Presented by Queensland-based arts organisation Artisan, it is an exhibition showcasing 100 stories of great Australian women who have broken down the barriers in arts, sciences, humanities and sports, and 100 brooches made in response to these stories by 100 women jewellers from across Australia.
 
Maitland Regional Gallery will also tour to Grafton in May 2014 with In[Two]Art, an exhibition exploring artist couples who are recognised as practising artists and who create works as individuals.
 
Lismore Regional Gallery will host Survivor, an interactive art project by contemporary Indonesian-Australian artist Dadang Christano.

Toured to the region by national arts network Kultour, the exhibition will combine performance art, photography and video installation and will run from 21 July – 26 August 2012.
 
Ms Saffin welcomed the touring of exhibitions to both regional galleries.
 
“This is a terrific opportunity for the region to experience these significant art and cultural exhibitions and celebrate Australia’s great creative talent,” she said.
 
“I would encourage all to come and visit and support our wonderful local galleries that enrich our lives with the exhibitions that they provide to us.”
 
The Visions of Australia program is part of the Australian Government’s ongoing commitment to supporting exhibitions of Australian cultural material. Visual arts and craft exhibitions are supported through the Contemporary Touring Initiative, which is a joint program of the Australian, state and territory governments, under the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy.
 
For more information on the Visions of Australia program and the Contemporary Touring Initiative visit www.arts.gov.au/regional/visions-of-australia

The show will feature original songs peppered with stylised retro rock ‘n’soul covers from artists such as Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Shirley Bassey, Gloria Gaynor, Stevie Wonder, J.J. Cale and James Brown, just to name a few.

An incredibly passionate and distinct vocalist, Carola’s commanding voice has sung out on concert stages and at festivals across the country.

She took out the highly coveted Song of the Year Award and was nominated for Best Rock Song and New Recording Talent in the North Coast Dolphin Awards. She has also been voted into Triple J’s prestigious Unearthed Top 20 Pop Chart.

Carola’s broad range of vocals, from deep haunting to screaming soprano, enables her to groove her way from velvety tones through to raw sensuality and gutsy power. Her stage presence is sassy, with no inhibitions to cut loose.

“I like to generate good times,” said Carola. “It’s all about how I feel when I’m performing. I feel good and I want people to feel good, to celebrate. Our music is very uplifting.”

The Byron at Byron’s Head Chef, Gavin Hughes, will prepare a lavish celebratory feast of canapés followed by four courses, petit fours, tea and coffee to welcome in the new year.

8:00pm, Saturday 31st December 2011.
$195 per person including canapés, four courses, tea, coffee and petit fours, a glass of sparkling wine and live entertainment. Bookings are essential. Please telephone 02 6639 2105

Menu:
Freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters with finger lime and chardonnay granita
King prawn beignets with chipotle aioli
Chilled vichyssoise with macadamia oil
Crostini of New Zealand smoked salmon, pickled cucumber and salmon roe
Caramelised onion tarts, Nimbin goats curd and honey macerated pine nuts
Marinated yellow-fin tuna, pomegranate molasses, pickled heirloom vegetables and radishes, potato bread crostini
Brioche-crumbed Bangalow pork cheek, King prawn with vadouvan, sweet corn purée and candied corn kernels
Loin of lamb wrapped in prosciutto, braised leeks and peas, smoked tomato fondue, black garlic and thyme jus
Valrhona chocolate tart with black cherry sorbet and macerated berries

It will be the first time that an Australian artist has ever headlined this iconic musical event.

Bluesfest says its announcement is testament to the special place Cold Chisel’s music has come to occupy in Australian hearts and minds.

The band’s record-breaking Light The Nitro tour is currently drawing to a close, with a final gig scheduled for Brisbane next Tuesday night.

The tour has been the biggest ever by an Australian-based band; drawing nearly 300,000 fans across 36 huge shows. It’s also been unanimously hailed by critics and fans alike across Australasia.

In addition to performing classics like ‘Forever Now’, ‘Khe Sanh’ and ‘When The War Is Over’, this special Bluesfest appearance will also see Cold Chisel premiere new songs from their forthcoming album.

The as yet untitled collection of new tunes was recorded over the last two years – partly with original drummer Steve Prestwich and partly with new drummer Charley Drayton.

“Most of us have played Bluesfest solo over the years, but it feels great to be playing there for the first time as Cold Chisel and also be the first Australian band to ever headline the whole Festival,” said frontman Jimmy Barnes.

“We’ve all had an amazing 2011 and this should be a great way to kick off an even bigger 2012.”

