THE ADELAIDE
REVIEW ISSUE 406 DECEMBER 2013
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THE HOT 100 Winemaker Brendon Keys is the toast of our annual Hot 100 SA Wines show
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CAR CRASH
THE BATTLE FOR INFLUENCE
LOLA’S PERGOLA
John Spoehr writes that Holden is on a collision course with closure
Luke Slattery surveys Australia’s proliferating think tanks and policy institutes
Duncan Welgemoed champions the new food and wine guard for the Adelaide Festival
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ISSUE 406
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REVIEW
INSIDE 05 06 08 10 14 16 18 26 27 32 42 FOOD FOR THOUGHT Annabelle Baker selects perfect relaxed 49 entertaining recipes for the holiday season 63
Features Business Politics Society Opinion Columnists Education Books Fashion Performing Arts Visual Arts Food. Wine. Coffee FORM
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66 PIA AWARDS The results of the annual Planning Institute of Australia (SA) Awards
COVER CREDIT: Brendon Keys. Photo supplied.
CONTRIBUTORS. Lachlan Aird, Vanessa Altmann, Leanne Amodeo, Kathryn Bellette, D.M. Bradley, John Bridgland, Michael Browne, Wendy Cavenett, William Charles, Derek Crozier, Alexander Downer, Stephen Forbes, Andrea Frost, Roger Hainsworth, Andrew Hunter, Stephanie Johnston, Kiera Lindsey, Jane Llewellyn, Kris Lloyd, John Neylon, Amelia Pinna, Nigel Randall, Christopher Sanders, Margaret Simons, Luke Slattery, John Spoehr, Shirley Stott Despoja, Graham Strahle, Ilona Wallace. PHOTOGRAPHER. Jonathan van der Knaap
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The city has become Australia’s boutique art, food and heritage capital. It is our second oldest metropolis, and boasts some of the best restaurants, art galleries, markets and heritage precincts in Australia. The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is an art museum located on Hobart’s Berriedale Peninsula, and is the largest privately funded museum in Australia. It presents antiquities, modern and contemporary art from millionaire David Walsh’s private collection. Walsh has described MONA as a “subversive adult Disneyland.” Be prepared...it’s an art gallery and museum like no other! $850 (incl GST) per person includes: • Return flights to & from Adelaide in one day • Visit to Salamanca Markets • Lunch at Anglesea Barracks + in-flight hospitality • Visit to MONA • All on-ground transport Departure & Arrival Depart Adelaide 22 March, 2014, 7:30am Return Adelaide 22 March, 2014, 6:00pm Bookings: (08) 8231 9812
FEATURE
OFF TOPIC:
“I’ve also been commissioned to do a lot of portrait photography. I’ve done stuff for bands, both live and promotional material. I muck around with some slightly abstract stuff. I’m also very keen to take photos of my family, my kids and all those sorts of things.”
Stephen Yarwood
Yarwood has a big collection of street art photography – “I wandered around Shoreditch in London for half-a-day with a camera looking for a Banksy” – and he won two Town Planning Awards for his photography.
Off Topic and on the record, as South Australian identities talk about whatever they want... except their day job. Adelaide Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood is a town planner by trade; one of three careers he considered along with physics and photography. The latter is still a keen hobby.
“The Town Planning Institute of South Australia had a photograph competition two years in a row, which was a popular vote competition, and I won, which was great. One of them looked down from a hotel on Ho Chi Minh City and its incredible eclectic building colours with the randomness of the intense density of housing, which was very contrasting. The other is one I’ve got at home, which is the best photograph I’ve ever taken. It’s in Cambodia at Angkor Wat, and the shape of one of the buildings is this perfect brick shape and right next to it, and at sunset, the cloud actually matched the built form. So, I’ve got this photograph of a black silhouette of this built form and the cloud silhouette is identical. You get that fluke photograph once in your life.”
by David Knight
“
I did a WEA course in photography when I was at university,” Yarwood begins. “In our planning degree we also had to do a Photography of Landscape unit. Straight out of my university degree, my first job was actually in a photographic studio, so I got to understand the process and the chemistry side of things. I bought a really good camera. Back then not many people had cameras. People used to always lean on me to take photographs and I used that as a driving force behind my desire to travel, see things and keep a photographic record. “I made a conscious effort to walk the streets, explore and look at the architecture, the built form and even urban systems such as public transport – I’d even find myself taking photographs of bins. I particularly
Stephen Yarwood
like the contrast between old and new, rich and poor, and exploring some of the different colours cities used and how it contrasted in different ways, which gives that city or place its uniqueness. I’ve always made a conscious decision to carry a camera with me and I’ve had multiple cameras and certainly have quite a collection of old film sitting in a big pile, which hopefully one day I can do something about.” Yarwood’s hobby resulted in commissions and awards.
“I was a volunteer for the Feast Festival as its official photographer. That was for their 10th anniversary. I’ve had some of my photography published in various newspapers. There’s one photograph of mine that made it onto a filesharing site that actually came back to me in a council report. I took it in Denmark and I gave it to News Ltd. They used it in the paper and then they put it on a public sharing site. A consultant found the photograph, used it as the back cover of a report, which they presented to council. That’s a one in a billion.
Yarwood says his urban photography and observation relates back to the ‘flaneur’ philosophy – the art of watching. “It’s an old philosophy around city observation and being separated from the crowd and consciously being somewhere more than anyone else but not physically being there. That’s a sense of watching and trying to understand what works in urban systems. I use the photography as a tool to sharpen that skill. Everyone likes to be a street watcher, I consciously do it and it helps me understand what I’m doing and how things work.”
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6 The Adelaide Review December 2013
BUSINESS
Car Crash – Automotive Industry on Collision Course? General Motors Holden is on a collision course with closure. It was possible to secure GMH’s future prior to the federal election if bipartisan support for a coinvestment package was pledged but it wasn’t. Instead, assistance to the industry became a political football.
by John Spoehr
T
he major auto producer had made it well known over recent years that it needed continued coinvestment from the Federal and State Governments to maintain its operations in Australia. Chief Executive Mike Devereux was extraordinarily candid about the need for government to continue supporting the industry or risk closure. He made it clear that the future of production facilities in Australia was contingent on resolution of a co-investment package by late this year.
A pre-election commitment of $225m in co-investment from the former Labor Federal Government had been secured along with $50m from the South Australian Government. GMH employees offered up a wage freeze as a contribution to making the plant viable over coming years. As it turned
out, this wasn’t enough. GMH asked for more, claiming that global economic conditions had further eroded the competitiveness of their Australian operations. Rumours circulated that the price tag for staying in Australia had risen to around $500m – a number that caused many to question continued support for the company. It appeared that key figures in the Coalition shared this view while some like Ian Macfarlane harboured a more pragmatic position on what was needed. In the lead up to the federal election the Coalition pledged to cut automotive industry assistance by $500m and commission a Productivity Commission inquiry into the future of the automotive industry that would delay any decision on support for the ailing manufacturer until the end of March 2014. With the election of the Coalition to government, GMH were confronted with this reality, an outcome that very likely triggered
a decision at GM headquarters to close down its Australian operations. The warning signs loom large. The recent announcement that GMH boss, Mike Devereux, would leave Australia by the end of the year to head up General Motors’ Asia Pacific operations was ominous. Devereux had played a pivotal role in the negotiations
with the former Federal Government to try and secure a deal going forward. It is hard to have confidence in the future of General Motors’ Australian operations knowing that he will be leaving at such a pivotal time. It suggests that GM is keen to insulate the capable Devereux from the stench of closure. Adding to the gloom was the decision by visiting GM executive, Stefan Jacoby, to turn down a request from
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BUSINESS the Commodore and Cruze on their existing production platform for a few more years. Further cuts in the size of the workforce would almost certainly flow from this strategy prior to a decision to close by the end of the decade. Much more likely is an early December decision to close. Leaving it later in the year would be too cruel a blow for a workforce damaged by continued uncertainty. What would save GMH at this late hour? Well, nothing less than an announcement over the next few weeks by the Prime Minister that the Coalition is willing to co-invest upwards to $400m in the future of the GMH operations over the next decade. This is not a realistic outcome given the processes set in train by the Coalition Government through the Productivity Commission. An interim report by the Commission is due by the end of this year. While it may well draw attention to the great costs associated with losing the industry, the Productivity Commission is likely to conclude that other industries will benefit from the redirection of the skills and capital currently available to the industry – a view rooted in myopic neo-liberal economic orthodoxy. If GMH closes, GM will not reinvest in other sectors. It will consolidate its operations off shore, resulting in a net loss of investment.
the new Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane, for high-level talks during his brief Australian visit. Combined, all of these circumstances suggest that an announcement to close General Motors’ Australian manufacturing operations is probably immanent. There is another possible outcome. GM might decide to continue manufacturing
What Holden has been seeking to secure in Australia reflects global automotive and manufacturing industry realities. For decades high tariffs on imported cars protected the domestic automotive manufacturing sector. As these came down other forms of assistance became necessary to deal with the reality that the Australian automotive sector is playing on a very uneven economic playing field – per capita funding for the industry in Australia is around $18 compared to $90 in Germany and $96 in the US. Non-tariff barriers on the export of Australian vehicles to some countries in Asia provide insurmountable barriers to entry. In the real world, industry development is a beneficiary of government assistance and investment – a fact that is much more obvious in other nations, particularly in the automotive industry.
A great deal is now at stake if GMH closes. It could trigger the collapse of the Australian automotive industry, an industry responsible for 200,000 jobs and $21 billion in economic activity. In South Australia the closure of GMH would lead to the loss of up to 13,000 jobs, a devastating shock to families and communities at a time when manufacturing employment has been in sharp decline – over 30,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since the GFC. What this means is that a high proportion (more than onethird) of workers are likely to experience long-term unemployment in the absence of a very substantial assistance package – one designed to generate both shortterm employment opportunities through investment in infrastructure projects and drive the growth of new industry development opportunities that respond to demand. On the former, Raymond Spencer, Chair of the State’s Economic Development Board, was absolutely right to argue for a substantial boost in government investment in infrastructure over years to come. We have among the lowest public debt levels in the western world. Being parsimonious about the use of public debt to fund the modernisation of productivity-
enhancing social and physical infrastructure is dangerously shortsighted. If GMH closes in weeks or months to come, its parent company GM must leave more than the legacy of job and component supplier losses. It must invest, along with the Federal and South Australian Government, in major infrastructure and industry development projects that help recover from the crisis the closure would create. An adjustment package in excess of $500m will be needed to support this along with commitments to provide continuity of work for our major defence manufacturing contractors who face a sharp decline in their operations if new Australian government contracts are not awarded in the near future. Out of crisis might come transformative change for the better but only if we invest in it.
»»Associate Professor John Spoehr is the Executive Director of the Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre at the University of Adelaide
8 The Adelaide Review December 2013
POLITICS MODERN TIMES Our Gated Communities BY Andrew Hunter
W
alls have a powerful symbolism. They are the physical manifestation of a need to feel secure. They are erected to separate one group from another. They delineate us from them. The Berlin Wall was ostensibly built to keep one set of Germans out, but in the East actually served as an effective tool for keeping locals unsympathetic to communism in. Its fall will forever hold deeply symbolic resonance. Increasingly, walls are being built the world over to separate residents in affluent communities from outsiders seen to pose a threat to their security. Residential areas or housing estates with strictly controlled entrances to an enclave surrounded by a closed perimeter of walls and fences are referred to as ‘gated communities’. Gated communities are increasingly common in countries where violence is pervasive and the gap between rich and poor is great. In Brazil, such communities are called ‘condomínio fechado’ - literally, ‘closed housing estate’. Gated communities have become widespread in post-apartheid South Africa, and almost half of all new homes in California are built in communities surrounded by walls designed to protect the communities from outsiders. Sanctuary Lanes Resort is a community of 8000 residents in Victoria surrounded by walls. Entry is strictly controlled and CCTV cameras are many. The community pays a private security force to police the area. Its comprehensive security system occasions an annual cost of almost one million dollars. Sanctuary Lanes Resort is one of a number of gated communities in Australia. It cannot be said that violence is as prevalent in Australia as it is in the United States, Brazil
or South Africa. From what, or from whom, do the residents of Sanctuary Lanes, Victoria, wish to be separated? Sanctuary Lanes is located in the suburb of Cook Point and according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is one of the most affluent suburbs in Victoria. Suburbs such as Hoppers Crossing, Werribee and Altona North, where residents are far less prosperous, surround it. Gated communities are modern enclaves for people surrounded by far less prosperous residents of neighbouring communities. Adelaide is a harmonious city with a relatively low crime rate but it is only a matter of time before a proposal is developed to establish a gated community for our most affluent. We are not immune to the fundamental issues that are affecting the rest of the country, even if our civilised society appears to be more tolerant, inclusive and cooperative than those of neighbouring states. There are few gated communities in Western Europe and Japan, where relatively affluent societies also enjoy an even distribution of income. This is a not a coincidence.
It is in our common interest to build a society where success does not bring insecurity and fear. For an egalitarian nation like Australia, the ultimate form of surrender would be to accept great disparity in income inequality as a natural state. Inequality to the extent that is emerging in Australia will inevitably affect us all. Does anyone actually want to take refuge behind a wall of insecurity? The gap between the richest and poorest Australians continues to grow. OECD figures estimate that over one fifth of all growth in Australia’s household income between 1980 and 2008 went to the richest one percent. If income inequality in Australia continues to grow at the same rate, the space that separates our most affluent from the rest will become impossible to bridge. There is a significant body of evidence that suggests that inequality of wealth in highly competitive societies contributes to increases in the incidence of violence. In spite of our egalitarian heritage, Australia has in modern times developed social conditions that appear to be conducive to violent behaviour.
A competitive society that drives people to achieve great prosperity also often engenders a social context that prompts those same affluent individuals to seek refuge within secure enclaves. It appears almost inevitable that, as income inequality grows further, more Australians of significant personal wealth will seek to place a secure wall between themselves and the rest. This tendency must be opposed at each juncture. We must ensure that planning requirements do not promote such false divisions, so that we can address our shared fears. Almost a quarter-of-a-century ago, a wall that had divided one German people into two distinct groups was demolished, hastening change across Europe. In modern Australia, we must work to ensure that walls are not built to divide and isolate communities of people who inevitably share the same destiny. Irrespective of each person’s place on the social spectrum, everyone would be better served if false divisions were demolished. Our focus must forever remain the construction of a cohesive and harmonious modern society.
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POLITICS
Letter from Japan BY Alexander Downer
I
f you want to understand politics then you have to understand two things: economics and history. And if you want to understand the political trouble spots of the world, you have to understand politics. If you know nothing of history and can’t work out how a modern economy functions, then keep away from politics and eschew diplomacy. That’s my advice. Here’s an example of what I mean. As a contribution to trying to bring the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders closer together, I organised a dinner for them earlier this year. It was to be a simple affair which included the two leaders and their wives, me and my own wife and my deputy and her husband. I suggested the dinner be held on May 29. Kaboom! All hell broke loose. May 29 was the date the Ottoman Turks sacked Constantinople, destroying the Byzantine Empire once and for all. That wasn’t recently. It was in 1453! I quickly changed the date to May 30. But there is another point to think about. The Age of Enlightenment was a period of unbridled optimism driven by philosophers, scientists and politicians who believed the world could escape from the conflicts and deprecation of the past by learning, thinking, experimenting and changing the way things were. I was reminded of all this during a recent four day visit to that great city, Tokyo. In 1942 my father was captured and incarcerated by the Japanese during the fall of Singapore. He spent three-and-a-half years struggling to survive in the harsh and brutal Changi prison of war camp. He was one of the lucky ones. He managed to live, although only just.
Two or so years later the Menzies government asked the parliament to vote for the peace treaty with Japan which drew the final curtain on the Pacific War. Although a supporter of the Menzies government, my father couldn’t bring himself to support the treaty which left Emperor Hirohito on the throne and Japan free from paying huge reparations to the Allies. Put simply, he hated the Japanese for all they had done to him and his mates in Changi. He vowed he would never forgive them. He was – understandably – a prisoner of his own history. A few years passed; his anger remained unassuaged. But then in 1957 the Japanese prime minister – the grandfather of the present Japanese prime minister by the way – visited Canberra to sign with the Menzies government the 1957 Commerce Treaty which became the foundation of Australia’s modern economic relationship with not just Japan but more generally with Asia. It was one of the most historic moments in the long story of Australia’s engagement with Asia. So what was my father to do this time when parliament was asked to approve the Treaty? He held his nose and voted for it. He knew it made sense for Australia even though the Treaty was signed with the hated Japanese.
Australian and Japanese business people, academics and politicians began to prosper.
government and their foreign ministers during the 2007 APEC Summit.
In 1996, my father’s son became the foreign minister. On my first visit to Japan in that role I was urged by returned services organisations in Australia to demand a more wholesome apology from the Japanese for the horrors of the Pacific War. Driving from Narita airport to Tokyo, I discussed this with our redoubtable ambassador, Ashton Calvert. His only advice was for me to make the political judgment. So I did. The war had ended over half a century earlier. We had to move on. So I didn’t raise the issue with my Japanese hosts.
Japan had fully graduated as one of Australia’s most reliable friends and a champion of advancing Australian participation in Asian organisations like the East Asia Summit.
