal and neural signalling, as well as the type of food present in the gut. After about 40-50 years of age, the body’s production of digestive enzymes and stomach acid decrease, which may influence GI function.

TYPES OF GI DISORDERS Beyond indigestion/dyspepsia and heartburn, there are many types of GI disorders. Some common GI disorders include infections such as gastroenteritis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), food intolerances, gall bladder disease, ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory bowel conditions such as Crohn’s disease, digestive tract cancers, peptic ulcers, piles (haemorrhoids), and bowel disturbances such as constipation and diarrhoea. IBS is the most common disorder and the Irritable Bowel Information and Support Association estimates that one in five Australian adults have IBS at some stage in life. (see ibis-australia.org) IBS is defined as a functional disorder of the large intestine with no evidence of a structural defect. Symptoms include abdominal cramping, diarrhea/constipation (often both), spasmodic pain in the bowel, nausea, bloating, flatulence, hypersecretion of colonic mucus, fatigue, malnutrition and varying degrees of anxiety or depression. It can also be linked to back pain, menstrual difficulties, headaches and restless leg syndrome.

KEY INTERVENTIONS FROM AN INTEGRATIVE PERSPECTIVE Lifestyle modification is an important component of managing GI disorders. It is a useful adjunct to mainstream medicine and

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pharmacological support and, in many cases, lifestyle modification – with appropriate complementary therapies – may also provide a suitable management plan that reduces or eliminates the need for long term prescription medications. This is particularly relevant for IBS, and may vary for other GI complaints, but in general an integrated approach plays a key role in the proper care of a broad range of medical problems.

The Adelaide Review July 2013 17

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health Prebiotics are food ingredients that stimulate the growth and activity of one or more species of bacteria in the bowel. Some prebiotic foods include the onion family, honey, artichokes, soy, wheat, barley, oats, almonds, pistachios and bananas.

Prebiotics are not absorbed in the small intestine but are fermented in the large bowel.

They can stimulate the growth of existing healthy flora in the GI tract, and can also be taken in conjunction with probiotics to enhance their effectiveness. The combination of prebiotics and probiotics is called synbiotics and is a rapidly growing area of research in gut flora supplementation.

Taking probiotics Adding fermented foods to the diet (yoghurt, soured milks, kefir, fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut and kim chi) can be beneficial, and can be combined with prebiotic foods as listed above. Supplementation, be that in capsules, powder or tablets, can provide a more concentrated load of viable bacteria and may be more effective in producing a therapeutic effect. The ideal time to take a probiotic is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach or last thing at night. At other times acid in the stomach can easily destroy the microbes in the probiotic, resulting in only small numbers reaching the large intestine where they have their major influence on health.

Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics Probiotics are live microorganisms in fermented foods or supplements that promote good health by establishing an overall improved balance in the intestinal microflora. They are proven to enhance intestinal immunity as well as many other body mechanisms as previously mentioned. Common probiotics are Lactobacillus, Bifido bacterium and Saccharomyces boulardii.

Recommended doses need to be based on the specific strains of bacteria that have been identified for specific conditions, and this may also be dependent on individual gut profiles. A healthcare professional can provide important guidance on how much to take, what and when. There are excellent general probiotic supplements available and ideally these should be at least 10 billion CFUs (colony forming unit, which is a measure of the number of microbes).

Healthy bacteria need continual replenishment either via dietary or supplemented probiotics.

Herbal medicines and Traditional Chinese Medicine Peppermint oil can be taken in a special form (enteric capsule), which delivers the

oil directly to the intestine. Research has proven it has antispasmodic action in the large bowel and the intestines and has antiviral properties. It is thought to work by improving the rhythmic contractions of the intestinal tract and relieving spasms. The after dinner mint has its origins in the use of peppermint oil for GI support.

A complex herbal preparation called Iberogast has a long history of use in Europe and is now available in Australia. Some of its ingredients include Iberis amara, chamomile, caraway seeds, peppermint leaves, liquorice root, lemon balm leaves and St Mary’s thistle.

The combination acts on both the GI system and the nervous system and research has proven it can provide significant improvements, particularly for IBS symptoms.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) including acupuncture can be useful. An Australian study demonstrated strong scientific support for the use of TCM in the treatment of IBS. Acupuncture is effective in the treatment of nausea and vomiting and studies have shown it can improve gastric emptying time and acid secretion.

Stress management and meditation, psychotherapy/counselling and hypnosis Digestion is facilitated by a relaxed state. The digestive tract has its own nervous system (called the enteric nervous system) that is interconnected with the central nervous system – emotional stress exacts a heavy toll on the digestive tract. The thought, sight and smell of food provide signals to the body to increase various gut secretions.

Research has shown anxiety to be predictive of a high degree of food-related symptoms in IBS. Sleep disorders, fatigue, anger and depression may also factor. Psychological therapies including cognitive behavioural therapy and hypnotherapy have been shown to be effective for functional gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome in adults and children. These therapies should be considered for patients with chronic symptoms especially if symptoms are clearly exacerbated by stress or emotional symptoms.

Exercise Lack of exercise is considered a contributor to the development of IBS. Many find a daily walk markedly reduces symptoms.

Other dietary and lifestyle changes Get plenty of vitamin D/sunlight, quality fibre, omega-3 healthy oils, eliminate trigger foods from the diet (often spicy, fatty or sugary foods or those that typically cause food allergies or food intolerances), and avoid alcohol and smoking.

The gut is a powerful indicator of general health and it is important to understand how well it is functioning. There are times when symptoms necessitate a visit to your health professional.

Signs to be on the lookout for include any sudden, unexplained change in bowel habits or in the appearance of stools, blood in the stool, unexplained weight loss, alternate constipation and diarrhoea, repeated vomiting or vomiting blood, and abdominal or rectal pain.

Everything we eat has the power to help us or harm us. The gut is more than just the place our food is digested. It is a powerhouse of healthy bacteria that support immune functioning, nutrient uptake and a range of vital body processes. In fact two-thirds of the body’s total immune system cells are located within the GI tract!

Integrative Medicine provides us with an individualised approach to GI health. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for GI disorders and the right balance of a range of integrative therapies is often a turning point in treatment.

Taking good care of the gut is taking good care of overall health.

»»Bibliography Kotsirilos V, Vitetta L, Sali A (2011), A guide to evidence-based integrative and complementary medicine, Elsevier, Sydney.

Professor Avni Sali is Founding Director of the National Institute of Integrative Medicine (NIIM) niim.com.au

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18 The Adelaide Review July 2013

books

The Last Battle Stephen Harding Da Capo Press

BY Roger Hainsworth

Imagine in the last days of World War Two German and American soldiers joining forces to defend a castle full of distinguished prisoners (think Colditz) against hundreds of Waffen-SS bent on slaughtering the inmates.

Surely this is an unbelievable scenario even for Hollywood? Yet, as Stephen Harding reveals in The Last Battle such an improbable adventure really happened. Colditz was not the only fortress holding the Fuhrer’s human bargaining chips. Castle Itter in the mountainous Tyrol held an astonishing cast of distinguished prisoners. Have you ever wondered what happened to the members of the French government after the fall of France? Retired to grow roses? Not a bit of it or at least not for long. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud, his war minister and political enemy, Edouard Daladier, Labour leader Leon Jouhaux, Reynaud’s generalissimo Maxime Weygand, even General Gamelin who Reynaud sacked much too late, all found themselves `honour prisoners’ (the official

title) at Castle Itter. Another celebrity was the former French Wimbledon champion, Jean Borotra, a disillusioned former sports official in Petain’s government. A particularly courageous prisoner was Michel Clemenceau, son of France’s First World War War prime minster. Clemenceau’s opposition to Petain’s servile Nazi collaboration brought his arrest.

All these men survived according to the tyrant’s whim, and when Hitler shot himself their protection from the Waffen-SS disappeared.

Fortunately a devoted servant brought word of their danger to the Austrian underground and to a band of disaffected German soldiers led by a much decorated Major `Sepp’ Gangle and then to Captain Jack Lee, commanding a US tank company. The castle’s guards and its war-criminal commandant had disappeared but other Waffen-SS units were advancing on Castle Itter. Gangle’s soldiers and Lee with only a handful of his men and two of his tanks, combined forces, and reached the castle first and held out just long enough for American infantry and armour to come to their relief. No `honour prisoner’ was lost.

The siege of the castle is the last exciting section of a fascinating book that describes how all the participants in the drama came to Castle Itter, including of course, the quarrelsome French for whom it seems `to know all was to forgive nothing’!

Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby Sarah Churchwell Virago

BY Helen Dinmore

Sarah Churchwell’s ambitious ‘biography of a book’ attempts to shed new light on the enduring popularity of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. The novel now celebrated for its ‘transcendent meanings’ was, ironically, dismissed upon publication as nothing more than a rendering of the current moment; Churchwell argues that it is best understood in light of both of these readings. To this end, she sets about reconstructing the intersection of literary and high society in 1920s New York, where Fitzgerald, paradoxical icon of the very world his fiction reflected and criticised, partied endlessly with the rich, and woke to read

Night Games Anna Krien Black Inc.

BY David Sornig

The morning after Collingwood’s 2010 AFL Grand Final win, Sarah Wesley contacted police to make a complaint of sexual assault against a number of the team’s players following events at the South Melbourne home of team member, the late John McCarthy. Collingwood’s legal machine was swiftly engaged, the players were interviewed and investigated, and a familiar scandal-hungry media storm ensued. Footballers involved in pack rape was on the agenda again. Months later, the only person charged over the complaint – with rape –

about himself in the papers. Churchwell makes speculative links between the plot of Gatsby and a murder case dominating headlines at the time, and, in seeking to contextualise the novel’s inception, ruminates on both history and the act of fiction making. Her own prose is vibrant, and the research, while at times meticulous to a fault, offers plenty for fans of literary history, as well a portrait of America at a legendary moment, and the exhilarating, vicarious experience of jazz-age high-jinks.

was a young amateur footballer, renamed here as Justin Dyer, who was not associated with the club.

It’s inside a Melbourne courtroom at the end of Dyer’s 2012 trial that Anna Krien begins Night Games, her second full-length work of journalistic non-fiction. As the jury returns its not guilty verdict, Dyer breaks down in tears and Krien, who has been following the trial day by day, trying not only to build a picture of Dyer, but also of Wesley.

Krien’s style, a recognisable signature now, following her first book Into the Woods, and her Monthly Essay Us & Them: On the Importance of Animals, is one of intelligent listening. Once again she has managed to present a riveting and disturbing set of stories, voices and arguments that are not structured into a polemic, but that nevertheless draw a clear case for cultural change.

They operate as a welcome opening, sometimes a provocative one, into discussion, debate and reform.

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Visit: www.tafesa.edu.au/Languages or Phone: 8207 8458

The Adelaide Review July 2013 19

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MONTEFIORE / win

MONTEFIORE Some of Adelaide’s most lucrative land deals are done very quietly indeed, especially when they involve public land for profitable purposes.

BY sir MONTEFIORE SCUTTLEBUTT

I

n May an innocuous little sentence lay buried in a Town Hall document summarising third-quarter budget progress. “Work on the Adelaide Oval project continues to focus on identifying and managing opportunities for value generation in partnership with the state government.”

Out of context, it meant nothing much, but it coincided with examination of explicit plans studied nine days later at a meeting of the Adelaide Park Lands Authority. They revealed that yet another slice of the park lands has been quietly assumed for oval car parking for the benefit of government and the Stadium Management Authority whenever the need arises, with nothing on paper stating anything of the sort. The three-hectare site’s assumption without the need for change of land title particulars will go down as one of the oval’s great success stories, and brief media squawks three weeks ago, when the deal was discovered, did nothing to detract from it.

Preparation for its future use commenced about two years ago when it budgeted $1.7 million for future turf and landscaping work and waived Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure annual site rent of $150,000. The giveaway spree gathered pace when a major saving was then gifted to the Stadium Management Authority.

It had been stuck with thousands of cubic metres of dirt it needed to dispose of at great expense after digging a cavernous hole to create underground car parks for 300 exclusive spaces below the oval for A-listers, initiated by yet another gift – a $30 million Commonwealth handout soon after the oval stadium redevelopment announcement.

While Adelaide’s park lands advocates and locals have been observing with surprise other park land sites, which are now tagged for car spaces for oval events, this off-the-beatentrack strip has been quietly undergoing land contamination capping for the past year – an attractively cheap option for the SMA which otherwise would have spent a fortune getting rid of its dirt. The result is to be yet another nearby oval car park, even though it will be described as a new `urban forest’. Tellingly, no trees will be planted in its centre, because despite lofty landscape-speak, car parking is to be the main game.

While the land owners will continue to be the people of South Australia (via Town Hall’s custodianship), and the pretty pictures will suggest a place for bushy rambling, selection of this park lands site has been for a quite different and over-riding purpose. Suits in the know woken by the media curiosity stressed that it was merely

the long-overdue resumption of neglected land to Adelaide’s park lands acreage, and drawings of trees and people in a park land setting looked very attractive on the table at the Authority’s May meeting. But one little colour plate, the Indicative Event Car Parking Plan gave the game away, right down to a detailed survey drawing revealing exactly 451 car parks – a new tally additional to those already announced by oval managers, and all within walking distance of the oval. This car park space number also curiously did not appear in Town Hall’s May tally. That was surprising, given that a never-reported Town Hall agenda of June 2012 revealed a business case for this site that would net $504,000 annually, based on 600 car parks at $15/car over 80 event days – 35 more than the government is currently admitting to in relation to future oval events.

In retrospect, the `railway site park’ has been perhaps the quietest car-park development ever progressed in the oval’s history – a triumph about which Town Hall and Office of Major Projects people are duly proud.

Some additional Town Hall pride lays buried among the railway site’s ground contamination that is now `temporarily’ capped under clean fill from the oval’s excavation, the government remediation of which (through existing lease or licence obligation) was extinguished in yet another gesture of generosity by Town Hall, even though its chief executive, Peter Smith, described the land in November 2011 as “heavily contaminated”. It might go down in 21st century history as one of the few Adelaide public sites not cleaned up before a new use was made of it. But to return to the cash flow matter. In 2011 there was significant Town Hall loss of face when the state government declared by licence (via new oval legislation) that the next 80 years of revenues from car parking on park lands north of the oval would be pocketed by the Stadium Management Authority. This loss only rubbed salt in a previous wound caused when Town Hall lost its right to six-figure annual lease fees for the oval site and was instead offered $1 per year – if it asked. But the creation of a new car park on park land – contrary to firm Town Hall public policy – now means that at least some car park revenue will begin to flow back from Adelaide’s world-renowned green belt.

Who knew that 110 years after the motor car first began chugging around Adelaide that the internal combustion engine’s hungry presence would again benefit the city with another revenue windfall. This new development may be just one of many to come. But first, Town Hall and the state government will have to officially announce that it has fundamentally changed its park lands policy.

Before Midnight

WIN! FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN, ENTER YOUR DETAILS AT ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU

Heartland: The Waterhouse Contemporary Art Natural Science Art from South Australia Prize Art Gallery of South Australia North Terrace Continues until Sunday, September 8 Heartland is an exhibition of contemporary art from SA that premieres new works of art made for the exhibition as well as selected works that have rarely been seen. It offers new ways of thinking about place, country and identity by presenting the evolving and sometimes unexpected visions of Aboriginal and nonAboriginal artists. Win one of two Heartland book packages including a beautifully illustrated exhibition catalogue and fun kids book full of art-making activities.

Swans - Hugh Colman Morning Tea Lyrics Restaurant, Adelaide Festival Centre King William Street Monday, July 15, 10.30am Ballet has to be the ultimate dress-up. No costume can rival the tutu. No ballet can rival Swan Lake. Hugh Colman has dressed this year’s production with airy, Edwardian-inspired setting with a sea of silvery-blue tutus. This production is the culmination of three years work and the results are stunning. Come and hear Hugh talk about the journey and the results.

South Australian Museum, North Terrace

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize at the South Australian Museum is a prestigious international competition that challenges artists to tell the stories of natural science using a range of media. The stunning diversity and colour showcased in the accompanying exhibition, as well as the scientific messages behind the high-calibre artworks, highlights the natural world through the boundless imagination of talented artists. Season: Saturday, July 20 to Sunday, September 8.

Salome – State Opera Adelaide Festival Theatre, King William Road Saturday, August 24, 7.30pm Salome – simply misunderstood? Or the original femme fatale? This provocative new production, starring internationally renowned singers and a fine SA-based supporting cast, puts a big slab of sex, death and religion on the Festival Theatre stage in what promises to be one of Adelaide’s must-see events for 2013. Season: Saturday, August 24 to Saturday, August 31.

Before Midnight

Salisbury Writers’ Festival - Writers’ Forum

Selected cinemas from Thursday, July 18 Special preview screening Wednesday July 17, 6:30pm

John Harvey Gallery 12 James Street, Salisbury Saturday, August 24, 9am

We meet Celine and Jesse nine years after their last rendezvous, in Before Sunset. Almost two decades have passed since their first encounter on a train bound for Vienna in Before Sunrise, and we now find them in their early 40s in Greece. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story.

The Salisbury Writers’ Festival Writers’ Forum offers a series of lively talks for writers of all genres and abilities. Time permitting, sessions will allow questions from the floor. Winner will receive a ticket to the Writers’ Forum and a bottle of Langmeil wine.

20 The Adelaide Review July 2013

columnists Six Square Metres The life and death of coriander

BY Margaret Simons

C

all it a cliché, or call it an archetype.

The rounds of the seasons give us one of the reliable metaphors of human storytelling. We know the deal: hope comes in spring, ripeness in summer, sadness in autumn and stoicism or death in winter.

Yet these days only gardeners and farmers are in touch with this pattern. The supermarket robs us of the rhythm of story.

In any case, modern life is not as neat as a seasonal metaphor. This week I finished a book. It is rather like recovering from a long illness. Suddenly there is time and energy once again. I can garden without feeling that I should be at my desk. I can stare out of the window without each breath being tinged with guilt.

To celebrate, I decided to plant daffodil bulbs. It is late to be doing this, I know. Planting bulbs – garlic or spring flowers – is something one normally does in the last bit of autumn.

I went to Bunnings wielding my $50 gift token, a remnant of summer and Christmas. I bought a big shiny red outdoor pot and a little net bag of bulbs. Outside on the verandah, my fingers red from cold, I poured the mix and watered it, then ripped open the bag to find that the bulbs already had spears of green emerging from their brown papery skins.

They were ahead of time. They were in tune with my mood. There will be flowers in a few weeks, rather than months.

My writing life will lie fallow. What a sense of possibility there in the lack of a Big Project.

At this distance, it feels as though I could write anything, precisely because I know I will write nothing.

Meanwhile I am struggling with the coriander. What is it with this herb? It has to

be the most difficult of plants. Sow it in summer and it gives you a few leaves then goes spindly and to seed. Plant it in winter and it grows so slowly you hardly dare snip it.

So I am planting lots, because coriander is one of the miracle herbs, capable of rendering any meal fragrant and exotic. I have planted it in the back lane next to the miracle Happy Wanderer. I have planted it in a polystyrene box on my neighbour’s roof, and I have planted it between the sulky broccoli in the strip of earth between the front of my house and the street.

Of these three sites, only one is working.