For Bluesfest playing schedule visit www.bluesfest.com.au

After 18 months planning and research for the exhibition, 100 professional and amateur surfing photographs from every state and decade from 1911 showcase a diverse range of skill, content and creativity while at all times showing some technical merit.

The 100 photographs exemplify the legacy of Osric Notley, the first person accredited with taking a surfing photograph back in the summer season of 1911/12 at Main Beach, Yamba, in northern NSW.

Priceless gems at the exhibition include the cover photos from two 1962 surfing bibles of the day, the first Surfing World and Surf About magazines.

Female surfer Isabel Letham and friends with the Duke swim at Freshwater in Sydney in 1915 is an absolute rare find, as to are Ma and Pa Bendall from the Sunshine Coast.

A number of the masters of the lens in their era have contributed their favourite masterpieces including John Witzig’s ‘Headless McTavish’, Alby Falzon’s Bobby Brown at Angourie, Jack McCoy at Gnaraloo Station and Christo Reid at Wanna Beach, South Australia.

Some surf photographers look like they simply have a death wish when they paddle out at Cyclops in SA and Shipsterns in Tasmania, with two massive waves caught on camera in 2006 and 2003 and submitted by Russell Ord and Sean Davey.

South Coast photographer Dave Milnes has generously contributed a previously unpublished photo of surfing legend Bobby Brown taken at Port Kembla.

Angourie veterans Albert Fox and John Batcheldor relive their 1963 road trip to Byron Bay from Warilla captured on a Box Brownie while surfing at Blood and Guts (Belongil).

Like the turn of the century in 1900, there was a massive shift in photographic equipment, enabling photography to be picked up by the masses, not unlike today.  An example of this new technology comes in the form of 11-year-old Pheonix Short, who submitted an image he took of himself with his ‘Go Pro’.

Some of the international surf names – Andy Irons, Layne Beachley and Kelly Slater – are also immortalised in the exhibition.

Organisers may have also inadvertently found Australia’s first female surf photographer – a Yamba woman, Sharmian Maxwell, instead of lying on the beach in her polka dot bikini, was out and about with her father’s camera snapping Angourie in 1964.

A vintage display of retro camera gear will also be feature of the exhibition.

The exhibition is on for two months – 3rd December to 3rd February 2012.

Entry fee is $5 (children free), and funds raised go to the disability surfers and Yamba Museum, which will be gifted the collection at the end of the exhibition.

No photographs are for sale. The exhibition will become a permanent collection for the community of Yamba, the birthplace of Australian Surfing Photography.

Video Links:

1.      One Click in Time http://vimeo.com/32725491

2.      Blood and Guts http://vimeo.com/32733262

Venue Link

Yamba Museum http://www.pyhsmuseum.org.au/

PICTURES (from top): A shot by an unknown photographer, dated 1917; David Milnes, 1964; Frank Pithers, 1973; Russell Ord, 2003.

The action begins at 3.30pm (all times NSW) with free entertainment including bands, circus acts and roving performers, plus stalls selling food.

Performers include popular act Loren, with the Samba Blisstas providing the beat to lead into the Lights on the Harbour Lantern Parade as night falls.

To celebrate National Recycling Week, Tweed Shire Council has arranged for Puma and Maya from the Uki-based Trashformers to build The Wonderland Plant from recycled materials. The trunk will be constructed from recycled car tyres and the branches from industrial plastic. You can help by creating flowers and leaves at free workshops.

When complete, the ‘plant’ will be placed on permanent display in the grounds of Council’s recycling facility in Morton Street, Chinderah.

There will also be workshops to create your own colourful lantern to carry in the lantern parade. Workshops will be held from 3.30pm, at a cost of $10 per lantern.

Information stalls will provide tips on how to be waste wise, water-,wise and look after our catchment.

The Lights on the Harbour Lantern Parade begins at 7.30pm which will light up the river with hundreds of luminous lanterns on and around the water.

The parade will conclude with a fireworks display over Jack Evans Boat Harbour.

Tweed Shire Council hosts the Tweed River Festival each year to celebrate environment and community while promoting the importance of healthy catchments and waterways.

Still to come in the Tweed River Festival:

Tuesday 8 November – Climate Change Adaptation Forum 6pm to 8.30pm
at the South Tweed Community Hall, Cnr Heffron Street and Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads South.
Speakers from Federal, State and Local Government will discuss the response of government to Climate Change and adaptation initiatives. All welcome. To register call (02) 6670 2400 or 1300 292 872.