By the time my colleagues and I were bundled out of office by Kevin Rudd, our relationship with Japan had gone ahead in leaps and bounds. We even set up a Trilateral Security Dialogue with the Japanese and the Americans and arranged a joint meeting between the Japanese, Australian and American heads of
The last chapter in our family’s great Japan adventure came on Christmas Eve 2011 in Tokyo. My daughter gave birth to a little boy in Tokyo’s Aiku hospital. So there we have it: in three generations our family has gone from Changi to Aiku. It’s a metaphor for the way Australia’s engagement with Asia has changed so dramatically. In two generations we’ve gone from protection from Asian threats to bonding with Asian opportunities. There’s a lesson there for much of the troubled world. It’s one thing to understand history and to appreciate its influence on our ways of life. It’s another thing to be its prisoner.
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Four years after he returned to Australia he became a member of the federal parliament.
10 The Adelaide Review December 2013
SOCIETY
The Battle For Influence The first months of a new government is the perfect time to look at the role proliferating think tanks play in influencing public policy change.
by Luke Slattery
T
he first rule of think tanks is that they are not really think tanks at all. The word tank implies insularity yet bodies such as the Centre for Independent Studies, the Grattan Institute, the Institute of Public Affairs and the Australia Institute are powerfully engaged with the world. Nor is abstract thought core think tank business: these institutions are chiefly concerned with the generation of public policy. It’s hard to imagine any of them, irrespective of ideological inclination, disavowing Karl Marx’s axiom that the point of philosophy is not so much to interpret the world as to change it. There are times in the life of these policy change agents when they themselves become hostage to fortune, and the first few months of a new Government is an ideal time to observe them in flux. In the next 12 months think tanks aligned to the right are expected to thrive as their advice is brought to bear on government decision-making. But nothing is straightforward in the world of policy advocacy, in part because no one segment of the ideological prism owns any one policy: climate change being the most obvious case. It’s also the case, as The Grattan Institute’s chief executive John Daley points out, that a party in opposition is more likely to undergo a process of policy reflection and renewal than one in government, and it’s at such times in the political cycle that they are most in need of independent advice. So business might be expected to pick up
for think tanks attuned to Labor and, paradoxically, soften for those of the right. “Oppositions lack the resources of a bureaucracy helping them to dream up good ideas so think tanks can have more of an impact on them,” Daley says. “In general think tanks have better relationships with shadow ministers than ministers.” Daley’s institute, founded five years ago with matching grants totalling $30 million from the Commonwealth and Victorian governments, declines commissions from political parties and corporations. “The minute you do that it’s hard to maintain your independence because you’re thinking about what to say in your next report, if it’s going to offend the corporation or government department you’re going to be pitching to in a few days,” he says. The Grattan institute, though fiercely independent, is by no means disengaged from the political realm. “We talk to a wide range of public servants, advisors, ministers and shadow ministers,” Daley says. His reflections open a view of the traffic between policy institutes and government. “Sometimes it’s a matter of us saying, ‘We’ve got some work underway on X and we think you might be interested, we’d like to come and talk about it’. Sometimes it’s a case of them saying, ‘We’ve read your published piece on such and such and would like it if you could come and talk to us’. And sometimes we’ll meet at a third party event and strike up a conversation.” The political cycle is not the only thing altering the milieu in which think tanks operate
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He is charry, however, of being too closely identified with one side of the ideological divide, arguing that the IPA’s recently vocalised support for the proposed takeover of GrainCorp by the US agriculture behemoth ADM found support in the ALP, while the institute and the Greens take a similar line on civil libertarian issues such as surveillance. Roskam, who as IPA executive director since 2004 has seen two changes of government federally, concedes that the biggest change to date in IPA business comes in the form of “new members of parliament requesting information on a range of issues. But on another level it doesn’t change much in that we will continue to do policy for the long term irrespective of who occupies The Lodge. Given that we are a free market think tank we hope to be spending less time defending our existing freedoms and more time expanding our freedoms.” And in a sign of the IPA’s growing confidence Roskam adds that he will be pressuring Tony Abbott to make good on policy reforms that the
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The nation’s most voluble think tank is the Institute of Public Affairs, helmed by John Roskam. A political scientist with close Liberal Party ties who describes himself as a liberal conservative yet rejects the tag right wing – “that to me means Pauline Hanson” – Roskam runs a consistent free-market, at times libertarian, line on everything from public funding of the ABC to state surveillance. Asked about the impact
of media fragmentation on his ability to find a voice in the Australian political conversation he answers emphatically: “It’s fantastic. We’re now able to get our views across to friends and foes at the push of a button and marginal cost.”
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at the intersection of information, debate and policy: the fragmenting media landscape is also a force for change. The Lowy Institute for International Policy, the nation’s most highly ranked policy institute globally, maintains a non-partisan approach to policy advice. “New media technologies create opportunities for a think tank such as the Lowy Institute,” says executive director Michael Fullilove. “More than five years ago we led the think tank market in establishing our own blog, The Interpreter, now recognised as one of the world’s liveliest forums for the discussion of international affairs. More generally, the new technologies make it much more feasible now than it was a couple of decades ago for Australian scholars to publish in the best forums in the world, for instance The New York Times or Foreign Affairs. There is no reason why an Australian who has something to say, and the ability to say it elegantly, should not reach an international audience.”
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From left to right: John Daley, Richard Denniss, John Roskam, Greg Lindsay and Michael Fullilove.
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SOCIETY latter “speak on behalf of a constituency”. Part of his job, as he sees it, is “to tell a politician that if you don’t do X on behalf of the large numbers of people who care about X I’m going to tell them how disappointing you are. It’s a very direct and effective way of influencing the political mind.” It’s less effective, he admits, if a party has decided that it can get by without the support of a particular constituency, or if its support from that constituency is rusted on. “Then you might struggle,” he says.
institute has been advocating, such as a carbon tax review, reform of the national curriculum, and the repeal of section 18 c of the Racial Discrimination Act. Nor is there anything shy about his broader ideological aims. “We talk here about swinging back the pendulum,” he admits. At the opposite end of the policy spectrum is The Australia Institute, which styles itself a “progressive” think tank. The institute is led by economist Richard Denniss, formerly a strategic advisor to the Greens, and he plans to focus in
the medium term on social issues such as equity, and in particularly on the uneven distribution of wealth from the mining boom – the “winners and losers”, as he puts it. The institute is also vocal in its questioning of coal seam gas exploration, and raises a strongly reasoned opposition, in the language of classical liberal theory, to the lack of competition in the Australian banking industry. Denniss draws a sharp distinction between policy think tanks and politicians: the former “speak on behalf of their research” while the
The strategy pursued by Denniss is largely indirect. “I don’t go out of my way to lobby politicians,” he says. “On a wide range of issues we seek to influence the public mind, as well as the minds of non-government organisations and business leaders. In the battle for influence we wield evidence and ideas, commentary and debate. For me it’s not so much a question of whether or not I can get a meeting with the minister as whether or not our ideas are likely to be influential in this environment.” The Centre for Independent Studies, while it shares a similar disposition to the IPA, adopts a quieter and more cerebral approach to its work. “We are a little unusual,” admits its executive director Greg Lindsay. “That might be a reflection of my background. When I started the CIS in 1976 I was not an economist; I was not a policy person; I did mathematics and philosophy at university and I was concerned with the things that make
societies free. Our fundamental objective was to examine that, and while a lot of it does have implications for policy I think we need to think a little more broadly on issues.” To that end the CIS holds an annual lecture on religion, and leavens its diet of talks and papers on the failings of education and multiculturalism, the need for tax and health reform, with others on subjects such as Images of Liberty and Power or the role of Enlightenment values in Australia’s foundation. Though different from many other think tanks in its desire to remove itself from the cut and thrust of policy and survey a more varied cultural canvas, the CIS has much in common with other think tanks. Lindsay concedes, for example, that he has a different relationship to the new government than he did with the old. And yet some things, in think tank land, never change. “We made a fair effort with the previous federal government and we got on well with some and others made us tear our hair,” he says, “but that could happen with this lot too.”
lowyinstitute.org ipa.org.au grattan.edu.au cis.org.au tai.org.au
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12 The Adelaide Review December 2013
BUSINESS
Financial Performance Do You Really Know? by Michael Browne
I
t’s that time of year when most private businesses have completed their report card from the previous financial year. But what do these results really say about the health of your business? Is your past performance the best measure of your future success? As we head towards the half-way point of the 2014 financial year, now is the perfect time to take a closer look to see what’s driving or hindering your business.
A business’ year-end financial results – statutory financial accounts, income tax position, and bank report – are vital parts of the annual business cycle and each in their own way validate the financial strength of a business. However, whilst they provide the
headline position, they do so from an historic perspective. So what tools should business owners be using to make these important assessments? Owners tend to have a good sense of the overall financial position – the ‘gut feel’ but may not be aware of the detail. The complexities and uncertainties of today’s business world make relying on the headline business performance potentially dangerous. A good place to start is to use the data already in your possession: the statutory reporting process, your budget and year to date performance. When combined, you will be able to assess your performance against budget, whether a reforecast is required and importantly, whether the business is on strategy.
Financial performance is more than just the headline indicators of the profit and cash position. Whilst genuinely important, they are to some extent lag indicators. They are a reflection of a point in time indicating what has happened and may not reveal the underlying business trend or what may be required to ensure the business prospers and grows. To get the real picture it is often necessary to dig deeper, below the headline position.
KNOW YOU ARE AT RISK.
For example, a relatively high cash balance may not always be a symbol of success, but rather an indicator of underinvestment, which may spell trouble in the future. A strong profit result may reflect a run down in stock, which will have to be replaced at a higher price leading to a squeeze on future margins and impact future profitability.
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Understanding where the business makes its money may require ‘a deeper dive’. Assessments of which products are the most profitable, which branches are making the greatest margin, understanding the optimal labour mix etc, all involve looking below the top line result and digging deeper. An assessment of the key business drivers may not necessarily require a sophisticated reporting package, but may require thought about the component parts of the business and how they can be measured on a timely basis. Recently a client reviewed its pricing strategy to understand how it was impacting overall profitability rather than top line sales. The outcome was a realignment of its
pricing strategy leading to a significant lift in financial performance. Another client was able to improve cash flow by reviewing its own billing cycle to better fit their customer’s own payment cycle. A careful review of the businesses banking and funding arrangements is also important. The timing of repayments, nature of bank covenants and interest rate arrangements can all impact on overall financial performance. As an example, a client was able to renegotiate their banking covenants to fit a change in economic conditions to improve their own cash flow without causing the bank’s own position to deteriorate. An assessment of the business drivers may require consultation with your financial advisor but may be some of the best money you’ll spend this year. The process enables you to look more closely at your business, have useful financial reports which give you timely feedback and enable you to quickly respond to changed business circumstances. In the run up to Christmas it might be worth taking a look at whether the business reporting process is really giving you the true picture of your financial performance.
»»Michael Browne is a Partner at PwC pwc.com.au
The Adelaide Review December 2013 13
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SOCIETY
Juggling the Transport and Land Use Matrix by Kathryn Bellette
T
he Integrated Transport and Land Use Plan, released by the Premier in October, is not simply aiming to ‘better connect’ SA within and between metropolitan Adelaide and regional South Australia. It fundamentally services the implementation of the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide. In recent years, population growth within the metropolitan area has been greatest in the middle and outer parts of the city but job growth has been in the mid and inner areas. This imbalance is a major challenge to the efficacy of the public transport system. One remedy for this is to encourage more people to live closer to the city centre, thereby requiring less travel to work. This translates to increased dwelling densities closer to the city along designated well-serviced transit corridors, as per the 30-Year Plan. The tram re-establishment program AdeLink is the primary focus for the investment in permanent public transport routes. Flinders University Associate Professor Clive Forster articulates some of the thinking behind the 30Year transport plan: “It’s true that there is a lot of enthusiasm around the world for transitoriented development, particularly associated with light rail/tram routes. This is largely due to the role of fixed rail transit in stimulating building investment, because it represents a major longterm public infrastructure investment that can’t easily be moved or changed, so it generates private investor confidence in a way that bus services cannot.”
Following this argument, does this mean that those living in the outer suburbs miss out? How does the system best service areas not in these designated corridors? People for Public Transport (PPT) President Thanasis Avramis: “Insofar as work-related transport needs are important, the proposals for the inner city appear sensible. However, there are significant transport needs that are unrelated to work. This includes travel for shopping, general business, social purposes and travel to school.” Given that fixed rail is more expensive per vehicle and doesn’t have the flexibility of buses (the ability to allocate bus size and routes according to demand over time), does the plan match horses for courses? Transport planner and Past President of the Australian Institute of Urban Studies (SA Branch), Ian Radbone explains: “The thing about the crosssuburban routes is that, while collectively they are very important, any one individual route has relatively low numbers travelling on it, compared with the radial routes. These are best serviced by flexible and relatively low capacity vehicles (buses). This coupled with buses working as feeder services to suburban centres and train stations creates greater efficiencies.” To meet patrons’ needs in terms of frequency, affordability and a network of destinations, it goes without saying that the enabler is significant ongoing investment, required across the tenure of multiple governments. For now at
least, Avramis says that the Plan lacks clarity about how the bus system in particular will meet these needs. Overall though the PPT President considers that the plan’s many proposals will assist to improve public transport usage and most likely reduce the level of car dependency in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Dr Iris Iwanicki, Past President of the Planning Institute of Australia (SA Division) agrees: “The 30-year transport plan supports the need for more efficient use of land in the longer term, better designed medium to high density living, improved public transport and less polluting options. People can reduce car dependence. It is therefore a welcome piece of the jigsaw of sustainable planning.” Driven by the desire to facilitate access to the export markets and address two state priorities; ‘realising the benefit of the mining boom for all’ and ‘premium food and wine in a clean and green environment’, regional SA gets a significant share of the transport investment. There are benefits also to tourism and regional communities’ access and safety via a plan to
address a growing conflict between freight, tourism and local travel needs in regional and remote SA. The actions to remedy this include targeted road duplication, bypasses and increased maintenance. The reference to maintenance may seem a little unusual in a landscape scale plan, but with remote outback roads costing up to six times the cost of metropolitan roads to maintain, it’s a necessary flag to budget makers. The expansive geography of SA coupled with a relatively low population will always result in difficult decisions about where to invest public transport dollars. The development of a plan for a 30-year period spanning multiple governments and an uncertain fiscal context is bold but essential. To not prepare, commit and commence implementing a long term integrated transport and land use plan would be to set the state on a certain backward path. “It’s good to see a plan come out,” says Derek Scrafton, Professor of Transport Policy at UniSA. “The last draft Transport Plan was in 2003. This wasn’t ever approved.”
...about friends sharing goodwill and hope. Christmas C hr is coming and once again Hutt St Centre w will be providing good food, good cheer and good com company for people who are homeless in Adelaide. Please donate online at huttstcentre.org.au or call the Hutt St Centre on 8418 2500
14 The Adelaide Review December 2013
OPINION MONTEFIORE Adelaide’s Lord Mayor has just completed year three of his term, with one to go. Few South Australians realise how significant it will prove to be – regardless of who was wearing the gold chain.
BY Sir Montefiore Scuttlebutt
T Remarkable and mysterious The Botany of Christmas by Stephen Forbes
T
he translucent colours characterising the saturation of glacé fruits with sugar describe the beauty, texture, scent and taste of fresh fruit – albeit saturated with sugar. In contrast the life-like colours and shapes characterising marzipan fruits caricature the fresh fruits they represent; regardless of faithful imitation, the texture, scent and taste of marzipan fruits give no hint of the fruit itself. While neither glacé fruits nor marzipan can claim the miracle or the powerful symbolism owned by the poinsettia gracing the same Christmas table, they’ve more than earned their place as edible table decorations. Last Christmas I explored glacé fruits – marzipan and the almonds that form the marzipan deserve the same attention. Most marzipan is made from sweet almonds although pistachios make a fine marzipan and even peach and apricot kernels are used. The characteristic strong bitter almond taste of the latter, and of wild almonds, indicates the presence of amygdalin (a precursor for prussic acid or hydrogen cyanide), which has to be detoxified before the kernels can be used. While marzipan might lack powerful symbolism and miracle, the almond can hold its own. In the Bible ‘... the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.’ In some traditions Aaron’s rod bore sweet almonds on one side and bitter almonds on the other – if the Israelites followed the path of the Lord sweet almonds would predominate – if they were to forsake the path of the Lord
bitter almonds would be the only produce. The selection of sweet almonds for cultivation is celebrated as one of the earliest tree domestications. Sweet almonds are found in archaeological sites in Numaria (Jordan) from 5000 years before present and later in Tutankhamun’s tomb. Almonds perhaps originated in Armenia and Azerbaijan but were already native to the Middle East as far as the Indus before being widely distributed through cultivation across the Mediterranean and North Africa. The origins of marzipan are likely in the first millennium and depended on access to a reasonable abundance of sugar, although honey was a likely early ingredient. Chaucer’s doctor knew Islamic medical luminaries including ‘Razis’ – Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi (850-935) who lived and worked in Persia as a clinician in the early 10th century and provides an early record of marzipan and its reputed curative qualities. The extreme art of marzipan sotelties (or subtleties) is apparent by Shakespeare’s time in Europe but I’ll leave that exploration to a food writer. Nobel laureate Thomas Mann was a Lübecker – a citizen of the German town as famed for its marzipan as for its author (Mann is sculpted as a life size marzipan sotelty in the Lübeck marzipan museum). Mann observed of both marzipan and the critics who had compared his work to marzipan, “... it is remarkable and, as I have said, mysterious …
And if we examine this sweet more closely, this mixture of almonds, rosewater and sugar, the suspicion arises that it is originally oriental, a confection for the harem, and that in all probability the recipe for this barely digestible delicacy came to Lübeck from the Orient by way of Venice … And it turns out that those wits are not so wrong as they themselves think, that Death in Venice is really ‘marzipan’ although in a deeper sense than they ever meant it.” Almonds are closely related to plums, peaches and apricots. If you have one in your garden you’ll delight in the sublime late winter blossoms and, assuming there’s another tree somewhere in the neighbourhood and bees pollinate the flowers, you can expectantly follow the fruits until close to ripeness in January. Just as the hulls begin to split to reveal the nuts, sulphur crested cockatoos are likely to appear for their only visit to your suburb for the year and strip the tree. Perhaps the almond tree is worth netting after all.
hree themes have characterised Adelaide’s Lord Mayor’s firstterm so far. They are the digital age, the bicycle, and unprecedented state government interference in City of Adelaide planning governance. Given the latter, for Mayor Yarwood there might be a temptation to instead anaesthetise himself in the online ether – the ubiquitous Wi-Fi-fed email, Facebook and Twitter traffic – or instead escape on his bike deep into the leafy park lands. But Mr Yarwood’s not for running; if anything, his energy already marks him out – in hindsight – as being the ideal person for the 2010-14 city mayor’s term given its very 21st century pressures – and for the times. Some might say this optimistically, others less so.