The coriander is doing well with the broccoli, growing low and lush. Meanwhile it is sulking in the lane and dying on the roof. Light, water and liquid fertiliser make no difference.

Even the plants in the front yard have their limits. Coriander is not, like parsley and thyme and every other respectable herb, a cut and come again plant. Cut it and it is gone forever, never to regrow.

“Buy some,” said my daughter. “It comes in a tube these days.” I told her that wasn’t the same. Meanwhile my friend, cutting sandwiches on my kitchen bench the other day, asked if I had bought tomatoes.

I realised how far I had drifted from the normal concerns of the non-gardening world when I replied that I had not, because they were not in season. Who would buy the artificially ripened, flavourless mini cannonballs that pass for tomatoes mid-winter?

This is winter, the time for chutney and things pickled, dried, salted and put aside, I said. He stared at me, and left for the supermarket.

third age Don’t ask me to tick boxes

BY Shirley Stott Despoja

S

omeone told me recently that “the old are the new black”.

So there you have it. We are the fashionable new source for statisticians, for thesis-writers, and for whoever else wants our personal information. We old people are the means of getting younger people grants and contracts. We are not useful in ourselves, but what box we tick is interesting to those who know nothing about what it’s like to be old (and, indeed, may not care), but see us as a new field of research.

twitter.com/margaretsimons

by someone you don’t know asking personal questions. They are making something out of it, so why shouldn’t you?

“Oh, it’s worth heaps,” I am told. “It’s the means of finding out what old people need for the future, what sort of nursing homes and that sort of thing. Oh, and whether you are obese and how we can stop that.”

It’s my duty then?

Possibly you heard the loud explosion that was my response to that.

And I say to them, go ask your granny.

(When did you last have a good talk with her about what she wants to talk about, eh?) If you want to know what it’s like to be old, how it feels, what are the special needs, then come and ask me, or my friends. Make an appointment, to which I may or may not agree. Bring evidence to show that my identity and information will be secure. Don’t just front up with some printed questions or send me an email with question boxes to be filled in.

I went to my nice GP. Reception asked to answer some questions for the doctor for a survey first. I did not object because then I wouldn’t have known what the questions were, would I? I knew I could refuse. But perhaps some of the old people strewn about the waiting room did not like to deny expectations. I thought it was rough asking people questions even before they had a chance to say what was wrong with them that brought them to the doctor’s.

If you want me to answer questions devised by someone I don’t know, then how much is my information worth? Information is valuable. Let us old pensioners gain some financial benefit from giving it up. My message to my peers is: Never be flattered

As it happened the questions were about my weight and height, neither of which I actually know these days, so I made a guess.

Guesses are not exactly useful for research, are they? Pity. It took me back to the old days (80s) when I fought and won against

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COLUMNISTS the then Bureau of Census and Statistics.

With a clever lawyer, I might add. That institution wanted to know an awful lot about me over a period of months under threat of heavy, accumulative fines; all the while knowing, as everyone does, that information gained under compulsion is often useless. One of the questions was about whether I had wheezes in my chest.

What insolence. I gave them a flea in their ear. But whether you do likewise is up to you. Check out the fines and your resources before being brave.

Nothing has changed much, except that now any little upstart researcher thinks she or he can tell me that it is my duty to the future hordes of the elderly to cough up.

I intend to charge by the hour. And I don’t promise to tell the truth. Don’t ask me to tick boxes.

I heard last month that an old persons’ home offered patients colouring-in books.

You would give even a chimp some decent paint to play with, wouldn’t you? Where is the box about nursing homes into which I can squeeze my despair about that?

There is none, of course. People who want you to tick boxes don’t want to know actual things in our experience of life, like despair and sorrow and pain and loss and fear. They will decide what they want to hear and you will tick to confirm their prejudices.

Improved lives for the old are not going to come from this, but from understanding hearts and listening ears. Most of all, from old people properly employed to share their information. //////////////////////////////////// To cheer you: It was a cold morning and the ducks didn’t turn up for their cracked corn. Sometimes they have better things to do. I was disappointed. Then I heard the ABC’s early morning music station announcer say that the News was coming up - “in E flat Major. Cole Porter’s key.” I hugged him over the airwaves.

DR K’S CURIOUS CHRONICLES The Wild Rover

BY KIERA LINDSEY

T

his story is about a wild rover called James Butler Kinchela; the wayward second son of the deaf and debt-ridden Attorney-General of New South Wales in the 1830s, when chain gangs and aristocratic pastoralists jostled one another in the streets of Sydney. With dark hair and hazel eyes, James Butler Kinchela was both a dashing member of the colonial elite, and an Irishman with a predilection for adventure. He certainly made the young women of the colony swoon, including my great, great, great aunt, Mary Ann Gill, who was one month short of her 16th birthday when she slipped out the window of her father’s hotel to elope with him one autumn night in 1848.

Kinchela was 23 years older than Mary Ann and something of a seasoned gentleman settler. He had owned property in Bathurst and Moreton Bay before becoming one of the first overlanders to travel from Sydney with stock to supply the starving settlers of South Australia in the early 1840s. After one particularly harrowing expedition, he bought land in Adelaide establishing an auction yard opposite the site of today’s St Peter’s Cathedral.

Driving mobs of thousands of cattle and sheep along the rich river land countries of the Murray, these ‘overlanding’ parties pushed through Darling Junction where large groups of Latji Latji, Mutti Mutti and Ndarrindjeri people had only just encountered Europeans in the form of explorers such as Charles Sturt and Major Mitchell. Although first contact between the Indigenous occupants and these explorers had involved tentative moments of curiosity, relations quickly soured. By the time men such as Kinchela followed in

their wake, these tensions had spiraled into violence. Overlanders reported that they were regularly deterred by ‘native fire’ and their camps surrounded by up to 1500 warriors.

Letters to the newspapers described how the ‘native parties’ were increasingly disdainful of European weaponry, frequently engaging in ‘guerilla warfare’ against the men and their stock. By the time Kinchela commenced his first expedition to South Australia, relations had deteriorated into a state of ‘war’. Within weeks of Kinchela and his party arriving in Adelaide, Latji Latji warriors had killed four overlanders and left ‘the stinking carcasses of about 2000 sheep wantonly speared’ and strewn across the land in a defiant statement against European intrusion.

We can assume that the atmosphere within the vulnerable colony was charged with panic and that the safe arrival of any expedition was met with exaggerated celebrations of valour, mingled with deep relief. With the future of South Australia hanging in the balance, these overlanders embodied the very definition of 19th century daring-do, and it is likely that Kinchela enjoyed heroic status as he strode the streets of Adelaide. Despite this recognition, the promise of profit, and his investment in the auction yard, Kinchela never made his fortune in South Australia. Within years he was back in Sydney residing in a respectable establishment on Circular Quay, managed by two Dublin born emancipists who were determined to protect their 15-year-old daughter from wild rovers like the Attorney-General’s wayward second son.

When her father, Martin Gill, learnt of the intimacy between Mary Ann and Kinchela, he removed the gentleman settler from his hotel, showed his daughter his guns and threatened to murder them both if the matter went further.

Mary Ann responded by meeting Kinchela at a secret rendez vous where he promised to marry her. Before the ceremony began, however, an apoplectic Gill confronted the couple and, true to his word, fired two pistol shots at Kinchela, both of which missed their target. Within days, the two men were brought before the courts. A jury of sympathetic fathers found Gill innocent of ‘Shooting with Intent’, for which he was clearly guilty, and convicted

St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral, Adelaide.

Kinchela of abduction, the same crime which consigned the theoretical mastermind of South Australia, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, to London’s Newgate gaol in 1827.

Kinchela was released from gaol in early 1849, just after the discovery of gold in San Francisco. In search of new fortunes and fresh fields the convicted bride thief, bankrupted father and tainted daughter travelled to California. Surviving a shipwreck and a pirate attack en route the party eventually arrived in this ramshackle gold town where the determined couple were married. We might imagine that after his numerous near misses and narrow escapes in the colonies, Kinchela was prepared to pledge, along with his wedding vows, that he would ‘play the wild rover no never, no more’. This seems to be so, for when he died in 1862, ‘Judge Kinchela’ as he was then known, had become a respectable magistrate who left his wife, the colonial girl who had risked all for love, an immensely wealthy widow. What she did with her fortunes is, however, another story.

» Dr Kiera Lindsey teaches Australian History and Australian Studies at the University of South Australia

22 The Adelaide Review July 2013

feature

Photo: Mr Flash Photography

the City of Salisbury’s Manager of Community Planning and Vitality, Nichola Kapitza, said this would limit the success of the festival, as they want to showcase a range of genres.

Northern T Light

by Christopher Sanders

With acclaimed guests and a program that focuses on catering to writers of all capabilities, the Salisbury Writers’ Festival has emerged as an important date in South Australia’s literary calendar.

he festival has grown from a series of workshops held over two weeks to a program that includes forums, launches, guest presenters, writing competitions as well as sessions such as First Page and the Five-Minute Pitch. This year’s guests include best selling local science fiction writer Sean Williams, the Arts Queensland David Unaipon Award winner Dr Dylan Coleman and writer Patrick Allington, as well as publishers including Hachette’s Matthew Kelly and Omnibus’ Dyan Blacklock. The festival doesn’t have a theme, as

“We always focus on trying to get the best published authors to present at the festival,” Kapitza explains. “We survey all the participants and we use the information that they provide us to generate the next festival program. We ask them, ‘What would you like to see in the next program?’ and we get some really good suggestions. We also try and identify emerging writers that have interesting stories to tell.”

Despite its evolution, the original intention of the festival has remained the same.

“The thing that hasn’t changed is the basic intention of the festival – to provide writers of all capabilities with the opportunity to come together and learn – also we have kept the registration costs as affordable as possible.”

Kapitza says the festival’s workshops and panels are aimed at writers in all stages of their development.

“We pride ourselves on providing development opportunities for both our audience and our presenters. The program is designed to be very hands-on and interactive.

The sessions are aimed to provide as much information as possible for the audience members to improve their writing skills.”

The Salisbury Writers’ Festival promotes established and published local authors in its program, which includes book launches. This year, they will launch two books, Katrina Germaine’s My Dad Still Think He’s Funny and Tadpoles in the Torrens, which features contributions from well-known local authors including the late Max Fatchen, Phil Cummings and Peter Coombe.

The Salisbury and northern suburbs community have embraced the festival with approximately 23 percent of attendees at last year’s event hailing from the Salisbury council area.

What y cool h ou need m of info ead and ac ost in an e m c you a rmation. T ess to reli ergency i c s a h state cess socia e Alert SA ble source a l med emer w e bsite s gency the la ia me let s t accor est on any services, s sages from s dingly o that situat all . Mak www. e sure ion and ca you know n alert. you b sa.go ookm plan v.au ark it today .

“It is also great to see an increasing number of young northern writers who attend the festival,” explains Kapitza. “We know that by introducing our new True North initiative and the Northern Writers’ Network the number of northern community writers that are involved in the festival will increase.”

Kapitza says the festival has also made an impression over the border.

“We have a reputation interstate, which has enabled us to secure interstate writers such as Thomas Keneally, PD Martin and others.”

»»Salisbury Writers’ Festival Friday, August 23 to Friday, September 6 John Harvey Gallery, Salisbury salisbury.sa.gov.au

The Adelaide Review July 2013 23

adelaidereview.com.au

fashion

Australian Fashion: It Begins With Retail

Fashion Rendezvous GILLES STREET MARKET Sunday, July 21 10am to 4pm 91 Gilles Street, Adelaide gillesstreetmarket.com.au

by Jane Hayes

“

I want to be a famous fashion designer,” I hear many young people say as they graduate with fashion and textile qualifications. However there are only a certain number of jobs available and so many students graduating each year. Australian tertiary institutions produce talented, well trained individuals that leave to work in the local and international arenas with great success, but what about those who can’t get a job as a designer when they graduate? Where do they go? The introduction of fashion retail modules into tertiary courses might assist in solving this dilemma.

in-person retail encounter. We have all had the ‘in your face’ hovering and the ‘not interested at all’ retail experience, and as a result have resorted to online in order to avoid personal interaction. As Jo Kellock of the Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA) comments: “There is a lack of understanding of a service culture in the fashion industry.”

Training our young fashion hopefuls in the basics of fashion retail would add to their skill sets and help to strengthen an industry currently threatened by consumers choosing to shop online, and in many cases from overseas businesses. “In Europe the retail profession is respected but Australia has not caught up to this,” says local designer and retailer Lisa Barron. If we were to provide these aspiring fashionistas with a greater knowledge of the retail scene and training, maybe they would feel happier about a career in retail. The perception of retail as a stop-gap job rather than a possible career option needs to change.

This is a scary thought as the fashion industry in Australia is already in a rather precarious position. Training up our fashion design hopefuls in retail skills would mean a stronger and more pleasant bricks and mortar experience and would help support the businesses that struggle to find that elusive retail talent. My discussions with retailers on the issue of retail training can be summed up with the words of Lisa Barron, a long-standing and highly regarded local designer and retailer: “I need a skilled, trained individual who has a knowledge of fabric, cut, design, fit and style; they need to be able to understand what a woman wants and be perceptive. Then in turn I will be seeking their design skills in helping to create exactly the collection the customers want. Our motto at Lisa Barron is – as a team we strive to create and sell the best garments we can. Everyone in the company’s input is valued.”

As a fashion consultant I have observed the retail environment from many different angles.

I understand the challenges facing emerging designers as they embark on careers and I see customers often nervous and uncertain of an

The reality is that the industry needs more people like Barron who invest in their staff and listen to every voice as an equal, integral part of the business operation. People sometimes forget the importance of retail in the greater scheme of

For fab vintage and pre-loved fashion including the latest from local emerging designers, check out the Gilles Street Market. DJs spin the tunes alongside delicious food vendors and over 90 stalls of fashion and accessories.

gillesstreetmarket.com.au

Image courtesy Lisa Barron

things through the product/brand life cycle. In many cases it can mean the difference between a successful and unsuccessful business. In Australia we need to get over our prejudices and realise that there is great skill involved in being a successful retail assistant. Many industry professionals share my sentiments and hope that in future our fashion hopefuls can embrace retail so that our bricks and mortar experience can not only survive but flourish. What is the good of having so many stunning collections when there are so few appropriately trained staff to sell them? We need to change the situation now so that the future of physical retail is assured. Leah Brown, of boutique Fox Life Style, adds: “There really is no better place to gain knowledge and experience in

fashion than on the retail floor. It is by engaging in conversation with the customer, in a warm friendly atmosphere, that we understand their wants and needs.”

»»Jane Hayes is the owner of Jane Hayes Consulting. She is the head of the Design Cluster for the Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA), head and founder of The Australian Edit – A Fashion Space, and co-founder and managing director of The Spirit of the Black Dress. janehayesconsulting.com.au

24 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

PERFORMING ARTS A CONCERTED PUSH

Chamber music is alive and well as never before in this town. New groups are sprouting up and old ones rebuilding.

BY GRAHAM STRAHLE

A

model of stability, Zephyr Quartet just quietly gets on with the job, issuing recordings, commissioning new works and trying out new creative ideas. Next year it is planning a highly interesting `exquisite corpse’ compositional venture with Brisbane’s Topology. In this, all the players add compositional fragments one at a time in the manner of the old parlour game Consequences.

One of Adelaide’s highest quality new chamber groups is Ensemble Le Monde. Three years old and comprising ASO players Mark Gaydon (bassoon), Dean Newcomb (clarinet) and Alison Heike (violin), it like Zephyr sets the pace in collaborating with outside musicians and experimenting with the new. And with violinists Natsuko Yoshimoto, Sophie Rowell and Niki Vasilakis each pursuing their various plans, Adelaide is undergoing a healthy chamber music revival.

The newest group is Celia Craig’s new group Artaria. Craig, herself a top level musician who won a Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Award before being recruited recently by the ASO, has picked another of the many star violinists who happen to be presently based in this town, Elizabeth Layton. They plus two interstate colleagues gave the group’s debut concert in April at Elder Hall.

Thankfully they plan to do more. Says Craig: “It was an initial concert to see how it goes, but we had such fun we want to keep going. Our feeling was that we want chamber music to be an absolute joy and to play with the best quality friends.”

For those who look back nostalgically to the Barossa Music Festival, plans by Vasilakis hold much hope. In April she, in league with pianist Bernadette Harvey and cellist Emma-Jane Murphy, launched Barossa Chateau Classics, a two-day, three-concert event that focused on Beethoven and Brahms. Next year, Vasilakis is launching a new series of `Cocktail concerts’ at the Adelaide Festival Centre. To be held in the Banquet Room, it will consist of chamber performances in a casual, after-work atmosphere.

No longer can Adelaide be claimed to be a new music backwater, either. Gabriella Smart’s Soundstream Collective and annual new music festival keep presenting challenging ideas, and now there is Earnin Festival, a more grassroots new music event that supports local and interstate composers. Led by composers David Harris and David Kotlowy, it ran successfully last year at ABC Studio 520 with headline performers Natsuko Yoshimoto and pianist Michael Kieran Harvey.

By far the biggest change over the last year has been the formation of Chamber Music Adelaide, a hub that services seven member organisations.

All faced likely closure after Arts SA changed its funding programs. Adelaide Baroque, Ensemble Galante, The Firm, Kegelstatt Ensemble, Recitals Australia, Soundstream Collective and Various People all slipped through the funding net and had to agree to joining under the same umbrella or perish. Each now receives a paltry $13,500 but enjoys the benefits of shared administration and advertising. Privately, many of them will tell

Ensemble Le Monde

you it has been hell operating on greatly reduced budgets, but all agree the benefits outweigh the pain.

“It was an uneasy marriage to begin with,” says CMA’s chair, Cheryl Pickering of Various People. “But we started to develop cohesive relationships and see good avenues for sharing and working together.” Anthony Steel of Recitals Australia says that despite the “horrific bureaucracy” of starting CMA up, getting the seven organisations to work together and agree on plans has itself been a breakthrough.

The Firm’s Quincy Grant agrees: “It is a good model, the sort that you typically see with artist collectives using shared facilities, like The Mill in Angus Street. The sum is greater than the parts.”

There have been downsides. Various People has had to reduce its amount of theatre-oriented work with long development timelines, but Pickering says she is happy for the time to do more regular concert giving. Sorely needed by many

of these groups is a suitably small, 200 to 300seat concert hall. Adelaide lacks one. A brilliant stopgap devised by Claire Oremland, Elder Hall’s concert manager, is the temporary screens that are used for its new Elder Perspectives series.

An audience of up to 215 sits in the forward part of the hall, and experience so far suggests the acoustics are even better with the screens up.

Lobbying for a new concert hall is nevertheless on everybody’s minds. All seven organisations would like to see a purpose-built auditorium that caters for chamber music and piano recitals.

“The problem is that in Adelaide we tend to be losing theatres than gaining them,” observes Grant. CMA’s concerted voice, they think, might budge politicians into action. “With the right will, Adelaide could be one of the top chamber music destinations in Australia,” says Pickering.

Smart agrees: “It’s all about recognising the value that the arts bring. We are not asking for money as charity. We want musicians to be able to do what they do best - value-add to the community.”

from

december 2013

feSTIVAL THeATre 131 246

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Sydney morning Herald

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THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 25

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PERFORMING ARTS

Contemporary Bard

BY ROBERT DUNSTAN

S

tate Theatre Company of South Australia have joined forces with Bell Shakespeare Company to present a contemporary version of William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors under the direction of Imara Savage, which will open in Adelaide before embarking on an extensive national tour.