Wednesday 9 November – “Walk on Water” wetland and bird information walk 9am to 10am,
Philp Parade, Tweed Heads South. Local bird and wetland habitat experts will lead an escorted tour through wetlands and out over the water. Easy grade. Free but please register by calling (02) 6670 2400 or 1300 292 872.

Thursday 10 November – Tweed Catchment Catch Up 11.30am to 2pm. All aboard ‘Captain Bill’, departing from the Tweed Marina at River Terrace, Tweed Heads. This field trip will showcase issues and projects relevant to the environmental management of the lower Tweed estuary, particularly Cobaki and Terranora Broadwaters. To register call (02) 6670 2400 or 1300 292 872.

Saturday 12 November – Main event at Jack Evans Boat Harbour from 3.30pm.

Other events:

Sunday 13 November – Kids in Need Dragon Boat Festival from 8am. Dragon boats with 22 paddlers race across the harbour. Get a team together and help fundraise to assist local children who have disabilities or are seriously ill. Contact Mike Lawson on (07) 5590 9171.

Sunday 27 November – Murwillumbah Tweed River Swim Classic. Register from 7.30am at Murwillumbah Rowing Club. There are three swims – 400 metres, 1.2 km and 2.5km. Join the swim or cheer on the swimmers from the banks of the Tweed River. Contact Glenn Nott (02) 6670 2750.

For the full program, visit www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/RiverFestival\

Originally composed [1716] for the girls in the orphanage where Vivaldi was priest, it remained relatively unknown until 1939.

Since this performance in Siena, it has become a firm favourite with choirs and audiences for its theatrical quality and rich contrasts of texture and expression.

Also on the program will be a selection of settings of Ave Maria, of which many have been written but only four will be performed.

And the celebration? It is 400 years since the death of Tamas Luigi de Victoria, possibly one of Spain’s best composers and a master of intricate choral writing, often with the pipe organ as soloist, from the late Renaissance. His music has great intensity and emotional appeal that belies its era.

TWILIGHT PERFORMANCE:

Wednesday, 30 November, 2011 @ 6.00pm, St Mary’s Anglican Church, Ballina.

EVENING PERFORMANCE:

Thursday, 1 December, 2011 @ 7.30pm, St Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore.

Tickets at the door, adult $12, concession $10, enquiries 0429 185 361.

The Tastes of Spring Festival is an example of the capabilities of its Events students and showcases the region and its produce by incorporating elements of spring such as family, food, wine, garden and sustainability into an interactive event.

The event is run by students completing a Diploma in Event Management and showcases their passion and enthusiasm for the industry with an energetic array of activities and exhibitors.

Tastes of Spring is an opportunity for regional exposure and collections from the day will be forwarded to the Our Kids charity.

“It will be a great day out with the family to support local businesses and producers. Bring along a picnic or food will be available for purchase, then relax and soak in the beautiful views our TAFE and regional partners have to offer,” a TAFE spokesperson said.

Saturday, November 5, 2011
Time: 10am – 4pm
Venue: TAFE Wollongbar Campus
Entry: Gold coin donation.

Activities include:

Live Music and Entertainment
Celebrity Cooking Competitions
Regional Exhibitors and Produce
Children’s Activities
Demonstrations and Competitions
ABC Radio Broadcast

“Join in and support local businesses and producers and experience the versatility of our region, through the eyes of innovative Event Management students,” the spokesperson said.

The special three-course meal from Head Chef Gavin Hughes is the culmination of the Resort’s month-long support for Movember. Guests will be joined by six sports stars as they dine and enjoy an auction of money-can’t-buy prizes. Proceeds will go to the Movember charity to raise awareness for men’s health, including depression and prostate cancer.

Guest speakers include legendary NRL coach Wayne Bennett, Peter Jacobs (who recently finished second in the gruelling Hawaii Ironman Triathlon) and world-famous surfer Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew.

Present also will be Trevor Hendy and Karla Gilbert, two of Australia’s all-time great surf lifesavers, and ex-NRL player and commentator Ben Ikin. Network Ten’s Brad McEwan will MC the event and oversee the auction of prizes.

Auction items include two event and camping tickets to Splendour in the Grass 2012, dinner for two with head chef Gavin Hughes, a complete spa indulgence package from The Byron at Byron, a round of golf with the resident professional at the Byron Bay Golf Course and an NRL State of Origin jersey signed by all players from the 2011 series.

The Byron at Byron will be supporting Movember for the entire month with male staff growing moustaches and seeking sponsorship.

The ‘Mo-Burger’ and ‘Mojito’ will be served in The Restaurant and ‘From Mo’s to Toes’ spa treatments will be available in the Spa and Wellness Centre.