While some stone fruits in Australia have suffered grievously from a market that supports cheap imported fruit there has been a significant increase of almond orchards here. In the past decade orchards have expanded from around 6000 to 30,000 hectares and Australia is destined to become the second largest producer after California (with 81 percent of the world’s crop Australia is not destined to supplant California any time soon). If you are going to plant a tree (or an orchard) best wait until winter.
A Lord Mayor’s gig is a curious career beast, all pomp and ceremony, no real power, crushing schedules and endless charities, awesome public expectations, and unceasing criticism that the incumbent hasn’t yet mastered the skill of walking on water. Then there are the eternal – and infernal – Town Hall meetings with councillors who squabble about everything – and vote only for their interests, knowing that their leader cannot bang heads together, unlike a State Premier. Indeed, an alien from outer space would probably place a Code Red warning on any executive gig that demanded the wearing of robes and gold chain, worked the incumbent seven days and seven nights for four years straight, but paid a third of the salary of his CEO who endures none of these expectations and gets weekends and public holidays off.
At Christmas you might reflect that Christian iconography utilises almond branches as a symbol of the virgin birth of Jesus and as a symbol of Mary. The symbolism resonates with the Hebrew Bible’s characterisation of the almond, likely reflecting its early flowering, as a symbol of watchfulness and promise.
Given the stresses, a micro manager who likes to read everything should probably not embrace the digital world as much as Mr Yarwood does. Setting aside a day a week just to respond to every email he gets should probably be delegated, but that’s the kind of guy he is. Then there’s the bicycle.
»»Stephen Forbes is Director, Botanic Gardens of Adelaide
Adelaide being the perfect city for cycling with a perfect climate it’s a no brainer but add a heavy dash of old Adelaide conservatism and the crushed ice of Adelaide’s car drivers’ intense dislike of
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 15
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OPINION radical change, and too much cycling cocktail might turn out to be toxic. Mr Yarwood has been attending his cycling lemonade stall for three years now, setting the scene for major and fundamental inner city transport change – if those that follow him in future years have the same courage to pursue it to fruition. But if they don’t, and lapse back to the traditional lethargy of previous incumbents, the Yarwood pitch for two-wheels-better-than-four could be lost to history, and much invested energy wasted. Then there’s the ruthless prosecution of the Weatherill Government’s war with Town Hall that few outsiders know about. It ramped up behind the scenes virtually the minute he became Lord Mayor, chipping away at some of Town Hall’s traditional responsibilities, and reducing his own job spec from a four-page list to a few paragraphs. Function figurehead, chairman of various committees, signer of citizenship certificates, official welcomer to visiting delegates, and perceived endorser of radically new government planning policy. Aficionados of Mr Yarwood would say the latter is manifestly unfair, because he is an objective, articulate and very experienced former urban planner, and his youth, skills and qualifications have set him substantially apart from Lord Mayors of recent years. But his November 2010 win coincided with a perfect storm – the arrival of county sheriff Jay Weatherill, and a ramped up government shopping list
www.philhandforth.com
that included what turns out to be nothing less than an unprecedented state takeover of aspects of city planning administration and park lands development and governance deftly dodging the ongoing operational bills. It began with the $535 million Adelaide Oval, saw fresh interference in well-supported proposed heritage listings, imposed vast new development rule changes that fed city developer speculation, inserted a Dubai-esque Riverbank precinct vision, and right now sees an emerging blueprint for substantial interference in Adelaide’s park lands development. This contrasts the city’s traditional custodianship, and may destabilise procedures and policies set in stone only eight years ago by Dunstan era remnant and now-retired Premier, Mike Rann, who championed them in his so-called radical Adelaide Park Lands Act 2005. Given its symbolism in the minds of all South Australians, the government’s confidence
is telling. By comparison, Mr Yarwood’s refurbishments of Rundle Mall and Victoria Square, while overdue, in the long term will be seen as nothing more than routine city upgrading.
in the city but also across Adelaide’s suburbs – and the park lands if a planning minister wants it. The review’s recommendations haven’t even been written, but the endgame is being pushed through ahead of the state election.
Bare-knuckle fighting is not part of an urban planner’s DNA, and planning school nurseries train students to seek compromise at every turn. Mr Yarwood brought this characteristic to the Mayor’s Parlour on day one, but it has played into the hands of the sheriff’s men who’ve prosecuted a hard-nosed lack of compromise as they interfered with city traditions, forced administrators to re-write city policies and infected Town Hall with a cost-shifting virus – from state to Town Hall. Even while the government’s `expert planning review’ is under way, parliament has passed sheriff Jay’s Urban Renewal Act that will fundamentally revise the rules across the entire planning map, not only
It must be a curious experience to live in a Lord Mayor’s head when all of your training and energies are directed at contributing the very best to your city, but when the North Terrace inmates have escaped and have quietly taken over the traditionally aloof Town Hall asylum with a fast-paced agenda that could substantially change Adelaide’s public fabric in future years. Next March might see a cleanout of the asylum wards, but fresh inmates are certain to continue that agenda. This time next year Mr Yarwood will have sheriff Jay’s legacy stamp all over his graduation report, and, whether he likes it or not, the historians will make their judgements on that.
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16 The Adelaide Review December 2013
COLUMNISTS Six Square Metres Homesickness BY Margaret Simons
H Third Age The Chocolate Frog Affair BY Shirley Stott Despoja
I
ate my grandson’s chocolate frog. It was an unusually large one, given to him by his father as he left for work. I was meant to see him and his sister off to school happily, but things went wrong and I sort of confiscated the frog, giving the poor boy the evil eye when he dared to ask about it as the bus he catches to school arrived. There was no question of replacing it because of its size. There was nothing to do but to confess. “I ate it,” I said, some days later. “I am sorry.”
“Did you, grandma?” he asked. He has a slight English accent, which reminds me of John Howard Davies, the child actor in Oliver Twist and The Rocking Horse Winner (important films of my childhood). He even looked up from his iPod, which showed there was something going on in his little red head. We looked at each other. It was a moment. This old woman in his life was not only capable of greed but also theft. I no longer felt like one of those grandmas in the kids’ books who are short, fat, rosy-cheeked – and absolutely above reproach. I was just Shirley. I think I saw this in his eyes, along with some amusement. After all, chocolate doesn’t mean all that much to him. His life is full of amazing things and amazing people. He has never known something like Shout Night, the highlight of my childhood, until my father got bored with it, when a few sweets, such as musk sticks and bobbies, still available in Sydney despite the war, were shared out in the family as a huge treat. Shout Night was actually payday. I was the youngest by eight years, old enough to experience nice traditions like these, but too young to know why they ceased. To explain Shout Night and the scarcity of sweets in my childhood, I would have to take my grandson on a short tour of WW2, rationing, being hard-up but not quite poor, with a WW1angry dad… and he would be bored stiff. So a lot of the time we pretend my childhood was just like his and his sister’s: full of discoveries,
travel, getting out of music practice, about goodies and baddies (my baddies were Nazis and “Japs”; his are fictitious characters from films I would never sit through). I watch for eye-glazing when I talk about being young, but mostly it is the eyebrow-lift of disbelief. No car? No telephone?... but we had the beach, the tram rides, a dog, the backyard full of fruit trees. I can see them thinking they don’t need to feel sorry for me and that is a relief to them. But who am I to him? He is careful of me (“Mum, grandma needs help” – their stupid car is too low for me); he likes my house full of stuff, my overprotected cat… What will he remember of me when he is a man? It is worrying. Will he remember that I ate his chocolate frog? I suspect he will. We old people are working away on how we will be remembered. Not in obituaries, but in the minds of our descendants. And sometimes of younger friends. But this column is about my experience of old age and being a grandma of three is the most important thing to me. I can see I need to buck up. The chocolate frog affair was a Lesson. Here endeth. Little Christmas Cracker… As we get closer to the end of the year, I can’t help but think that 2013 has been most unsatisfactory. Not even the election was properly sorted. There is so much violence on TV and other entertainment that even a milk advertisement is ugly with it. I suppose we will go on telling ourselves that this doesn’t affect our sensibilities, but we are wrong, and just too lazy to do anything about it. Hanging over us all is the shame of our treatment of desperate people and sad animals. You will need to be pretty thick-skinned to rattle on about the joy of Christmas, but no doubt we will, and put our hopes in children and grandchildren to improve our civilisation. In which case it is the ultimate folly to prejudice their attempts by pulling the rug from underneath the planet, so to speak. We can do better, as our end of school year reports used to say. Handel’s Messiah is not the music for Christmas, to raise our spirits. Try his Fireworks twice daily instead. Squeeze a bit of joy out of this wicked, disappointing world. Forgive me: old people find optimism hard at this time of year. So be nice to your granny. Indulge her. Go on.
omesickness can take you by surprise, and right in the midst of the thrill of travel. I am presently in Shanghai, a city that feels like the centre of the world. Manhattan used to feel this way. I imagine London felt like this at the time Samuel Johnson asserted that if a man was tired of London, then he was tired of life. Shanghai is such an exciting place. Last night I walked along the Bund, with colonial buildings on one side of the river and the extravagant present of the Pudong skyscrapers on the other. There is nowhere like this in the world. This is a city caught in the act of destruction and creation. Only a generation ago, there was starvation in this country. The parents of the people who crowd the food courts and the shopping malls can remember people eating grass to fill their stomachs. China is a miracle, and I am lucky to be here. And yet. There was a moment yesterday, as I sat on a bus travelling through the frayed outer suburbs of the city, when I wished to be at home pottering in my few square metres of soil. The suburbs of Shanghai are in the process of being destroyed and recreated. From our bus, we could see old men carrying plastic buckets of water on poles as they tended their perfectly square vegetable plots. All around their remnant farms were factories and 20 storey apartment blocks and building sites. These market gardeners will, no doubt about it, have been built over by this time next year. Further out, there were fields of rice.
Every little farmhouse had a pond crowded with ducks. Every space was used to grow something. The men worked the fields with hoes and rakes, and scattered what looked like fertiliser by hand, out of a bucket. They were all old men. China has now had two decades of the single child policy. Most of those single children will gravitate to the city, carrying solo the hopes and expectations of their parents, and two sets of grandparents. Meanwhile the air was like soup. The pollution in China literally takes your breath away, and makes your eyeballs sting. If you have ever doubted that it is possible for human beings to so damage their environment that it becomes poison, then come to China. The papers are reporting that children are being diagnosed with lung cancer – a disease that normally takes decades to develop – as young as seven. Sitting high up on the highway viewing the farmers from my bus, knowing that they will soon be built over, or relocated, or simply unable to continue, I felt a longing to tend my own little patch. I was wondering if the passionfruit vine had grown to the top of the trellis. I was thinking of my little sundeck, my tomato plant and eggplant growing upside down in their suspended grow-bags, and the lettuce that was just coming into its own. I was wondering whether anyone at home had thought to water the plants. My stomach clenched with longing. At that moment, I thought how fine it is to have a home, to understand its customs and its ways and to plant a seed and watch it grow, knowing that (if it is not tempting fate to think so) life will be much the same next year as it is this. China is a miracle, and a dilemma. It doesn’t have that luxury.
@MargaretSimons
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 17
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COLUMNISTS legislation similar to that passed in England in 1857. The logic was simple; if divorce was easier, deserted women could remarry and their upkeep transferred from the state to their new husbands. South Australia raced the new bill through the parliament and women began to petition the courts for divorce, although they had to produce witnesses to verify their husband’s adultery, and also prove desertion or cruelty, while a man had only prove his wife’s infidelity.
Anonymous woman; W.J. Lott’s Paris Photographic Studio, 164 Rundle Street.
DR K’S CURIOUS CHRONICLES Lott’s Wife BY KIERA LINDSEY
“
The greatest evil” that could beset a fledging colony was, for Edward Gibbon Wakefield the mastermind of South Australia, an imbalanced gender ratio. If there were more men than women, he theorised, men
would be required to perform “all the offices that a woman usually performs for men”. Such had been the case in New South Wales and dire had been the moral consequences for that “sink of wickedness”. Thus, marriage became crucial to the way South Australia distinguished itself from all other Australian colonies. Problems began to surface in the 1850s, however, when thousands of South Australian men deserted their wives for the goldfields, only to return when their fortunes failed to claim whatever earnings the poor woman had acquired in his absence. The destitute state of these women made claims upon the public purse, which vexed colonial administrators. The solution came in an edict from the Home Office, insisting that all colonies enact divorce
In 1876, a little-known Plymouth migrant named Frances Lott, petitioned the court to divorce her husband of 12 years, William James, a man whose ‘shameful depravity, wanton cruelty and utter baseness’ shocked even the presiding judge, Chief Justice Samuel Way. The newspapers were equally appalled and covered the trial’s horrendous details, describing how William Lott beat his wife with his fists, dragged her by her hair, and carried a pistol, which he threatened would be easier to use on her than “eating his dinner”. Witnesses recalled that Lott treated his wife “like a dog” — even forcing her to tend to the two mistresses he kept in his photographic studio on Rundle Street. Horror rippled throughout Adelaide when Lott’s eldest daughter revealed to the court that her father had taken photos of her naked, thrashed her with a whip “until the blood came” and threatened to murder her if she told anyone. Condemning the case as utterly “reeking with filth”, Samuel Way granted Frances a divorce from “a creature” he believed to be so “thoroughly steeped in sensuality”, that he was “lost to all moral restraint and common decency”. Way then defied accepted practice by granting Frances custody of her two daughters. Not only did the Lott trial encourage more South Australian women to seek a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, it also brought this issue out of the shadowy confines of the domestic sphere and into the public domain where it captured the attention of numerous social reformers. The newly divorced Lotts’ were now free to live separate lives. William remarried; but both this union and his photographic business were doomed by what the papers’ condemned as his “filthy immorality”. Within a year, his second
ON GIFTS FOR CHRISTMAS
Source: CBA, 2012, Aussies set to spend $16.2 billion during Christmas 2012. Study conducted by Lonergan Research.
Social history connects the everyday of the past with its grand ideas and events. It is concerned with how little lives illuminate the big themes of history. Frances Lott was representative of a changing world in which women would increasingly insist upon both private and public respect. The story of Lott’s wife also suggests that ‘the greatest evil’ in colonial society lay, not only in the gender imbalance that once concerned Wakefield, but also in the imbalance of power that some experienced within the institution of marriage. *I acknowledge and appreciate the outstanding work of my UniSA Honours student, whose rigorous research assisted with the development of this story.
» Dr Kiera Lindsey teaches Australian History and Australian Studies at the University of South Australia
2013 CHRISTMAS APPEAL
IN 2012 THE AVERAGE AUSSIE PLANNED ON SPENDING
$475
wife had filed assault charges, and Lott was convicted of arson after attempting to burn down his studio, just days before the insurance lapsed. Next he was accused of manslaughter when a drunken associate died days after Lott repeatedly punched him in the face. Despite manslaughter charges, Lott challenged the will with a forged document that was dismissed by a contemptuous Magistrate. With ‘popular prejudice’ set against Lott, he experienced a sort of conversion and was last recorded conducting ‘open-air religious services’ in the Botanic Gardens. While William’s was a tale of public ruin, Frances’ future was so private that little can be found of her in the public record. We know that she remarried, but divorced her second husband a decade or so later when he deserted her for the Western Australian goldfields. It appears that for the remainder of her life, Frances lived in Adelaide with her two daughters, neither of whom married. Faint remains of the family plot can be found in the West Terrace Cemetery, where a modest gravestone bares the simple epitaph: ‘Mother’. A testimony, perhaps, to the determination she showed in securing a new life for her daughters.
OVER 100,000 AUSSIES DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A HOME Source: ABS, 2012, Census of Population and Housing: Estimating Homelessness 2011
GIVE THE ONE GIFT THAT REALLY COUNTS THIS CHRISTMAS TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A REAL AND LASTING DIFFERENCE. THANK YOU.