John Bell, who set up Bell Shakespeare Company over 20 years ago, says that the company had been looking to collaborate with the State Theatre for some time and The Comedy of Errors seemed like a good option.

“It was a good fit from both points of view and everyone liked the idea of a national tour after we’d opened it in Adelaide,” Bell said.

The last time Bell Shakespeare Company were in Adelaide was to present The Comedy of Errors, a farcical comedy about two identical sets of twins, although this version will be completely different. Director Imara Savage has chosen a contemporary setting with the township of Ephesus, where both sets of twins meet up after years apart, being more like Hindley St or Sydney’s Kings Cross on a Saturday night.

“So it’s modern dress and modern settings while we try and find as many parallels with life as we know it,” Bell suggests with a laugh.

“But we don’t touch the text at all – it’s all Shakespeare – it’s just that the setting and costumes are changed.”

The acting ensemble includes Elena Carapetis, Septimus Caton, Eugene Gilfedder, Jude Henshall, Suzannah McDonald, Renato

Musolino, Nathan O’Keefe, Hazzem Shamas, Demitrios Sirilas and Anthony Taufa with a soundscape by David Heinrich, a founding member of Adelaide’s formidable The Border Project.

“I have a lot of faith in Imara, the director,” Bell says. “She did an internship for a year with us as a trainee director and has since done some terrific work with Bell, as well as some other companies. And we are very pleased to see a woman director getting a gig and becoming part of the profession.

“She’s also working with a great cast,” he adds. “Imara is working with a really good mix of actors from Adelaide and interstate on what is a very funny play that will appeal to audiences of all ages.”

Maggie gerrand presents

T h e l e ge n d r e Tur n s f o r he r fir sT AusT r Al i An To u r in m o r e T h A n 2 0 y e A r s “Baez remains a true icon of the music world – a powerful, tender and strident performance” T e l e grAP h ( u k ) 2 012

Bell, who put together the book On Shakespeare as part of his company’s 20th anniversary celebrations and suggests that his plays were never meant to be merely read but performed on stage, reveals that his company is currently faring well despite everything.

“We’ve just completed a tour of Henry IV and as well as The Comedy of Errors about to kick off, we also have Phèdre up and running which is just about to finish its Sydney season after playing Melbourne,” he states. “And we also have two education teams continually on the road working in schools and Indigenous communities, as well as juvenile detention centres. There’s a lot of community work going on behind the scenes that people don’t often get to hear about.”

wiTh sPeciAl guesT

Kate Fagan

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26 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

PERFORMING ARTS

The Traditional Favourite

The Australian Ballet returns to Adelaide for a traditional production of Swan Lake, choreographed by former Adelaidean Stephen Baynes.

BY ALAN BRISSENDEN

S

omewhere in the world, you can be pretty sure, something relating to Swan Lake is going on. Maybe part or all of Tchaikovsky’s score on a CD or online; perhaps a smidgin backing a TV or radio ad, or a selection sumptuously played by a symphony orchestra in a concert hall.

Maybe a performance of the four-act ballet, or just Act 2, the lakeside scene where Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette, the woman condemned by the malevolent sorcerer von Rothbart to be a swan by day and a human only by night. Somewhere someone will be watching YouTube – a solo, or perhaps the big Act 3 pas de deux in which von Rothbart transforms his daughter Odile into Odette’s double to seduce

ADELAIDE FESTIVAL CENTRE PRESENTS

Siegfried away from his Swan Queen.

Simply, Swan Lake is the world’s most popular ballet. It was not always so. Commissioned by Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, it had a disastrous premiere on March 4, 1877. Along with a devastated Tchaikovsky, balletomanes were bitterly disappointed, one critic saying he “had never seen a poorer presentation on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre”.

The composer died in November 1893, but in St Petersburg the Mariinsky Theatre’s ballet master Marius Petipa and his deputy Lev Ivanov choreographed a new full-length work, which opened on January 17, 1895. A huge success, it became the basis for all subsequent productions. The great Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani introduced into Act 3 her virtuosic 32 fouettés, a step where the dancer whips one leg around while turning on the other. Audiences used to count them out loud.

The versions of Swan Lake are multifarious.

Diaghilev presented a two-acter early last century, Col. de Basil in the 1930s plumped for Act 2, which became standard. In London the Vic-Wells, now the Royal Ballet, revived the complete work in 1934. Australia’s turn came when the National Theatre Ballet Company premiered their production at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre on February 7, 1951.

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26 & 27 JULY

DuNSTAN PLAyhouSE

For the Australian Ballet, Swan Lake is very special – it marked the company’s debut on November 2, 1962 at Her Majesty’s in Sydney, the traditional choreography produced by Artistic Director Peggy van Praagh and Ray Powell. In 1977 Powell assisted then artistic director Anne Woolliams with her mainly traditional version, but in 2002 Graeme Murphy produced a very different Swan Lake, referencing the break-up of Charles and Diana’s marriage. Wildly successful with audiences everywhere, on tour in 2005 it also led to the UK Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Dance Company.

And even while the dancers were performing Murphy’s version in Melbourne’s State Theatre last week they were preparing the imminent Adelaide season of Stephen Baynes’, which premiered on September 18 last year. An Adelaide son who trained with Joanne Priest and danced with the Australian Ballet and

Swan Lake

overseas, Baynes became the company’s resident choreographer in 1995. When I asked him on the line from Melbourne why yet another Swan Lake he told me that current Artistic Director David McAllister “thought it important that the company add a traditional version to the repertoire because it is after all the most important work in the classical repertoire”. I remarked there were many younger people who had not seen a traditional production – they might have seen Murphy’s, or Matthew Bourne‘s with those menacing male swans and a very modern twist to both story and choreography. “Yes, that’s right.

There were very few members of the company who had danced in a traditional version.” He added that it was important for the principals to tackle the demands of the leading roles, and for audiences, too, to experience the traditional classical style.

and I – thought we should try to make it as fresh as possible, while staying within the spirit of Tchaikovsky’s ballet. But that didn’t mean we shouldn’t relook at Acts 1, 3 and 4, which is pretty much what everyone else has done …

We wanted to give more background, so we’ve actually invented quite a lot of material for the characters in Act 1.” Baynes feels that in some ways it is Siegfried’s ballet – he changes, whereas the Swan Queen does not. The ending is more tragic for him than it is for her; at the end, she remains a swan, and so avoids the agony of transformation into human form every night.

But amid all the changes, they’ve kept the Act 3 Black Swan pas de deux with those 32 fouettés. However, if you count, do it under your breath.

How much of Stephen Baynes’ choreography do we see in this new production?

“Well, actually quite a lot. Apart from the second act, which is what people really think of as Swan Lake, I’ve virtually redone the first, third and fourth acts [but] this doesn’t alter the story. We – David, Hugh Colman, the designer,

» The Australian Ballet Swan Lake Adelaide Festival Theatre Friday, July 5 to Thursday, July 11 australianballet.com.au

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 27

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PERFORMING ARTS

D

evised by late English author and critic Sheridan Morley, son of wellknown actor Robert Morley, Noël and Gertie tells of the relationship between the pair and includes snippets from some of Coward’s plays as well as many of his songs.

It stars Australia’s James Millar alongside the equally talented Lucy Maunder who are known to Adelaide audiences due to their shows as part of various Adelaide Cabaret Festivals.

The work, which has enjoyed glowing notices during its run across the country under the direction of veteran entertainer Nancye Hayes, has also had a great response from audiences.

“They’ve responded really, really well to it and there’s been a lot of interest,” James Millar says. “So it’s selling really well and Lucy and I are having a lot of fun.”

Lucy Maunder is an actor and singer who has played numerous roles on stages around the world including performing opposite Andrew Warlow in Doctor Zhivago. In 2012 she presented Irving Berlin: Songs in the Key of Black as part of Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

Millar penned the successful musical drama The Hatpin in 2008 and has also acted in television shows such as Police Rescue, Water Rats and A Country Practice. He says he was approached about a year ago to play Coward in Noël and Gertie.

Sir Noël Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer who was known for his wit and flamboyance, while Gertrude Lawrence was the English singer, dancer and musical comedy artists who became known for her performances on the West End as well as New York’s Broadway. She died in September of 1952 after taking ill during a matinee performance of The King and I in August of that year.

ELdEr CONSErVatOriuM OF MuSiC PrESENtS

Evenings

Mid-winter Tradition…

CONCErt 4 ELdEr HaLL

Magnificent music by Schubert – the ‘Great’ Piano Sonata in B-flat Major and the glorious String Quintet in C.

Schubertiade

Enjoy mulled wine, coffee and Viennese sacher torte.

auStraLiaN StriNG QuartEt

SaturdaY 20 JuLY 6:30PM

aNd SPECiaL GuESt EWEN BraMBLE CELLO

aduLt $28 CONCESSiON $22 StudENt $18

LuCiNda COLLiNS PiaNO

Was Lawrence’s relationship with the gay Coward a father/daughter one?

ELDE of m R consE R usic pR Es vatoR iu En t s m

“Coward was more like a brother figure – he was actually one year younger than Lawrence – and the piece explores their absolute difference but shows how they complimented each other,” Millar suggests. “Lawrence was a real firecracker and a bit of a wild child and while Coward was a bit of a naughty man himself and full of ascorbic wit, he was her guardian in many ways.

“When Lawrence was struggling financially, Coward would write a play for her to star in,” he concludes.

naturally

BY ROBERT DUNSTAN

“There are lots of songs and we sing, dance and act because there are also snippets from Coward’s plays such as Private Lives,” Millar adds.

The music never stops

2 013 Se a S ConC e rt on t Frid wo 2 6 J a y S 1 .1 u ly

0 –2 .0

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2013 series of intimate concerts

» Noël and Gertie Space Theatre (Adelaide Festival Centre) Tuesday, July 23 until Saturday, July 27

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Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence are the subjects of the play Noël and Gertie, which will be ending a national tour in Adelaide at the end of July.

once in a lifetime opportunity to play such a character,” he laughs. “And it was also a great opportunity to be directed by Nancye Hayes. And while Noël and Gertie is quite fresh in its approach, it’s quite art-deco and very much of the period. And Lucy and I are not giving impersonations and don’t feel we are playing it as an historical documentation.

We are trying to mine the piece as a play about two people and their friendship rather than a journey into nostalgia.

proudly supported by

Private Lives

www.elderhall.adelaide.edu.au

28 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

PERFORMING ARTS / CINEMA In the House features the acclaimed Fabrice Luchini, who starred in Ozon’s Potiche and is “very, very famous in France”. His casting also demonstrates Ozon’s willingness to work often with the same actors (Catherine Deneuve twice, Ludivine Sagnier twice, Charlotte Rampling four times), and he explains, “When I like an actor, I will want to work with them again. If they have a rich personality and many sides then I want to show those different talents.

Fabrice is much different in In the House than in Potiche.”

THE OZON LAYERS

BY D.M. BRADLEY

“I’m in the country, by the sea, trying to have a holiday,” begins director François Ozon during the following phone interview, “but the journalists are everywhere. Even when I go on holiday I have to do interviews with Australian journalists!” But François: surely that’s part of being famous – of being François Ozon? “Yes, it is,” he says jokingly.

Ozon’s In the House (Dans La Maison) was adapted by him from a play, and he explains

Ozon compares Kristin Scott Thomas in his film to his work with Rampling (“French directors like to use actresses with English accents”) and also recalls that his cast member Emmanuelle Seigner (aka Mrs Roman Polanski) appeared in her husband’s Bitter Moon with Thomas back in 1992: “Yes, they had a lesbian bed scene!” And then there’s young German actor Ernst Umhauer, whose casting as Claude Garcia was crucial as “he was 21 but looked 16…

And he had amazing eyes, which fitted the film as it’s all about a voyeur.” that “it’s by a Spanish playwright [Juan Mayorga] and is called The Boy in the Last Row [El Chico De La Última Fila]… It was not very popular in France, but I saw it and thought that it was very clever and funny, and that it would be a good opportunity for me to do an adaptation using my own process of working and writing. Of course, I had to change many things from the original Spanish due to the French culture, and the play was more wordy, so I had to cut many lines.

“It’s a play I knew for a long time,” he continues, and therefore he was working on it while also toiling on other projects including Potiche (Trophy Wife). But it was after Potiche wrapped that “the playwright said to me that the Spanish director [who owned the rights] was not going to make the film… I would have waited if the Spanish director was Pedro Almodóvar though!”

The BaLL BaLLeT Ba LLee T RevoLución RevoLL ución company Revo c ompany & aTa aaTTTaa aLLSTaR a LLSTa LLSTa R aaRTiSTS RTii STS ppReSenT RT R e S en enTT

DIRECT FROM CUBA

Noting that the tone of his movies is always hard to get right, and that In the House is no different (it plays like a psychological drama, but there’s a vein of dark satirical comedy running throughout), Ozon remarks that his “films are like life: some days you’re in a Bergman movie, and some days you’re in a Billy Wilder movie!” And, to conclude, he humourously describes his latest effort, Young & Beautiful: “Yes, it’s a character portrait of a young girl, 17 years old, who discovers her sexuality, so it’s a very French film!”

» In the House is screening at Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas

REALITY

BY NIGEL RANDALL

What strikes the viewer of Reality early on, at least this one, is how much its star Aniello Arena, brings to mind a better-known actor.

There’s something in his mannerisms and onscreen presence as the gregarious fishmonger Luciano, that recalls a younger De Niro. What struck next were the similarities between the Italian production and Cannes Grand Prix winner and one of De Niro’s lesser-known films The King of Comedy. In that film (one of many collaborations with Martin Scorsese), he plays Rupert Pupkin – an aspiring comic obsessed with finding fame and whose desperation leads to a delusional blurring of fantasy and reality.

Which leads us to… Reality, in which Luciano, after much prodding by his family, attends a shopping mall audition for the Italian version

FEATuring THE bAllET ET rEvoluciÓn TH H HiTS FroM livE bAnD WiTH

ricKY MArTin PrincE

J lo

bEYoncÉ EnriQuEE iglESiAS

SHAKirA uSHEr

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THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 29

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CINEMA BEFORE MIDNIGHT

BY CHRISTOPHER SANDERS

of Big Brother and then slowly begins to lose his grip on the same concept the show purports to capture.

It seems the Italians generally go crazy for the type of minor celebrity that shows like BB throw up. In Reality it is former contestant, Enzo (Raffaele Farrente), who arrives at reception centres and nightclubs via helicopter to make fleeting appearances and exclaim the earnest catchphrase “never give up” to the screaming masses. After seemingly making a favourable impression at his first audition, Luciano increasingly believes his selection for ‘the house’ is imminent. It appears true and as such, Luciano is treated like a star in his local neighbourhood. Suddenly newcomers to his fish stall are suspected to be BB spies sent to secretly assess his eligibility for the show.

These scenes leave doubt in the audience’s mind and the first cracks in Luciano’s mental state begin to appear. His paranoia ironically compels him to act as though he’s constantly being watched… and furthermore, judged (“You talking to me?”).

As a treatise on celebrity culture, the Orwellian idea of surveillance and more obviously, religion, the film is somewhat lightweight. Luciano’s humble, hardworking co-worker Michele (Nando Paone) makes clear the spiritual connection with his continual Christian wisdom. It is all but lost on Luciano by now, who starts giving away his family’s furniture to the local homeless as a misguided display of virtuousness. By now it’s clear to all he’s lost all sense of reality and the final scene plays this out to the rightful conclusion. Whilst there’s much to enjoy about director Matteo Garrone’s part-comedy, part– drama – especially Arena’s performance - it overstretches its ideas and running time.

With a bit of much needed trimming Reality could’ve been a much better film.

Richard Linklater’s seemingly impossible (but remarkable) sequel to Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, gets its own sequel in the form of Before Midnight, which results in the greatest romantic trilogy ever filmed. While the first installment (Before Sunrise) saw American traveller Jesse (Ethan Hawke – his finest role) impulsively strike up a conversation with French beauty Celine (Julie Delpy) before asking her to join him for a night in Vienna where they walked and talked (and walked and talked some more), discovering love until his plane left for home. Ending on a fantastic ambiguous note, which seemed a perfect endnote to (possibly) finding the one true love, Linklater, Delpy and Hawke returned to Europe nine years later for the sequel Before Sunset. It shouldn’t have worked but the sequel was arguably greater than the first.

Shot in real time, which added to the hyper-realism of the previous indie romantic film, Before Sunset reunited the couple for the first time and showed the spark was still there despite the fact that both had seemingly moved on. Now, Jesse and Celine are in their 40s. They’ve been together for nine years, are settled in Europe and have twin daughters. But what follows the intense whirlwind romance and reunion? This is what makes Before Midnight so fascinating. In the space of a day in Greece (where the couple are holidaying) we feel the nine years of love, pain and struggles. The third film digs much deeper than the first two, as family, career, ex-lovers and a sense of home are themes that are explored.

With the addition of the latest installment, the Before films feel more like a documentary series than a film trilogy. It’s the cinematic version of The Up Series where every few years we drop in on the characters to check up on them. With Delpy and Hawke both contributing to the script with director Linklater, it feels astonishingly more real than a couple of actors merely revisiting old characters and because of that, Before Midnight is incredibly moving and powerful. Here’s hoping we catch up with Celine and Jesse in 2022.

WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS

BY CHRISTOPHER SANDERS

Julian Assange: hero or villain? There seems to be no middle ground when discussing the WikiLeaks founder but, as Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) shows with his brilliant new documentary, he is neither.

Rather he’s a complicated man with even more complicated ideals. Unfortunately, Assange doesn’t appear before Gibney’s cameras or

answer the filmmaker’s questions, as Assange apparently wanted money. Gibney refused. This is to the film’s detriment but there is a bulk of Assange footage from previous interviews and documentaries, especially from Aussie journo and filmmaker Mark Davis, who directed his own Assange doco, and is one of the talking heads.

The major success of We Steal Secrets, is the separation of Assange the man from WikiLeaks the website, which publishes major leaks (secrets) for the public to view. We see Assange rise from an extended hibernation, after he attracted notoriety as a hacker some 20 years ago, to minor leak celebrity to full-blown celebrity after the Afghan and Iraq War Logs leaks, which were allegedly supplied by Private Bradley Manning, a man who is currently incarcerated, and is the real hero or villain (depending on your view of the leaks) of the story. While Manning is in jail, Assange is in his own confinement, in the Ecuadorian embassy in London (to avoid questioning in Sweden) while running for the Australian senate. Gibney’s second film of 2013 (after Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God) separates fact from fiction, myth from reality, but no matter your opinion of Assange, it is likely to be cloudier after viewing We Steal Secrets.

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In Cinemas

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30 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

VISUAL ARTS

BIGGER POND Monet may have remained true to nature as it floated onto the surface of his canvases but in the more ‘abstract’ of his works a distinction between literary and retinal ways of realising experience takes on the finest shade of grey, if not blue, violet or green.

BY JOHN NEYLON

M

onet’s Garden is a memorable exhibition devoted to Claude Monet’s iconic garden at Giverny in northern France.

Monet worked for decades on his project of capturing the changing moods of nature within his walled garden. These landscapes of water and reflections became for Monet an obsession tempered by the artist’s extraordinary capacity to realise visual impressions as floating worlds of the imagination.

Alain de Botton in the closeout to his book ‘How Proust can change your life’ asks the big questions about how to deal with great art. He cites the example of Virginia Woolf who for a long time held out on reading anything by Marcel Proust for fear it would strike her dumb.

Being stopped in your tracks by extraordinary art, be it music, literature or an artwork needs to be thought through. De Botton suggests that this condition derives from what Proust called ‘artistic idolatry’.

It happens easily enough. As a tourist you visit the artist’s studio which looks as if he or she has just stepped out to buy a bag of buns. Later you listen to a compilation of music (the artist’s favourites) while cooking a meal from a book of regional recipes bought from the museum shop. All this, Proust contends, privileges the context but distracts from the main game, as De Botton interprets it, of looking at our world through the artist’s eyes, not looking at his/her world through ours.

The exhibition Monet’s Garden ticks all the artistic idolatry boxes. Who could resist the exhibition exit wrap-around cinematic experience of a day at Giverny from dawn to dusk? The problem or challenge with ‘Giverny Monet’ is that we expect to find familiar things – and we do. Walls of water lilies floating on water easily satisfy expectations. It’s all about beauty tinged with the X factor of semiabstraction that lends many paintings the kind of qualities associated with 20th century abstract expressionism of the numinous kind.

These are landscapes of pleasure.

No, make that desire. Monet’s pleasure and our desire for something along the lines of beauty, a piece of Monet, a taste of France or simply reflecting pools for meditation. Hang onto that idea of desire. I’m saying this because I came into the exhibition resistant to the whole Giverny Dreaming caper. And remain so. But I was confident that something in this exhibition would give me what the artist Frank Auerbach described as artwork escaping from a thicket of prepared possibilities. And so it proved.

The first gallery tracks Monet’s creative journey out of Paris, along the Seine, from 1871 to the mid 1880s, in search of a place where nature wasn’t buried by suburbs and industry.

Some beautifully crafted images of Seine Valley villages, Argenteuil and Vétheuil, should predispose all viewers to Monet’s remarkable eye for light. Cezanne once remarked that Monet was ‘only an eye – but what an eye.’

Time spent looking at the nuances of colour,

Collage (detail) by Luke Westle of portraits from RSASA Collection & Self Portrait

ROYAL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ARTS INC.

Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, © Bridgeman-Giraudon / Presse

texture and tonal exchanges within these works sets up an appreciation of how Monet cultivated this eye for light and landscape subjects as he explored the Norman coast, tracked the passage of light across the face of Rouen Cathedral, peered through the murk of a Thames side fog and adapted his palette to accommodate the snow-clad landscapes of Norway. This ‘warm up’ section of the exhibition has key, quality works which deliver a real sense of how well equipped Monet, in his mature years, was to deal with the challenge of creating an entire world out of an equivalent to grains of sand – a few water plants, some willow tendrils,

occasionally the green bridge and of course, reflections.

Suddenly the exhibition becomes Giverny.

From here on it’s reflections all the way down. Many perhaps have a fixed idea of Monet’s water lilies as being that extraordinary 360° installation in the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. The reality, as evidenced by this large assembly of Giverny-based studies, is that Monet worked for a quarter of a century on his project of capturing the constantly changing aspects of his walled garden. The diversity of his interpretations goes far beyond

T’Arts Collective Gays Arcade (off Adelaide Arcade)

2013 Inaugural RSASA Portrait Prize

Exciting artist run contemporary gallery / shop in the heart of Adelaide.

23 June – 14 July Opens 23 June, 2.00pm by Nick Mitzevich, Director AGSA Prizes to $6,200 to be awarded to winners Exhibition Entry Cost: $8.00 Portrait Demonstrations: Thursdays 27 June, 4 & 11 July & Sundays 7 & 14 July, 8 sessions, 8 sitters, 32 artists demonstrating a mix of mediums.

Bookings & enquiries rsasarts@bigpond.net.au or 8232 0450

Oil by Durham Rayner

Claude Monet French 1840–1926. Waterlilies and agapanthus (Nymphéas et agapanthes) (1914–17). ©

www.rsasarats@bigond.net.au & find us on facebook Drawings & paintings of their favourite character by Students of Grange PS on display in foyer to RSASA Gallery.

Feature artist - Alice Leda Pettirosso Black And White...nothing ever is...

Alice Leda Pettirosso takes a visual break from dyed wool fabric in favour of combinations of black and white Exhibition runs from June 30th until July 27th

Royal South Australian Society of Arts Inc. Level 1 Institute Building, Cnr North Terrace & Kintore Ave Adelaide, Ph/Fax: 8232 0450 www.rsasarts.com.au rsasarts@bigpond.net.au Mon- Fri 10.30-4.30pm Sat & Sun 1- 4pm Pub Hol. Closed.

Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm Phone 8232 0265

www.tartscollective.com.au

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 31

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VISUAL ARTS that of the play of natural light across the day.

It is an extraordinary journey, to see such a finely tuned eye become fixated on water and reflections to the extent that nothing else mattered.

Of particular interest is the importance of gesture, something not easily discerned in reproductions. The artist always had this certain flourish in his brushwork. A late (1917 – 19) water lilies subject panel has the sprung energy of a mid 1950s de Kooning Full Arm series painting or any number of Cy Twombly drawings. The capacity of gesture to draw the viewer into the image is particularly evident in late (early 1920s) works at a time when Monet was afflicted with an eye condition which played hell with his capacity to see colours other than reds and yellows. This explains the extraordinary, quite expressionistic colour palettes of this group of works. In such images the brush works in a convulsive but disciplined manner as if the cane of a partially sighted person searching the way forward.

The big surprises in the exhibition are large panels featuring willow trees which are invested with Monet’s compassion for the soldiers who had suffered and died during the war of 1914 – 18. The nervous energy these images communicate dispels any notion of Monet as the grand seigneur cloistered from the world and adrift in a floating world. A different kind of

exhibitions gallery shop

5 - 28 July 2013 TWO EXHIBITIONS

QUILT ART

frisson is lurking in some earlier pond paintings such as a 1907 water lilies in which the reflected sky looks to be running with blood. Virginia Spate’s catalogue essay nudges this work into the orbit of Symbolism and its fixation on death, the afterlife, dreams and emotions.

Monet may have remained true to nature as

THE COLOUR OF LIFE An exhibition of paintings by Karen Windle and fine art photographs

by Dave Underwood

5 - 26 July 2013

Karen Windle, Colour of Life #1

traditional and contemporary quilts by Linda Niewand

Claude Monet Vétheuil (1879). Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Felton Bequest, 1937.

OUR PLACE IN THE LANDSCAPE works in various media by artists of the Gallery 54 Collective, Penola

Opens: Friday 5 July at 6pm Opening Speakers: Artists Karen and Dave Chat to the artists: Karen and Dave on Saturday 13 July 2pm – 4pm

Free entry - all welcome!

artworks (clockwise from top left) ‘House in the Forest With Red Chair’, by Anne Miles ‘Wetland 1’, by Robert Miles & ‘Reflecting 2 - Bowl Series’, by Kate Czaban

Gallery M, Marion Cultural Centre 287 Diagonal Rd, Oaklands Pk SA P:8377 2904 info@gallerym.net.au

www.gallerym.net.au

Pepper Street Arts Centre exhibitions, gift shop, art classes, coffee shop.

558 Magill Road, Magill PH: 8364 6154 Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 12 noon - 5pm An arts and cultural initiative funded by the City of Burnside

www.pepperstreetartscentre.com.au

it floated onto the surface of his canvases but in the more ‘abstract’ of his floating worlds a distinction between literary and retinal ways of realising experience takes on the finest shade of grey, if not blue, violet or green. De Botton’s final advice on how to treat great art is that sometimes it needs to be thrown aside. Try it – but see this very seductive show first.

» Monet’s Garden, The Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris shows at the National Gallery of Victoria until September 8.

32 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

VISUAL ARTS

NEW HOME, NEW ENERGY

BY JANE LLEWELLYN

T

he future is looking bright for the Adelaide Central School of Art (ACSA) as it settles into its new premises and adopts a new outlook.

CEO Ingrid Kellenbach believes the twostage move from the school’s former home in Norwood to the Glenside Cultural Precinct has allowed the school to grow up – something which students, teachers and the wider visual arts community will benefit from.

James Dodd, artist and lecturer at ACSA, says, “It’s very, very lively here. Part of the energy is the shift and the new fit out.” ACSA was originally founded in 1982 and after 20 years at the Norwood site the timing was right to move. “The school did very well with limited facilities but we definitely outgrew the space,” says Kellenbach. The new site at Glenside boasts impressive facilities but also maintains some of the quirks of the heritage buildings, adding to the character.

“It has a great feeling, it feels like an art school should. It’s a little bit spooky maybe but it’s definitely a very creative space. It has the beauty of the grounds surrounding it with plenty of breathing space and it’s great to have that association with the Adelaide Studios next door,” explains Dodd. ACSA has a 50-year lease

on the building and while Kellenbach says it’s modest beginnings they now have room to grow in the future.

ACSA is South Australia’s only independent art school, which Kellenbach believes gives it an edge. Dodd suggests, “The independence of ACSA means they are only trying to be an art school and only have to prove they can do that which means the students benefit – everyone benefits.” He continues: “I have had experience at various other universities and one of the things which other art schools in Australia have suffered from in recent years is that, being part of a larger university structure, they are subject to a lot of bureaucracy and things which detract from their commitment to being an art school.”

Kellenbach feels that having a single focus contributes to the success of the school and its graduates. She explains: “It’s that thing we talk about, single focus, it is crucial. It means you are not competing with pharmacy or physics or economics, where they have a lecture theatre with 300 students. Dodd adds, “One of the advantages of the single focus is that between classes that energy doesn’t dissipate, into other places, everyone is talking about art.”

The lecturers at ACSA are part time

THINKING OF A HOLIDAY ON KANGAROO ISLAND?

TAKE IT AT ART FEAST TIME.

ACSA’s new Glenside premises

allowing them the opportunity to pursue their own careers and it’s this flexibility and encouragement, which attracted Dodd to become a lecturer last year. He says: “I am excited to teach alongside the other staff we have here. They are all artists I have the utmost respect for. I’m always excited to hear about what they are doing and that just folds back into the students again.” Kellenbach adds: “We encourage lecturers like James who has a significant exhibiting profile, and didn’t train at the school, to bring in other information,” The success of ACSA is evident by the number of graduates out there exhibiting their work. Kellenbach also quotes some impressive figures. “When we did the stats 18 months ago – it might be different now – but we were looking at 80 percent of our graduates who were still practicing artists 10 years after leaving.”

There is something special about ACSA: perhaps it’s Kellenbach’s enthusiasm – the school is funded by student fees and her tireless fundraising – or perhaps it’s the quality teaching staff, now matched by quality

facilities. “It’s the community, it’s something special,” Kellenbach suggests. “People come here to study and never really leave – well they don’t have to. There is a sense they are always welcome. There is a sense of an attachment, they’ve invested, we’ve invested.”

Dodd adds: “There is a real sense of family here. It’s an intimate school and group of people and this carries on later. It perpetuates all the positive things we are trying to do here.”

It can be a difficult road for visual artists in this current climate so how does Dodd prepare them for the real world? “I tell them, the art world is full of opportunities and there is not just one path – thank god. We all really push the idea to students that they are going to end up engaging with all sorts of things they didn’t even think were possible. If they leave here with an open mind and with the confidence and skills they will be fine.”

acsa.sa.edu.au

Gloria Goddard, Intimate, acrylic on card

ADELAI DES LARGEST RANGE OF QUALITY ART MATERIALS

Third of the Friends – 20 x 20 Show Friends of the South Australian School of Art

7 – 28 July 2013

83 Commercial Road, Port Adelaide Open: Open:Mon Mon- Fri - Fri8.30-5pm 8.30-5pmSat Sat9-2pm 9-2pm Phone: Phone:8241 82410059 0059 sales@portartsupplies.com.au www.portartsupplies.com.au

1 Thomas Street (cnr Main North Road) Nailsworth Tel 8342 8175 prospect.sa.gov.au

GEOFF WILSON 12 – 27 July 2013 www.bmgart.com.au

The Adelaide Review July 2013 33

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visual arts

Fleurieu Art Prize

While we embrace and honour traditional concepts and mediums, we also welcome artists that challenge the more traditional arts and bring new concepts, unique interpretations and contemporary media to the prize.”

by Nina Bertok

A

rtist entries for the world’s richest landscape prize, The Fleurieu Art Prize, are still open (until Friday, July 26) with an increased main prize of $60,000. Judged by Nigel Hurst from London’s Saatchi Gallery, artists from all over Australia are encouraged to enter the competition, which will be held from Saturday, October 26 until Monday, November 25 in various galleries, cellar doors and exhibition spaces throughout McLaren Vale and the Fleurieu Peninsula.

colour. With the variety of warm and cool tones in the smoke on the clear blue sky background, I instantly knew it would be a good image to manipulate with my psychedelic colour schemes.”

Since opening for entries last February, Fleurieu Art Prize General Manager, Karen Paris, said works have been pouring in from all around the country.

“Given the $60,000 main prize sum – the most for a landscape painting prize anywhere in the world – plus the fact that judging will be led by Nigel Hurst from London’s Saatchi Gallery, we knew there would be some strong competition from artists this year,” Paris announced. “Artists can enter a work of any substance applied to any surface, as long as it has a relationship to ‘landscape’ in the mind of its creator. While we embrace and honour traditional concepts and mediums, we also welcome artists that challenge the more traditional arts and bring new concepts, unique interpretations and contemporary media to the prize.”

Melbourne emerging artist, Jack Rowland, described his entry Smoke as a work inspired by a visit to rural Castlemaine in the summertime, which he claims was an eye-opener as to his perception of smoke and colour.

“The background to the imagery of Smoke

Paris adds that the judging panel will also see artist Michael Zavros and director of the Samstag Museum of Art, Erica Green, picking this year’s winner alongside Nigel Hurst.

According to Hurst, “South Australia is clearly embracing contemporary art and I’m delighted to help judge such a unique and important prize.”

Past winners of the Fleurieu Art Prize include Robert Hannaford (1998), Elisabeth Cummings (2000), Joe Furlonger (2002), Ken Whisson (2006), Tim Burns (2008) and Julie Harris (2011).

Julie Harris, Pagodas at Newnes

came during a visit to Castlemaine early one summer. A huge amount of smoke began to appear a few kilometres away from me in the middle of the bush. My first instinct was that it was the beginning of a house fire or maybe even a bushfire. I drove towards it to investigate, taking photos along the way, only to find that it was controlled burning for

S E M E S T E R S U N D AY R E C I T A L S An innovative program of Sunday afternoon concerts that brings together diverse cultural activities in a crossover of artistic endeavours.

Sunday 7 July 3:30pm

Chiaroscuro in Vocal Repertoire including works of Seiber, Ravel, Korngold and Bridge EMILY RAVENSCROFT MONIQUE WATSON GUILA TIVER

mezzo-soprano soprano mezzo-soprano

PENELOPE CASHMAN IMANTS LARSENS

piano viola

Concerts support the Bapea Library Funds

Adults: $20 Concession: $15 youth/tertiary students

Bookings & Payment - trybooking.com/DASE Or by cash payment at the door where available 51 Wood Avenue Brompton SA 5007 Ph 08 8346 2600 http://people.aapt.net.au/~bapea/Sunday_Recitals.html

ART SCHOOL & GALLERY P R O F E S S I O N A L I S M AT L E I S U R E

Art School Term 3 commences 24 July

the pre-bushfire season. It must have been my city nature to assume it was a disaster, as everyone else carried on as though it was a normal occurrence. I thought this unexpected change of perception towards the cause of smoke tied in with my interests in altered perception, so I turned an image of potential disaster into a celebration of

»»The Fleurieu Art Prize Festival will be held from Saturday, October 26 until Monday, November 25. Entries are open until Friday, July 26 at artprize.com.au

34 The Adelaide Review July 2013

visual arts

Science + Art

With a record number of entries (860) the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize is set to break more records this year while establishing itself as one of the country’s major art prizes.

by Christopher Sanders

F

ormerly called the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, the annual South Australian Museum competition (with a prize pool of $77,000), which promotes science and art, changed its name for the 2013 event to the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. The Museum’s Head of Special Projects Mark Judd said the change of name meant that many of the entries were stronger in portraying various scientific issues while others celebrate the beauty of nature.

“We always attract a diverse range of artworks in each category, but this year we were particularly impressed with the strength, quality and use of different media in the entrants’ pool,” Judd explained. “While some artworks aim to generate debate about the environment or scientific issues, some of the aesthetic works merely celebrate nature’s beauty.”

The first Waterhouse was held 11 years ago to promote excellence in art practice and scientific interpretation. Judd said the term natural history conjured up ideas of “scientific illustration” or a “conservative paradigm of pre-21st century natural realism”.

David Atkins, Flat-screen Icon

“We wanted to encourage artists to address contemporary ideas and issues such as conservation, habitat depletion, climate change, contemporary scientific research and other natural relationships. The idea still embraces natural history art as a subset.

Additionally, promote and amplify the core work of natural science research at the South Australian Museum. While the general public marvels at the science-inspired images in the work, we see many scientists come and truly appreciate the chance to see the very specimens or ideas they are working with represented in such amazing ways.”

Artists are not limited by any other rules. What makes for good interpretive art will be left to the artists and those who judge them.”

With more than 15,000 visitors expected, this year’s event attracted the most entries and has an international flavor with 29 international entries including three finalists selected for the final exhibition, beginning in late July. Judd says the competition has basically remained the same since inception (promoting excellence in art practice and scientific interpretation) with a few differences.

»»Waterhouse Natural Science Prize South Australian Museum Saturday, July 20 to Sunday, September 8

“The topic is ‘natural science’; it includes the initial idea of ‘natural history’ but now also encompasses all natural science disciplines.

waterhouse.samuseum.sa.gov.au

Your creative journey starts here...

Associate Degree of Visual Art

|

Bachelor of Visual Art

|

Bachelor of Visual Art (Hons)

The new School campus is right next door to Adelaide Film Studios, home of the South Australian Film Development Corporation and related creative enterprises, in a vibrant arts and learning community… all set on beautiful grounds, with improved studio, teaching and reference facilities.

Masterclass with Chelsea Lehmann

Semester 2 Short Courses

This masterclass led by Chelsea Lehmann explores the creative tension between what constitutes a painting and a picture, uniting images from Art History and now.

An exciting new range of short courses starting in July.

Contact the School for a brochure. All classes will be held in the School’s new spacious teaching studios.

Introductory session Fri 12 July 2013 2 day Masterclass Sat 13 July - Sun 14 July

Call Andrew on (08) 8299 7300 to make a booking.

Visit our new facilities Artist studios available Short term and long term studios for practising artists.

Call us for more information.

In the Gallery

Neck of the Woods Hailey Lane, Jess Mara, Julia Robinson and Talia Wignall | 26 June - 19 July 2013

The Next Chapter Fundraising auction and exhibition including works by Roy Ananda, Sue Boettcher, Thom Buchanan, Nona Burden, Deidre But-Husaim, Nicholas Folland, Helen Fuller, Ingrid Kellenbach, Chelsea Lehmann, Arthur Phillips, Julia Robinson and Lyn Wood | 26 July - 9 August 2013 | Auction: 6 - 8 pm 30 July All Welcome

Open Day Sunday 11 - 4pm | 8 Sept 2013 Meet staff, listen to talks by lecturers and graduates, visit the Gallery and view student studios and their work.

All welcome.

PO Box 225 Fullarton SA 5063 Glenside Cultural Precinct | Carpark C 7 Mulberry Road Glenside SA 5065 [via Gate 1, 226 Fullarton Road]

Image Chelsea Lehmann, The red dress from Anna (detail), 2009 - 2010

T 08 8299 7300 info@acsa.sa.edu.au www.acsa.sa.edu.au

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 35

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VISUAL ARTS

Profile: Aleksandra Antic

BY JANE LLEWELLYN

C

ountry Arts SA’s Breaking Ground award provides a regional South Australian artist with the opportunity to take their career to the next level. The award, only in its second year, gives the recipient $10,000 towards creating an exhibition at Artspace Gallery at Adelaide’s Festival Centre the following year and $5000 towards mentoring. Last year’s recipient Aleksandra Antic was mentored by Helen Fuller and this month we see the result of this as she presents the exhibition Echo.

The exhibition features a number of works, including installations, screen prints, ink drawings and digital images, revolving around the Greek goddess Echo. “I’m just responding to the myth I’m not trying to literally tell the story,” says Antic. She is focussing on the point where Echo is trying to communicate but can’t, the ability to communicate has been taken away.

The experiences I had growing up in Serbia make me look at this society in a different way. Any artist who goes through a migrant experience would consider what the impact is. My work reflects my experiences in a sort of biographical way.”

Aleksandra Antic, Gasp mdf (detail), led lights, perspex, drafting film, lipstick, 30 pieces, dimensions variable

Antic migrated to Australia from Serbia in 2004 and draws on this in her work. “The experiences I had growing up in Serbia make me look at this society in a different way. Any artist who goes through a migrant experience would consider what the impact is. My work reflects my experiences in a sort of biographical way.”

Much of Antic’s work addresses ideas of communication or more importantly not being able to communicate and how this affects our sense of self. In one of the installation works, Gasp, a number of light boxes appear with an image of a mouth covered by a hand. “It represents muting, it’s like a constraint. I am portraying that sense of the inability to fully communicate.”

This is also evident in the work Infinite Digression. “I’m using self portraiture and it is about getting two heads too close to each other. You can’t really have a conversation when you’re too close to someone.”

Resounding, an ink drawing almost seven metres long, suggests Antic’s own struggles as a migrant and the confusion of speaking two languages. “It’s about communication.

So I do a bit of writing – a sort of merged version of Serbian letters but in English.

You can’t really recognise it you just see this energy coming in and out.”

The Breaking Ground award has allowed Antic the chance to broaden her practice

especially through her mentorship with Fuller who has helped her think outside the square. “It has made me work harder, ask more questions and stretch myself more and I have really enjoyed that.”

» Echo Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre Wednesday, July 3 to Sunday, August 25 A Short History of Decay Nexus Multicultural Art Centre Thursday, August 1 to Friday, August 23

Flinders University City Gallery State Library of South Australia, North Tce, Adelaide Tuesday - Friday 11 - 4, Saturday & Sunday 12 - 4 T (08) 8207 7055 E city.gallery@flinders.edu.au

www.flinders.edu.au/artmuseum RITA HALL DAVID KELLY

Crystal Palace 27 July - 29 September

Adelaide College of the Arts

36 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

VISUAL ARTS

OUT OF THE SHADOWS

BY JANE LLEWELLYN

After having her work censored in Iran Nasr moved to Australia in 2008 to further her professional contemporary art career and held her first Australian exhibition at Format Gallery in mid-2009. This exhibition was a series of photographs, Women in Shadow, which were images of women wearing a black burqa or chador taken at Maslin Beach. “It is a contrast between what I used to do back in Iran and what I am now in Australia. I was looking at how it might work to shift from nude drawing in a religiously restrictive country to covered women in this new free land - at Maslin Beach, the nude beach. I wanted it to be an ironic visual presentation,” explains Nasr.

While completing a Masters at the South Australian School of Art, Nasr supported herself by working in high-end fashion retail. This influenced her final presentation, a performance piece, Women in Shadow, which further explored the ideas raised in the photography series. Nasr says the performance was a fashion parade with a difference. It featured models dressed in black burqas with heavy make-up, high heels and beautiful clothes underneath. The models returned to

the stage at the end of the performance holding goldfish, symbolising rebirth – of being in a new culture.

Earlier this year Paul Greenaway presented her work at Art Stage Singapore 2013 where it was well received. Now it’s Adelaide’s turn with an exhibition of her work on display at Greenaway Art Gallery this month. It will be a combination of new and older works. The exhibition features the video work Beshkan (Breakdown), which Greenaway also showed in Singapore. The work explores this idea of how different imagery and symbols can have different meanings for the East and West. The minute long video loop features hands performing the Persian snap (Beshkan). “Beshkan is a form of celebration in Middle Eastern and Arab countries when they hear good news.

It comes naturally to them.” In contrast, in the West we might interpret it as a representation of a person shooting a gun.

Nasim Nasr, Muteness, 2011, digital print 80 x 80 cm

Audiences might have already caught a glimpse of Nasr’s series Muteness, which was projected on the Rundle Mall Super-screen and Blyth St Light boxes in 2011. This month’s exhibition will feature four images from this series, which show Nasr’s face behind a traditional (Daf) drum. “Muteness was about me and censorship. I have kind of censored my face. You can see my hands playing the drum but hardly see my face behind its surface.”

The traditional Daf makes a loud noise, so the image suggests an “irony between the loud sound of the drum and the muteness of the person playing it,” says Nasr. “I am playing it but not showing who I am. It’s a form of self censorship, a self portrait in a way.”

JULIE LAWRY & BARBARA BEASLEY-SOUTHGATE water colours & pastels from the beach to the bush.

30th June - 20th July Spotlight on the Bush (detail) by B. Southgate

Photo: courtesy the artist.

A

delaide-based, Iranian born artist Nasim Nasr’s artwork revolves around the complex notions of identity, derived from self-experience. She looks at images and objects that in the East mean one thing but when represented in the West take on a different meaning. Nasr says: “My work is a visual presentation of what I have experienced from past to present. The theme is about identity, how identity changes when you move from one culture to another and how much this new life and new land affects you.”

DAVID SUMNER GALLERY 359 Greenhill Road Toorak Gardens Ph: 8332 7900

Tues to Fri 11-5 | Sat to Sun 2-5 www.david-sumner-gallery.com

Also in the exhibition is her new video work, Untitled, 2013, featuring a middle aged man performing the different hand movements for praying in different religions while repeating `I believe in love, I believe in love’. “It addresses different religions and brings them all together and promotes love rather than any religion specifically,” says Nasr.

exhibition and much of her body of work to date stems from her fascination with the way the audience in the West views her artwork.

Nasr draws on her own experiences with identity and censorship, and uses her art as a means to express them. She is particularly interested in how things can be looked at differently from East to West. This latest

» Nasim Nasr Greenaway Art Gallery Wednesday, July 3 to Sunday, July 28 nasimnasr.com

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 37

ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU

VISUAL ARTS

THIS MONTH THE ADELAIDE REVIEW’S GUIDE TO JULY’S HIGHLIGHT VISUAL ARTS EVENTS

UNREAL MEN UnReal Men, a group exhibition, launched last month at Art Images Gallery.

PHOTOS JONATHAN VAN DER KNAAP

AKIRA AKIRA Test Site Hugo Michell Gallery Continues until Saturday, July 6 hugomichellgallery.com Akira Akira has veered away from his usual precision and embraced slight imperfection for his latest exhibition. The Melbourne-based artist explores form using his recognisable geometric shapes created from a blend of high tech and everyday materials. Street artist Ghostpatrol is also exhibiting alongside Akira Akira.

Patrica Liao, Jaquiline Mitchell, Sina Grassman, Samina Bak and Jennie Peake

Akira Akira, Edificell (reconfigured) (2010 – 12) (detail)

THE THIRD SPACE: INTERCULTURAL CRAFTING Group Exhibition Murray Bridge Regional Gallery Continues until Sunday, July 21 murraybridgegallery.com.au Five South Australian artists have paired with counterparts from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. The collaborations celebrate artistic relationships and feature the pairing of crafts such as Eritrean basketry and jewellery making, and Nigerian indigo dying and printmaking.

Lucy Cooper, Alan Merchant and Sally Turner

Milete-Tsega Ogbalidet & Lisa Furno, Lamp # 1, 2013 (detail)

MANAGERIE Various Artists Urban Cow Studio Wednesday, July 6 until Wednesday, August 3 A group exhibition featuring 19 of Adelaide’s emerging and established artists will take over The Urban Cow, The Rhino Room and The Howling Owl. The work on display ventures beyond the norm and into the world of curious creatures. Artists include Daniel Withey, Genevieve Brandenburg and Claire Marsh.

Anna Judd and Mark Judd

Jenna Pippett, Dictator with Cow (detail)

Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art University of South Australia

19 July – 20 September 2013

Revealed 2: CollectorSpace Narelle Jubelin: Vision in Motion with Jacky Redgate

55 North Terrace, Adelaide T 8302 0870 Open Tue – Fri 11– 5pm, Sat 2 – 5pm SMA TAR July 13.indd 1

19/6/13 12:33:43 PM

Sara Westover and Eliza Dallwitz

38 The Adelaide Review July 2013

food.wine.coffee

Milano Cucina offers casual, friendly contemporary Italian cuisine.

With its Euro-hip style this clever Italian kitchen and diner offers an extensive menu range including a large selection of coffee, home-made biscuits and cakes.

Functions including business meetings, Christmas parties and special celebrations comprising birthdays, baptisms, anniversaries and weddings are fully catered for.

Whatever your gastronomic indulgence may be, from a casual breakfast through to fine dining, you will find it in this corner of the CDB.

Review: Fino

by Rebecca Sullivan

I

never used to like Sherry much. It was only in the past decade I came to realise there were so many different types of the tipple that I am now truly fond of.

My favourite, it so happens, is the very one I was offered upon being shown to my seat, nestled away in a cosy corner of the bustling Fino on a rainy winter afternoon. Instant warmth crept through my body as I looked around the bright white room at the groups of locals. I knew they were locals as they were being called by their first names by all the staff and the few that weren’t, myself and compadre Walshy included, were shown the exact same affection and local love as if we were eating in their very own living room.

Sharon Romeo opened Fino with co-owner and Chef David Swain seven years ago, yet her enthusiasm seems as if it was the grand opening night. No tiredness or boredom, like many maître d’s who have been in their job that long. She oozes complete love for her manor, her suppliers and her customers.

Sharon tells stories of the produce on our plates and the people who grew or created it like pages from a magic book. Knowing everyone by name, age, habitat and shoe size adds a special charm to each plate as they are brought out, designed to be shared and eaten from a local potter’s splendid plates. Once delivered, we sit like small children awaiting the next chapter of our six-course degustation.

Chapter one begins with a full blood Wagyu brisket, brined and hot smoked in a Weber located in the rear car park, served with pickled

cauliflower, mustard greens from the garden and an absolutely delightful little addition of sprouted rye. The perfectly combined, simply prepared ingredients all sing on the plate in perfect tune with one another, like the score from the most tear-jerking film you ever watched. A simple pine, saffron milk cap and slippery jack mushroom delight followed, all of them foraged locally by the chef himself.

Next, a piping hot (oozing with cheesy goodness as it was served) snapper bacala.

Hats off, as this dish takes from two to four days to prepare post brining of the fish. It is then cooked in milk, flaked and steamed before combining with rice and cheese. A 14-hour slow cooked brisket served with pureed and charred leeks came at the end, and we both groaned with that, ‘egh I can’t eat another bite’ sound before fighting over who would suck the bone.

The chapter I could have digested all over again is the blood sausage with roast heirloom beets and oats. The one I may skip next time would be the brussel sprouts with white bean puree, a little uninspiring as a dish, but the caramelised walnuts and chestnuts made up for it somewhat. But who likes sprouts anyway, right?

Now getting back to the Sherry and, of course, the wine. After our first tipple of Sherry, which whet our appetites perfectly, Sharon bounds over with perfect timing to ask, as if she was so desperately hoping the answer would be yes, “Shall I guide you on wine?” Yes Sharon, you shall. Our first

offering, a Pinot Grigio. Oh dear, bitter disappointment sweeps through my body. I had made the wrong decision. Pinot Grigio to me, and described by compadre Walshy, is like a “skinny girl wearing a much too short skirt walking on a beach in Noosa”. I explained this to Sharon and her prompt remark was an inquisitive, “With too much fake tan?” A laugh erupted in our alcove and she quickly rebutted: “Well this Pinot Griggio by Pizzini is much more like a tall, very handsome and slender, effeminate Frenchman.” Against all of my bad experiences with the poor Pinot Grigio grapes, I reluctantly gave the Frenchie a go; who can resist the charm of a Frenchman? This man was marriage material. I stand corrected on Pinot Grigio and am open to proposals.

Along with a few other very unusual wine additions to our meal we finished with two different glasses of Pedro Ximenez, delightful sweet Sherries to complement our rather difficult decision of choosing just two desserts.

A light yet creamy sheep’s milk yoghurt lime parfait with roasted quince and pistachio and the signature Fino sweet, Creme Catalana.

If Sharon’s book Fino tells the story of Willunga and its region then I am most certainly pre-ordering my copy of her next one which she excitedly tells me is being created to hit the shelves early next year, telling the story of Seppeltsfield and the Barossa Valley.

Does that mean my tipple might be Shiraz? The question remains: is Sharon magical enough to transform herself to be lady of the manor in both places at once? I sure hope for the sake of her eager and loyal guests she is, as there would not be a Fino without her.

»»Fino 8 Hill St, Willunga Tuesday to Sunday – lunch, Friday and Saturday – lunch and dinner fino.net.au

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 39

ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU

FOOD.WINE.COFFEE

The Rise of the Vegans Adelaide has embraced the vegan movement with quality animal free restaurants, shops and blogs rivalling those found in larger cities in the eastern states.

BY KOREN HELBIG

W

hen Grace Love took over a little laneway cafe tucked off Adelaide’s bustling Gouger Street four years ago, the business faced financial ruin. As little as 10 customers stepped through the doors each day, barely enough to cover staff wages and food costs. Love knew she couldn’t sustain such losses for long.

She began ruminating on an issue close to her heart and soon decided to go for it: she’d turn her little cafe completely vegan.

She would strip the place of absolutely every kind of animal product, not only eschewing all meat but also refusing to serve anything that contained milk, eggs, butter and even honey.

Well-meaning friends told her she was crazy, warned she was signing the cafe’s death warrant. “There was a lot of pressure,” recalls Polish-born Love, who runs Bliss Organic Cafe on Compton Street with her husband, Shane Ward. “People were telling me ‘you’re not going to succeed’. But now it’s over 100 customers a day, it’s made such a difference.”

Bliss is now considered an Adelaide institution, its roaring success a sign that the city is increasingly embracing veganism - and savvy are the restaurants that capitalise on the movement.

Take House of Donkey, a vegetarian cafe packed with thrifted bits and bobs on Sturt Street, opened by 20-something friends Tamara Mason, Rachael Liddy and Eliza Clark last October. The trio has already revamped their menu to focus more fully on food sans animal products after noticing high demand from vegans who came from afar in search of a good feed.

But it’s not all peachy. Some chefs remain resistant to the idea, viewing vegans as somewhat persnickety or regarding as a nuisance the specialist catering required. “I found it hard to eat strictly vegan when dining out,” says Adelaide’s Erin Brooks, who blogs mouthwatering meat-free recipes at She Cooks, She Gardens. “Too often it seemed I’d go to a restaurant and leave feeling like a second-class citizen. I suspect that a lot of people make up for it in their own kitchens.”

Others have adopted covert techniques to coerce more Adelaide eateries into embracing veganism by gently prodding them at every opportunity. “There is resistance in some places

BASTILLE DAY DINNER Join us at Bistro Dom for our French inspired menu, music and local wines.

JULY 11th @ 7pm $105 pp with wine MENU Coffin bay oysters and wild fennel Mateloute of mussels and cockles

The team from Bliss Organic

Salad of veal tongue with remoulade but if we call ahead and let them know what we need or go to those restaurants and ask for vegan meals eventually they will say ‘there is a market for it, it looks like we need to put something on the menu’,” says Love. “Just little steps, that’s how you make a big difference.

There are still places in Adelaide where people will give you a salad with cucumber and lettuce, thinking that’s enough, but at least that’s an opportunity to give them some suggestions on how they can improve.”

Adelaide vegan food blogger Sally Kitten, who pens Of the Kitten Kind, agrees. “Often if I go out for breakfast, I’ll make up my own meal of mushrooms, spinach, beans and tomato on toast cooked in oil, not butter, for example, just to prove that a vegan option is easy,” she says. It’s getting easier, Kitten says, with more conventional restaurants such as Horner and Pratt, Suzie Wong’s Room and Earth’s Kitchen often ensuring they offer at least one vegan option. Adelaide’s multiculturalism is also a boon for vegans, Kitten says, with the growing cohort of Indian, African and Asian restaurants often happy to adapt recipes. “Compared to other states, I think we are on par, possibly even surpassing the major eastern cities,” she says.

That the vegan community is growing in size and visibility is evident by the 10,000-strong hoard that attended the city’s annual Vegan Festival last November, up from 1000 in 2007. Vegan meet ups, events and research groups are growing in popularity. On Wright Street, the Everything Vegan grocery opened this year. For Kitten, the decision to go vegan four years ago was a no-brainer. “When I think of eating something that came out of a chicken’s clacker – used for both reproduction

and waste elimination – I just can’t do it,” she says. “Why would anyone do that? It spins me out that humans are the only animal to drink another animal’s milk. I always wonder who the first person was to look at a cow and think to themselves ‘my, my, I might just go and suck on those nipples’. It’s just weird.”

Chicken Albufera Roast rib of Heritage beef with Aligot and salade Aveyronaise Far Breton

But it’s not only die-hard vegans fuelling the demand for grub free of animal products. Manu Parez, a Frenchman who came to Adelaide on holidays and liked it so much he stuck around, says people from all walks of life – meat lovers, the health conscious, fitness fanatics, people battling disease – buy from his uniquely mobile bicycle cafe, which hit the streets last August.

It’s touted as vegetarian but in fact everything on Parez’s three-wheeled Veggie Velo is vegan, aside from the haloumi cheese. Even his homemade mayonnaise comes sans egg.

“With practice and trial and error, you can create meals that are as good or better without using any animal products,” Parez says. Food for thought.

» Five of the best: Bliss Organic Cafe, 7 Compton Street, city, 8231 0205 Pure Vegetarian, Shop 8, Market Plaza Food Court, Chinatown, 0413 838 936 Vego n Lovin’ It, 240 Rundle Street, city, 8223 7411 House of Donkey, 188 Sturt Street, city, 0402 924 132 Thea Tea Shop, 110 Gawler Place, city, 8232 7988

BISTRO DOM P 8231 7000 24 Waymouth St, Adelaide www.bistrodom.com.au Opening hours Tuesday - Friday lunch, Wednesday to Saturday dinner.

40 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

VENUE GUIDE INTERCONTINENTAL ADELAIDE InterContinental Adelaide’s ‘Shiki Cook Off’ Corporate Luncheon is proving a popular choice among South Australian businesses searching for a fun and interactive way to celebrate end of year festivities with their staff and thank them for their hard work. Lunch guests can embrace their inner MasterChef and learn to make Japanese cuisine at InterContinental Adelaide’s Shiki restaurant.

Competing in teams against the rest of their co-

workers, the groups have the chance to create their three-course meal using a ‘mystery box’ of raw ingredients, which is then judged by Chef de Cuisine Kenny Trinh. InterContinental Adelaide General Manager James Allen said the lunches were also a great team building opportunity for companies and the chance to relax after a busy year. “The ‘Shiki Cook Off Corporate Luncheon is a fun way for teams to get together and celebrate the

festive season, enjoy our renowned Shiki restaurant and hopefully learn some cooking skills at the same time,” he said. ‘Shiki Cook Off‘ Corporate Luncheon is available from 12pm to 4pm, $65 per person for three-courses with a minimum of 30 guests.

Beverage packages available upon request.

» InterContinental Adelaide North Terrace 8238 2400 icadelaide.com.au

Adelaide Convention Centre

» Adelaide Convention Centre North Terrace 8210 6734

Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill was opened as a cellar door, restaurant and events venue to showcase Petaluma and Croser wines in 1986.

Set in an historic 1860s flour mill, instantly recognisable by one of the largest remaining water wheels in Australia, it is considered a must visit site and an iconic location in the Adelaide Hills. The old granary which houses the cellar door caters for corporate events, weddings and private celebrations as well as being a venue for the Adelaide Festival and SALA. In 2012 Paul Grabowsky, renowned pianist, composer and former Adelaide Festival artistic director performed at Crush, the Adelaide Hills’ annual wine festival, with similar occasions planned for the future. A new era was established in early 2011with Zac Ronayne returning to head up

the restaurant after a couple of years cooking around Australia, most notably at Nu Nu in Palm Cove, Queensland. As well as being one of the few South Australian restaurants listed in the 2013 Australian Gourmet Traveller’s top 100 Australian restaurants, Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill was awarded Three Chef’s Hats in the Australian Good Food & Travel.

» Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill Mount Barker Rd, Bridgewater 8339 9200 petaluma.com.au

Southern Cross University CRICOS Provider: NSW 01241G, QLD 03135E, WA 02621K

adelaidecc.com.au

PETALUMA’S BRIDGEWATER MILL

Toll Free: 1800 064 802 | Email: australia@cordonbleu.edu www.cordonbleu.edu | LCB.GastronomicTourism

Le Cordon Bleu CRICOS Provider: SA 01818E, NSW 02380M

The Adelaide Convention Centre is again staging Santa’s Workshop, the biggest, best and longest running Christmas party in Adelaide.

It’s guaranteed fun for your social or work group and designed to ease the logistical headaches of organising a memorable Christmas celebration with fantastic entertainment, food and beverages all included. Take the stress out of planning your end of year Christmas Party and have it at the Adelaide Convention Centre. Partygoers at the 2012 event created the longest conga line in Adelaide and danced the night away. Be sure to join the conga line and all of the fun at Santa’s Workshop this December. Tickets for the event to be held on December 13 and 14 include a three-course meal, beverages and entertainment by Lucky Seven Swing, The Gate Crashers and a DJ. Television personality Brenton Ragless will be the master of ceremonies. To book your own seat/table visit adelaidecc.com.au or for more information call 8210 6734.

The Adelaide Review July 2013 41

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advertising feature

Culshaw’s Restaurant Culshaw’s Restaurant is situated just off Rundle Street in the award-winning Majestic Roof Garden Hotel. New Head Chef Matthew Inkley sources the finest seasonal South Australian produce and native Australian ingredients to create a fresh and modern Australian menu. Try the signature Hop, Snap & Swim - chargrilled kangaroo fillet on a mini quandong chutney tartlet, native pepperberry skewered crocodile tail with bush tomato chutney and crusted Northern Territory barramundi fillet.

Complement it all with the 100 percent

South Australian wine list. As a July special, enjoy any main course from our A La Carte menu with a glass of South Australian wine or beer for only $30 per person. This is valid Monday to Thursday throughout July.

Culshaw’s is open Monday to Saturday. A hot buffet or continental buffet breakfast is available seven days a week.

» Culshaw’s Restaurant 55 Frome Street 8100 4495 majestichotels.com.au

Apothecary 1878 Wine Bar & Restaurant Opening more than a decade ago in a heritage listed building in the heart of the West End precinct, Apothecary 1878 is a true incarnation of a European-style wine bar.

The venue’s name comes from the 133-yearold antique pharmacy cabinets, which grace the front bar. Discovered buried beneath layers of dust at the rear of an Adelaide antique shop, and originally from London, these mahogany pieces feature pure crystal drawer handles with 18-carat gold leaf inscriptions. Rustic brickwork line the walls, and some 1200 wines quietly sleep behind the restaurant’s intricate wrought iron work.

The historic feel is carried throughout with rich velvet carpet, mahogany cabinets and imported chandeliers. The Apothecary offers the versatility of four exceptionally designed entertaining spaces and will cater 1-4 pg_print ready.pdf for any style Santas of function that you require,1

from a formal dinner to a cocktail event.

The function rooms are the ideal settings for birthdays, engagement celebrations, intimate weddings and private dinners or The Apothecary can provide a corporate environment for meetings or wine tastings.

Apothecary 1878 prides itself on its extensive wine selection, choice of catering options and professional service, making every endeavour to propose a package personalised to your event.

» Apothecary 1878 Wine Bar & Restaurant 118 Hindley St 8212 9099 21/06/13 10:17 AM theapothecary1878.com.au

SANTA’S BACK IN TOWN.

42 The Adelaide Review July 2013

food.wine.coffee

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

BY ANNABELLE BAKER

R

ice would be considered one of the most important grains in history and it still holds a very important role today. Grown in most of the world and in very simular ways and conditions, it is not until you look at the different varieties that you start to discover how cultures have created national dishes with their most abundant variety. The Spanish conditions have lead to the cultivation of short-grain rice that is extremely absorbent, allowing them to infuse it with saffron and smoky paprika. The magic of risotto is only possible because of carnaroli rice grown in Vercelli, northern Italy. This creamy grain is known as the ‘king of all rice’ and is the correct variety for making the perfect risotto. When serving rice with your favourite curry, basmati should be called on, perfumed with the smell jasmine. No curry would be complete without it. I find all carbohydrates pretty satisfying but the magic of rice for me is how different varieties teach me more about the country in which they come from.

With the recent popularity of Spanish food, Calesparra is becoming a staple in our pantries.

A rice so important to Spain and Spanish food history, it was granted appellation control in 1986. This method of control ensures that only rice produced in the traditional way will have the title of Calesparra D.O.P. and is easily identified by its signature cloth bag. When mastering the art of paella, remember that Calesparra rice will soak up to three times its weight in water. This gives you the perfect opportunity to season the rice with the flavours of Spain. When looking for an alternative to saffron and paprika, why not try adding some squid ink to the paella liquor and watch the grains glow with an intense black hue.

Italians have three main varieties; carnaroli, vialone and the more commonly known arborio.

For me, arborio is no match for the amazingly creamy and plump grain of carnaroli. A creamy risotto is at its best when hot liquid is added in three or four batches. Constant stirring throughout cooking will agitate the grains and releases the starches, giving you that signature creamy finish that all good risotto should have.

Allow the risotto to rest with the lid on for five minutes before serving as this gives the grains

time to relax and makes your risotto the perfect meal every time. Vialone nano is rice that is less commonly known than the others but holds a very special place in Italian cuisine. A creamy grain, but easier to cook with, it maintains its structure and will still give you a creamy and voluptuous finish. Vialone is perfect cooked in milk and cream with a split vanilla pod over a low heat and then baked in individual pots in the oven until just set. I love to serve this with golden caster sugar turned to brittle toffee with

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers with Manchego Cheese Ingredients • 9 jarred or tinned piquillo peppers • Extra virgin olive oil • 300g Calasparra D.O.P. rice • 900ml chicken stock • Pinch saffron • 1 bayleaf • 2 tablespoons bittersweet paprika • 2 fresh chorizo sausages • 200g manchego cheese Method 1. Drain and pat dry the piquillo peppers 2. Gently heat the chicken stock, saffron and bay leaf to a gentle boil 3. In a medium size saucepan, or better still a paella pan. heat a splash of olive oil, add the Calasparra rice and paprika. Stir until all the grains are shiny and slightly translucent, approximately two to three minutes.

4. Pour over the hot chicken stock. Stir to combine and then leave to simmer, uncovered

a blowtorch. The combination of creamy vanilla rice and the bitter sweet crunchy topping, is the ultimate dessert.

Rice and all the dishes that come with it have a deep-rooted history. The famous and iconic dishes it has created are truly remarkable and should be embraced by us all. Experimenting with different grains and techniques will open up a whole new repertoire; a new world of food from a somewhat humble grain.

for 10 – 15 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated (resist the temptation to stir).

5. Leave to cool off the heat.

6. Remove the chorizo from their skins in small bite size pieces.

6. In a medium to hot saucepan fry the chorizo until golden brown and crisp on all sides.

7. Take the cooled rice and stuff the piquillo peppers, discarding the bay leaf.

8. Snugly place them in individual tapas dishes or into one large ovenproof dish.

9. Scatter with the crispy chorizo balls and slices of manchego cheese.

10. Bake in a 200-degree oven until golden brown and the cheese is melted completely.

11. Serve hot from the oven with a drizzle of olive oil.

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The Adelaide Review July 2013 43

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food.wine.coffee

Dirty Girl Kitchen Diaries

The wallabies are harvested in the wild by a professional shooter, so they are in their natural environment and there is absolutely no stress ante-mortem. Great care is taken to select only the best wallabies for use.

While Bennetts Wallaby and Pademelon Wallaby are found in large numbers on Flinders Island, the population is managed in a wholly sustainable way. Wallabies are gathered on a quota basis that is reviewed annually and is independent of market demand.

by Rebecca Sullivan

C

ute, cuddly and indigenous? Yes to all three. A pest to our farmers, suffering often from drought and lack of food, over-populated? Yes to all three.

Kangaroos and wallabies evolved millions of years ago and make up part of the traditional diet of Aboriginal people. It is estimated that the Macropodoidea (superfamily) first evolved 16 million years ago. Now, the red kangaroo and the wallaby form the basis for a commercial harvest and export industry.

Australian governments are seeking to promote the kangaroo industry as a form of ecologically sustainable development.

hygienic for us than eating chicken, are healthy as one of the highest sources of protein at 84 percent, with a lean red meat and pretty darn tasty, why all the backlash?

Kangaroos and wallabies are cute, but so is a lamb, so is a baby calf and so is a pig (to some), but we have no problem eating them.

Vegetarians are obviously excluded from this assumption, but are welcome to converse on the matter.

I know that there has been an awful lot of uproar around the so called ‘inhumane’ nature of the way these ‘roos and wallabies are being killed. The uproar being that if a female is killed, then the National Code of Practice requires: ‘If a shooter kills a female with pouch young, then they must kill the joey. Depending on the size of the joey this is usually done by decapitation or a blow to the head.’ In fact all kangaroo shooters are required to abide by the National Codes of Practice. The key differences between commercial and non-commercial kangaroo shooters are the level of training and testing required and the monitoring of compliance with this code of practice.

I am not a vegetarian, but am a sustainable eater. By that I mean I choose ethically, try ever so hard not to buy food from strangers and believe in living in a food system that works for everyone in the present and the future. My work largely revolves around the notion of a sustainable food system for the next generation.

For this very reason, I ask the question: if these animals are over populated, often dying of starvation, destroying the livelihoods of some farmers all around the country, yet are more

Those associated with kangaroo management believe there is a higher degree of inhumane killing of kangaroos in non-commercial killing than with commercial killing. So like all choices, when buying your food, just ask or seek out ethical choices. There are companies (just as in the entire meat and farming industry) who are doing the right thing, and are now hiring and training their shooters to only kill male kangaroos. After all if they kill them with no regard, what business do they have in the future?

Kangaroos and wallabies have an enzyme in their gut which means they produce practically no methane. They also consume a great deal less water than sheep and beef per edible kilo of meat.

Richard Gunner of Feast Fine Foods and the newly opened ‘Something Wild’ in the Adelaide Central Market recently made the decision to sell not just kangaroo but wallaby too, from the Flinders Island Meat Company. “The Flinders Island Wallaby is a unique Australian game product as it grazes on coastal green grass year round, giving it not only consistent tenderness but a more subtle flavour than any other wild shot game. It is more akin to veal or lamb in comparison to the more robust flavour you get with kangaroo,” says Gunner.

Editor of The Age Good Food Guide, Janne Apelgren, has described a steady rise in chefs serving wallaby meat as one of the trends to emerge in food dining this year. Flinders Island Wallaby is served at three out of the four Victorian restaurants that received prestigious 3 Chef Hat ratings in the Guide this year – Attica, Vue de Monde and Jacques Reymond.

For those of you that perhaps put off ‘roo in the past, wallaby may be your thing given its more delicate flavour. With the health benefits that come with eating ‘roo and wallaby, we also contribute to a more sustainable food future by eating what is natural to our environment.

twitter.com/grannyskills dirtygirlkitchen.com

OPEN for Breakfast daily Dinner Monday-Saturday

HAPPY HOUR

A FERAL FEAST

SUNDAY 28TH JULY, 11AM – 5PM (Part of the Adelaide Hills Winter Reds Cellar Door Weekend)

5pm-6pm Monday-Saturday

Biodiversity and conservation meet fabulous wine and food as we kick-start a culinary movement with our wood-oven and an annual focus on environmental protection. This event will proudly support the efforts of outback rescuers Arid Recovery.

Braised goat, maltese rabbit stew and buffalo steak sandwiches by chef Andy Davies of Press* Food & Wine beside our biodynamic wines. Enjoy the feast and live acoustic music with Halfway to Forth al fresco beside a blazing wood oven.

Bookings required for parties of 6 or more.

Visit www.ngeringa.com for more details.

119 Williams Rd, Mt Barker Summit, Adelaide Hills T/F: +61 8 8398 2867 wine@ngeringa.com

Open Friday - Sunday 11am - 5pm European-inspired, biodynamic wines Estate-grown seasonal Paddock Plate Monthly Pizza Sundays, next firing up 25th August

Majestic Roof Garden Hotel 55 Frome Street, Adelaide

8100 4495

majestichotels.com.au

44 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

FOOD.WINE.COFFEE METRICON EVENING Metricon hosted an exclusive evening at its new display home, Sentosa, as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The evening was hosted by Kate Ceberano and Simon Bryant catered the event.

PHOTOS JONATHAN VAN DER KNAAP

Simon Bryant

Catherine Alcorn and Kate Ceberano

Lenzerheide celebrate at

Peter Garnett and Peter Joy

Charlie Condo, Iiona Tam and Dave Callon

Bruno Albanese and Mikayla Bennett

Marko Grandoni and Amelio Fresi

Vanessa Barisic and Bruno Albanese

Chris Buttignol and Jason Green

CELLAR DWELLARS ‘STARS OF THE SOUTH’ TRAIL 1ST TO 31ST JULY

for special occasions and functions.

We are one of the six iconic family-owned wineries in southern Coonawarra Have the chance to win an ‘iconic’ 6-pack by visiting and tasting each icon wine from these wineries

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146 Belair Road, Hawthorn SA 5062 | T 08 8373 3711 www.lenzerheide.com.au

Cellar Dwellers The wineries of Australia’s red wine centre, Coonawarra, will search their cellars to showcase rare, aged and back vintage wines this month for the annual Cellar Dwellers month-long celebration.

Aside from the wines, the Coonawarra wineries will host a range of free and ticketed events including degustations, high teas, as well as live entertainment.

Participating wineries on the Limestone Coast of South Australia include Bowen Estate, Hollick Wines, Rymill Coonawarra, Leconfield Wines, Zema Estate and Wynns.

Cellar Dwellers runs throughout the month of July in the Coonawarra region, which is famous for its red wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon.

coonawarra.org

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013 45

ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU

FOOD.WINE.COFFEE

National Treasures

BY ANDREA FROST

TYRRELL’S VAT 1 SEMILLON 2007

2009 TAHBILK ‘1927 VINES’ MARSANNE

Hunter Valley RRP $68 tyrrells.com.au

Nagambie RRP $38 tahbilk.com.au

Bruce Tyrell, fourth generation winemaker, describes a Hunter Valley Semillon has having three lives. The first, when it is very young, fresh and brimming with citrus and enlivening acid. The second life, around five years, when the wine, thought still fresh, starts to show its first signs of development and complexity – a honey note here, a toasty note there. The final life, which can go for decades, starts at about 10 years when the wine has softened, become very complex with even more developed notes.

This knowledge wasn’t always common. Some decades ago, in defiance of a board decision Bruce, with the help of a friend and a forklift, hid 1000 dozen Tyrell’s Vat 1 to test his theory that aged Hunter Semillon was something to behold. Fortunately his hunch paid off, and the Tyrell’s Vat 1, a wine always released with some bottle age, has become a Hunter Valley icon.

Tahbilk in Victoria’s Nagambie region was founded in 1860 and has been owned by the Purbrick family since 1925. Today, the property is like a living museum. Old buildings, underground cellars and old vineyards, including the infamous 1927 Marsanne vineyard, highlight the business’ heritage. Marsanne is a variety a lot like a well-run family business, showing vibrancy, freshness and pace in its youth, but with the right care, developing complexity, new flavours and richness with age. The Tahbilk Marsanne remains one of Australia’s best value wines (around $13); while the Tahbilk Marsanne 1927 Vines is a wine that flourishes with age.

The Purbricks hold one of the largest, single and oldest Marsanne plantings in the world. Tahbilk is so named as the local Aboriginals, Australia’s first families, knew the site as tabilk-tabilk, meaning land of many water holes.

2010 HENSCHKE STONE JAR TEMPRANILLO GRACIANO

CAMPBELLS ISABELLA RARE RUTHERGLEN TOPAQUE

Eden Valley RRP $46 henschke.com.au

Rutherglen RRP $120 campbellswines.com.au

Stephen Henschke, fifth generation winemaker and wife Prue, are the current custodians of the Henschke winemaking stable; a stable that includes some of the country’s oldest vineyards, Australia’s most lauded wines including the profound Hill of Grace, and an organic and biodynamic farming legacy spearheaded by Prue. This wine, the Stone Jar Tempranillo Graciano, is a bit like a holiday crush that lasted. On a visit to Spain the flavoursome, savoury and earthy wines of La Rioja impressed the pair who planted the component varieties, Tempranillo and Graciano, in a selected site in the Eden Valley upon their return. The resultant wine is an elegant, bright and savoury wine with lifted red fruits, herbal notes, spice and grippy tannins. The name pays homage to the original Henschkes who sold wine in stone jars.

When John Campbell left St Andrews Scotland in 1857 and boarded a ship for Australia, he dreamt of striking it rich in the gold rush thriving across North East Victoria. When the mines had all but dried up, Campbell struck it rich by planting vines on his Rutherglen property he named Bobbie Burns, after the eighteenth century Scottish poet Robert Burns.

That homestead still stands on the Campbell’s property that is now run by brothers Colin and Malcolm Campbell and their families. This wine represents the pinnacle of Australian fortified wines. Like a glass of dark, wet toffee it has a heady and complex nose while the palate is intense and opulent – rich, sweet and viscous, yet remarkably, it finishes dry. A wonderful, intoxicating wine to be devoured at the end of the night.

46 The Adelaide Review July 2013

Hot 100 Wines

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW

hot 100 2013

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN

Hot 100 10 years on...

Fully Functioning An intimate rendezvous?

Riesling: Get Your Balance Right

A pre show aperitif?

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W

hile his name is distinctly lacking in Teutonic overtones, Annie’s Lane winemaker Alex MacKenzie is going to considerable lengths to honour the German heritage of his Watervale winery and its vineyards.

MacKenzie was responsible for the 2012 Annie’s Lane Riesling, a Top 10 winner in The Adelaide Review’s Hot 100 South Australian Wines. For a man whose previous preoccupation was making reds, he now seems to be in thrall to the noble German variety. And it’s just as well: with Annie’s Lane, he is shouldering an extensive history of both Germanic influence and excellence in white winemaking.

In 1889, Carl Sobels, perhaps the most accomplished immigrant winemaker of his day, bought out the Anglo-Scots owners of a 47-hectare winery called Spring Vale at the southern end of the Clare Valley in partnership with his wineseller brother-in-law, Hermann Buring (Leo’s dad). In a reversal of the usual colonial trend, they germanised its name to Quellthaler. The silent ‘h’ quickly withered and, by the turn of the century, Sobels’ Quelltaler Hock had performed a minor miracle by acquiring a sizeable and enthusiastic market among the usually disdainful English.

The name of Quelltaler Estate enjoyed an enviable reputation for its white wines and sherries right up until it was tweeified to Annie’s Lane as part of a Mildara Blass rebranding in the 1990s.

118 Hindley Street Adelaide SA 5000

(08) 8212 9099 drink@theapothecary1878.com.au www.theapothecary1878.com.au

Gourmet Traveller & Fine Wine Partners Australian Wine List of the Year Awards - SA Winner 2012 & 2011 Restaurant & Catering SA Awards for Excellence - Best Wine List Winner 2012, 2010, 2008 & 2007

Working there since 2001, MacKenzie’s interest in making Riesling has intensified in recent years.

In addition to the standard issue, he now makes a single vineyard wine from vines planted in 1935 from a clone imported from Geisenheim, one of the Rhine’s most venerated sites. Sensibly, Annie’s Lane has called the wine Quelltaler Riesling.

Geisenheim is much more than a mere name to MacKenzie. In 2011 he took a sabbatical, hiring a motor-home to tour several of Germany’s most famous regions (plus Alsace) and visiting major producers such as Dr Loosen as well as smallscale biodynamic makers. Whenever possible, he stayed to do picking in the vineyards or extended

tastings in the cellars – anything to soak up as much winemaking wisdom as he could.

Riesling, as its capacity to cope with the hot seasons in Watervale demonstrates, is a robust and versatile grape. In Germany, MacKenzie says he was fascinated by the range of treatments it receives; at the drier end of the continuum it will have five or six points of residual sugar, and it can go as high as 30.

Watervale Riesling, with the exception of minor sorties into Auslese as a second-string style, has squarely focused on a regional template that is steely, austere and close to “bone-dry”.

Rather than minimising residual sugar come what may, MacKenzie believes the emphasis should be on a wine’s overall balance. And like the Germans, he believes that if the balance is right, Riesling can effortlessly accommodate higher sugar levels without becoming perceptibly or overly “sweet”.

MacKenzie thinks there is a tendency to get a little too fixated on the numbers.

“There’s nothing wrong with residual sugar as long as there’s not too much of it and not too little – you only notice it when it’s out of whack,” he says.

And what’s right varies from vineyard to vineyard, from and season to season.

“It’s a matter of balancing the components – the fruit weight and the flavours as well as the phenolics and the structure, and the sweetness and the alcohol, all come into play.”

MacKenzie said while the German styles of Riesling can’t be reproduced here, the trip did give him some ideas for directions to head in.

He is pleased, if not altogether surprised, that the 2012 Riesling has been so well received, particularly among younger drinkers.

“I think people like the style, because the wines are little more full-bodied and generous.”

Established fans and the curious certainly won’t die wondering if the 2013 is a worthy successor – it’s in the shops already.

2013

by James Erskine

The Adelaide Review’s Hot 100 South Australian Wines celebrates the unique history and modern, creative pragmatism of South Australia and its people. Our simple goal is to find South Australia’s most drinkable and exciting wines. It’s how we do this that makes the Hot 100 SA Wines a wine show like no other.

To tap into the cultural energy of South Australia and find the wines that truly sing the song of their day, The Hot 100 surrounds our guest judges with some of the state’s most exciting farmers, foragers, cultural institutions, musicians, chefs and providores. In 2013 this will include nourishing lunches prepared by Tom Reid of Maximilians in Verdun, Tim Webber of Holler Patch in Basket Range and students from TAFE SA. The Apothecary 1878 will open its doors for a feastful evening and our cultural forays will include a degustation and lecture on edible macro-algae (seaweed) of South Australian waters, presented by University of Adelaide PhD candidate Gareth Belton at the Central Market Kitchens. This will tie in with a Sake lecture from Sake Master Andre Bishop of Izakaya and Sake Bar Kumo, an evening tour of the Museum of Economic Botany at the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide, which will introduce the judges to the pioneering agriculture and botany in our state. The final link to place is Ross McHenry of the Shaolin Afronauts, one of South Australia’s visionary musical lights who will curate the music over the four days of wine tasting.

The Adelaide Review July 2013 47

adelaidereview.com.au

Hot 100 Wines

THE ADELAIDE REVIEW

hot 100 2013

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN

Entries are now open for the 2013 Hot 100 SA Wines. Each wine entered will be assessed by wine style and region. The top 100 wines will make it through to the Hot 100 SA Wines publication and the winning wine’s producer will be awarded return flights for two to anywhere in the world thanks to Singapore Airlines. Winners will be announced at the InterContinental Adelaide on Thursday, November 7. The launch event will include performances by The Adelaide Youth Orchestras and State Opera SA, as well as a display from SAs Farmers’ Markets. The MC for this year’s event is Channel 9’s Will McDonald.

2013 sponsors A big thank you to all of our sponsors...

Judges Alex MacKenzie – Chief Winemaker Annie’s Lane (SA) Gill Gordon-Smith – Lecturer Wine and Spirits Education Trust (SA) Mike Bennie – Wine journalist Gourmet Traveller and The Wine Front (NSW) Necia Wilden – Food Editor, Weekend A Plus and Personal Oz, The Australian (Vic) Samantha Connew – Manager - Hunter Node, The Australian Wine Research Institute (NSW) Eric Semmler – Winemaker 919 Wines (SA) Julian Forward – Owner, Ministry of Clouds (SA) Andrea Frost – Wine journalist and author (Vic) Banjo Harris-Plane – Manager/Sommelier Attica Restaurant (Vic) Sharon Romeo – Owner/Operator Fino Restaurant (SA) Peter Dredge – Winemaker Bay of Fires (Tas) Pablo Theodoros – East End Cellars (SA) Anton van Klopper – Lucy Margaux Vineyards - Winner Hot 100 2012 (SA) Mike Ellis – The Wine Punter Blog (QLD) Matt Wallace – Wine Direct (SA) Alessandro Ragazzo – Sommelier InterContinental Adelaide (SA) Vanessa Altmann – Winemaker Switch wines and Temple Bruer (SA) Andre Bishop – Sake Master and Restaurateur (Vic)

»»James Erskine, Coordinator of Judges

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu is proud to again support The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wines as a major sponsor. Le Cordon Bleu offers a comprehensive range of culinary, gastronomy and management programs, from vocational to higher education and understands the important connections between food and wine. We support people of all ages who are passionate about the culinary arts, and innovative initiatives like the Hot 100 SA Wines are the perfect partner for us.

We offer programs like the new Bachelor of Business (Wine Entrepreneurship) to be delivered here in Adelaide and the Wine and Management Diploma offered in Paris that comprehensively covers the wine business, marketing, communication and technology.

Le Cordon Bleu supports and promotes quality and innovation in education and is proud to be aligned with this highly successful wine show.

Derrick Casey, COO, Le Cordon Bleu Fox Tucker Lawyers Fox Tucker Lawyers is a full-service commercial law firm headquartered in Adelaide servicing clients locally, nationally and internationally. With a team of more than 70 people and a specialist wine group, Fox Tucker not only understands legal issues affecting the wine industry, we will again

present on these issues in a number of wine regions in SA this year. With our clear focus on the wine industry, we are thrilled to be able to partner with Hot 100 SA Wines.

Janet Miller, CEO Fox Tucker Lawyers Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines is proud to have been involved with the Hot 100 SA Wines for the last six years. When the world’s most awarded airline gets together with one of the state’s most successful, traditional and awarded industries the partnership can only be a success. Additionally this demonstrates our commitment to the South Australian wine industry, which we are also supporting by serving numerous SA wines on board of our flights as well as in our Adelaide Lounge. With more seats and more flights that any other international airline in Adelaide, SIA is the natural partner of choice for the South Australian wine industry.

Hugh Chevrant-Breton, Manager Singapore Airlines South Australian Tourism Commission South Australia’s wine culture is far from the stuffy overtones once associated with glass-swirling, wine-swilling wine buffs.

That’s why the South Australian Tourism

Commission is proud to once again be a sponsor of the Hot 100 SA Wines. Wine is to be enjoyed with food, friends, music and laughs and thanks to the Hot 100, we have a list of the best to work our way through.

So, with guide in hand, get exploring SA’s regions and try the top drops for yourself.

Intercontinental Adelaide InterContinental Adelaide is proud to align our brand with the Hot 100 SA Wines as a major sponsor and we will continue to work hard to ensure the event celebrates and supports the best of South Australia’s wine industry. InterContinental Adelaide effortlessly blends luxury with comfort and guests at The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wine awards will be immersed in our five-star hotel offering.”

General Manager James Allen, InterContinental Adelaide PwC Hot 100 SA Wines is as an outstanding initiative, which showcases one of South Australia’s most important industries. PwC is proud to partner with The Adelaide Review in supporting our wine sector and contributing to the broader business community.

Micheal Browne, Associate Director PwC

48 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

FOOD.WINE.COFFEE

CHEESE MATTERS

out and ultimately cracking at the rind. A tell tale sign that things have not gone according to plan. The bulky 25kg version has enough available moisture and density to withstand the maturation period perfectly.

Cheese Architecture Part 1

BY KRIS LLOYD

H

ave you ever wondered why cheese comes in all different shapes and sizes? It is probably mostly taken for granted, but I call it cheese architecture. When I dived head first into cheesemaking some 14 or so years ago, hungry to learn as much as I could as quickly as I could, I headed to Europe. At an early morning visit to the Rungis markets in Paris, I believe I experienced cheese architecture at its best. There were hundreds of cheeses and I discovered that I had no idea that the world of cheese was so diverse. Immense wheels of Emmentaler, squat barrels of cloth bound cheddar, delicate goat milk cheeses the size of large buttons, cylinders of Stilton and bulging barrels of Parmigiano Reggiano just to name a few.

date back to 1292. Weighing in at around 80 to 100 kilograms. Some 265 gallons of milk are required to produce one cheese which is 45 inches in diameter – now that’s some cheese party! The size of the cheese is said to be largely due to the extreme flush of seasonal milk produced in the region. In order to use the volume of milk quickly the large cheeses were believed to be the solution, preserving the milk for use at a later time. Making several immense wheels of cheese was far easier than handling hundreds of smaller wheels that need individual turning, washing and wrapping.

Traditional Cheddar made in 25kg wheels that are squat and rotund are said to be made to that size due to the length of time the cheese needs to mature. Aged cheddar is best after 18 months; it is at this stage that the cheese develops all those lovely characters we look for; crumbly, tasty and above all bitey! If the cheese is made in a smaller format, as are some Cheddars known as Truckles, they do not stand up to the lengthy maturation period – losing too much moisture and consequently drying

An arrangement of cheeses in all manner of different sizes, shapes and colours is not unlike a haphazard cityscape. This rather artistic element of cheese fascinates me. The imposing wheels of Emmentaler, which originated in the Emme Valley in Switzerland, are said to

The Valencay ashed goat cheese originates in Brenne valley in Berry, France. This pyramid shaped cheese with its top chopped off is said to be the result of Napoleon’s rage. After returning from disastrous encounters in Egypt he stopped at the castle of Valencay. Their local pyramidal goat cheese apparently sparked unpleasant memories prompting him to cut the top off in fury with his sword leaving the shape that survives to the present. I love this story, but here’s my cheesemaker’s version. Soft lactic goat cheeses are fragile, and I suspect it is impossible to have a sharp point going against gravity once the cheese hoop is removed.

Watching the point of the pyramid slowly flatten would be nowhere nearly as exciting!

Brie de Meaux is made in large flat wheels around 35cm diameter and weighing around 3kg. This shape offers substantial surface area for the rind to develop and penetrate the cheese. The entire cheese is ripened evenly and efficiently.

There are many stories about Camembert, some say it is the poor cousin to slim and elegant Brie – I will let you be the judge of

Supplying the FINEST local meats & poultry since 2001

that. The shape of Camembert, being stocky and squat, is uniquely different. The cheese not surprisingly behaves very differently. Ripening far slower, as the thick stocky 11cm diameter wheels tend to hold a chalky centre for a good length of time. The shape and size offers far less surface area to the Brie.

In 1880 Eugène Ridel a French engineer invented small round boxes made of poplar wood to suit the architecture of Camembert.

The cheese fitted snugly within and conquered the cheese world with immediate success.

Camembert could travel without damage, ripening slowly, and its affordable size meant that consumers could buy the whole cheese and mature it at home until perfectly ripe.

More about cheese architecture in my next Cheese Matters column in August. I hope that next time you visit a cheese counter some of these stories spark a thought in your mind. Clearly the shape and sizes of some of the world’s most famous cheese had sound reasoning and colourful stories behind them.

» Kris Lloyd is Woodside Cheese Wrights’ Head Cheesemaker woodsidecheese.com.au

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The Adelaide Review July 2013 49

adelaidereview.com.au

food.wine.coffee

Come and Try the 2011 Reds for Yourself

Hamilton Lot 148 Merlot is a stunner, trophy and gold winner to boot, unequivocally better than the 2010.

Leconfield Cabernet is leafier and greener than the 2010 and with more astringent tannins, but very tasty nonetheless.

by Matt Wallace

I

Barossa Cabernet typically offers more in cooler years and we love Kalleske’s 2011 Merchant Cabernet as a perfect example of this.

the fruit we were looking at was almost pristine and tasted stunning. What we tasted was clearly physiologically ripe (at a lower baume than normal) quite intense and absolutely delicious.

Had he left the fruit for another week it might have been a different story.

t seems that every man and his dog, including a stack of wine writers, have concluded that the wines of 2011 will be on average rubbish, with a handful of perhaps excellent wines delivered via a combination of some of the following: luck, exceptional yield and canopy management, vineyard sites exposed to a lot of wind, early harvesting, blending a percentage of 2011 vintage into 2012 wines, and blending 2011 wines with up to 15 percent from the 2012/2013 vintages and stringent fruit declassification.

Claymore’s Bittersweet Symphony Cabernet with some assistance from Malbec is delightful.

These wines along with the aforementioned Paxton’s Quandong Shiraz form The Adelaide Review Wine Club 2011 Six Pack, RRP: $167.

Review Wine Club special price $111.

As it turns out, some of those Chalk Hill wines are quite beautiful. By way of example, The Sidetrack is medium bodied with more spice and complexity than the 2010 edition – Chalk Hill chose not to pick about 30 percent of their grapes in 2011 and the wine is different but delicious and more accessible than the 2010. Paxton’s Quandong Shiraz is a belter too. Paul Limpus, Paxton’s gallivanter of sales, reckons it is the best one they have produced to date. I love it, sweet fruit, spicy complexity and black and blue fruits. It’s a bit bigger than medium bodied but moves beautifully.

Wet, wet, wet Certainly in SA and Victoria it was generally an extremely challenging vintage with up to four times the average annual rainfall creating ideal conditions for mildew and botrytis. SA had its third wettest summer and Victoria the wettest since record keeping began. Disease pressure was enormous and plenty of vineyards suffered significant losses in quantity and quality of fruit.

Order online: winedirect.com.au/ reviewwinemembers or you can taste it first at a cellar door on Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7 at Heirloom Barossa, McMurtrie Rd, McLaren Vale; Hamilton Cellar Door, 439 Main Rd, McLaren Vale; Leconfield Cellar Door, Riddoch Highway; Paxton Cellar Door, Wheaton Rd, McLaren Vale; Claymore Cellar Door, Main North Rd, Leasingham; Kalleske Cellar Door, 6 Murray Street, Greenock.

Placing orders at Cellar Door

Vintage 2011 and wines like the above remind me as a wine drinker that medium-bodied with good to excellent fruit intensity beats gargantuan every day of the week. The experience of the Titanic might be more intense but it’s a wonderment that is difficult to sustain as your palate is deluged with extract. Ultimately the fruit expression suffers, at least in the wine’s youth.

The fruit is there but you really have to go looking for it or be prepared to leave the wine in bottle for a year or nine. The medium bodied wine will offer a great deal more pleasure in its youth and is likely to age just as well if not better than the bulked up ‘black is the new black’ Behemoth.

Whetting your whistle While there are certainly some unimpressive wines from 2011 there are some rippers too. I was in Paxton Vineyards on the Friday before the big weekend deluge that gave botrytis the biggest leg up since the can-can was embraced by the French working class. Chatting with Tom Harvey, we were looking at fruit being handpicked for his Chalk Hill brand. Tom acknowledged that the vintage had been challengingly cool and wet yet

Fill in an order form at a participating cellar door and they will do the rest. You should receive your order within 10 working days. Orders will be fulfilled by Wine Direct, partner to the Review Wine Club – or simply visit winedirect.com. au/reviewwinemembers to order online.

The Adelaide Review Wine Club 2011 Six Pack and more There are other 2011 wines that fit the bill too and are as good, if not better, than their 2010 counterparts … here’s a few we’ve looked at on the tasting panel recently.

»»Matt Wallace is Wine Direct’s Buyer and Sales Manager

There may be a chill in the air, but Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill cellar door is the perfect destination this winter.

Adelaide Hills Winter Reds Cellar Door Weekend July 27th & 28th

SALA exhibition – Nourish July 27th to August 13th

Nourish your heart, body and soul with tastings of Petaluma back vintage reds, a bite of baked King Island Dairy Brie or our regional tasting menu, together with the launch of our SALA exhibition. www.adelaidehillswine.com.au

Launch event Saturday, July 27th at 2pm.

Petaluma Winter Tasting Series Sparkling wines July 6th & 7th

Spring into Spring new releases August 31st, September 1st

Rare & aged back vintage July 27th & 28th

At each of these tastings we will be offering a fl ight of two wines* with a matching dish for $30 to be enjoyed in our cellar door.

petaluma.com.au Mt Barker Road, Bridgewater.

Ph: 8339 9222

LIO0058_AR1

Winter Warmers fortified & dessert wines August 10th & 11th

*each glass a 75ml pour.

Curated by Karen Paris, Nourish is part of the annual South Australian Living Artists festival, celebrating the many talented and upcoming visual artists living and creating in South Australia. www.salainc.com.au

Adelaide Hills Wedding Weekend August 17th & 18th Organised by Adelaide Hills Weddings, the Wedding Weekend will feature fashion parades and over 60 exhibitors. Meet with photographers, celebrants, venues, and many other wedding-related businesses, and make your special day a perfect one. www.adelaidehillsweddings.com.au/weddingweekend

50 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

TRAVEL

WILD ABOUT WELLINGTON

The hip New Zealand city lives up to its reputation as the ‘coolest little city in the world’.

BY SCOTT MCLENNAN

I

t’s an auspicious day at Weta Cave, the home of the Wellington special effects studio given an international profile thanks to its close affiliation with local filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson. “You’re here on the first day of filming for the second Hobbit film,” genial, bearded Weta assistant Mark Fry tells us, with a glow to his cheeks that suggests he may have emigrated from Middle-earth himself.

After delivering the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy a decade ago, Jackson’s latest filmic journey into JRR Tolkien’s world is similarly pushing the director’s endurance. Despite a December release date looming, Fry debunks the reports which suggested the latest trilogy was wrapped during a marathon 16-month filming schedule between March 2011 and July

2012. It’s never quite that simple when you’re dealing with a perfectionist like Jackson.

“Even in the year-and-a-half since [initial filming wrapped], technology has changed so much,” Fry observes. “With scenes involving effects like fire, the FX world moves rapidly. You’ll find most of the cast are back here in New Zealand at the moment, since Peter was unhappy with some scenes and wants to film them again.”

If you see a cloak-clad wizard on a Wellington cable car or notice some particularly hairy feet splashing about on the beach at Oriental Bay in the next few months, now you’ll know why.

When the Lord of the Rings cast first decamped to Wellington in the early 2000s, they made quite an impression on the burgeoning town.

Back in Wellington’s heart, the Stock Exchange’s digital ticker display ends its latest share price wrap with the Reuters description of this buzzing North Island city as ‘The Coolest Little Capital in the World’. A short time in the centre reveals exactly why: Wellington has the same vibrant, artistic spirit Dublin offered before the cashstrapped Celtic tiger had its claws clipped.

Despite the main drag (Cuba Street) sharing a

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name with Fidel Castro’s US-baiting Communist isle, the only Cuban crisis in Wellington is trying to sample all the bars, restaurants and shops in just a few days. The words beneath a squid-shaped sculpture in this personality-rich mall sum up Cuba Street best: “Everything you ever wanted and more… And the most fascinating mix of people in the country”. If the off-kilter mix of record stores, retro clothing retailers (offering more chic vintage threads than a time portal directly to Carnaby Street, 1967) and antiques dealers don’t lure you in, the side-streets are lined with all sorts of surprises: lovingly-tended topiaries revealing secret back alley cafes, impressive wooden sculptures that look like they’re straight from the realm of Game of Thrones and second-hand bookshops lined with formidable towers of yellowing tomes.

Said to have more bars and restaurants per capita than New York, Wellington’s nightlife certainly keeps the streets enticing after dark.

The capital rolls as well as rocks though, with its undulating parklands offering plenty of scenic opportunities. When the urge to seek out nocturnal boroughs has been sated, the Wellington Botanic Garden presents an excellent opportunity to take in the vista of Wellington’s looming green hills and cosy central foreshore. Operating for more than a century, the Wellington Cable Car delivers visitors up to the hillside gardens adjacent to the site of the original Wellington settlement. The 25 hectares of gardens offer a peaceful interlude from exploring the invigorating city below.

Walking through the area, I notice a piece of poetry etched in a stone sculpture: ‘It’s true you can’t live here by chance,” the Lauris Edmond verse opines. ‘You have to do and be, not simply watch or even describe. This is the city of action – the world headquarters of the verb.’

New Zealand’s international tourism marketing sometimes has the feeling of a young sibling trying to gain attention yet not terribly sure of its own abilities. While other locales feature billboards shouting about Zorbing, bungee and jet-boating opportunities, Wellington prefers to quietly and confidently trade on its geographical luck, natural beauty, communal talent and industrious attitude.

No wonder the hobbits keep coming back.

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Residential Architecture – Houses – Architecture Award winner: Walter Brooke & Associates – Residence 2012

D E S I G N • P L A N N I N G • I N N OVAT I O N

SA ARCHITECTURE AWARDS EDITION

GEORGIE SHEPHERD

SUSAN FROST

ARCHITECTURE AWARDS

Local interior designer is part of a retail design renaissance

Susan Frost’s ceramics are turning heads with her precise studies in colour and form

All the winners from the 2013 SA Architecture Awards

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CHARM AND WHIMSY As Adelaide experiences a renaissance in retail and hospitality design, a new name can be added to the growing list of local interior design talents.

BY LEANNE AMODEO

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delaide’s newest retail and hospitality fit-outs suggest something of a design renaissance taking place. In the last two years innovative interiors such as Press Food and Wine and LAX have re-invigorated the local design landscape, setting new standards in the process. Names such as Claire Kneebone and Ryan Genesin – responsible, respectively, for these two fit-outs – are now leading the charge as two of Adelaide’s brightest emerging interior design talents.

Even within the last few months three notable new retail and hospitality fit outs have opened their doors. St Louis dessert bar on Gouger Street, Hither & Yon cellar door in McLaren Vale and Rio Coffee showroom in Stepney are all as inviting as they are eye-catching. That they also show off the considerable skills of interior designer Georgie Shepherd means that Adelaide’s list of emerging talents continues to grow.

The University of South Australia interior architecture graduate established her own studio almost three years ago and in that short period of time has already built up an impressive portfolio. Working in residential, retail and hospitality design Shepherd’s aesthetic is a casual mix of classic vintage finds and contemporary styling. It’s hard to pin down a signature look because her interiors are all so diverse, but what does inform each project is a refreshingly unpretentious approach. As

Shepherd describes it, “I like to create really beautiful, functional spaces using a lot of natural materials.”

Her design philosophy is shown to full effect in Hither & Yon, of which Shepherd is particularly proud. “I didn’t have a huge budget to work with and it was a small space,” she explains. “It was a challenge, but this really made me step outside the square.” The end result is a domestic scale retail interior that has all the charm and whimsy of a cosy weekend getaway. Shepherd’s attention to detail, from the lovingly restored mismatched chairs to the vintage finds adorning a service trolley, is what makes this fit-out a real delight.

It also signals her first collaboration with local graphic design studio Voice. “I think the relationship between interior designer and graphic designer is an important one,” reflects Shepherd. “Because from the beginning it’s necessary to make sure the branding and interiors work hand in hand. It should all be part of the same process.” She also worked with Voice on the Rio Coffee fit-out, and her ongoing commitment to finding creative solutions is echoed through such collaborations.

It’s not surprising that Shepherd draws her inspiration from the work of stylists, especially the highly regarded Megan Morton. The influence is evident in Shepherd’s interiors, but her own design sensibility, which can range from eclectic to elegant to rustic, is still

Georgie Shepherd

clearly defined. This could have something to do with Shepherd’s background as a visual merchandiser. It no doubt gives her a strong understanding of brands and a savvy knack for knowing how to get people in and out of a space in the best possible way. And it makes

her very well suited to design for the retail and hospitality sector, whether in Adelaide or elsewhere.

georgieshepherd.com.au

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Well Crafted Susan Frost’s ceramics are precise studies in colour and form, which is why her work is turning heads.

BY LEANNE AMODEO

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f an individual’s workspace is any indication of who they are as a craftsperson then Susan Frost’s studio speaks volumes about the Adelaide-based ceramicist. Her upper-level JamFactory space is neat and tidy reflecting an order that is evident in both her process and aesthetic.

That a ceramics studio can be described as pristine is not to be underestimated considering the craft’s inherently messy nature. Yet Frost’s studio is but one small insight into the burgeoning practice of a creative practitioner just beginning to receive widespread recognition.

Take a look at her work and it’s easy to see why influential blogs such as The Design Files and various retail outlets around Australia are so enamoured. Her small domestic scale vessels are, quite simply, beautiful. Frost is not concerned with beauty, however, but rather aesthetics. “I’m constantly looking at proportion and line,” she says. “You can just tell when it’s right.”

Her southern ice porcelain vessels and functional objects are characterised by clean, even lines that give rise to simple, delicate forms. For such finely elegant objects they have a surprising sturdiness to them and this is due in no small part to Frost’s considerable skill. Having refined her craft during a two-year JamFactory Associate Program it wasn’t until 2010, in the last six months of the program, that Frost began to develop the signature style for which she is now recognised.

Susan Frost

“I’ve really been building on what I learnt in that final year,” she reflects. “Ceramics is such a technical craft and a slow process to develop. Once you find something that works really well you stick with it, because to change even one aspect could throw the whole thing out.” In terms of process Frost plans every step so that even before she sits down at her wheel she knows exactly what she’s going to craft. “I have a little book of dimensions,” she smiles. “So I have these ideas of groups or shapes or sizes that I might want to make and I draw them out to scale. I like to see the proportions on the page, to see if the angle works and then I pretty much throw it to that shape.”

Her scientific precision means that nothing is left to chance, although Frost’s vessels and objects still have a wonderful handmade quality to them. But what overwhelmingly defines her work and makes it so instantly appealing are her glazes. It comes as no surprise that Frost spends a lot of time glazing, from mixing her own glazes to the actual process itself, which involves a time-

Ceramics is such a technical craft and a slow process to develop. Once you find something that works really well you stick with it, because to change even one aspect could throw the whole thing out.” consuming masking technique that Frost came up with herself.

She recently received an ArtsSA grant to develop her colour palette and spent 10 months last year doing innumerable glaze tests that involved cross-blending colours.

Frost now has 12 colours she works with on a regular basis and they range from pale lemon to lilac and citrus green. All of her colours tend towards the pastel end of

the spectrum and they are reminiscent of the lolly hues found in Danish homewares.

There’s a synergy between Frost’s aesthetic and Danish design and it’s not surprising that she lists it as an influence.

For Frost colour is her decoration and she is looking to add a few more to her palette.

She is also currently developing a body of work for her upcoming SALA exhibition at Art Images Gallery and working on her biggest order to date for a retail outlet in Toowoomba. But if the image cut from a fashion magazine and pinned to the board above the desk in her studio is any indication we can expect more blues and greys in her new work. “The colours of the dresses and the tights in that photograph… I can just imagine one colour on the inside of a vessel and the other colour on the outside,” Frost ponders. “I think that would be a really beautiful thing to do.”

susanfrostceramics.com

We are proud to have been responsible for the redevelopment of St Peters Town Hall Complex and our association with the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters

WINNER: Architecture Award in the Heritage category Commendation in the Public Architecture category

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2013 SA Twenty of South Australia’s best architectural projects, from a strong field of 43, have been recognised at the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2013 South Australian Architecture Awards announced on Friday, June 14 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

BY CHRIS WATKINS

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t’s no surprise the quantity of entries in 2013 has dramatically reduced compared to previous years. The hangover of the Global Financial Crisis, tightening of Government fiscal policy and generally low private sector confidence are all factors contributing to a sluggish few years in the

construction industry with fewer project starts and less project completions.

However in the absence of quantity, the quality of the work entered in this year’s awards program was impressive. I am astonished by the ability of many SA architects and designers to conjure such

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high quality outcomes from within our prevailing ‘pressure cooker’ economic environment of tight project budgets, compressed programs and reduced fees. This type of environment demands much more effort from architects and designers to excel compared to contemporaries in other states, where budgets and fees are often higher for similar projects, and the path to excellence made that much easier.

The skill and expertise of the architects and design teams in their ever increasing ability to respond to the constant need to do ‘more with less’ is, for me, one of the highlights of what is on show in this year’s awards program with many projects exhibiting high levels of restraint without obvious compromise of design intent or spatial experience.

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With current economic conditions likely to continue into the foreseeable future, the potential for even further cuts to spending come September, and ever increasing competition from interstate practices, requires an ability to deliver exceptional outcomes within relatively small budgets.

This is a significant opportunity for SA design professionals and it will potentially be our competitive and marketable edge.

» Chris Watkins is the 2013 Awards Director – SA Chapter

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WINNERS PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE 1. The Jack McConnell Award for Public Architecture The Braggs University of Adelaide – BVN Architecture 2. Public Architecture – Architecture Award Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer – Woodhead RESIDENTIAL CATEGORY -– HOUSES 3. The John S Chappel Award for Residential Architecture, Houses Barossa Valley Glass House – Max Pritchard Architect 4. Residential Architecture – Houses – Architecture Award Residence 2012 – Walter Brooke & Associates

5. Residential Architecture – Houses – Architecture Award Rose Park Residence – Dimitty Andersen Architects

8. Sustainable Architecture – Architecture Award Goolwa Beach House – Grieve Gillett Pty Ltd 9. Sustainable Architecture – Architecture Award Barossa Valley Glass House – Max Pritchard Architect

RESIDENTIAL CATEGORY – MULTIPLE HOUSING 6. Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing – Architecture Award Tectvs – Alta

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE 10. The Robert Dickson Award for Interior Architecture Murray Bridge Library – HASSELL

COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE No Awards SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE 7. The Derrick Kendrick Award for Sustainable Architecture Roach House Belair – Rod Roach Architect (entered by David Ey)

URBAN DESIGN No Awards SMALL PROJECT ARCHITECTURE 11. Small Project Architecture – Architecture Award Sticky Rice B&Bs – John Adam Architect

HERITAGE 12. Heritage – Architecture Award St Peters Town Hall Complex – Phillips/ Pilkington & Flightpath Architects in association ARCHICENTRE RENOVATION AWARD No Awards THE CITY of ADELAIDE PRIZE 13. Bonython Park Upgrade – New Playspace – WAX Design Pty Ltd and Ric Mcconaghy COLORBOND® AWARD FOR STEEL ARCHITECTURE 14. COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture Thebarton Community Centre – MPH Architects PRESIDENT’S AWARD 15. JPE Design Studio – Adrian Evans

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The Adelaide Review July 2013 57

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commendations

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PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE Public Architecture – Commendations 1. Thebarton Community Centre – MPH Architects

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2. St Peter’s Town Hall Complex – Phillips/Pilkington & Flightpath architects in association

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3. Flinders University Biology Discovery Centre – HASSELL

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RESIDENTIAL CATEGORY – HOUSES Residential Architecture – Houses – Commendations 4. Goolwa Beach House – Grieve Gillett Pty Ltd

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5. The Captain – C4 Architects COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE Commercial Architecture – Commendation 6. Australian Federal Police Headquarters – Walter Brooke & Associates SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE Sustainable Architecture – Commendation 7. Fan and Flare – Khab Architects

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SMALL PROJECT ARCHITECTURE Small Project – Commendations 8. Burnside Substation – Tectvs ARCHICENTRE RENOVATION AWARD Archicentre Renovation Award – Commendation 9. Hazelwood Park Residence – Energy Architects COLORBOND ® AWARD FOR STEEL ARCHITECTURE COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture – Commendation 10. Benson Radiology Salisbury – Tridente Architects

1. WAX Design The prestigious City of Adelaide Prize was awarded to landscape architecture firm WAX Design (in collaboration with Ric McConaghy) for their project the Bonython Park Activity Hub. The award-winning hub is a playspace located along the River Torrens next to the Bonython Park Kiosk. Other awards the space has previously won include the Parks and Leisure Australia Space Award of Excellence and the Recreation SA 2013 in Recreation Planning Award.

Featuring a variety of play equipment, the hub takes into consideration all abilities and includes a wheelchair accessible roundabout, a hammock, basket swings, waist-height water, sand play areas and three chatboards.

The City of Adelaide Prize recognises innovative built projects that enliven the city’s public space and engage with the community.

waxdesign.com.au

2. WAlter brooke Walter Brooke won the Residential Architecture (Houses) Award as well as the Commercial Architecture (Commendation – Australian Federal Police Headquarters) Award at the South Australian Architecture Awards. Walter Brooke are a hip studio of talented and experienced design professionals, with a staff that prides itself on a healthy blend of enthusiasm and experience.

Established in Adelaide almost 40 years ago, they hold a reputation as excellent problem-solvers and experts at creating delightful spaces.

walterbrooke.com.au

58 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW JULY 2013

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The awards were held at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Friday, June 14.

PHOTOS JONATHAN VAN DER KNAAP

Sonja Hosking and David Ey

The Adelaide Review People’s Choice Winners 1. WINNER: PUBLIC Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer Woodhead

Chris Watkins, Caterina Tridente and Nick Tridente

John Byleveld, Robyn Archer and Steve Grieve

Victoria Atenova and Nella Abiad

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The Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer project has been a long and rewarding journey for Woodhead. For us the project began in 2001 when the Flinders Medical Centre Foundation began its fundraising campaign for this project.

Woodhead became involved to primarily articulate their vision into an image that would assist their efforts. Without the vision of the Foundations Board, and in particular the tireless focussed commitment of their CEO Deborah Heithersay, this project may not have been built.

Winning an Architectural Award is a great professional achievement in peer recognition but winning the People’s Choice Award is very special and fantastic recognition, not only for the Woodhead staff but also for all the people that contributed over a long period of time to make it happen.

The Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer is unique in South Australia in its strategic focus on both cancer research and cancer care and treatment. Through the design of the centre we looked to actively encourage dialogue and the exchange of ideas by the

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integration of researchers, clinicians and patients. This integration facilitates the rapid application of research findings into clinical practice which then benefits the community and the cancer patients receiving treatment.

The atrium is the focal point of the interior space – a concentration of movement, activity and life. Through overlapping circulation paths and strategically placed functional spaces, the atrium encourages informal communication and exchange between the researchers and clinicians. For patients it provides a well scaled, calm and inviting space that is not at all intimidating. The functional layout highlights the strategic intent of an integrated cancer centre whilst the design of the atrium, with the thoughtful application of materials and natural light, creates a warm and inviting space that promotes a sense of healing, wellbeing and hope. Externally, a large projecting hood wrapping the two upper floors spanning across a key access roadway and simple articulation of the two main functions within the building create a strong identity for the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer.

The Helipad on the roof was a challenging add on and a whole other story!

Joe Vorrasi Associate Director, Woodhead

2. WINNER: RESIDENTIAL Stringybark House Max Pritchard Architect So often persistence becomes the key to producing quality architecture. The thickly wooded, steeply sloping block at Crafers tested Justin and Helen’s resolve as, over many years, we produced carefully considered unique plans only to be knocked back during the approval process. However, Stringybark House is their reward.

That a small strongly sculptural raw concrete house could appeal to the public to be awarded The Adelaide Review People’s Choice Award is encouraging.

Justin and Helen’s determination is indicated and I’m encouraged that the public may be stimulated by alternatives to the mediocrity that surrounds us.

The house will be exposed to a national audience when it features on the Dream Build program on ABC 1 on Sunday, July 14 at 7.30pm.

Max Pritchard Director, Max Pritchard Architect

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