Since the first annual Movember in 2003 The Movember Foundation has raised an astonishing $170+ million to improve habits and attitudes men have about their health. They seek to educate men about the health risks they face, thereby increasing the chances of early detection, diagnosis and treatment, specifically in regards to depression and prostate cancer.

The Byron at Byron Movember Charity Sports Lunch:

25th November, 12:00 noon, $95.00 per person

Alternatively, book a weekend for two including two nights accommodation in a Standard Suite, buffet breakfast daily and two tickets to the luncheon for $495 per person.

Bookings are essential. 02 6639 2111 or restaurant@thebyronatbyron.com.au

PICTURES: Wayne Bennett, Karla Gilbert and Trevor Hendy.

The Ukitopia Festival, November 18-20 2011, is a Celebration of Uki Life Arts and Culture.

With only four weeks to go residents are encouraged to submit art pieces for the Images of Uki Art Exhibition, an all ages, all art form and all calibre of artist exhibition.

Residents are also encouraged to submit some creative writing pieces for the new Words of Wollumbin. 

Both the art pieces and the creative writing pieces are to be themed on Uki life or the local environment and displayed at the Festival. Applications are due November 10.

More creative opportunities abound at the Uki After School Care where children and adults are welcome to participate in making three installations for the festival – a pottery installation “Signs of the times”, a shadow puppetry installation and a paper bag lantern display. 

And for those who have not yet created a piece for the Images of Uki, you have a special opportunity to paint with Barb Suttie, who is doing a painting workshop starting Oct 29th.

“The more people who have some sort of fingerprint on our community festival, the more whole  and fun it becomes. I  am so looking forward to seeing what the community contributes,” Said Natascha Wernick, Festival Director.

For more information on any of the above workshops applications or opportunities contact Natascha 6679 7316 or visit www.ukitopiacollective.com, email ukitopia@gmail.com.

PICTURE: Barb Suttie (workshop facilitator), Rosie Mere (Words of Wollumbin Curator) with Natascha Wernick (Festival Director). Photo by Vibrant Imaging.

Tweed families and residents can enjoy a great night of entertainment with tickets for the charity night priced at a special flat rate of $20 per seat.

Under special arrangements with the circus and Council, all proceeds from the night will go to the Tweed and Murwillumbah Hospital Auxiliaries to benefit our local hospitals.

The Mayor’s Charity Performance will be held on Wednesday 5 October at 7pm (NSW time), with doors opening at 6.15pm. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

The event will feature renowned Russian performers together with exclusive international guest acts, showcasing a performance of sensational skill and agility.

Mayor of Tweed Councillor Kevin Skinner said he was delighted to be able to assist two local not-for-profit organisations, and thanked the circus management for the opportunity.

“The hard-working members of the Tweed and Murwillumbah Auxiliaries do a marvellous job to assist our two local public hospitals and I am pleased to be able to offer them this fundraising opportunity,” Cr Skinner said.

“In the last financial year, Hospital Auxiliaries across NSW raised nearly $10 million for our public hospitals which was put back to assist patients through the purchase of much-needed equipment.”

The president of the Tweed Heads Hospital Auxiliary, Jan Tobin, welcomed the opportunity to raise more money for The Tweed Hospital and Murwillumbah District Hospital.

“We’re delighted to be given this opportunity to raise funds for more equipment and it’s so nice to share it with Murwillumbah, as they’re such a great little Auxiliary,” Mrs Tobin said.

“There’s not much you can put in a hospital in the way of equipment that’s not expensive – a wheelchair is around $2000 and electronic beds are $5000 each,” she said.

It will be a big month of fundraising for the Tweed Heads Hospital Auxiliary. On the Saturday following the Charity Performance Night, the group hosts its annual Tweed Heads Hospital Auxiliary Fete at the Tweed Heads Civic Centre from 8am to 2pm.

Tickets for the Mayor’s Charity Performance on 5 October are available from Thursday, September 15, at the Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah Visitor Information Centres (VIC) on 1800 674 414, online at www.destinationtweed.com.au and from the Auxiliary Gift Shop at The Tweed Hospital. The Tweed Heads VIC is located at the corner of Bay and Wharf Streets and the Murwillumbah VIC is on the corner of Alma Street and Tweed Valley Way.

For information on the Great Moscow Circus visit the website www.moscowcircus.com.au

PICTURE: Tweed Heads Hospital Auxiliary vice-president Jean Carter, Murwillumbah Hospital Auxiliary president Val Foster, Tweed Heads president Jan Tobin, Mayor of Tweed Councillor Kevin Skinner and The Great Moscow Circus promoter, Michael Edgley.