Your $50 donation will provide a hamper for a struggling family and contribute to vital services that help families stay together and children feel safe. To donate a hamper SMS ‘50’ to 0417 599 219
STRENGTHENING LIVES AND COMMUNITIES Junction Australia is a trusted, independent not-for-profit organisation founded in 1979. We dynamically respond to South Australians at risk. T: (08) 8392 3065 I www.junctionaustralia.org.au I ABN 79 36 684 364 I CCP1244
18 The Adelaide Review December 2013
EDUCATION Art School… really?
W
hat must it be like for the postHoward generation to be heading to art college in this day and age?
Education Feature In the following pages, The Adelaide Review’s annual Education Feature focuses on everything from secondary school options to study in the arts.
Learn French, Live French Alliance Française d’Adelaide
Engaging classes for all ages Vibrant native French teachers Cultural Events | Resource Centre | Study Programs in France
The perfect way to start the New Year! TERM 1 Courses will start Monday 3 February 2014 Enrolments are now open 319 Young Street Wayville SA 5034 P: (08) 8272 4281 E: adelaide@af.org.au W: www.af.org.au More than a language school, simply the best way to live and learn French
Adelaide College of the Arts has, at any time, approximately 1000 students studying many disciplines; acting – ceramics – television – costume – film – jewellery – photography – print-making – dance – writing – theatre design – sound and lighting – stage management and on the list goes… Many of these art forms are ‘ancient’, relying on established techniques and requiring a master and apprentice teaching methodology, whilst simultaneously allowing students to find contemporary relevance. There is something charming and timeless about an arts practice and there is a noticeable trend from the public towards purchasing ‘hand-made’ bespoke artisan products. This trend is driving a demand for ‘makers’, and for ‘makers’ to acquire the skills required to create this fine hand-made work. This is evidenced by the hundreds more students wanting to get into ACArts can currently be accommodated. Making the decision to follow an arts practice is perhaps, not as off the radar as it was a decade ago, due to this growing demand for the bespoke and artisanal. But, we are still a long way from valuing our creative sector for its conceptual contribution and I believe this stems from a significant moment in time. With the industrial revolution and subsequent introduction of the eight hour week came the most subtle and significant devaluing of creativity. It was then that a framework was designed that provided for maximum profitability through productivity. From the lowest to the highest paid person, time was now divided as eight hours work, eight hours rest and eight hours play. For artists and makers, this is where the trouble began. In this gentle re-alignment of the arts as play and not work, they were neatly and quickly devalued.
Here’s my analogy – Pat from Port Adelaide works eight hours each day. She then leaves work and cranks up the tunes. Pat enjoys at least seven hours most days, and much of the weekend, listening to music, reading, watching TV, going to the cinema, attending festivals and engaging in activity brought about by artists of one kind or another. Pat hasn’t really stopped to think that she spends as much time at work as she does absorbing/consuming the creative sector… perhaps more. Imagine the amount of time spent engaging in the arts and creative sector in South Australia… every person spending say, seven hours a day engaging in music, TV, books, writing, live experiences, online and more. That’s seven hours per day, or 49 hours per week, x 52 weeks per year x one million adults in SA = gazillions of hours spent engaging in work made by artists. Possibly more time spent in the creative sector than any other single industry. Artists and creative people need to recapture and revalue the whole concept of time in the play/work agenda. The Adelaide College of the Arts trains and develops artists to take up the opportunities afforded by the trend towards artisan products, and as well, educates artists and arts enablers to make highly engaging works for the likes of Pat from Port Adelaide to enjoy with the ‘play’ time that she values so dearly. [To pick up a made in South Australia, object-de-art, come to the ACArts Arts Bazaar, Friday, December 6, 1-8pm]
»»Christie Anthoney Creative Director 2010-13
The Adelaide Review December 2013 19
adelaidereview.com.au
ADVERTISING FEATURE takes on further meaning when viewed alongside the Middle Eastern mosaic portrait and funerary fragment from the third century. In 2014, Contemporary Art returns to the Art History program with the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art providing a dynamic backdrop and classroom for this study pathway. Curated by the Gallery’s director Nick Mitzevich, and assisted by Curatorial graduate Serena Wong, the 2014 biennial titled Dark Heart will present the up to the minute visions of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, including an ambitious new body of work by Alex Seton.
T
hrough the Art History program, developed and delivered by the University of Adelaide and the Art Gallery of South Australia, the gallery becomes the laboratory in which ideas regarding the history of art, and how curators approach, display and interrogate that narrative, are tested. Teaching is based around the collections
and the Gallery’s exhibition program. This Australian first program is now in its 11th year, with graduates now working in art institutions and galleries across the country. Any recent visitor to the Art Gallery of South Australia will tell you that the past and the present are entwined forces and that art
history is a dynamic and constantly shifting field. Nowhere is this more palpable than in the refurbished Melrose Wing of European Art where contemporary art jostles historic works of art – making sense of present realities through the lens of the past. Recent acquisitions such as the marble sculpture My concerns will outlive yours, carved with virtuosity by Australian artist Alex Seton, explores the contemporary resonances of the abiding theme of mortality. Seton’s life-size sculpture of a young person covered in an identified flag
»»For information contact Professor Catherine Speck on 8313 5746, email: catherine.speck@adelaide.edu.au arthistory.adelaide.edu.au
journey Scotch is committed to being a leader in teaching and learning. At Scotch we offer every opportunity for our students to achieve. Our focus on student wellbeing encourages resilience and resourcefulness, and aims to build students of good character. Register for a tour and see for yourself what makes Scotch, uniquely Scotch.
Scholarships are now open for 2015. Apply for Academic, General Excellence, Performing Arts, Boarding or Old Collegians Scholarships. Register for a tour online, or for further information or enrolment enquiries please contact enrolments@scotch.sa.edu.au or telephone the Head of Enrolments on 8274 4209. SCA0376
ART HISTORY – THE CONTEMPORARY TURN
‘Study for pleasure’ positions are available for those who are interested in learning more about contemporary art but do not have the time to commit to the full art history program. Other courses on offer in 2014 include Curatorial and Museum Studies, Interrogating Australian Colonial Art, Modern Australian Art, European Art: Renaissance to Revolution, as well as online courses.
20 The Adelaide Review December 2013
ADVERTISING FEATURE / EDUCATION
A Contemporary Education For Our Future Leaders
A
recent survey of South Australian business leaders found that educating its current managers will be one of the most important ways that we can differentiate ourselves in the Asian Century. In response to this, Damian Scanlon, Director of the University of Adelaide MBA, recognised the need for a program that responds to industry demands. “We’ve always had good feedback from our MBA graduates, but we wanted to truly reflect what the next generation of business leaders want.” Delivering on this commitment, the Adelaide MBA has announced new changes to what is taught in 2014. One of these changes is the introduction of a new compulsory course ‘Systems Thinking for Management’ that has been designed by a global expert in this area, Professor Ockie Bosch, to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to operate in complex environments. Mr Scanlon believes these skills are essential for any leader wanting to succeed in today’s business environment.
Appreciating that quality teaching is paramount, Mr Scanlon is committed to
A
delaide Central School of Art is an independent, not-for-profit, accredited Higher Education Provider that offers intensive training for students looking to develop careers as practising artists. The School offers undergraduate degrees, specialist short courses, workshops and masterclasses. In our studio-based teaching program we emphasise structured sequential learning, developing practical skills in parallel with rigorous intellectual inquiry. As a single-focus art school, all classes are led by lecturers who are leading practitioners in their field. The School is recognised nationally for its excellence in educational practice and student success. Students’ benefit from the range of experience and expertise offered by its staff of respected contemporary artists, writers and curators. Small class sizes and one-on-one interaction with lecturers create an environment that is both challenging and supportive. The School offers both day and evening classes, with the flexibility of enrolling in either
The Adelaide MBA has also introduced a Social Enterprise Project, which will form a compulsory part of the new program. “During our discussions with SA businesses, we’ve also found that they have a strong sense of social responsibility, not just the bottom line.” This project will give students the opportunity to apply their business acumen to make a difference in the community by contributing to an existing social enterprise project or creating a new one. “This is one way we can ensure that we are seen to be giving back to the community in a far more sustainable way,” says Mr Scanlon.
»»For more information about the Adelaide MBA, please contact our MBA Program Adviser at mba@adelaide.edu.au or 8313 6455.
single or multiple subjects catering to both full-time and part-time students. The extended 34-week academic year is deemed essential by the School as it enables increased studio time and enhanced learning opportunities. Adelaide Central School of Art is more than a school of excellence: it is an intense community of committed students and teachers. Formal learning is supplemented by a cooperative atmosphere of informal exchange of ideas and peer learning between students of all year levels. Adelaide Central School of Art moved to the Glenside Cultural Precinct in 2013 with the official opening of the School by The Hon. Jay Weatherill MP, Premier of South Australia on May 18, 2013. As well as providing new and improved teaching and studio facilities for our students we also with have been able to extend our secondary schools’ outreach program, artists’ talk series and extended our short-course offerings and associated public programs. Adelaide Central Gallery also has a new home with us, as does Central Artist Supplies … all set on beautiful grounds, conducive to en plein air painting and outdoor sculpture. These spacious and improved studio, teaching and reference facilities have been purpose-designed to suit the School’s learning needs, now and into the future.
Photo: James Knowler
Adelaide Central School of Art
attracting world-leading academics to teach in the Adelaide MBA, who combine current research with practical industry experience to deliver a relevant program. “This is a rare combination, but we have got the very best on board.”
Damian Scanlon
MPC6494_R
Make her next achievement a Walford Scholarship. WALFORD 2015 SCHOLARSHIPS We offer a challenging and rewarding environment where your daughter’s unique talents will be pursued to their full potential. A range of academic, general, boarding and music scholarships are available for entry into Walford in 2015. On-line applications are now open and full details are available at walford.net.au For further information, or to arrange a school tour, call 8373 4042 or email admissions@walford.asn.au Walford Anglican School for Girls Inc. 316 Unley Road Hyde Park South Australia 5061 | Tel. 08 8373 4062 | Fax. 08 8272 0313 | Web. walford.asn.au
22 The Adelaide Review December 2013
EDUCATION
FIRST-CLASS EDUCATION AT SCOTCH COLLEGE
P
reparing students for the world is what drives learning at Scotch College Adelaide.
As one of the finest independent schools in Australia, Scotch’s popularity among families is based on more than the first-class education it provides, but its broader aim of developing students as happy, successful and well-rounded young people. As students progress through the coeducational College – from its Early Learning Centre to the Junior, Middle and Senior Schools – they are encouraged to develop key character traits such as self-reliance, positivity and responsibility to set them up for long-term success beyond their schooling. This is particularly evident in the Senior School where students from Years 10-12 are afforded a diverse and dynamic curriculum incorporating a balance between core and elective subjects. In Year 10, students commence their journey towards their South Australian Certificate of Education accreditation and participate in the College’s Personal Learning Program, which comprises
‘real world’ work experience and community service to develop their perspective of life beyond school. Year 10s are also given a chance to attend an unforgettable school camp on Goose Island near Port Victoria – regarded as a rite of passage each year for all who visit. In Year 11, students are presented with an extensive range of subject choices to complement their study of compulsory numeracy and literacy programs, with these choices helping shape pathways to university, TAFE and the workforce. Year 11s also undertake their SACE Research Project – a detailed self-directed study in an area of particular interest to the student. In Year 12, more than 30 subjects are offered at Scotch to cater for a wide range of interests. Students are given every opportunity to succeed in their studies with extra time allocated in tuition programs to complement classroom learning, while the College’s innovative Futures Centre provides extensive support as students transition out of school into the next phase of their lives. Scotch College Principal Tim Oughton says sustained excellence in student performance throughout the Senior School – and indeed the
rest of the College – is achieved through small class sizes and exceptional teachers. “Scotch College endeavours to teach, guide and encourage students to become vibrant scholars who are able to learn independently, respect the rights of others and who are willing to serve and be passionate about life,” said Mr Oughton. “A diverse curriculum, small class sizes and highly-qualified teachers and support staff help students learn to their greatest potential, while the College’s exceptional co-curricular program provides additional learning opportunities through sport, drama, debating, film-making,
dance, music and visual arts. “We take enormous satisfaction from the College’s outstanding reputation for academic excellence, but more importantly, we are extremely proud of how we help develop students as fine young people in preparation for their adult lives.”
»»For more information about Scotch College enrolments or school tours, contact the registrar on 8274 4209, email enrolments@ scotch.sa.edu.au or visit scotch.sa.edu.au
Your creative journey starts here... Associate Degree of Visual Art
|
Bachelor of Visual Art
|
Bachelor of Visual Art (Hons)
The School offers undergraduate degrees, specialist short courses, workshops and masterclasses. All lecturers are leading practitioners in the field in which they teach. In our studio based teaching program we emphasise structured sequential learning developing practical skills in parallel with rigorous intellectual inquiry. Applications for Semester 1 2014 close 6 January 2014
Summer School 2014 - For beginners to advanced | Book Now Thursday 16 January - Friday 24 January 2014 Two-day intensives | Clay Figure Sculptures with Renate Nisi, Going Beyond Basket Weaving with Sandy Elverd, Advanced Figure Drawing with Rob Gutteridge, Experimental Drawing with Christian Lock, Alla Prima Painting, Colour and Light with Louise Feneley and Techniques of the Trade in Painting with Lisa Young. Half-day courses | Drawing Fundamentals with Trena Everuss, Introduction to Figure Drawing with Deb Trusson, Introduction to Oil Painting with Nona Burden, Abstract and Semi-abstract Watercolour with Arthur Phillips and The portrait from life with Daryl Austin.
Masterclasses | Book Now January 2014 Memory with Chelsea Lehmann, Looking Towards Narrative... the Extra Edge with Stewart MacFarlane and Painting the Narrative with Anna Platten. For more information or to make a booking call us on (08) 8299 7300
In the Gallery Uncharted Territory 2013 Graduate Exhibition 14 December - 10 January 2014 View work by BVA & BVA Honours graduates in the gallery and throughout the Teaching & Studio Building.
Image Anna Platten demonstrating in her Masterclass Creating the Narrative, held September 2013 Photography Ingrid Kellenbach
PO Box 225 Fullarton SA 5063 | Glenside Cultural Precinct 7 Mulberry Road Glenside SA 5065 [via Gate 1, 226 Fullarton Road] T 08 8299 7300 info@acsa.sa.edu.au www.acsa.sa.edu.au
The Adelaide Review December 2013 23
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ADVERTISING FEATURE
Prepared for a Confident Future
in community outreach activities enables each girl to genuinely understand and appreciate how she can make a difference. “We value our partnership with families and old scholars, as together we seek to raise confident, courageous and resilient young women who willingly engage in learning within and beyond school,” Ms Clarke said.
W
alford’s reputation as a leading school for girls was established in its early years and has continued throughout the decades.
Walford 2012/13 School Captain, Michaela, concludes, “I am grateful for the invaluable life lessons and friendships that Walford has enriched me with. The opportunities I have had at the school have enabled me to grow both as a leader and a person. I look forward to the next chapter of my life feeling confident and knowing anything is possible.”
Walford was the first girls’ school in Australia to offer all three programs of the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the first girls’ school in South Australia to offer the IB Diploma. More than 50 percent of Walford Year 12s consistently achieve a Tertiary Entrance Ranking in the top 10 percent of the State and well over 95 percent of Walford graduates go on to university.
Walford warmly welcomes students from ELC (boys are also welcome to attend ELC sessions) to Year 12. To find out more, contact the school or visit the website walford.net.au.
“For 120 years, Walford has maintained a dedication to excellence in the education of girls. By embracing innovation, remaining forward-thinking and always aiming high, we continue to set exemplary standards,” explains Principal, Rebecca Clarke.
facilitate positive interactions across year levels and to provide the sense of belonging and connectedness that each girl should feel with her school.
Walford is a vibrant community where learning is prioritised and lifelong friendships are formed. The campus is designed to
According to current Walford Year 12 student, Alice, this is being achieved. “One of my favourite things about Walford is the feeling
that everyone belongs.” Her classmate, Tiffany, added, “Walford is a great place to learn, I am so grateful for the support and education I have received from my teachers, and the amazing friends I have made.” The school’s commitment to learning extends beyond the classroom. Participation
»»For further information on admissions or scholarships, please contact Libby Emery, Director of Admissions, on 8373 4062 or email admissions@walford.sa.edu.au.
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time Thomas Merton
S T U DY A RT H I S TO RY
with the ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA and THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
2014 POSTGRADUATE COURSES: Contemporary Art, Curatorial and Museum Studies, Interrogating Australian Colonial Art, Modern Australian Art, European Art: Renaissance to Revolution Prospective online courses: Australian Art, Australian Indigenous Art, European Art: Renaissance to Revolution, Japanese Art Installation view: Heartland: Contemporary Art from South Australia featuring Yhonnie Scarce The Cultivation of Whiteness.
For more information visit www.arthistory.adelaide.edu.au, phone 08 8313 5746 or email catherine.speck@adelaide.edu.au
24 The Adelaide Review December 2013
ADVERTISING FEATURE / EDUCATION
Learn and Live French in Adelaide!
F
rench has never been more popular in the world, with no less than 220 million speakers recorded in 2013. In Adelaide, with a myriad of French cafes and restaurants opening every year, there is an undeniable attraction to everything French, it being the international language of cooking, arts and, of course, love!
Did you know that learning French could help children and adults alike live a better, more fulfilling life? By exposing children to a foreign language early in their life, parents can give them the unique chance to develop lifelong learning abilities: not only will they gain confidence by learning to communicate in another language, but they will be able to acquire other languages more easily, adapt to new situations and think creatively. Speaking a foreign language can give them access to greater opportunities, open them up to the world and increase their chances for a better future. The Alliance Française d’Adelaide is an Ethnic School affiliated with the Ethnic Schools Board, which is part of the Department for Education and Child Development (DECD). Adults can also greatly benefit from learning French by positioning themselves competitively on the international job market. Estimates
Photo: Lucile Barjot
Nested in leafy Wayville, the Alliance Française d’Adelaide offers the ideal environment to immerse in a culture that would otherwise be inaccessible to South Australians. With more than a hundred years of experience teaching French, the independent South Australian notfor-profit association is dedicated to bringing Australian and French cultures together. Part of an international network of over 800 Alliances set up in 136 countries, it is proud of its reputation and teaching practices. At the Alliance Française d’Adelaide, all the teachers are native French speakers, fully qualified and passionate about teaching French to South Australians!
in 2013 suggest that French speakers will reach one billion by 2060, thus increasing the importance of the French language in international relations and business. Beyond that, learning French opens the door to a new way of life, an art de vivre à la française, with its renowned French Gastronomy, recognised as World Heritage by Unesco, and its beautiful and diverse regions offering unparalleled sceneries. With a whole range of classes available for all levels including ‘French for
Travellers’, the Alliance Française d’Adelaide makes it possible to learn French effectively in a rewarding, engaging and fun atmosphere. For those who are after cultural events, the unique and vibrant cultural centre of the Alliance Française d’Adelaide offers a varied program of events throughout the year, including the French Christmas Market, the French Film Festival, Bastille Day and the Fête de la Musique.
»»Alliance Française d’Adelaide 319 Young Street Wayville For more information about classes and events, visit af.org.au or call 8272 4281
Applications for 2014 are open. Film & TV production, Acting, Set & Prop design & construction, Stage Management, Professional Writing + many more
APPLY NOW w w w.acarts.edu.au
Build your career in the arts industry among fellow artists and makers. All at once. All at the same place.
26 The Adelaide Review December 2013
BOOKS
Bleeding Edge Thomas Pynchon / Jonathan Cape BY Luke Stegemann
Of all the unusual careers American fiction has thrown up – and there have been some mighty contenders – surely none match the continued iridescent strangeness of Thomas Pynchon, an author whose complete personal anonymity is a blank slate counterpointing the overflowing content, prodigious experimental style and teeming knowledge of his novels. Approaching what must be the closing stages of Pynchon’s career, his works fall clearly into two categories: the hectic paranoia of contemporary America – The Crying of Lot 49, Vineland and Inherent Vice – and the cryptic re-writing, via parallel, alternative historical narratives, of the birth and development of modernity and its multiple dark undersides – Gravity’s Rainbow, Mason & Dixon and Against The Day – with his first novel V combining elements of both. Taken as a whole, Pynchon’s novels comprise, it has been suggested, an entire history of the project that is the USA, dark-ambitioned science blending with music hall songs and mathematical conspiracies; bizarre, even
ridiculous characters with fragile human tenderness; a cornucopia of pornographic practices and flights of psychedelia all coming together to describe an entropic arc in which we are all falling into final weightless, exhausted darkness, as modernity, science, capital and history – forces at one point or another believed tamed – turn and treat us as playthings. Pynchon’s latest, Bleeding Edge, falls into the former category of contemporary paranoid slapstick, as he enters an area as yet untouched by his wide ranging vision – the 21st century. It is a perfect marriage between author and subject. Readers familiar with Pynchon’s work will know that plot summaries are by and large pointless; Bleeding Edge is of course sprawling and chaotic, as the world itself is; here is the state of mind, both hallucinatory and predatory, of New York in 2001, as the dotcom bubble bursts. The novel transpires both prior to and beyond September of that year, with 9/11 operating as a briefly mentioned fulcrum around which de-listed fraud investigator Maxine Tarnow investigates a murky swamp of links between new internet technologies, military interests and, as always in Pynchon, the subtle uses of power, surveillance and exclusion. As so often, he has been writing ahead of his time. For those yet to discover this almost unclassifiable author, Bleeding Edge might not be a bad place to start. It lacks some of the majesty of his earlier work, and the jokes don’t always come off, but there are the essential quest and conspiracy, and the trademark densely spiralling plot – above and below ground, real and virtual, legal and counterfeit, tangible and illusory – as Tarnow tracks her way around the deeply breathing NYC, from corpses to outlet stores, from cold war bunkers to speedboats on the Hudson, Russian mobsters to hackers, geeks, stoners and a host of other Pynchon staples – Jews, dope, and very odd combinations of food. Pynchon dares to take language and the imagination places others won’t or can’t; he remains the most beautiful and inventive prose stylist of his generation. And most importantly, his post-modernism does not exclude a warm embrace of those intangibles such as beauty, grace and love.
Leviathan: The Rise of Britain as a World Power David Scott / Harper Press
BY Roger Hainsworth
What a book this is! It is partly a narrative history of the first British empire that ended with the American Revolution, concluding with a brief glance ahead to the much larger second empire that emerged after 1783. However, Scott’s account is no mere narrative. This phenomenon of Britain’s imperial expansion needs explaining and Scott’s book is a long and interesting analysis of how the impossible gradually became the unlikely and finally emerged (in foreign eyes) as a sometimes dreaded reality. He begins in 1485 with the kingdom of Henry VII. This kingdom seems unlikely ground to sprout the British Empire. The population was then only two and a half million compared to France’s sixteen million, and only half what it had been before the Black Death of 1349. This disparity did not inhibit the English from
claiming a vanished empire in France. Although their efforts to retake it naturally achieved nothing, this imperial aspiration was perhaps a portent. Two centuries later England had an empire in America and the most powerful navy in the world and was a great power. All this came about despite bitter internal divisions in religion and politics and civil wars across the British Isles that slew more men proportionate to population than the war of 1914-18. Under Charles II the population actually declined. How could it happen? Scott’s explanation is ‘Leviathan’, a concept derived from the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, and defined as ‘the fiscal-military state’. Efficient administration through Parliamentary committees combined with taxation to service debt contracted with London’s commercial wealth, made possible the maintaining of Parliament’s large and efficient New Model Army from the closing years of the Civil War to the end of the Protectorate. After 1649 that 40,000-man army combined with an invincible new-modelled navy transformed England into a European power desperately courted by those bitter rivals France and Spain. Leviathan and England’s great power status failed to survive the Restoration in 1660 but the Glorious Revolution of 1688 saw the 1650s Leviathan revive by a combination of continuous parliaments, parliamentary committees dominated by relevant ministers, the creation of the national debt and the founding of the Bank of England. The powerful fleet of the 1650s now reappeared to serve the Rodneys and Nelsons of future generations, and not only the armies of Marlborough and Wellington, but even of Frederick the Great (through British subsidies) could serve British policies on the Continent of Europe. Despite her much larger population, wars with France left Britain undefeated and her imperial possessions enlarged. In fact the British government was not interested in geographical expansion (bound to prove expensive) but only expansion in commerce (bound to increase British wealth). The American war of independence cost Britain half her geographical empire but her empire of trade was as large as ever - and growing. Then came an industrial revolution that would make Britain the ‘workshop of the world’. All that, of course, falls outside the boundaries of this fascinating book. Let’s hope he writes a sequel!
Bali & Oates By Paul Greenway
RRP
9
$24.9
Australia’s recent phone tapping scandal comes as no surprise to Lonely Planet author and ex ASIO officer Paul Greenway. Since leaving ASIO, Paul has crossed countless international borders, actively engaged in foreign relations and listening in on private conversation, all in pursuit of the ultimate human interest: the perfect holiday destination! Paradoxically, Bali & Oates gives
an insider’s view of the farcical world of international relations. The action centres around Samantha Oates, who is Consul General to Bali, and her intelligence team. Their task: to work out how to protect the Australian Prime Minister on his forthcoming trip to Bali after terrorist group called B.U.T.T made a threat against him. The
Prime Minister¹s trip is of the utmost importance because it will secure relations between Australia and Bali with the signing of the multi-million dollar BOGAN (Bali Oil and Gas Access Negotiations) agreement. Enjoy a bird¹s eye view of Bali in this adventurous and ridiculously farcical but highly intelligent comedy.
jo-media@bigpond.net.au | 03 9681 7275 | www.jojopublishing.com
Paul Greenway Today Paul is best known as an award-winning travel writer and on December 10 he will release his first fiction book, Bali & Oates, at the South Australian Writers Centre at 7pm. He will also do a book signing at Dymocks Rundle Mall on Friday, December 13, 12.30pm. Get your signed copy. The perfect gift for holiday reading.
The Adelaide Review December 2013 27
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FASHION Fashion Rendezvous
GILLES STREET GRAND BAZAAR 2013 Sunday, December 1 (10am to 4pm) 91 Gilles Street, Adelaide gillesstreetmarket.com.au Gilles Street Market returns with a huge fashion bazaar. Expanding onto Gilles Street with an additional 50 stalls, this event attracted more than 6000 people last year. Free entry.
The Town Local
label Vege Threads, there is an increasing demand within Adelaide to support people trying to do something different. “There are amazing designers in Adelaide that are getting international recognition at present, so it’s definitely giving the city a new image in the fashion scene. We are a bit saturated with commercial brands and concession stores that I think people are looking for smaller local boutiques with independent brands to support.”
Presented by two Adelaide fashion and design institutions, Vege Threads and AHD Paper Co, The Town Local is a Renew Adelaide initiative that will bring a host of local and national boutique labels to King William St. by Lachlan Aird
T
he Adelaide Review speaks with the duo behind the store, AHD Paper Co’s Kara Town and Amy Roberts of Vege Threads, who have both returned to Adelaide from the east coast to grow their businesses. While their businesses are gaining traction nationally, and are just entering the busiest time of the year, when approached by Renew Adelaide as to whether they could use a retail space, the opportunity was too good to refuse. “We jumped on the opportunity,” they say. “We had spoken previously about collaborating on a mixed business store that provides beautifully-designed, thoughtfully-curated fashion and objects.” Furthermore, they agree that without the help of Renew Adelaide, an initiative that helps emerging, local creatives find a location for their business by renting out vacant premises around Adelaide, The Town Local would not exist.
“Both of us have admired the work of Renew Adelaide from our previous homes in Sydney and Melbourne, before we even moved back to Adelaide. To be involved is truly remarkable.” The Town Local is truly a grassroots enterprise, with Town and Roberts choosing to run the store entirely themselves so that they can personally share their knowledge on the makers, designers and artists of the goods they sell to their customers. The store opens with more than 20 suppliers, including their own labels and fellow Adelaide selfstarters B Goods, EST by Emma Sadie Thomson and Hunt furniture. As many of these businesses run primarily online, the duo are proud to announce that some of their interstate labels are exclusive to Adelaide. This includes Sydney accessory label, Benah, and Melbourne bedding specialist Kip & Co. Other interstate brands joining The Town Local’s roster include Local Supply and Epohke eyewear, Sydney perfumer Tête-
À-Tête Incendere and art-based clothing by Club Of Odd Volumes. In particular, Town and Roberts were overwhelmed by the response that they got from potential suppliers who were keen to be involved in their venture. “We have been so humbled by the response from all of our suppliers; their willingness to be involved was quite exceptional. As with AHD Paper Co and Vege Threads, we feel The Town Local is about working with like-minded people to form a supportive community where artists and makers take great enjoyment just to be involved.” Roberts adds that through her experience with ethically- and environmentally-sound
As with all of Renew Adelaide’s projects, the timeline of the store is not known, with The Town Local effectively serving as a ‘popup store’. As Renew Adelaide use premises that are currently up for lease, there is a chance that within a short amount of time a potential occupant will come along. This isn’t discouraging Town or Roberts though, who feel like even if The Town Local’s initial beginnings are short-lived, there is potential for its future growth. “We would love to have the store for a few months, or even longer,” they declare. “We love the idea of building a strong customer base, where we can listen to the market and evolve the space, all whilst furthering strong relationships with the brands involved. Who knows what the future holds, but we feel like we are onto a good thing!”
»»The Town Local 13 King William St, Adelaide Opening hours: 10am-6pm Tuesday to Thursday, Friday 10am-9pm and Saturday 10am-5pm
28 The Adelaide Review December 2013
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30 The Adelaide Review December 2013
SOCIETY
Totally Locally
WIN! FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN, ENTER YOUR DETAILS AT ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
ASO 2014 Season Opening Gala
by Stephanie Johnston
A
s Australia follows Europe into an era of small government, the conditions are ripe for a paradigm shift in the spheres of urban planning, place-making and locally-based economic development. ‘Community empowerment’ (replacing community consultation) is the new black in this arena.
Festival Theatre Friday, February 14, 8pm The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s 2014 Season Opening Gala celebrates Valentine’s Day in style with a supremely romantic night of Russian music including Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet and Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Russian pianist, Alexander Gavrylyuk. Also on the program is Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite Scheherazade.
The nourishment and empowerment of local communities has been a key platform of the UK government’s Big Society thesis, now impacting increasingly on Australian public sector policy. Big Society policies have however been criticised for transferring public wealth to corporate-like non-government entities, while disempowering small business, community organisations and the public sector. Ongoing austerity measures in the UK and elsewhere are on the other hand spawning a host of interesting DIY initiatives at the local level. Grass roots movements like the fastspreading Totally Locally campaigns are raising awareness and building pride in regional towns, and impacting on local economies in refreshingly simple ways. Totally Locally is an award-winning social enterprise and ‘shop local’ movement which supports independent retailers with a free branding and marketing campaign for their town. Teams of volunteers use the campaign and branding tool kit to promote the value of local shopping, celebrate their main street, create community events, and ultimately to lift the local economy. The concept operates on a positive celebratory platform, rather than pushing the more negative ‘use it or lose it’ ethos of less successful campaigns. In a deliberate attempt to cultivate ‘people power’ over political power, the Totally Locally tool kits are supplied free, directly to punters.
South Australian Prize
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Government bodies, local authorities and even business associations are not supposed to use the resources or run the campaigns. There must be no formal membership, no committees, and no hierarchy so that anyone can join in at any time. (And nobody is told what to do.) The brainchild of brand consultant Chris Sands, the movement is having significant economic and social impact on the 30-something towns involved to date. The concept grew from an initiative in Chris’s hometown in Calderdale, in the foothills of the Pennines in West Yorkshire, where the first shop local ‘fiver’ campaign was tested. In Adelaide recently to conduct workshops in the Barossa and the city, Chris explained where his idea came from: “On holiday in the North Portuguese town of Viana Do Castelo, I came to wondering how a small town, miles from anywhere else, seemed to thrive as it did. I sat in the square and noticed that the cafe owner would walk over to the bakery for bread, the baker would walk over to the accountants with her books, the accountant went to the stationers, the stationers went to the cafe and the circle started again. It was then I realised that when everyone uses each other, the money in the town circulates round and round, each person supporting the other.” Rather than try to get people to give up their supermarket shopping habits in one hit, the ‘fiver’ campaign simply suggests that punters allocate five pounds a week to shopping locally. According to Sands, if all residents participate, that fiver can amount to millions of pounds circulated locally over time. Similarly, Totally Locally’s Tale of a Tenner film demonstrates how a 10 pound note has a multiplied effect in the local economy, amounting to 50 pounds of turnover in a single day, as it shifts
from tourist to bike shop, to barista, to butcher, to printer and back to bike shop. Research by British-based independent think tank the New Economics Foundation backs the five-fold multiplier effect thesis. They have created a rating tool to follow the money trail in local economies by measuring the first three rounds of spending by local government, community organisations and local businesses. Pilot studies involving 10 communities in five sectors across the UK quickly demonstrated that local procurement has far-reaching impacts on local economies. That result will come as no surprise to those observing the multiplier effect of farmers’ markets here in South Australia. Zannie Flanagan, founder of the Willunga Farmers’ Market, has often described the market as ‘Viagra’ for the town, which was struggling to lease out commercial space when the market was established just over 10 years ago. Willunga is now a happening little township and key tourism destination on the Fleurieu , with numerous coffee shops, restaurants and retail outlets selling local wares. “I always know that a market has made the grade when the real estate advertisements start including it in their location descriptions,” says Flanagan, who also set up the Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market in Goodwood. The multiplier effect is seeing a proliferation of ‘totally local’ markets themselves, which are in turn supporting an expanding catchment of regional grower and producer supply chains. The Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market recently opened up a Thursday evening sub-branch in Prospect, and a brand new Sunday morning local organic produce market officially opens at the Market Shed on Holland in the CBD, as this article goes to press.
A book about a diplomatic farce involving Australian intelligence agencies. Seinfeld meets Yes Prime Minister set in Bali. Take a dash of paradise, add a hint of sex, a brace of Australian politicians, stir...
Philomena Selected cinemas From Thursday, December 6 A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman’s search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent. Directed by Stephen Frears. Stars Judi Dench, Steve Coogan and Sophie Kennedy Clark.
Salt The Odeon Theatre, 57a Queen St, Norwood Saturday, January 18, 8pm Salt – it can preserve food, melt ice, make you thirsty and sting your eyes. Too much can kill you, not enough makes you sick and it definitely shouldn’t be rubbed it into open wounds. Restless Dance’s premiere production Salt is directed by Spain-based Rob Tannion and is an exploration of worth, value and commodity, not just in terms of material goods, but also in selfesteem and societal values.
State Opera SA 2014 subscription season includes two of Giuseppe Verdi’s most famous and brilliant operas in brand new productions not seen before in Adelaide: La
Traviata, a timeless tale of scandal, honour, love
and sacrifice, in an exciting new co-production between State Opera SA, OperaQ and New Zealand Opera. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and State Opera Chorus. May 3, 6, 8 and 10, Adelaide Festival Theatre. October/ November next year brings Otello, a thrilling co-production from six companies spread across three continents, in a gripping saga of the destructive power of jealousy. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and State Opera Chorus. October 25, 28, 30 and November 1, Adelaide Festival Theatre. In addition, State Opera SA proudly announces the premiere of the Philip Glass Trilogy in August next year. In a world first, State Opera SA will present Akhnaten, Einstein on the beach and Satyagraha in three full cycles at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Art Orchestra, State Opera Chorus. For a brochure call (08) 8226 4790 or visit saopera.sa.gov.au
32 The Adelaide Review December 2013
PERFORMING ARTS
adelaide symphony orchestra
see. hear. feel. SEASON OPENING GALA 14 & 15 FEBRUARY FESTIVAL THEATRE Tchaikovsky Overture Romeo & Juliet Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade Join us as we celebrate the opening of our spectacular 2014 Season with a night of supremely romantic Russian music. Feel the sound of 75 musicians sweep over you, envelop you and take you to distant worlds. Take your Valentine for a romantic night out Have your picture taken on the red carpet Post-concert entertainment at the Piano Bar
Excite your senses. Book your tickets now. www.aso.com.au
Honestly Dishonest Sitting down with Vinh Giang and Matt Tarrant, neither embodies the quintessential image of a magician. They are, however, two of Adelaide’s most celebrated and successful young magicians, and after an award-winning, sell-out season at the 2012 and 2013 Adelaide Fringe, they will be returning in 2014 with their new show, Deception. by Lachlan Aird
F
orget top hats and capes, Giang wears Ralph Lauren casual business attire while Tarrant has a lip ring, tattoo and headphones resting on his neck. While
both are from Adelaide, the duo met online and joined forces to perfect their chosen brand of magic — mentalism — a term they say is best described as “mind rape”.
“We’re more interested in what’s going on in between your two ears,” Giang explains. Mentalism taps into a person’s intuitive behaviour, making them appear as if they have super-human knowledge about you and your thoughts. Giang has fused his skills as a mentalist with that of professional motivational speaking; a unique combination that he says is like “making medicine taste good”. He most recently performed for a convention of prominent financial institutions in Hong Kong, and prior to this interview had received an inquiry to perform at a similar event in India. Conversely, when he isn’t performing magic gigs at functions, or spending hours researching magic or making connections with magicians worldwide (he can proudly claim David Copperfield’s executive producer, Chris Kenner, as a close friend) Tarrant is the online content manager for SBS’ Danger 5. With different experiences and interactions with magic, Tarrant explains that Deception will explore their own fascination with magic.
The Adelaide Review December 2013 33
adelaidereview.com.au
PERFORMING ARTS
Giang and Tarrant are at the forefront of magic in Adelaide for reasons other than their trickery. They consider the Adelaide magic scene as “stereotypical” and “unwelcoming” and are innovating ways in which to share and market magic to new generations of magicians. Along with two friends, Giang created the online community, Encyclopaedia of Magic, which encourages people of all levels to learn magic and share their skills, adapting from a passion project to an online business that saw the team awarded 2013 South Australian Entrepreneur of the Year. Tarrant spends hours online learning new abilities and forging relationships with international magicians to help improve his networks. As a result, Andy Nyman, who is the producer for prominent UK TV illusionist Derren Brown, has produced Deception via online correspondence.
Furthermore, the two have an innovative approach towards marketing themselves, reaching out to their fans and supporters through the crowd-funding network Pozible in order to encourage audiences to help fund their show. With the goal for $10,000 achieved, it will allow for props, staging and production for Deception to be of the highest quality, as Tarrant explains. “We don’t want [Deception] to feel like a Fringe show. At the Fringe you go to one show and then another one a couple of nights later and the venue looks the same. We want to take over the venue [in Gluttony] and have it as our own.”
participating in a magic trick the entire time certainly made it overt. Giang explained that before we met he took a photo of a playing card on his iPhone, which had been sitting untouched on the table for the entire interview, and that while we were speaking he and Tarrant had been speaking to me in a way that would make me think of the card. Explaining that men usually select the Ace of Spades and women the Queen of Hearts, Giang gave me multiple chances to change my number. I finally settled for the Ace of Diamonds. Sure enough, when I opened the Photos App on his phone, the last photo taken was of the Ace of Diamonds. My mind was deceived.
More importantly, the campaign has helped market themselves to new and existing audiences – in the process selling tickets to the show before they officially even go on sale. “A lot of people performing for the Fringe, they don’t worry about tickets until one or two weeks before the Fringe starts,” says Giang. “This allowed us to sell tickets before FringeTix even opens.” If it wasn’t already clear that Giang and Tarrant always seem to be one step ahead of the game, being told as the interview came to an end that I had been unknowingly
2014 BROCHURE AVAILABLE NOW
»»Deception Gluttony Adelaide Fringe Friday, February 14 to Sunday, March 16 The 2014 Adelaide Fringe program will be released on Friday, November 29. adelaidefringe.com.au
Photo: Sam Oster
“When we see magic, we can sometimes figure out how it works if it’s sleight of hand or another simple trick. But then there are other types of magic where even magicians who have been performing magic for so many years go, ‘How is that even possible? Is it actually magic or is it something beyond that?’ In Deception we show some of the things that we’ve witnessed; future predictions, predicting the lottery, defy injury and death. And then it comes together in a final piece, which is this amazing routine of mind fucking everyone in the audience.”
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34 The Adelaide Review December 2013
JACQUI WAY PHOTOGRAPHY 2013
PERFORMING ARTS
From Weird to Wonderful: A Recharged ASQ by Graham Strahle
A
t last the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) seems to have found its mojo. Anyone who has followed the ASQ over the years will be aware of its quite staggering membership turnover. If you lined up all its players on stage, past and present – 18 at the latest count – it would be enough to make up a small chamber orchestra. Management has been understandably touchy about this subject, tying to iron over the quartet’s high attrition rate and spasmodic internal crises. It’s been the same, but different, this year. In May came the announcement that violinist Anne Horton and cellist Rachel Johnston were leaving. This was just 14 months after first violinist Kristian Winther and violist Stephen King had joined. A quartet losing half its members is one thing, but doing so twice in three years is another; and that’s on top of a complete personnel changeover that happened
in 2006 when the Tankstream Quartet players were installed. But now there’s the promise that the ASQ can put all that behind them. Violinist Ioana Tache and cellist Sharon Draper, both from Melbourne, were recruited in what seems record time, and on the basis of its performances thus far, this new combination has serious firepower. Here in the year’s last subscription concert were four high calibre players who, while not yet fully unified in ensemble, exuded an energy and interpretational daring that seems strike out on a new path. In Schnittke’s String Quartet No. 3, contrasts were stupendous in scale, and Beethoven’s Op. 130 possessed a strikingly neat, finessed artistry along with depth of feeling. Draper said on the concert’s eve that the four players found an instant wavelength when they first played together, ahead of their
September Debussy tour. “On the first day, it was pretty evident to me that we get on very well as musicians. It’s like a relationship, like how one might wonder how two people in a couple get on at all when in fact they do. We’re still getting to know each other, of course. On certain days I say to myself, ‘Ah, I know not to say certain things next time’.” After one rehearsal, the four players got to work on a white board to brainstorm the group’s plans for 2015. Ideas sparked in every direction, Draper said: “Each of us wrote up our ideas, from wonderful to weird. Musically I love how every member of the quartet is willing to try something new,” added Draper. “I love playing anything by Beethoven and Brahms, and think of Mendelssohn as an incredibly interesting composer. But if you look at the quartet repertoire as a whole, there is a huge diversity, and that’s what is interesting.” Ligeti’s Quartet No. 1, ‘Métamorphoses Nocturnes’, which they played at the Melbourne Festival in October, was a case in point for her: “It was new for me, but I could play that piece every week.” Both Draper and the Belgrade-born Tache were students at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, and one way or another all four players have known each other through their earlier careers. Says Draper: “I knew all the players well before. Steven I knew as a mentor of ACO2 (the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s youth ensemble) while I was in that as an emerging artist. Kristian I’ve
known since we were at school. We were both in AYO (Australian Youth Orchestra), me leading the cellos and he was concertmaster. We were playing Brahms’ Second Symphony and I remember he was such a vibrant musician, so energised – so rare in someone so young. So it is lovely to come back again in a full circle.” Angelina Zucco, ASQ’s Executive Director, says she had expected the recruitment process would likely extend to the end of this year and was in no need of hurrying it up. “We were a quartet in transition and we were ready for that. We could have kept working with guests, which, though this was not an ideal solution, allowed the opportunity for us to continue performing.” “The starting point in this recruitment process was all about relationships. Highstandard musicianship was a given – any of the players we trialled could have slotted in, in terms of their ability. Once that’s taken out, then it is a question of what’s the right fit. It is finally about relationships because these four players have to spend a lot of their time together. They have to be kindred spirits who live and breathe music together. We were fortunate to get a great team so soon.” The ASQ’s plans for next year include a possible China or South East Asia tour, and for 2015 a major international tour to Europe.
asq.com.au
Pianist with rock god tendencies Daily Telegraph
LUDOVICO EINAUDI In A Time Lapse Presented by Arts Projects Australia in association with the Adelaide Festival Centre
FESTIVAL THEATRE 11 FEBRUARY 2014 Tickets at BASS 131 246 or bass.net.au
SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL L I N E -U P
THE WORLD’S FESTIVAL
Billy Bragg
Muro
Arrested Development
Ngaiire
Femi Kuti
Washington
Mikhael Paskalev
36 The Adelaide Review December 2013
PERFORMING ARTS
Sounds and Sights of the Planet WOMADelaide’s 2014 line-up is finalised with Afro-beat superstar Femi Kuti, American singer-songwriter Neko Case and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan protégé Asif Ali Khan the latest highlight additions to the 2014 line-up joining already announced acts Billy Bragg and Arrested Development. Femi.
by David Knight
A
way from the music, the Planet Talks program returns to the four-day festival with Polly Higgins, Annabel Crabb, Simon Sheikh and Peter Garrett amongst the speakers while David Michalek’s giant hyper-slow moving three-screen Slow Dancing installation will add a new dimension to the global music celebration. WOMADelaide Director Ian Scobie says Slow Dancing will run every night during WOMAD from about 9pm and is an Australian exclusive.
“They are a series of some of the world’s great dancers filmed in high-definition and then slowed down, so the images are incredibly bright and crisp and realistic,” Scobie explains. “They are filmed against a black background, so you can see their bodies moving but you can’t quite tell if they’re on the ground or in the air. It’s really a meditation on dance, the body and movement as much as anything else. They’re quite mesmerising because they move quite slowly. They’re independently projected and are independent images, so they are not connected Megan Washington.
Neko Case.
in any way but you do get this sense of these huge human forms that are slowly moving and, of course, they are quite beautiful to look at.”
to strength with names such as Norman Jay and The Herbaliser DJs. Next year, the DJ program takes another giant leap forward with Quantic, DJ Yoda, DJ Muro and Awesome Tapes From Africa.
One of the musical highlights is the return of Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti, son of Fela Kuti, six years after his last appearance, with his band The Positive Force. Kuti has delivered two acclaimed albums after his last Adelaide show with 2010’s Africa For Africa and this year’s No Place For my Dream. “Femi is just the genuine article. It’s that no-brainer of what’s not to like about Kuti and his dancers to wrap up the night on stage one.”
THE CorinTHian SingErS
Sing Hodie!
Of Adelaide
Saturday 22nd December St Peter’s Cathedral, King William Road, North Adelaide
Sing Hodie!
Time: 9.00pm Tickets: $25 and $20 concession Bookings can be made at: www.trybooking.com/DYUC
This concert has guest Music Director Tim Marks combining our voices with Bella Voce to present a number of pieces in the annual Corinthian Singers of Adelaide Christmas Concert. Composers include: Rutter, Praetorius, Bassano, Philips, Dering, Ridou, Victoria and Belcher. Join us for a genuinely candlelit concert as we light up St John’s and St Peter’s and usher in the festive season.
Wednesday December 18th St John’s Anglican Church, 379 Halifax Street, Adelaide
Another intriguing addition is Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, who has toured with the Buena Vista Social Club and fuses Cuban jazz with urban elements: “The music from Cuba is wonderfully laid back and engaging and I think he’ll be a winner,” comments Scobie. Then there’s Qawwali singer Asif Ali Khan, a protégé of the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who performed at the inaugural WOMADelaide in 1992. “I saw him [Asif Ali Khan] at WOMAD in the UK this year and he’s an extraordinary Qawwali singer with a really beautiful voice and sound. He’s a terrific performer in that tradition of Nusrat.” Over the last few years, WOMADelaide’s late night DJ program has grown from strength
“It started a decade or so ago and it was something that Annette Tripodi, our operations and programs manager, started. It’s grown from the thing we did at the university, called WoZone. Originally we did it there as a late night club for people who want to carry on and its evolved from there. You’re right, it’s got a real following in its own right, that element in the program.” The combination of writers, scientists and academics at The Planet Talks stream, which began this year, adds another element, according to Scobie. “You have lovers of Qawwali singing at one end, DJs at another and then there’s a bunch of scientists and academics. It’s part of trying to broaden both the appeal and the audience-base of the festival that makes it more than just a bunch of artists on stages. It’s as much about the audience mix as it is about the performances.”
»»WOMADelaide Botanic Park Friday, March 7 to Monday, March 10 Go to womadelaide.com.au to view the full line-up
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 37
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
PERFORMING ARTS
THIS MONTH THE ADELAIDE REVIEW’S GUIDE TO DECEMBER’S HIGHLIGHT PERFORMING ARTS EVENTS
ADELAIDE CHAMBER SINGERS Deo Gratias St Peter’s Cathedral & Church of the Epiphany Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1 The ACS will perform some of the world’s best-loved Christmas music in two separate events, joined by guest harpist Alice Giles. The performances will include pieces by classical composers Benjamin Britten and Marc-Antoine Charpentier, as well as the premiere of a new work by ACS Director Carl Crossin.
THE BAMBOOS
LEONARD COHEN
THE ILLUSIONISTS 2.0
Governor Hindmarsh Friday, December 6
Entertainment Centre Wednesday, December 11
Her Majesty’s Theatre Friday, December 27 to Sunday, January 5
Melbourne soul-funk band The Bamboos will play at The Gov this month as part of their Fever in the Road Australian Tour. The group, which has received several ARIA nominations in recent years, will perform soulful tunes from their recent album as well as some older favourites.
Music legend Leonard Cohen will return to Adelaide with an enigmatic performance at the Entertainment Centre this month. Along with his spectacular nine-piece band, Cohen will perform his colourful and emotive anthology of songs, some of which have been described as the greatest of our time.
Seven masters of mental and optical illusion will perform at Her Majesty’s Theatre, presenting an edgy and exciting new production. The performance utilises cutting-edge visual effects and 3D interactive projections, propelling the audience into the future of magic and illusion.
“10/10... not to be missed” with
cHRiStine anu & MitcHell butel fRoM 29 DeceMbeR
•
feStiVal tHeatRe •
131 246
net. net.au
fi na no l Sa w Se le on at S !
Sun Herald
38 The Adelaide Review December 2013
PERFORMING ARTS
Anthoney to Head Festivals Adelaide Former Adelaide Fringe chief Christie Anthoney will be the new Executive Officer of Festivals Adelaide, the coalition of Adelaide’s major festivals.
“It’s not a public role necessarily. I don’t see myself creating Festivals Adelaide as a brand in any sense – other than to stakeholders and people who need to understand the importance of them to the state. I will be working with them all [the festivals] on a very operational level to some extent to see where there can be some shared resourcing and synergies. Also, I’ll be working to find strategic partners, particularly in the research agenda, because I’m sitting on gold here in terms of data.” Anthoney says her role will be reasonably organic to begin with.
by Christopher Sanders
A
nthoney, who is currently TAFE SA’s Adelaide College of the Arts’ Creative Director, will begin her three-year position in January. Anthoney says she will continue to be a “strong ambassador” for Adelaide College of the Arts (AC Arts) but says her new role is one that “would not come around that often”. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity. I thought long and hard about it and then put my hat in the ring. It’s a pretty extraordinary job, I have to say.” Festivals Adelaide is an alliance of this city’s 10 major arts festivals (including Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival, SALA and Cabaret Festival) that is based on a similar arts alliance in Edinburgh. Anthoney replaces inaugural
Director Tory McBride, who retired after 18 months in the role. “I feel very excited to be working with them [the 10 festivals] to see how I can support them but more importantly be an advocate for them interstate and overseas.” Anthoney was the Fringe Director for four years, the co-founder of the Garden of Unearthly Delights and has worked for many festivals including WOMADelaide, Come Out and the Edinburgh Fringe. Aside from her current AC Arts role, Anthoney is also an Adelaide Festival board member. One of Festivals Adelaide’s main aims is to increase the reputation of South Australia’s art festivals nationally and internationally.
“We’ll reflect on what works and what doesn’t and I’ll work with them. There are a couple of key things I want to do. One of them is to mine the data and look at what we have already. I don’t know of any alliance other than Edinburgh that is open to that. There’s a huge amount of information there. Slicing and dicing it in different ways will be very revealing.” Anthoney believes that the festivals are the psyche of this state and she wants that message to be delivered. “We are the city of festivals. We happen to have a lot of churches in our city but frankly what we believe to be the psyche of the state is in fact an understanding and an appreciation and value given to our festivals across the board. I think this alliance will play an important in ensuring that that message is loud and clear – overseas or interstate – in relation to the
brand of South Australia. It’s inherent and we know it, but we mustn’t rest on our laurels and let it go by. A strong part of my role will be to ensure that’s loud and clear.” The 10 festivals attracted nearly 64,000 visitors to South Australia last year delivering $63 million to the state’s economy. An interesting observation that Anthoney notes about South Australia’s major arts festivals is that all of them, bar one – WOMADelaide – are homegrown. “With sporting events, mostly one bids for them and they come and land in Adelaide for as long as we can hold the organisers’ here until another state bids for them. These festivals have grown up through the city and state over the decades and they’ve changed custodians now and again but they aren’t something that can be bought off to go interstate. It’s an interesting phenomenon. It’s not that we have to make sure they are secure here. The only one in that mix is WOMADelaide. Its owner is Peter Gabriel and it could be snatched by another state – not under my watch! Other than that Come Out, SALA, Fringe, the Festival, they are all inherent and part of this state’s cultural identity. I find that quite unique and grounding, and everybody in that group of festivals knows that we are the custodians. We’re doing the best we can for them for the future of the city and the state.”
festivalsadelaide.com.au
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The Times (UK)
‘GRABS YOU BY T HE
S E A T OF YOUR PANT Time Out (UK) S!’ The Advertiser Fringe Review
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THE SHOW SO HOT, MADONNA CAME TWICE 14 FEBRUARY - 16 MARCH GARDEN OF UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS
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Presented by Strut & Fret Production House, Underbelly Productions and Southbank Centre
40 The Adelaide Review December 2013
PERFORMING ARTS British Film Festival Opening Night The opening of the inaugural British Film Festival was held at Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas on Friday, November 22. Guests enjoyed a screening of One Chance followed by drinks, canapés and live entertainment. The festival continues to Sunday, December 1. Photos Jonathan van der Knaap
Phillis and Tim Pettitt.
Sose Fuamoli and Jacquie Harris.
Patricia Sourdin, Richard Pomfret and Sophia Tsakalidis.
Rabia Manchanda and Liz Wilson.
KILL YOUR DARLINGS by D.M. Bradley
Maria Canala, Antoneleca Macchia, Aldo Macchia and Deonne Smith.
Louise Vadasz and Collette Snowden.
Camille Ferrier and Dominique Liard.
Elaine Virgo and Danny Baron.
Andrew Metcalfe and Natalie Williams.
The time is evidently right for ‘Beat Generation’ movies, perhaps as the group’s members are all sadly departed. While feature débuting co-writer/director John Krokidas’ film comes a year after Walter Salles’ longtime-coming adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, this is more a kind of ‘origins story’, the facts of which haunted the Beats ever after. Drawn from both the accepted truth and Kerouac and William Burroughs’ suppressedfor-decades novel And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (published after their deaths as no one, including them, liked it much), this is mostly seen from the perspective of the young, naïve and awkward Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe, rather daringly), who leaves an indenial dad (David Cross) and a delusional mum (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to attend Columbia University in 1944. Immediately falling in with the unpredictable Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan), with whom he becomes (very) close, the pair tear up literary classics, rob the library of ‘restricted’ titles and get high on Benzedrine with Burroughs (Ben Foster) and, after a while, returning serviceman Kerouac (Jack Huston, also in the similarly bookish Night Train to Lisbon). Also in the picture is David Kammerer
(Michael C. Hall, AKA Dexter, in a more vocal performance than we’ve seen him in ages), who’s increasingly obsessed with Carr and will do anything to keep him close, even as his object of affection is trying hard to free himself from anything and everything. Depicting a time just before the end of World War II, a period pre-rock’n’roll and pre-Ginsberg’s Howl when the Beats’ rebellion was taking shape and establishing how to truly shock The Establishment, Krokidas’ film takes a wisely neutral view of the tale, meaning that we get to both revel in the lads’ transgressions and see how all this indulgence can turn sour. The performances are fine: Foster (not as grotesque as usual) is a pitch-perfect, drug-addled Burroughs; DeHaan a wonderfully horny and dangerous Carr; Huston a cockily charismatic Kerouac; and Hall, stuck with the most unsympathetic role, manages to make Kammerer far more than some whiny spurned lover. Then there’s Radcliffe, so desperate to kill that darling Harry Potter, whose Ginsberg is the film’s heart, soul and hormones, and who’s very strong, whether he’s snogging the librarian, hallucinating wildly in a jazz joint or, ahem, auto-eroticising as he belts out his first poems in a frenzy. Howl indeed.
»»Rated MA.
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 41
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
PERFORMING ARTS ENOUGH SAID BY D.M. BRADLEY
While in no way as dark as a film such as The Crow, writer/director Nicole Holofcener’s latest is nevertheless difficult to view without looking for onscreen omens as it features, of course, the penultimate performance by the late great James Gandolfini, who died last June at only 51. Gandolfini proves very charming here and looks distinctly unhealthy throughout. His weight is a major plot point, which sometimes gives Enough Said an uncomfortable edge, especially as we know that it was a heart attack that carried ‘Jim’ off. Eva (Seinfeld’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a divorced massage therapist and ‘empty nester’ who feels a need to fill the gap that will soon be left when her daughter Ellen (nearunknown Tracey Fairaway) leaves home, and is talked into attending a party with a bunch of older people she doesn’t know. First meeting Marianne (Catherine Keener, in all Holofcener’s films), a poet (no, really), Eva then meets Albert (Gandolfini), whom she agrees to go out with, as he has a nice sense of humour and is also facing the imminent departure of his own daughter. When they hit it off and she’s romantically encouraged by her psychologist
friend Sarah (Toni Collette), Eva also finds herself becoming friends with Marianne, who’s intriguing, supportive and harbours a grudge against her ex-husband. And even if you haven’t seen the trailer or read the synopsis, you can surely tell where this is going – and how much it’s going to hurt.
After Holofcener’s sharper Walking and Talking, Lovely & Amazing, Friends With Money and Please Give, this might have been her funniest outing had it not become the movie where James Gandolfini died after completing his role – the one where he might have been able to change his image… if only.
» Rated M.
HHHHH THE INDEPENDENT
HHHHH EMPIRE
HHHHH ONE CHANCE BY NIGEL RANDALL
It would be far too easy to take the cynic’s axe to One Chance were it not so clearly a film wearing its sizeable heart on its formulaic sleeve. That it’s a biopic about the first ever winner of Britain’s Got Talent and is produced by Simon Cowell prompts fears of shameless self-promotion. Thankfully though, screenwriter Justin Zackham’s focus is spent more on the life of Paul Potts preceding his fateful, and well viewed, audition than on said television franchise. James Corden plays the unlikely singing sensation perfectly. It’s his engaging performance, together with Alexandra Roach’s (playing his girlfriend/wife, Juile-Ann), that lifts this film well above some of its more trite displays of crowd-pleasing. In fairness to the filmmakers, Potts’s real life did adhere quite closely to many well-worn conventions of the Billy Elliot-type film that One Chance so obviously aligns itself with.
THE GUARDIAN
As a shy, overweight boy Potts was bullied well into early adulthood. His passion for opera singing amidst the steel-working milieu he lived didn’t help matters much. After each promising opportunity is afforded (attending Venice’s famed school of Opera and being selected to sing for his idol Pavarotti) he encounters a setback (usually ending in surgery). His encouraging mother (Julie Walters) is as sweet as his discouraging father (Colm Meaney) is gruff. Then seemingly at his lowest, the idea to make a life-changing decision literally pops up in his face. The preordained outcome we already know. Director David Frankel plays it safe with what is, in the end, fairly lightweight entertainment aimed at the sort of audience who more than likely watch the ‘…Got Talent’ shows. It is enjoyable, predictable and you probably won’t remember it in a year’s time, but I’m always grateful that these middleof-the-road films still get made.
HHHH HHHH DAILY TELEGRAPH UK
EVENING STANDARD
A HIGH-GRADE HEART WARMER. THE GUARDIAN
BRILLIANT. RESERVE AN OSCAR FOR DENCH. TIME MAGAZINE
IN CINEMAS DECEMBER 26 ADVANCE SCREENINGS | FRIDAY 20 TH, SATURDAY 21 ST & SUNDAY 22 ND DECEMBER
» Rated PG
42 The Adelaide Review December 2013
VISUAL ARTS Explode
high camp inflections?
by John Neylon
B
For the aficionados this is obviously sourced from the 1972 Bruce Lee classic The Way of the Dragon. Norris and Lee’s pec flexing, knuckle cracking and shadow boxing before the fight is a highlight. So too is the original James Koo/ Joseph Wong soundtrack which enveloped both the artist and myself as we stood in a darkened aeaf gallery space, experiencing the clip. I say experiencing because not only is this the artist’s intent, but that is the nature of the Daniele Puppi viewing experience.
Christmas at Hanrahan Studio Sumptuous works to collect or give including
Brooks, Dickerson, Dowie, Hanrahan, James, Kahan, O’Leary, Olsen, Rayner and Sayer
5 – 15 December 2013 Jewellery from The Mistress Von Berlow Collection Susan Sideris at Hanrahan Studio By appointment, and open for the duration of this exhibition Week one: 2: 00 – 5: 00 pm Thursday – Sunday Week two: 2: 00 – 5: 00 pm Wednesday – Sunday 48 Esmond Street, Hyde Park, South Australia T 0449 957 877 hanrahanstudio @ bigpond.com Barbara Hanrahan and Jo Steele’s private residence and gallery are open for viewing during exhibition hours
image Barbara Hanrahan, Flower Piece (detail), 1976, hand coloured silkscreen
Remarkably, cinematic work emerged fullyfledged as it were in the artist’s practice soon
Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Magazzino Gallery, Rome.
am! Bruce Lee’s body rocks back with the force of the blow. Cut to Chuck Norris. No emotion but the eyes betray a hunter closing in. Another pivoting kick, straight for the head. But this time Lee is ready. He counters and in a catlike movement he fends then responds with successive blows to his opponent’s upper body. Then Norris is down, his legs taken out. He is finished and knows it. Time to move onto Green Beret movies and leave the kickboxing to Lee.
Fatica No 13, 2001–2013, audio-visual installation
after graduation. Undergraduate studies at art academies in Venice, Bologna and Rome exposed him to conventional fine arts training. It is very likely that a movies-rich childhood predisposed Puppi to instinctively want to experiment with moving images. One of his earliest projects involved creating an installation that incorporated a cinematic
restricted - RAYMOND ZADA SEEDS OF LIFE - CHRISTINA GOLLAN SMELLIN’ IT LIKE IT IS BLAK DOUGLAS AKA ADAM HILL
reenactment of the demolition of a wall, viewed within the actual site of demolition. This double-take dynamic is something the artist has continued to explore and is evident in one of the current aeaf exhibition works Factica No. 13. This work invites the viewer to look down a narrow ‘alleyway’ and engage with a film clip, which communicates the struggle of a man to force two doors apart. The grimacing face, the straining hands and highly audible gasps and grunts create a powerful sense of claustrophobia. This, like the Dragon fight sequence next door, does not behave as a conventional filmic object. The double projection used to suture figure with door has an unsettling, illusionistic quality that is hard to describe in its absence. Talking about this aspect with the artist, enveloped by the work and sounds of intense struggle, I became convinced that talking about it, in its presence, completed the viewing experience. The same ‘rule’ seemed to apply to the Dragon experience. The exchange of feelings and associations (such as the visual resemblance to Jack Nicholson doing his ‘Here’s Johnny’, The Shining thing) somehow reanimated an already turbo-charged sensory event. So, are we simply reliving something filmed, or being asked to indulge in a little nostalgia with some
You can try to keep this kind of lid on things but Puppi’s agendas are subversive. This is particularly evident in the jump-cut impact behavior of the projected image in relation to the screen. This is not video art in the sense that the image knows its place and the meaning is driven more by where and how the monitor is sited and viewed. When Lee’s foot makes contact, Norris’ body explodes outside the confines of the screen. Even the rectangular border of projection buckles at times under the implied force of impact. This is the outcome of a calculated practice, which sets about transforming any given space (in this case the aeaf galleries) into something approaching physical theatre, which has its own narratives and logic. Puppi has commented that in the absence of a beginning-and-end narrative one is left with a unit of time in which ‘something can happen’. He adds that the goals he sets are always the same, ‘to explore the space, make it ‘explode’, achieve a synthesis of perceptions, do something that is immediately visible, audible and tangible.’ Puppi’s work is readily accessed online but the sensory impact of the `original’ demands nothing less than quality immersion at his aeaf show before it closes soon. This is a benchmark opportunity to extend an understanding of how far film-based experiment has travelled since late 60s video art. The physicality of Puppi’s mediated experiences supports his claim that his practice is sculptural. As such, it is aligned with more conceptual understandings on the nature of the exhibition space as not a receptacle for art works but something created by the work itself. With Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris knocking the stuffing out of each other to a cacophony of noise this might not be the first thought that comes to mind when encountering the works. But without such underpinnings it is just another set of experiences among countless others on offer in the buzzing biosphere.
»»Daniele Puppi 432 Hertz: Reanimated Cinema and Environs Australian Experimental Art Foundation Continues until Saturday, December 7
Their Shadows in Us 14 December 2013 - 16 February 2014
1 November - 5 January 2014 Tandanya - National Aboriginal Cultural Institute Inc
253 Grenfell Street Adelaide SA 5000 daily 9am - 4pm - www.tandanya.com.au Raymond Zada, racebook, (detail), 150 x 150cm, digital print on Hahnemuhle, 2011 Christina Gollan, The Jewelled Gecko (detail) 2013, 40.6cm x 51cm, photo: Michal Kluvanek Blak Douglas, Untitled, October 2013, 27cm x 78cm, acrylic on cardboard, photo courtesy of the artist
F l i n d e rs U n i ve rs i t y C i t y G a l l e r y S tate L i b ra r y o f S o u t h A u st ra l i a N o r t h Te r ra c e , A d e l a i d e Tue - Fri 11 - 4pm, Sat & Sun 12 - 4pm w w w. f l i n d e r s . e d u . a u / a r t m u s e u m
The Adelaide Review December 2013 43
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VISUAL ARTS almost the whole space leaving just enough room to be able to move around and get different viewing angles. For Dady it’s about the process of making the work and installing it that’s important and as such he has left all the bars and struts exposed. Stacked together, the work has a very industrial feel to it and its overwhelming size makes it challenging to navigate. “All these artists reference exterior landscapes in some way. Dodd with the outback, KAB with the fencing systems, street, urban landscapes and Dady with travelling domestic devices,” says MacDonald.
A Glance to the Future by Jane Llewellyn
P
rovisional State Part II, currently showing at Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (CACSA), is in many ways a glimpse into the future for the gallery, which is looking to move beyond its current space. CACSA Curator Logan MacDonald explains: “The artists were asked to create artworks that were challenging to the white cube as well as to people who might be familiar with what we have done in the past with our projects.” CACSA are looking to move to the CBD and MacDonald says this exhibition is also about challenging the audience and making them aware of the limitations of the space and that in some ways the gallery has outgrown its Parkside digs.
Compared to Provisional State Part I, which ran during SALA, MacDonald says, “This is more of a concrete statement about the space. We invited three artists to create interventions into the space.” The aim was to make audiences feel uncomfortable by creating a white cube scenario that they may not have been expecting and one that goes beyond the usual constraints. The artists, KAB101, James Dodd and Johnnie Dady, are rebelling against the white cube structure but are also making a statement specifically about CACSA’s Porter Street gallery space. Take KAB’s work, Out of bounds, for example, it destroys all preconceived notions of how we view artwork and particularly how you might view it in this particular space. When you walk in you are immediately confronted with a huge wire fence acting as a barrier between you and the work. The fence makes reference to his graffiti background - of jumping fences and seclusion zones. “It’s a very simple and upfront statement about street aesthetics as well as his interest in typography and calligraphy,” says MacDonald. The fence also acts as a lens through which to view the work and controls the distance from which the audience can view it. Out of bounds looks at ideas of inclusion and exclusion not only in reference to his graffiti days but also in reference to galleries and how
Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art University of South Australia
art is represented. The work brings the outside in and presents a work that you would expect to see on the street rather than in the confines of a gallery. The fence leads you around to the middle gallery and Dodd’s work, Landscape. The space bears little resemblance to a white cube as Dodd creates a simple landscape with big cut out forms, which act as rock formations. He uses psychedelic colours and UV lights which create the impression of a landscape at night. “The colours and UV lights trigger off this strange psychedelia but at the same time there are these weird purple and blue hues that reference dusk,” says MacDonald. The work was a quick experiment of simple forms and with a diagonal wall and clever use of UV lights Dodd suggests different viewing angles. The final work is Dady’s Five caravans, which fits perfectly into the premise for the exhibition. “His idea was to bring these travelling, domestic interior/exterior units and re-present them inside a fixed interior environment,” says MacDonald. Dady enlisted the help of a CAD engineer to construct this extraordinary work of five caravans made of cardboard - some rest on their side, some are upside down. The entire structure takes up
10 Oct – 20 Dec 2013
Daniel Crooks
While CACSA’s bluestone building in Porter Street, Parkside, presents limitations and it’s clear they have outgrown it, it’s always been remarkable what they have managed to achieve in the space and this exhibition is testament to that.
»»CACSA Contemporary 2013: Provisional States II Continues until Monday, December 16 cacsa.org.au
LittLe treasures Handmade art and craft at affordable prices for Christmas
Runs until 21 December 2013
Little Treasures Free Artist Demonstrations Saturday 30 November 2 pm - 4 pm Cathy Jacobs: Painting and craft Dianne Wood: Textiles Saturday 7 December 2 pm - 4 pm Jasna Tepsic: Jewellery Paul Hester: Rusty galvanised iron animal sculptures Malcolm Jury: Woodwork
LA
ST
w
ee
kS
Premiering an Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund and Samstag Museum of Art site-specific commission
!
Saturday 14 December 2 pm - 4 pm Trish Loader: Wood Christmas ornament making Carolanne Wasley: Jewellery
Free entry - all welcome!
Pepper Street Arts Centre Exhibitions, Gift Shop, Art Classes, Coffee Shop. 558 Magill Road, Magill PH: 8364 6154
CHRISTOPHER ORCHARD
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 12 noon - 5 pm
ABOVE & BELOW 2
55 North Terrace, Adelaide T 8302 0870 Open Tue – Fri 11– 5pm, Sat 2 – 5pm
28 November 21 December 2013
www.bmgart.com.au
SMA TAR Oct 13.indd 2
13/11/13 1:08:04 PM
An arts and cultural initiative funded by the City of Burnside
www.pepperstreetartscentre.com.au
44 The Adelaide Review December 2013
A-Z Contemporary Art
D
Living Dead A really tough market to crack. On one hand there is a wall-to-wall universe of Walking Dead/Undead iconography that populates innumerable T shirts, DVD covers and ‘I’m a very creative Photoshop artist’ sites. Then there are the upmarket variants built around the idea flayed/desiccated bodies that look about to give up the ghost. Sample: a little taste of Francis Bacon’s ‘road crash’ figuration or Egon Schiele’s ‘garbag of bones’ nudes. This is heavy-duty territory. Not for the squeamish if tempted to indulge in selfportraiture.
Helpful hints on how to make your art say NOW. Plus ARTSPEAK Bonus Pack by John Neylon
I Vnt 2 Sk Yr Bld Vampires. So spooky. So hard to do. Art wise that is. Somehow articulated blood dripping jaws, Estee Lauder pallid blush cheeks, sightless eyes and wax-splattered coffins in a white cube gallery setting looks hokey. The challenge is there and I think you’re up for it. Ricky Swallow, Australia, born 1974, The exact dimensions of staying behind, 2004‑05, London; Maurice A. Clarke Bequest Fund 2013, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Courtesy the artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney.
DEATH Decay Here’s an idea. Take portrait photographs of all your friends. Ten years later do it again. Ten years later (okay so you really have to stick with the program) take a final set, hang them in time sequence in a gallery and invite same friends to the opening. You’ll be amazed at the response. No you won’t. You’ll die friendless. Here’s another idea. Put a bowl of fruit into a vitrine and over the next few weeks video fruit as it collapses into poxy, mouldy sludge. Hint: Extra humidity will grow insane mould. It’s not a new idea (see British artist Sam Taylor-Wood and various Dutch 17th century
painters) so think novelty like pineapples, paw paws and passion fruit. Suggestion: Personalise the concept by sitting at a table laden with food, for several days, then doing the Worm in the rotting remains. Recommendation: Food surfing can be tricky but British artist Stuart Brisley will show you how. Size Does Matter Try killing something off in the name of art. Hint: Avoid use of larger animals such as horses, cats and llamas. Bad publicity. Insects and smaller bugs are fine. Cane toads also. But not ladybirds. Bad luck. Flies have far
fewer friends. Adelaide Artist Craige Andrae put a bevvy of blowies into a vitrine and over subsequent weeks they bred and died. Only two letters to the editor. Celebrity Death Nothing, I repeat, nothing beats the strategy of aligning your work with a celebrity death. Think old school (Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Murat. Think modern (Warhol’s Grieving Jackie K). Think contemporary and everything old is new again. Check out: British artist Gavin Turk’s Death of Marat, with artist in the starring role. So let loose the Charlotte Corday (or young Turk) within.
Look Away Now Sometimes real deaths are too tough to make art about. Not so. Examples: Teresa Margolles’ installation, 127 Cuerpos / 127 Bodies at the 2012 Adelaide International consisted of a cable made of textile lengths from cloth used to hold the bodies of unnamed victims of Mexican drug trafficking. Australian artist Alexander Seton has used the device of the shroud to mask the identity of the deceased leaving the viewer to speculate. It’s all about deflection. So Greek tragedy. Skullduggery It’s the skull stupid. If Damien Hirst rolled $20 million of diamonds in elephant dung someone would notice. But stud a skull with little sparklers and everyone sits up. It works every time. We’re hardwired to notice skulls even if it’s on a totally flogged Papa Roach Connection T shirt or a Mexican Day of the Dead get-well card. A crowded field so do try to be innovative if looking for eyeline shelf position in arts global supermarket. Hint: Materiality matters. Try using Smarties, or, if flush, A-class drugs. Dem Bones Inspiration: Check out Mexican artist Jose Posada’s Calaveras (images of skulls and animated skeletons). This artist had distinct talent for blunting Death’s sting with his rollicking skeletons having an eternal knees-up. Admire: Ricky Swallow’s mortes particularly his sculptural riffs on 17th century still lifes and his life-sized vanitas, a seated skeleton (The Exact Dimensions of Staying Behind) which rattles some cages.
24 Nov 2013 - 3 Jan 2014 12th Annual City of Marion Community Art Exhibition
exhibitions gallery shop
An exhibition of artworks in various media by residents of the City of Marion images (right) artworks by Roger Hjorleifson, Lucie Winter, Jeremy G Paddick & Glenys Brokeshire
Gallery M Marion Cultural Centre 287 Diagonal Rd Oaklands Park SA P: 08 8377 2904 E: info@gallerym.net.au
www.gallerym.net.au
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 45
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VISUAL ARTS ARTSPEAK DECONSTRUCTION It’s all about the metaphysics of presence. But then you knew that. Blame Jacques Derrida. He floated the idea in the later 1960s. This coincides with the launch (1969) of the Danish Lego group’s Duplo range of simpler blocks (twice the height, width and depth of standard Lego blocks) for smaller children. From here on, art history is just one click after another. DEADLY Arguably the Best Ever art critical tag. From Australian Aboriginal English (‘excellent’, ‘fantastic’, ‘cool’). Try ‘Deadly, Unna? (Deadly eh?’) at the next exhibition opening. Australian kids used to ride deadly treadlys (bikes). Malvern Stars were OK but Dean Toselands deadly. Like art, all bikes are surface and symbol. But deadly dull. Change in the Weather. Oil on canvas, 122 x 153 cm
DESIRE An ‘A list’ term sprinkled freely within art discourse (see Discourse). Use with discretion as has multiple applications according to context such as male gaze, body as projection and fetishisation. According to Derrida our relationship to an art image may be linked to our desire to return it to its maker. Makes you think doesn’t it? Sometimes seen in the company of Revulsion with mixed results. DISCOURSE Occupies contested (see Contested) territory somewhere between the verbal and the visual. This ‘master’ (see Master Terms) term allows the user to write or speak at great length about anything on the basis that things aren’t all that they seem. Or is it that they are more than they seem? Or not what they seem? Help is on hand: ‘How do I know what I think until I see what I say?’ E. M. Forster.
Consider: American artist Jenny Holzer ‘s Lustmord installation. Skeletal remains arranged on tabletops confronted viewers when shown in Adelaide in 1998. Powerful viewing experience but too close to the bone? (see deflection).
Overview
I
Overlaying a grid onto his landscape represents the idea of a clash between man and the environment. He says, “I am hoping that the grid with its overlay of human forms – straight lines, verticals and horizontals – is like a mapping or a GPS overlay. It creates a contradiction in the normal way of representing landscape which is via atmospheric, spatial perspective.”
Stewart has spent most of the last 15 years moving around Australia and nature is very important to him. “I am a keen bush walker and beach stroller and I feel if I haven’t had an experience of nature in a day then my day is a little bit empty,” he says. In his paintings Stewart uses a grid and paints the landscape
Stewart chooses to take an aerial perspective of the landscape because he likes the idea of floating above it. “I love the distance it achieves and miniaturising human scale, trying to get that spatial comparison. You get all the grid lines and road lines and rivers all sort of crossing each other,” he says. Most of Stewart’s works are composed from photographs taken through commercial air travel. He has on occasion taken flights specifically to shoot the landscape but generally they are from images he has taken during his travels around the country creating an element of chance.
BY JANE LLEWELLYN
n the current political climate it must be difficult for artists working in the landscape genre not to make some comment on climate change - whether they are a sceptic or a believer. Landscape painter Mark Stewart prefers a soft approach. “I try not to make my art too dogmatic. But I am hoping gently in the titles I can suggest ways of thinking about the work,” he explains. “Suggestions that we are tweaking with the landscape, that we are tweaking with our environment.”
P R O F E S S I O N A L I S M AT L E I S U R E
commences
12 February For full programme contact Peter Bok
8346 2600 bapea@aapt.net.au
51 Wood Avenue Brompton SA 5007 T - 08 8346 2600 E - bapea@aapt.net.au http://people.aapt.net.au/~bapea
Christmas Gift Vouchers Available Beginners & Advanced Drawing Life Drawing Portrait Drawing Painting the Figure & Portraiture Beginner’s Painting General Painting Watercolours & Pen & Ink Figure Sculpture in Clay
$235 $280 $280 $310 $265 $265 $235 $310
Christmas Exhibition
The landscapes he produces are representational but also abstract. “I love the way that the fields will provide a patchwork, that is something of a geometric abstraction. It’s something [aerial perspective] I feel like I am still exploring, it’s got a long way to go.” The ongoing debate on climate change and what impact we have had on the environment allows Stewart to explore the topic. He says, “I think I will be continuing to explore the aerial abstract view of the landscape. I want to somehow combine that spatial exploration of traditional/representational landscape and then that geometric abstraction of looking at it from above, as a flattened surface.”
» Mark Stewart Overview Hill Smith Gallery Continues until December 14 hillsmithgallery.com.au
•
until 24 December
Andrea Fiebig, Sweet Apples, hand blown glass, 22cm high, $180 each
ART SCHOOL & GALLERY
2014 Term1
from an aerial perspective. “I am trying to show that the landscape we now experience is always mediated by technology.”
...it’s apples! 32 The Parade Norwood Mon-Fri 9-5.30 Sat 10-5 Sun 2-5 t. 8363 0806 www.artimagesgallery.com.au
46 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
Photo: Courtesy Studebaker National Museum, South Bend, Indiana
VISUAL ARTS post-war America (created by the need to house the millions of returning soldiers and their families). It was the perfect climate for a design and building revolution – particularly in California thanks in part to its buoyant economy, the many big-name architects and designers who lived there (including European émigrés, Neutra, Rudolph Schindler and Greta Magnusson Grossman and natives Millard Sheets, the Eames team and Alvin Lustig) and the benign climate that supported the coveted indoor/ outdoor lifestyle. Says Kaplan: “There was the incredible freedom of having the backyard, the pool, and the patio being an extended living room, which really changed the way people occupied space, making it a much more informal way of life, and in doing so, creating the need for different kinds of furniture and clothing.”
Raymond Loewy for Studebaker Corporation. Avanti automobile (image from company brochure) designed 1961,manufactured 1963–64.
Modern Living BY WENDY CAVENETT
C
alifornia Design 1930–1965: Living in a Modern Way – currently showing at the Brisbane Art Gallery – introduces Australian audiences to an era of accelerated change experienced in California in the decades before the war, but particularly during and after World War II. The exhibition traces this cultural and design epoch through more than 250 architectural, industrial, fashion and craft design objects that were made, in part, from war industry technologies and a particularly cooperative spirit that gave rise to a distinct form of modernism – “a loose, albeit clearly recognisable, group of ideas” – that is this exhibition’s focus. Curated by Wendy Kaplan, Department Head and Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and her colleague, Associate Curator, Bobbye Tigerman, California Design breathes life into an era many remember or still experience vicariously through mid-century modern films or the popular Mad
Men series. In the gallery space, this collection of objects and artefacts creates a dynamic social and cultural history that celebrates human endeavour and the utopian spirit that every age seems to produce, yet few reflect so vividly in its everyday products and philosophies. Objects such as Mattel Inc’s very first Barbie doll, the Charles and Ray Eames-designed moulded plywood chair, and Mary Ann DeWeese’s 1961 spandex and lycra woven stars and stripes woman’s swimsuit, reflect both the playfulness and optimism of this era as much as the idea that good, affordable design for the masses is paramount, perfectly illustrating the Eames’s famous quip: ‘The best for the most for the least.’ First to be seen are two key examples of California modernism, known for its unadorned, functional, and exquisitely realised objects and design vocabularies – a stunning 1964 champagne-coloured, luxury coupé
Studebaker Avanti, and secondly (and most remarkably) a shiny 1936 ‘Clipper’ trailer, its riveted aluminium casing (featured on aircraft fuselage) an aesthetic and design wonder, its futuristic, shimmering surface not out of place in the gallery’s clean, contemporary spaces. Enter the exhibition proper and four thematic sections reflect the rich curatorial threads: ‘Shaping’, which traces the emergence of California modernism; ‘Making’, with its focus on manufacture and production; ‘Living’, featuring housing, home interiors, and possibly the bedrock of California modernism – the indoor/outdoor ideal; and lastly, ‘Selling California Modern’, which tracks advertising and commerce because, as featured architectural photographer Julius Shulman once asserted: “Good design is seldom accepted. It has to be sold.” According to Kaplan, World War II produced the technology to make floor-to-ceiling windows, and the all-important steel framing that revolutionised housing design. Arts & Architecture (1929-1967) was a big supporter of residential steel, championing its use by sponsoring the Case Study House program, which commissioned numerous bigname architects (including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, and Charles and Ray Eames) to design and build low-cost but practical model homes to help service the housing crisis of
mark stewart overview 28 November - 14 December 2013 www.hillsmithgallery.com.au
Kaplan is quick to point out that while it was a period of unprecedented prosperity and optimism, the threat of nuclear annihilation felt real. Gilbert Adrian’s two-piece black dress from The Atomic 50s collection is a great example of using design to assuage people’s fears, Kaplan says, and is one of the many fashion highlights of the exhibition, as is the golden Margit Fellegi Woman’s swimsuit (1950) – probably made as promotion for Esther Williams’ 1952 movie, Million Dollar Mermaid – and the superb twopiece Swoon Suit (1942). California Design – a landmark exhibition tracing one of the great cultural and design epochs in America’s contemporary history – finds the perfect home in the Queensland Art Gallery, and promises to enthral Australian audiences who will no doubt relate to this optimistic, fun-in-the-sun, middle-class utopia that produced – to borrow Frank Lloyd Wright’s apt description – “beautiful [and affordable] forms for human use”.
» California Design 1930–1965: Living In A Modern Way shows at the Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, until February 9, 2014. qagoma.qld.gov.au/californiadesign
The Adelaide Review December 2013 47
adelaidereview.com.au
VISUAL ARTS
Into the Unknown
through to Matthew Flinders’ brilliant charting of Australia in 1814. Not only maps: a variety of instruments of knowledge and navigation are on display, including globes, atlases and scientific devices, some drawn from our own national collections. A highlight among these treasures is the Fra Mauro from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, a two-metre hand-painted disc world that leaves Italy for the first time – its maiden voyage now after 600 years.
Mapping Our World at the National Library of Australia, Canberra.
by William Charles
The Fra Mauro, a large circular planisphere, is drawn on parchment and mounted on wood in a square frame. Unusually for medieval European maps, it is oriented with south at the top. It was created by Fra Mauro, a Camaldulian monk from the island of Murano.
Maps serve to represent not just the known but, even more enticingly, the unknown. In centuries past maps swelled at their corners with beasts and demons, guarding the uncharted deeps and uncrossed mountain chains, denizens of lands of terror, ignorance and death. The unmappable was a truly awful void; even Satan in Hell had his inscribed place within Dante’s ever-descending, contracting circles of pain. The map has, paradoxically, no boundary: it can represent both factual landscapes and imaginary ones with equal exactitude. While maps allow us to tie and section the world, rope it away behind boundaries, measure its contents and chart its treasures and dangers, chart its points of home and reassurance, at
T’Arts Collective
Photo: Adrian Lambert
M
apping can be as simple a thing as X marks the spot – an element of children’s games – and is usually taken for granted given its sheer ubiquity and multiple forms. Yet mapping represents one of the finest conceptual achievements of civilization – a transfer of three dimensional geographic (and abstract mental) space and environment into a specifically designed (usually) two dimensional representation. Maps tell the story of our world and how we navigate it, and what tools are at our disposal to do so. Maps are windows into the art, aesthetics, scientific development and moral universe of their creators, and are like crosssectional samples taken from ice or wood: each reveals the conditions of the time in which it came into being.
Petrus PLANCIUS. