Trouble March 2014

La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre

121 View Street TIM HANDFIELD Bendigo, VIC, 3550 Plenty +61 3 5441 8724 latrobe.edu.au/vacentre 28 February – 27 April

ELISA STONE Liquid Skies To 23 March

TREFOR PREST Fabricated Memories 26 March – 27 April

La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre 121 View Street, Bendigo, VIC, 3550 T: 03 5441 8724 121 View Street E: vac@latrobe.edu.au Bendigo, VIC, 3550 W: latrobe.edu.au/vac +61 3 5441 8724 Gallery hours: Tue – Fri 10am-5pm. Weekends 12-5pm latrobe.edu.au/vacentre La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre

Image: Tim Handfield, Sign, former Larundel psychiatric site, Bundoora (detail), 2010, chromogenic print. Collection of the Artist. Tim Handfield is represented by M.33.

all will be revealed...

SeaSon 2014 Launching soon

FEATURES (07) COMICS FACE Ive Sorocuk (08) THE MADNESS OF ART

Jim Kempner

(10) EAT ME LOVE ME SEE ME:

THE HOTHAM STREET LADIES

Klare Lanson

(18) SUBMERGE:

10 YEARS IN THE MAKING OF ...

Courtney Symes

(26) MERMAIDS IN FOLKLORE

& ABORIGINAL ART Vanessa Witschi (32) MARCH SALON motorin’ (48) SUPERHIGH Carmen Ansaldo (52) ACTEASE Courtney Symes (58) MELBURNIN’ Inga Walton (66) STRALIAN STORIES:

JOYFUL STRAINS Neil Boyack (69) DRIFTNETS Darby Hudson (70) GREETINGS FROM HINDUSTAN

PART ONE: MUMBAI Ben Laycock

COVER: John William Waterhouse, R.A. A Mermaid (detail) 1900, oil on canvas. © Royal Academy of Arts, London; Photographer John Hammond. Genius and Ambition: The Royal Academy of Arts, London 1768–1918, Post Office Gallery, 51 - 67 Pall Mall Bendigo (VIC), 2 March - 9 June 2014 - bendigoartgallery.com.au/Post_Office_Gallery Issue 110: MARCH 2014 trouble is an independent monthly mag for promotion of arts and culture Published by Trouble magazine Pty Ltd. ISSN 1449-3926 STAFF Vanessa Boyack, administration (admin@troublemag.com) Steve Proposch, editorial (art@troublemag.com) Listings (listings@troublemag.com) CONTRIBUTORS Ive Sorocuk, Jim Kempner, Vanessa Wtschi, Carmen Ansaldo, Courtney Symes, Inga Walton, Klare Lanson, Neil Boyack, Darby Hudson, Ben Laycock & Cassandra Scalzi.

Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/Troublemag Subscribe to our website: troublemag.com READER ADVICE: Trouble magazine contains artistic content that may include nudity, adult concepts, coarse language, and the names, images or artworks of deceased Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. Treat Trouble intelligently, as you expect to be treated by others. Collect or dispose of thoughtfully.

DIS IS DE DISCLAIMER! The views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publisher. To the best of our knowledge all details in this magazine were correct at the time of publication.

The publisher does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions. All content in this publication is copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without prior permission of the publisher.

Trouble is distributed online from the first of every month of publication but accepts no responsibility for any inconvenience or financial loss in the event of delays. Phew!

art comedy series

season 2, episode 3: Jaywalking Glenn gives Jim some friendly advice. Also, Jim gets caught jaywalking by the long arm of the law.

Who knew it was actually illegal in New York City? https://vimeo.com/16349663

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back to back

season 2, episode 4: The Taxman Jim gets a visit from The Man during his summer sale. https://vimeo.com/13418648

visit: themadnessofart.com/

EAT me LOVE me SEE me Hotham Street Ladies

by Klare Lanson

Superhigh / Carmen Ansaldo

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“Let them eat cake.” – Marie Antoinette

I REMEMBER RECEIVING A TEXT MESSAGE back in 2007 from a girlfriend requesting I reply with my favourite recipe; to be used for an inner city community cookbook planned by a group of local ladies. As I was pregnant and currently being deprived of soft cheese for the best part of that year, I sent through my favourite recipe for a large round of Brie baked in garlic, rosemary and a bucket of red wine. Peel the top skin for warm crusty bread dipping, knock back a few choice glasses of vino and BAM, you’re sitting in your slinky 70’s jumpsuit and you’ve made it to fondue heaven without even a hint of dishwashing or cleaning up. It’s goodbye to those over rated household tasks that serve only as mindless interruptions for every single woman that I know.

Since 2004, creative collaborations such as these have paved the way for the Hotham Street Ladies (HSL), a collective of women who stem from the same inner city share house in Melbourne. The HSL talk to us with food related art and they critique contemporary feminist thought in a way that doesn’t inhibit the viewer. It’s this sort of organic and inclusive communication practice that makes these ladies stand out in a crowd. It’s fresh, it’s fun and their use of humour in the work is a strong means towards sharing ideas of gender in the workplace, the art world and at home. They’re referencing feminist art from the second wave and peeling back the top skin of contemporary art making; dipping into ideas around domesticity and life at home, collaborative processes, the meanings behind craft and public interventions that continue to sing of our need to resolve issues of gender inequality. They communicate these ideas directly and publically, with no cloaking device, no hidden agendas. And they’re becoming well known to the general public, thanks to their inclusion in the Melbourne Now exhibition currently on at the National Gallery of Victoria, with a work in the foyer of The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia called At Home with the Hotham Street Ladies. So don your apron and break out your fondant and buttercream, icing is what is needed right now and these are the ladies to do it.

Hotham Street Ladies / Klare Lanson

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There’s something meditative and nostalgic about preserving and baking.

It makes me feel safe, melancholic and settles my mind into a step-by-step task oriented activity. Up here in country Victoria, the Country Women’s Association (CWA) still play a huge role in supporting women and children within community, disseminating information through group meetings, craft activity, baking and above all, helping people recover from natural disasters like drought and flood. I was a recipient of a hand-sewn bag during a recent natural disaster and it contained incredibly thoughtful items such as tampons, lipstick, cotton buds and moisturiser. I still quote it to my friends as being one of the most helpful and timely gestures I received during the recovery period.

There’s still a respite in the city of Melbourne where CWA members can stay cheaply if needed, it’s been open since 1948. The Hotham Street Ladies are certainly paying homage to this amazingly vital organisation but they are also playing with ideas of what it means to be a woman in contemporary Australia.

They’re interested in baking and celebrating the act of inclusivity with food.

Simultaneously, they’re engrossed in ways to work with icing that extend the boundaries of cake; the cake becomes a powerful metaphor. They take it to the gallery, to the streets, to the Royal Show and each time they venture into the public arena they talk about the multiple and equally important roles women play in society. Artist. Mother. Wife. Lover. Cultural Critic. Girlfriend. Best Friend. Career Woman. Student. Renovator. Lady. These roles are in constant motion, feeding each other, the real cake of our lives, and for the modern woman, there’s not much time left for licking the bowl.

Using icing as a medium for their art is captivating to me as it’s also layered with thinking around ideas of beauty and social conformity. Unlike the work of Chicago based Jeanne Dunning, where icing is used alongside the body to provoke thinking on gender and sexuality (Icing, 1996), there’s camaraderie at work here; it encompasses both artists and audience, allowing genuine participation. I’m also a fan of the graffiti and stencil art depictions of the many sugary HSL performative antics in the public realm; whilst it’s sweet, pretty and hardly intimidating, the work evokes very clearly the conflict of working in this way, the way it frames the medium and message, often for just a moment before being washed away by rainfall or the calculated sweep of a flock of birds. It’s feminist in terms of it being a reaction to what is already constructed as masculine; a good example of this is a previously exhibited piece entitled bakesy, a work in direct reference to Banksy, the street artist who rose to the male dominated rock star status in the art world with his tongue in cheek referencing and proficiency with street art.

HOTHAM STREET LADIES, Bakesy 2009 Hotham Street Ladies / Klare Lanson

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HOTHAM STREET LADIES, Australia est. 2007, At home with the Hotham Street Ladies 2013, royal and buttercream icing, modelling paste, confectionary, furniture, plinths, pot plants, colour DVD, television, light fittings, heater, icing, video, chandelier, lampshade, fireplace, furniture, television, crockery, cutlery, glassware, fabric, dimensions variable (installation). NGV commission Supported by Melbourne Now Champions the Dewhurst Family

Hotham Street Ladies / Klare Lanson

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There’s a strikingly sentimental quality to their current installation in the foyer of the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. The dining room is hysterically funny, a chaotic share house dinner party construction that we’ve all experienced at some time or another in our lives, with it’s patterns of repetition, intricately designed leftovers, empty beer bottles and side plates full of hastily extinguished cigarette butts. The cultural cringe of lipstick marks on the teacup.

The high art space foyer of the gallery is transformed using materials that unequivocally hold associations to housework and the feminine, this curatorial

Detail from At Home with The Hotham Street Ladies 2013

placement is thoughtfully provocative. There is also a beautiful attachment to family (and the family we construct) when we see and smell icing. I can’t help wishing I was one of the gallery punters who were around whilst it was being installed, the performative element to this installation seems to go hand in hand with the messages it pertains. The exhibition also resonates beautifully in the children’s book HSL created in collaboration with the NGV for the exhibition, simply entitled A Book for Kids! The book is a sweeter than sweet treat and an excellent way to share ideas with children - from cooking to ecology, it encourages art making, reading and story telling, all wrapped up in a way that makes you feel like you’re sitting at a leisurely luncheon with the artists themselves, chatting about hilarious situations and freely sharing stories like the kid in all of us.

Hotham Street Ladies / Klare Lanson

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As an audience member or viewer of their work I feel like I have participated.

I see the tactility of the objects, I feel at home. I have eaten my fill and now I will kick my heels up and keep talking. On Saturday March 8th, we celebrate International Women’s Day. And here it is folks, a new and clever visibility of feminist issues within contemporary art. It hollers out that the roles that women play in society should be treated with equal respect, we have choices and we know how to laugh about them. Family and children are so very important, but so are our choices around these ideologies, in this day and age we should be

Serving of Age Defying Treasure Slice With Hidden Nutrient Particles 2012

free to make them however we see fit. Yet somehow this is still not the case.

There is so much disparate thinking around feminism and gender politics; the one thing that symbolically and gastronomically brings it all together is cake.

So I will celebrate with the ladies. I will eat it, love it and see it. ¢ The Hotham Street Ladies are Cassandra Chilton, Caroline Price, Sarah Parkes, Molly O’Shaughnessy and Lyndal Walker. They have taken over the foyer of the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia for the Melbourne Now Exhibition, until 23 March. You can follow their projects at hothamstreetladies.com

Klare Lanson is a writer, poet, mother, performance maker, sound artist, data consultant, arts worker, past editor of Australian Literary Anthology Going Down Swinging (goingdownswinging.org.au/). She also presents Turn Left at the Baco on Castlemaine Community Radio WMAfm. Her current project is #wanderingcloud (klarelanson.tumblr.com/).

SUBMERGE 10 years in the making of ...

by Courtney Symes

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THE REALITY OF BEING an ‘overnight-success-story’ is a rare phenomenon, particularly in the creative industry. As an art enthusiast, writer, and small business owner, I have first-hand experience of the years of hard work and dedication required to get most creative projects off the ground, which is why I wasn’t especially surprised to learn that Australian feature film, SUBMERGE (released 1 March) was ten years in the making.

Jordan (Lily Hall)

Whilst SUBMERGE is only the second Australian lesbian feature film to attain commercial release (Emma-Kate Croghan’s 1996 Love and Other Catastrophes being the first), it feels like ‘pigeon-holing’ to simply label the film as a ‘lesbian flick’. SUBMERGE consists of so many complex layers for the viewer to peel back, depending on how much they want be challenged.

I recently caught up with Canberra-based Producer Kat Holmes, who explained that: “I had always wanted to present a queer character to a mainstream audience. I never set out to make queer films; I just set out to make films. That the character happens to be gay is a side point … yes I have a desire to present a queer character to a mainstream audience, but also just to present a character … I think it’s always been about the character of Jordan, and the rest was the plot that formed around that.”

Submerge / Courtney Symes

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SUBMERGE follows the journey of twenty-year-old student and competitive swimmer, Jordan (Lily Hall, Neighbours). Jordan is trying to juggle training, tertiary studies, and an active social life, whilst meeting the expectations of her ambitious mother and embarking upon a controversial relationship with her tutor, Angie. The relationship that develops between Jordan and Angie is not controversial because it is a same-sex relationship, but because Angie is already in a relationship with Jordan’s history lecturer, Cameron. Whilst SUBMERGE tackles the theme of sexuality, it will appeal to gay and straight audiences alike as a relatable story for anyone who’s been a 20-year-old student. This is one step beyond a ‘coming-ofage’ flick, this is a ‘welcome-to-life’ story. “It’s a story about a person going through a fairly modern tale,” summarises Holmes.

It has been a year since the film’s first release in New York, and nearly ten years since completion of the first draft of the film. So whilst SUBMERGE might appear to be another home-grown overnight success story, Kat assures me that this labour of love has been a long, complicated journey. “They say you make three films: the screenplay is the first film, what you shoot is the second film, and then what you end up editing and putting out is the third film, and that couldn’t be more true for this film,” says Holmes as she elaborates on her journey.

“... no matter what differences we’ve had, the fact is we’ve been on a decade-long journey together.”

Part of the film’s success lies in the creative tension between Producer, Holmes and Director, Sophie O’Connor, who are two very different people. Holmes describes O’Connor as “a true creative, and I am a true practical, logistics person with a creative bend, so there’s always been some tension there. But it’s like the natural tension that you find, say, between sales and finance … and it’s been ten years, so no matter what differences we’ve had, the fact is we’ve been on a decade-long journey together. It’s the longest relationship I’ve ever had … you get quite close”.

It is not for one but many reasons that this film impresses. There is the excellent characterisation of the script, a diverse and carefully selected soundtrack featuring music from talented independent musicians such as Falling Joys, Asian Envy, and Tokyo Denmark Sweden, and then there is the casting, which Holmes assures me was a “very long, convoluted and complicated” process, but well-worth the effort for the end result.

Submerge / Courtney Symes

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Three false starts at filming added to the complexity of the job, so despite originally casting Madeleine West (Neighbours and more recently Fat Tony & Co.) as Jordan, Lily Hall was the third and final Jordan selected for the role.

Whilst Lily wasn’t on the original casting list, her agent put her forward and Holmes believes that selecting her for the role was “one of the best creative decisions we made, absolutely, and it’s vindicated by the fact that she won two awards.” Hall’s athletic physique in the film is convincing for an elite swimmer.

“We got really lucky with that. Lily was a semi-professional dancer as a child, so she understood that character very well … she took a bunch of swimming lessons, worked really hard, built herself up and was right into the role from day one,” says Holmes.

Angie (Christina Hallett)

With a cheeky grin, she continues, “What you won’t probably have realised or noticed is that we actually filmed this in two segments, two years apart. Again, credit to my crew for doing such a good job that it’s seamlessly integrated.”

In addition to the breaks between filming, other challenges shooting the film included intense film schedules (made even more difficult by extreme weather conditions), the number of locations the film was shot in, and funding (which was by far the biggest challenge). Holmes recalls that “We finished our first shoot seven days before Black Saturday, which itself was the culmination of a month of insane weather.

Submerge / Courtney Symes

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It was also the end of two or three weeks of very bad bushfires, so we were filming in 40 degree weather on consecutive days”.

Extreme weather conditions, coupled with long days demonstrate Holmes’ and O’Connor’s unwavering determination to succeed. “We did a twenty-four day shoot over thirty days.

We worked for eight days straight without a break, one day off, another six days and so on, and then we did an eleven day shoot two years later. Most of our calls were usually 6am and we would finish usually around 10pm or midnight, and just a credit to Sophie the Director who worked every single one of those hours,” says Holmes.

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SUBMERGE was also filmed over 24 different locations, which Holmes said was a lot for a low budget film. “Most low budget films will film in three, four or five locations at most. Our typical day often involved moving our entire set from place to place, which was exciting and challenging.”

Obtaining funding for the film was the hardest part of the process and SUBMERGE only exists thanks to private funding. The film hasn’t received any government funding or grants at all. “The funding challenges were by far and away the biggest issue. Everything else pales in comparison to that challenge,” says Holmes, who is also heavily personally invested in the film.

In addition to these larger hurdles, “There were some little funny challenges,” recalls Holmes with a smile. “When we did the shoot two years later, obviously continuity was our biggest thing. Somehow we had failed to note down where all the costumes had come from, and therefore where they were returned to. So we had to recreate some costumes, and we had to fake some costumes. The only one who had different hair was mum, Elizabeth, so we had to keep her hair up the whole time for the second shoot.”

Submerge / Courtney Symes

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Whilst the filming process is peppered with war stories, Holmes believes that “those war stories bought us closer together. Everyone pitched in, people weren’t precious about things, and that’s the beauty of low budget art creation in every form.”

Despite the lengthy journey to create the film, there were also some highlights along the way, such as “the first morning of filming when I stood around and there were dozens of people on this set and they had all done this because Sophie and I had made them – we had made this thing happen, so the first morning of filming was fantastic,” says Holmes.

Holmes also notes the initial raw footage as another highlight. “The first rushes that I saw, when I saw what a beautiful job Sophie and the cinematographer Karl had done.” The other thing that viewers won’t release is that the promo image for the film has not been retouched or edited at all. “That picture that everyone is going to see when they buy it – that has not been manipulated at all – that is the original lighting and colour. So we didn’t use a colourist …That’s the original, beautifully shot footage that you see there,” reveals Holmes.

However, “Eclipsing even those two moments was the world premiere in New York last March – the first time that people outside of our circle saw it and commented on it, and the fact that my hero, and the reason I felt comfortable to do this was one of the judges on the panel. Her name is Christine Vachon.

She’s one of America’s most well-known independent producers.”

After such a long journey, I asked Holmes what advice she would offer aspiring film-makers and directors. I admit that I was a little surprised by her quick response: “Don’t do it – it’s not worth the pain and sacrifice and everything that you’re going to have to make. Really think hard about if this is your calling or not. Don’t think that you’re special. That was a mistake that I particularly made, because I was very successful in the corporate world and I thought that I knew better, or that I could do it better. I’d heard many, many stories about the thousands and thousands of Australian film makers who just couldn’t get a feature film up, and I thought, ‘well that’s just because they’re not doing it right’.”

I realised that Holmes wasn’t advising against entering the film industry, exactly, but rather emphasising the importance of being realistic. “Just be careful of arrogance. When you do have a creative drive inside of you it can make you believe that what you have to say and do is better and more special than anyone else. That’s not to say don’t honour your creative goals and your creative burn and your ideas – absolutely – I’m just saying balance that energy out with a healthy dose of realism, because the one thing that you’re going to need to successfully make a feature film is persistence. That’s THE most critical aspect.”

There is also a well-worn path to enter the Australian film industry. “If you’re in Australia, don’t buck the system because it won’t work (unless you have a benefactor that has hundreds of thousands of dollars that you know about and Submerge / Courtney Symes

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no one else knows about) follow the rules. Go to film school, go VCA … make your short films, learn your craft, put them in the right film festivals, network, network, network and become attached to more known people – that’s the only way you’ll make a feature film in Australia.”

Despite this advice, SUBMERGE did not adhere to this conventional ‘rite-ofpassage’. Even the way the film has been promoted and distributed goes against the traditional industry practices. Holmes and O’Connor have pretty much selfpromoted SUBMERGE and been very active on the festival circuit, attending 27 festivals in 12 months and securing numerous awards along the way. “When you look at SUBMERGE, you can see that our vision is true, and the response that we’ve had to it – a lot of people want to see us make more stuff”.

Whilst Holmes would love to continue making films, she is hesitant to confirm what’s next until she’s had a reaction to the general release of SUBMERGE, saying: “I think my response is a wait-and-see approach”, even though “Sophie has pushed ahead already and just finished off a short film”. We wish the SUBMERGE team every success for the release and look forward to seeing more of their talent in future Australian films. ¢

Delilah (Georgia Bolton)

Courtney Symes is a Canberra-based writer, small business owner, and mother. When she’s not writing, you will find her enjoying a run around one of Canberra’s beautiful parks and seeking out Canberra’s best coffee and cheesecake haunts with the family. Read more at alittlepinkbook.blogspot.com.au

Mermaids in Folklore & Australian Indigenous Culture

by Vanessa Witschi

Edie Blitner, Mermaid Spirit, acrylic and ochre on canvas, 1020 x 620 mm.

MERMAIDS ARE PRESENT IN THE FOLKLORE of many cultures around the world. They can be found in Native American culture, Ancient Greek and Roman cultures, as well as in Asia (particularly China, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines), Russia, Finland, France, Spain, the British Isles and India. One of the most fascinating, although perhaps not as obvious, facts is that mermaids also appear as an important factor in many of the indigenous language and cultural groups spread across Australia. Interestingly, for a country surrounded by oceans and seas, mermaids are largely portrayed as freshwater creatures living in rivers, lakes and billabongs.

Some cultures depict mermaids as meek benevolent beings, others as possessors of medical knowledge or as unlucky omens bringing disasters. Both the Indian and Greek folklore see mermaids as Goddesses, some of whom were originally in a human form but were made half-fish as a punishment from the Gods, and some who always existed in mermaid form.

Commonly, mermaids (in particular the sirens who were depicted in two forms: mermaid-like and also bird-like) are portrayed as malevolent creatures that sang or played music to lure sailors towards cliffs and death by drowning. These depictions often have their origin in early Greek, Roman or Spanish civilisations.

In early Russian culture it was believed that women who had died violently or by their own hand lived at the bottom of rivers and mesmerised men to lure them into the river to drown them.

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Mermaids in Folklore / Vanessa Witschi

Chris Liddy / Moonggun, Mermaid,Mimi Spirit and Crocodile 2006, 58 cm x 90 cm.

Another ... story tells of a man who set up a trap to capture a mermaid, who he then tied to a tree.

Even today, many cultures still believe in the existence of mermaids. In February 2012, it was reported in the UK Daily Mail, that the Water Minister for Zimbabwe announced delays in building two reservoirs due to mermaids hounding the workers away. It was believed that performing rituals and sacrifices would encourage the mermaids to leave the workers alone.

Many Australian Aborigines of today also believe that mermaids still exist in their waters and rivers. In some Northern Territory regions, mermaids were believed to instruct women in ceremonial procedures in early Dreamtime, particularly those procedures related to fertility. It was believed that they were still present in many areas and could be seen sitting on rocks, but would quickly jump back into the water if they saw anyone coming.

Another Aboriginal story tells of a man who set a trap to capture a mermaid, who he then tied to a tree. He treated her very kindly and eventually she agreed to be his wife.

They had children together but she disappeared into the river one day after being reminded of her mermaid form when she saw her reflection in the water.

There is also a belief in some Aboriginal language groups that albino children born to Aboriginal parents are the result of mermaid blood in their ancestry. A Torres Strait Islander Dreamtime story tells of how fishermen caught a mermaid in their nets. The mermaid warned them not to over-fish the lake and to just to take what they needed for their family. The fishermen continued to over-fish the lake so the mermaid consequently drowned them.

Mermaids in Folklore / Vanessa Witschi

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There are a number of modern Aboriginal paintings depicting mermaids, which are held in National museums and art galleries around Australia. Perhaps the most famous are the Yawkyawk (mermaid) sculptures held in The National Museum of Australia’s collection from Western Arnhem Land. These modern woven pandanus sculptures depicting mermaid spirits are by artists Lulu Laradjbi and Marina Murdilnga.

One Aboriginal artist from the Central Arnhem Land (Darnkorlo clan, Yirridjda moiety, Ngarridj subsection, Kunwinjku language), Owen Yalandja, creates sculptures and paintings almost exclusively based on the Yawkyawk (mermaid) spirits near Barrihdjowkkeng. One of the first carvings Owen made of a mermaid in 1993 won the 10th National Aboriginal Art Award that year. The work is held in the Maningrida Arts and Culture Centre in the Northern Territory.

There are also several modern Aboriginal artworks that depict mermaids. Notable examples come from Edie Blitner of the Kimberley area of Western Australia, Northern Territory artist Chris Liddy (Moonggun) who notes that when someone drowns it means mermaid Mimi spirits took their spirit, and Kunwinjku artist Lesley Nawirridj of West Arnhem Land. Original paintings and prints by these artists are available to buy from their respective galleries. ¢ Refs: - http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/yawkyawk-sculptures - http://natsiaadigitisation.nt.gov.au/docs/index.php?typ=artwork&p1=ABETH-3121 - http://arthousebroome.com.au/on-line-store/Kimberley-Art/kimberley-fine-art/eddie-blitner/mermaid-spirit - http://aboriginalartdreaming.com/site/index.phppage=shop.product_details&flypage=shop. flypage&product_id=17&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1 - http://www.kunwinjku-aboriginal-art.com/aboriginal-art-water.html - This article originally appeared on Black Mermaid, August 2012 http://blackmermaidproductions.blogspot.com.au/

Vanessa Witschi is a polymer clay artist who creates one-of-a-kind dreaming mermaid sculptures.

- facebook.com/mermaidsdreaming - mermaidsdreaming.com

Owen Yalandja, Yawkyawk, mermaid, 1993, natural pigments on wood, 274 x 27 x 23 cm.

Purchased 1993, MAGNT Acquisition Fund. 10th National Aboriginal Art Award. © licensed by the artist.

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1. Madison BYCROFT, Becoming Still 2012, video still. Artist site - madisonbycroft.com & 2. Nikki LAM, Falling Leaf Returns to Its Roots 2013, video still from HD video. Artist site - nikki-lam.com At DNA Projects, 3 Blackfriars St, Chippendale (NSW) - dnaprojects.com.au/ NEXT SPREAD: Alexandra CLAPHAM and Penelope BENTON, Self-Portrait in a Room, performance installation at Wellington St Projects, 19-25 Wellington St Chippendale (NSW) - wellingtonstprojects.com/ All part of: SafARI 2014, 14 March – 4 April - safari.org.au SafARI 2014 will take place from 14 March – 4 April 2014 across 6 venues around inner city Sydney. check SafARI LIVE for performance times - http://safari.org.au/2014/safari-live/

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3. Rod MOSS, The Disrobing of Adrian Hayes, from ROD MOSS: Whitegate - Where Art and Life Collide, Burrinja Gallery, Upwey (VIC). 28 March - 22 June - burrinja.org.au

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4. Karmen FALEZ, One Fleet Womenswear 2012. Photograph courtesy of the artist. & 5. Amanda HERZMAN, Hairy series 2013, screenprint, fabric marker and embroidery on cotton socks. Image courtesy of the artist.

Emerging Contemporaries - Craft ACT curated award exhibition, Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre, Level 1 North Building 180 London Circuit Canberra (ACT), 13 February to 29 March - craftact.org.au/

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march salon 6. Norma REDPATH , Key Figure I 1969. Bronze, artist proof from a planned edition of 2 (of which only one is believed to have been cast). Norma Redpath Estate Courtesy of Charles Nodrum Gallery. The Gathering II: A survey exhibition of Australian sculpture, Wangaratta Art Gallery, 56 Ovens Street, Wangaratta (VIC), 8 March – 11 May - wangaratta.vic.gov.au 7. Paul LAFFOLEY, The Zodiac Wheel 1967, oil, acrylic and vinyl lettering on canvas, 126 x 126cm. Courtesy the artist and Kent Fine Art, NY. Worlds in Collision: Adelaide International 2014, Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, Adelaide (SA), 28 February – 28 March unisa.edu.au/samstagmuseum

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8. Stuart Ringholt, Anger Workshops 2008/12, courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery. Photo: Nick McGrath & 9. Nudes 2013 (detail), courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. Stuart Ringholt, Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), Ground Floor, Building F Monash University, Caulfield Campus 900 Dandenong Road Caulfield East (VIC), 14 February – 17 April - monash.edu.au/muma NEXT SPREAD: Village and Elsewhere: Thai Villagers and Gentileschi’s Judith and Holofernes, Jeff Koons, 2011 (University Art Gallery collection). Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook: The Village and Elsewhere, University Art Gallery, War Memorial Arch, northern end of the Quadrangle, University of Sydney (NSW), 17 March – 3 May - sydney.edu.au/museums

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10. Lorin ASKILL, Sequence Breathing, featuring Dion Lee. Virgin Australia Fashion Film Festival, The Mildura Wentworth Arts Festival at the Mildura Brewery Theatre Club, Tuesday, 4 March - artsmildura.com.au 11. Anna BORRIE, Plastic bag tent, Cleddau River, Milford Sound 2013, C type digital print. The Boondocks Experiment 2014: Off The Beaten Track, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Deerubbin Centre -1st Floor, 300 George Street Windsor (NSW) until 13 April hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au

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Superhigh at Kunsthalle Platoon, Berlin, Germany

by Carmen Ansaldo

World Television Day 2013 (November 21st) saw the world premiere of Boris Eldagsen and Sabine Taeubner‘s mockumentary-reality competition Superhigh debuted at the Kunsthalle Platoon in Berlin. This projection took the form of a 40 minute reality television show in which six artist-contestants from around the globe battled it out for the chance to be crowned ‘The Superhigh’ – the artist who achieved the most intense high purely through natural methods.

Superhigh provided each artist the opportunity to showcase their unique method and to assess its effectiveness, ranking the intensity of their high from 1 to 10. Once all six artists had staged their attempts, viewers could vote online for what they believed was the most convincing high witnessed. True to the reality competition format, voting was informed by a panel of three judges providing viewers with running commentary.

The Superhigh spin was that each judge was under the influence of illicit drugs (Cocaine, MDMA and Speed) so they could best assess which of the sober participants best matched their euphoric state. Methods showcased for achieving natural highs included staring at fire for long periods of time, spinning around in circles, meditating, yoga, listening to strange aural frequencies, and sharing breath with a partner whilst kissing. Participants then re-attempted their chosen methods, adding different techniques in the hope of intensifying their natural high. The panel members followed suit by complementing their illicit drug use with a second drug in order to better inform their evaluations.

Superhigh Jury

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Waiting for the Superhigh premiere to start at PLATOON KUNSTHALLE Berlin.

Photo by Goffyd von Guibbicho.

Superhigh premiere

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It can be said with confidence that no natural highs showcased in the competition came close to matching the highs of actual hard drugs. The “failure” of the participants’ efforts to get high had a pitiful quality, evidenced by the unwillingness of any contestant to rank their own method above 6/10. This failure, and the viewer’s ability to easily predict it, could not come about unless both parties shared past experiences with actual highs induced by actual illicit drugs. The humour implicit in each contestant’s failure relied upon a collective consensus with the viewer that no natural high could possibly rival the buzz of a drug-fueled one.

When Superhigh’s contestants did their best to trial a possible alternative, the results were comical.

Personal usage thus became the novel basis for understanding the project and taking part in its game. In this way, Superhigh created a theatre of participation that drew upon the same structures of consent and endorsement required from actual illicit drug use. Neither contestant nor viewer could passively consume this project, but had to actively ‘do’ Superhigh through either competing or voting. This enabled the project to demonstrate an appreciation of drug culture in a way that was self-aware, but implicitly rejected the moral panic and media hype that characterizes much discourse surrounding illicit drug usage.

Superhigh was a project that was as off-the-wall as it was well executed. Its location on the intersection between psychedelic imagery and the urgent interdisciplinary interactivity of the reality show format was exciting; its aesthetic revelry in the symbols and filmic tropes of hard drug-taking was acute and entertaining. Superhigh sidestepped the expectations usually carried with pro-illicit drug projects to ‘make sense’ of drug and youth culture on behalf of the viewer. Instead, Eldagsen and Taeubner created something celebratory for a cross-section of the pubic who already enthusiastically participate in both of these cultures. Its ambition was no doubt a simple one, but oddly heart-warming for this reason.

You too can participate in Superhigh by watching the project, sharing your own methods and voting online at superhigh.org or on the Facebook page facebook.com/superhighnow Superhigh / Carmen Ansaldo

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ACTease DATELINE: MARCH 2014 Courtney Symes

The things that inspire artists constantly amaze and excite me.

It could be a word, a feeling, their home or local environment and surroundings that trigger the greatest creative sparks. The beauty of these humble catalysts is that they are often things that are close to the artists’ hearts, and by viewing their work, you become closer to them not only as an artist, but as a person. Responding to these feelings (even it that means revealing personal vulnerabilities) through their practice is one of the bravest and most admirable characteristics of an artist. I love Tasmanian artist Philip Wolfhagen’s honesty when he labels himself as a “stay-at-home kind of artist”, as well as his desire “to paint what I understand and love and not rush about being a tourist artist”.

Renowned for his landscapes, Wolfhagen has a clever knack for combining modern and old aesthetics in his work, which has been likened to the works of minimalist painters such as Brice Marden and Sean Scully. Wolfhagen’s “motifs glow in suggestive darkness or are suffused with a mild grey-and-blonde radiance that relates to the far-Southern climes of Australia”. Illumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen is Wolfhagen’s latest exhibition at ANU’s Drill Hall Gallery – the first of an exciting exhibition program for 2014. Curated by Sarah Johnson, this exhibition is a collaborative joint venture between the Newcastle Art Gallery and Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery. Runs until 6 April - dhg.anu.edu.au

Philip Wolfhagen, Night BeaconV1 2005, oil and beeswax on linen, 200 x 210 cm.

National Gallery of Victoria Collection

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If you get in quick you’ll be able to catch Beaver Galleries’ exhibitions: Judy Holding’s Connected…? and Victor Greenaway’s white earth, black earth, before they finish up on 4 March. Connected…? is a collection of Holding’s sculpture and works on paper, which “reflect her abiding love of the diverse flora and fauna of Australia”. This is a beautiful exploration of Australian trees and birds, many of which Holding has captured in gorgeous jewel tones that highlight Australia’s natural beauty.

Victor Greenaway’s white earth, black earth presents exceptional examples of Greenaway’s fine porcelain vessels, for which he is renowned. Greenaway’s work draws inspiration from his time spent living between Italy and Australia, and reflects “both countries’ cultural histories”. This exhibition is a great opportunity for viewers to enjoy a sensational showcase of ceramic works from this established artist - beavergalleries.com.au ‘Blaze’ is an appropriate name for one of the first exhibitions for 2014 that promises to “go off with a bang”. Canberra Contemporary Art Space’s latest exhibition, BLAZE EIGHT features eight artists: S.A. Adair, Katherine Griffiths, Martin James, Alex Lewis, Hardy Lohse, Katy Mutton, Jemima Parker, and Tim Phillips, who “are making work that is bigger, bolder and punchier than they have previously dared”. Look out for large-scale political prints from Martin James, Katy Mutton’s cloudscape ink drawings of World War II aircraft in flight, and large works including S.A. Adair’s felt installation and Alex Lewis’ labyrinthine staircase. Runs until 22 March at CCAS Gorman House - ccas.com.au Three new, diverse exhibitions are on offer at Craft ACT this month, including: Emerging Contemporaries, Nature’s Rhythm and Scorched earth. Emerging Contemporaries offers a great opportunity for visitors to discover hot new works from graduating students and emerging artists in this Craft and Design Centre Award exhibition series. Exhibiting artists include: Shaun Hayes (ANU), Bernard Benny (ANU), Tim Wallace (ANU), Sara Hellsing (ANU), Nellie Peoples (ANU), Amanda Herzman (ANU), Amy Hick (ANU), Karmen Falez (CIT), Jo Walters (CIT), Blake Winterbottom (UC), Charlie Gillings (Sturt School for Wood), Doug Rosemond (Sturt School for Wood), Luke Abbot (Enmore) and Sarah Adcock (CSU). The exhibition includes work from a number of disciplines such as jewellery, glass-making, textiles, and furniture design, to name a few. Profiles of some of the artists included in this exhibition can be found on the Craft ACT blog - http://events.craftact.org.au/ Christine Atkins captures the beauty of glass - especially when it’s influenced by nature - in her latest solo exhibition, Nature’s Rhythm. This exhibition is “an exploration of the interplay between light, glass and water to echo a moment in nature”. Atkins also offers viewers insight into how she makes her glass pieces, drawing them into her thought process and creative journey.

S.A Adair Grail 2013, felt dimensions variable. Photograph: Dean Butters ACTease / Courtney Symes

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In the Crucible Showcase, Danyka Van Burren has assembled a striking new collection of jewellery entitled Scorched earth. Discarded jewellery, raw materials and scrap components have been combined and repurposed into intriguing new pieces that reflect Van Buuren’s unique style. All exhibitions run until 29 March craftact.org.au

Four talented Canberra-based artists: Jacqueline Bradley, Karen Cromwell, Hanna Hoyne and Amelia Zaraftis, offer their response to the concept of “safety” and “containment” in their latest group exhibition, Safe Passage at ANCA (Australia National Capital Artists) this month. “The strength of this exhibition lies not only in the visually engaging works, but also in the tactile, subtle and thoughtful conversations created between the different artist’s contributions.” Jacqueline Bradley’s forte is sculptural objects, created from humble materials such as household objects, fabrics, wallpaper, and building materials. In this exhibition, “Bradley takes wellworn shoes as the starting point for a series of poetic and tactile objects hinting at a long journey requiring endurance and ingenuity”. Bradley’s work is created from her studio at Australia National Capital Artists (Mitchell Campus). She is also a tutor and lecturer in the sculpture workshop at ANU School of Art - jacquelinebradley.com.au In Safe Passage, Karen Cromwell presents a collection of woven, sculptural headpieces that “re-work elements of ceremonial and protective headwear with aspects of the natural world, to suggest new and inspiring relationships and purpose”. Cromwell is a visual artist who also works as an educator at Canberra Museum and Gallery, designing and presenting education programs and workshops for both schools and the wider community - karencromwell.net ACTease / Courtney Symes

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Hanna Hoyne and Amelia Zaraftis have teamed up to “present photographic performance documentation and sculptural garments that investigate notions of human vulnerability and safety in the ways that we inhabit both the physical environment and our psychological landscapes”. These collaborative works offer “a spirited re-imagining of the domestic apron, set in an Australian suburban backyard.”

Hanna Hoyne is a sculptor and performance artist who has exhibited in Australia, Germany and Hong Kong. When she’s not making art, Hoyne can be found sharing her passion for art with others through teaching. She has taught in Art Theory (undergraduate and postgraduate), Core Studies and Sculpture Studio Theory at the Australian National University since 2006, and has also previously taught at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Museum and Gallery, the YWCA Canberra and Artplay in Melbourne http://soa.anu.edu.au/staff/hannahoyne Amelia Zaraftis’ focus is on “making objects and imagery in response to field research, with a particular interest in managed landscapes and human consumption of natural resources”. In addition to sculpture, Zaraftis’ practice also extends to collage, drawing, documentation and ephemeral installation, and more recently performance and video-based work. Runs until 16 March.

- http://soa.anu.edu.au/staff/amelia-zaraftis - anca.net.au

Hanna Hoyne and Amelia Zaraftis, do not crush 2013, pigment on rag, 43cm x 64.5cm.

ACTease / Courtney Symes

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DATELINE: MARCH 2014

Inga Walton

ROD MCRAE’S TOURING EXHIBITION Wunderkammer: The Cabinet of Wonders, a menagerie of striking and potentially disturbing taxidermy sculptures, makes its first local appearence at Deakin University Art Gallery (until 5 April, 2014). The works have already elicited some rather unruly audience responses on campus, which has served to underline certain points the artist would like viewers to consider about our often contentious interactions with other species.

Rod MCRAE, Born Free 2013, lion skin, high density foam, steel, glass, paint, timber, leather, plastic, linen, 84 (h) x 230 (l) x 190 (w). Photography: Grant Fraser

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Originally installed in the Library art space as a ‘teaser’ to promote the show, Born Free (2013), of a lion reclining on a king-size bed, became a matter of concern to library staff on the second day of its display, and who then suggested that it be removed. Despite being roped off with bollards, and with clear signage not to handle the work, students were climbing over the barrier and lying on the bed. Unable to adequately supervise the exhibit, the decision was taken to relocate the work to the main gallery, at the loss of another piece from the show in order to accommodate it. The harassment of the long-deceased beast continued even after that precautionary measure, with another visitor posing on the bed clutching his camera before gallery staff could intervene. Perhaps a few cattle-prods might be a viable option to help attendants control those self-absorbed patrons who have little respect for the work itself, and even less thought towards art preservation?

All this was rather frustrating for McRae, who had already returned to Sydney where he has been Head Teacher of the Events, Design and Illustration (EDI) section at the Design Centre Enmore, Sydney TAFE for the past twenty years. “If the work was indeed creating such a ruckus, it begs all sorts of questions about the way art is viewed by this generation, as a play-thing and entertainment, even when the work is displayed in a designated art space. This behaviour is also a product of the obsession with social media and the ‘selfie’”, he contends. “However, it is also true that my animals do scream ‘touch me!’.

My contention, that taxidermy communicates to people more intensely than sculpted animals rendered in stone, bronze, wood, or resin, would seem to be borne out by these incidents. Using the ‘real thing’ creates art that is both authentic and empathetic”.

As McRae explains, his intention with the work was to subvert expectations. “[Born Free] explores notions of the ‘wild’ verses subjugation and domestication ... When making this work I was well aware that Lions and other big cats are traditionally posed in taxidermy to accentuate their fierce and powerful attributes, as trophies to the hunt, always rewarding the hunter. This pose does quite the opposite, reducing the animal to a playful and passive individual. I referenced the behaviour of my cat in determining the final pose, I think its passivity is very disarming”.

Born in New Zealand and arriving in Australia in 1984, McRae enjoyed a highly successful career in children’s publishing (1981-92), as both an author and illustrator of over fifty titles, before turning his attention to photography.

For the past nine years he has been exploring sculpture and installation art, concentrating on conservation and a variety of issues raised by human interactions with the natural world. “It is true that the strong narrative themes in my installation works for Wunderkammer owe a great deal to my earlier work Rod MCRAE, The End of Nature - Bush 1 2011, glass dome, timber, plastics, bird skeletons, 17 (diam.) x 35 (h) cm. Photography: Grant Fraser.

Melburnin / Inga Walton

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in children’s books ... and my interest in environmental issues which culminated in one of my last published titles, Cry Me A River (1991). My process varies: sometimes it starts with an article in the paper, or with the discovery of a displaced mounted creature on eBay, other times with the offer of a skin with an interesting history. My process always starts with research and rough drawings to flesh out the idea until it can tell its own clear story!”

As with other recognised artists who work within this sometimes emotive medium, McRae is concerned about the erroneous notion that he somehow has animal subjects killed specifically to facilitate his practice; an idea as morally repugnant as it is financially untenable. He attempts to source the animal components of his works as ethically as he possibly can; including pelts that are the result of death by natural causes, medical euthanasia, hunting, culling, food production, the by-products of trophy-taking, those that have been deaccessioned from public display, and/or vintage pieces that have been traded multiple times. “Each work touches on a different aspect of the human-animal relationship, including biodiversity, pollution, climate change, conservation and stewardship. Each work asks us to examine our responsibilities as fellow travelers on this planet”, McRae observes.

A finalist in the Wynne Prize, Crying Out Loud In the Age of Stupid (2010), depicts a taxidermied Polar bear perched precariously on top of a refrigerator, which itself mimics a bobbing chunk of melting sea ice. “In these complex times of environmental degradation, pollution and declining diversity, it seems almost impossible to balance the needs of human communities with that of non-human communities”, McRae laments. “The message is clear enough, the very mechanism human communities use to make ice ... depletes natural ice formations through decades of CFC release and ozone damage. The Polar bear teeters on the edge of catastrophe as its habitat melts, its prey diminishes and starvation ensues”.

Operation Foxtrot (2010) addresses the prevalence of semi-feral foxes who have moved into populated areas to scavenge, and can be found trying their luck in people’s gardens and in any homes where the wily creatures can gain access. As the suburban sprawl expands ever further into agricultural and bush land, McRae asks us to ponder just whose population is out of control and who are, in fact, the vermin. “[Animals] mark out their territories in what we once referred to as ‘wilderness’, but this wilderness is increasingly described by words like ‘reserve’, ‘park’, ‘zone’ and ‘corridor’”, he says. For their scenic tour of potential new hunting grounds, the skulk have appropriated a shopping trolley, that other ubiquitous and migratory urban feature. Happy Father’s Day (2010) takes this idea further by putting the proverbial ‘fox in charge of the duckling house’, posing the predator as a benign custodian of his potential prey. Would such a polite and socialised urban-dweller really use the cuties clustering at his paws as chew-toys?

Rod MCRAE, Crying Out Loud In the Age of Stupid 2010, sub-adult male Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus), carved high density foam Marquette, MDF, high gloss white paint, 200 (h) x 80 (w) x 125 (d) cm. Photography: Grant Fraser.

Melburnin / Inga Walton

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Several works highlight the multi-million dollar business that is Big Game hunting, predominantly in Africa, but also increasingly in America where herds of exotic animals have been established in private hunting parks to meet the ‘sporting needs’ of the local audience. Playing on the concept of a ‘movable feast’, Z is For Zebra (2010) features a cabinet on wheels containing an adult Burchell’s zebra. A southern subspecies of the plains zebra, it was named after English explorer and naturalist William John Burchell (1781-1863), and was thought to have been hunted to extinction as European settlement spread northward from the Cape to colonial southern Rhodesia. Blackboard walls surround the animal, one of which has a menu listing other species available to hunt, and the respective prices: ‘Hh is for Hunt, select your prey’. On the opposite panel, beneath replica automatic weapons a chalk scrawl reads, ‘It’s my God given right as a Christian man to hunt’. This echoes text from Genesis that the unfortunate creature stands on: ‘And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth’. (1:28) McRae questions whether this ostensibly ‘God-given’ entitlement is really aiding in the survival of various species through population management and sustainability, as is claimed, or just another area where man’s caprice and arrogance is inflicting lasting damage. Are You My Mother? (2010), is titled in reference to the classic children’s book of the same name published in 1960 by P.D. Eastman (190986). Standing before three trophy heads mounted to the wall, an abandoned zebra foal grimly contemplates which of them might be its parent. Baboon Boy (2012), employs the pictorial maxim of the three wise monkeys, specifically Mizaru, who covers his eyes and sees no evil. Seated on a packing crate, the monkey holds a hand mirror with the words inscribed onto the back. He sees nothing at all though, his face is long gone, replaced by another mirror in which the viewer can see themselves- the representative of a callous and willfully blind species so closely related. Through these works, McRae encourages viewers to engage with the long- term consequences that culling, poaching and the trade in animal parts has on afflicted species: the displacement of social groups and the distortion of behavioural and survival patterns.

• Deakin University Art Gallery, Building FA, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria, 3125 - deakin.edu.au The exhibition continues to The Incinerator Gallery, Moonee Ponds - incineratorgallery.com.au Artist site - rodmcrae.com.au

Rod MCRAE, Operation Foxtrot (2010) seven Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), metal shopping trolley, plastic, high-density foam, glass 120 (h) x 90 (w) x 160 (d) cm (installed). Photography: Grant Fraser.

Melburnin / Inga Walton

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stralian stories with Neil Boyack

Gurt by Sea: the freedom to be from somewhere else Joyful Strains, Affirm Press rrp $24.95

P

atrick White once said that he hoped Australians never found out what it was to be Australian. I agree with this sentiment.

Time and time again, whenever this sort of equation is rolled out for public picking (Anzac day, Grand Final day, Melbourne Cup day, Australia/Survival day, Olympic gold in the pool) in the hope that the “Aussie” baseline will be somehow be clarified, we end up in a debate over meat pies, the Cronulla riots, footy vs rugby, kangaroos, mateship, sinking piss, boat people, off-shore processing, Aboriginal people, white people, yellow people, otherness.

Things ultimately go the way of that inadequate, overused description ‘unAustralian’, punctuated by default absolutes that arrest the discussion. Australian culture is a never-ending story. There are Australian traits, Australian ways, and ultimately an Australian culture, but who would want to capture, cage and tag such a wild, loveable, liquid beast?

From its ancient earth, Australia has forever, offered agency for change, life, renewal. Aboriginal people were the first to experience this 60,000 years ago or more. Convicts changed their fortunes here, and became landowners by usurping Aborigines. Previously barren women, who left the polluted, poverty stricken English cities, were suddenly able to conceive when they arrived; such was the fertile, clean and health-promoting environment. We have the Eureka stockade, our twenty minute civil war, where an array of miners from many ethnicities and cultures joined forces against colonial authorities. Australia absorbed post WWII immigration which brought Europeans en-masse, admittedly through a whiteAustralia-policy, and the Vietnam War created a need for Vietnamese refugees to run for their lives, many of whom ended up here. Today the political football that is boatpeople punches above its weight and has potential for many to be a vote-changing issue, such is the perception of its substance socially, morally, and economically. But this is what it is to be Australian – not so much the drab platitude that “we’re all immigrants”, because the nature of time belies this – what we do have is the freedom to be from somewhere else.

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The essays in Joyful Strains are hard to read at times, because the racism and inequality experienced by some of its contributors doesn’t represent, I would argue, the views and sentiments of Australian readers of this particular text. Yet all Australian readers know that racism lives and breathes in the broader community mutating and manifesting pervasively at esoteric and more obvious levels. Bumper stickers that say “If you don’t love it, leave it” key into nationalistic sentiment that ranges from soft nostalgia and Banjo Patterson to hate-filled National Socialist movements. There is also the barrage of Southern Cross “Eureka” flags that are appropriated for everything from the Union movement, to that of a moreextreme nationalism married with outlaw imagery and underdog messages. Ballarat City Council, a pillar of strong governance, accountability and transparency I’m sure, also uses the Southern Cross for its identity. Nothing is wrong with this. All robust cultures and communities need to offer avenues of identity, freedom of speech, freedom to associate. Many writers in Joyful Strains reflect on how difficult it was to accept the freedom Australia offered to simply be.

In Joyful Strains we find disorientation, beautiful accidents, serendipity and kindness in a pure form.

Discovering early on that his homeland wasn’t where he wanted to be, Chris Flynn was happy to leave his native Ireland, so beginning “the process of reinvention”. A change of longitude and latitude fitted his plan of personality and identity change, and this “automatically promoted” him to Ambassador of Ireland complete with cute accent. Dmetri Kakmi found that anonymity was impossible in a Turkish village, “privacy an incomprehensible concept. Neither one of these words existed for me until I came to Australia”. His essay pulls into focus the changes and adaptations he needed to make as a new arrival. The same experience came for Malla Nunn who suggested that Australia was “a country that offered us freedom and anonymity” which contrasts the family’s previous environment.

Growing up in public is one thing, getting used to being nobody is another. Chi Vu suggests that “one task of a migrant is to move from a sense of alienation in the new country to a sense of being comfortable with that alienation”. Alienation is a key indicator for life before acquiring a personal Australian narrative. The development of this narrative, or new roots, is the essence of Joyful Strains in my view.

Stralian Stories / Klare Lanson

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After reading a few essays a deeper theme emerges within Joyful Strains and that is the individual owning two stories, loving two places, or constantly comparing where they have come from to what they are in the moment. I have two histories myself, being born and taken from my mother, put into state care then adopted to join another family history. I feel lucky to know both of my stories and how my attachment to this world came to be.

Yet coming from another land, another culture, another language, must be both a blessing and a hindrance. Having to rely on the trust of strangers, the patience and the support of the unknown interlocutor in order to communicate is a risky preoccupation. The old cultural roots, at times, must be ignored for the new roots to take hold and to develop.

It is convenient at times to trade on either story, and it must also involve a sense of betrayal. I have personal experience of this having to manage the ownership and filtering of information, but only within one culture. This is the conundrum faced by those who have come from somewhere else. Michelle Aung Thin states that she is “well versed in seeing two places at once” and admits that “committing to one place isn’t so easy. It is hard to focus. There is always the possibility of a life lived somewhere else”.

Near my little country town, Newstead, there are canoe trees and carved, patterned trees, signposts from the Jaara people. There are Chinese graves from one hundred and fifty years ago in the cemetery and Anglo Saxon graves there are separated into antiquated religious strains, baggage that came with owners. These are simple, profound reminders that Australia has been taking on new arrivals forever, and laying them to rest, and taking care of them, in their adopted home. There is room of course for those who aren’t committed to Australia. I am sure there are thousands of people who, disappointed in the result of their efforts to get here, daydream of leaving Australia.

Surely however, there are millions daydreaming in the opposite direction, most notably those who are tantalisingly close, and stuck in the offshore processing system. Joyful Strains proves that Australia is big enough to accept faults, inequalities, discuss them, and try to address them with an open ended dialogue. The big ones, like colonisation-Invasion will be unending and will remain a defining feature, a “state of state” if you will.

Other issues like the perception that a monoculture runs Australian media, raised by some within Joyful Strains, is possibly realistic but morphing. It is a story the world over that the ruling class decrees the ruling culture. The ruling class in Australia is certainly white, middle class, privileged, yet I would argue open to ideas, criticisms, dialogue, and at times, warranted verbal abuse. Australia is a multicultural society that rests on the reliance on the metanarrative of a strong dominant culture that allows broad movement within its bubble. This is a fact. If pure equality were to exist somehow, somewhere, it could not include religion, this is proved daily throughout the world. There is racism in Australia, there is inequality, there is goodness, and honey. If something better is waiting, if the gap is to be closed, it relies on people to get out there and do something about it. ¢

Neil Boyack is a writer and social worker. He is creator and director of the Newstead Short Story Tattoo. His new book Self Help and Other Works is out now, Check neilboyack.com and newsteadtattoo.org This article originally appeared in Trouble April 2013.

GREETINGS FROM ...

Hindustan PART ONE: Mumbai

words & pics by Ben Laycock

MY SISTER IN LAW MARRIED AN INDIAN so we now get invited to lots of Indian weddings. On this occasion we decided to take up the offer, although it would involve travelling to India and rubbing shoulders with all those poor people.

The whole family arrives in Mumbai, quite possibly the most populous city in all the world, but who is counting? Some of the more cramped areas of this vast metropolis manage to cram one million people into one square kilometre. l believe Australia has an average of about seventeen, but our houses do take up a lot of space, don’t they?

Fitting that many people into that small an area is actually doable in the daytime, as most people are standing up. But at night it does get a bit difficult to find a spot to lie down as a human takes up four times as much room.

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As soon as our Taxi leaves the airport we see whole families living on the sidewalk, with their children and babies and all their meagre possessions laid out for all the world to see. It turns out every inch of the pavement that is not being walked upon is rented out by slum landlords, such are the real estate opportunities in the world’s biggest city. Apparently the spots nearest the streetlights are the most sought after, taken up by university students studying into the wee hours. (And we wonder why our technology jobs are being outsourced.)

By the time we reach our hotel l am ready to go home.

Luckily we are just passing through the city on our way to Versai, a little village of no more than half a million people some sixty kays to the north. Versai is actually the place where Vasco de Gama first made landfall over 500 years ago, before going south to establish the alternative lifestyle centre of Goa. Upon arrival the visitors set up an impregnable fortress, standard practice when dealing with heathen savages unversed in the niceties of Western Civilisation, although some historians claim that Eastern Civilisation was established long ago, when Europe was still being ruled by marauding bands of Neanderthal cave dwellers.

When Mahatma Gandhi visited London in 1950, he was asked what he thought of Western Civilisation. He replied: “I think it would be a very good idea”.

Ironically enough, the fortress is now occupied by the Koli People, the original inhabitants of the area, and the surrounding town is chock full of Catholics. The Koli are fisher folk and their walled enclave runs all along the foreshore. It is packed so tightly with humanity there is no room for cars or trees or anything else except buildings and their occupants. It is such a relief to escape from the claustrophobic little alleyways on to the wide expanse of the beach, dotted with beautiful hand crafted wooden fishing boats, all decorated with the most exquisite designs, replete with carved figureheads of the lord Jesus Christ himself – the locals having eventually succumbed to 500 years of Catholic proselytising.

This idyllic scene, straight out of the tourist brochure, was only marred by the persistent stench of human shit emanating from the countless little turds that dotted the sand as far as the eye could see – the beach also serving as unofficial public toilet for several thousand people. After 3,000 years of wear and tear, this particular branch of Eastern Civilisation is looking a bit frayed at the edges.

IN THE NEXT EXCITING EPISODE: Your intrepid wayfarer stays in a Maharaja’s Palace. benlaycock.com.au Greetings From Hindustan / Ben Laycock

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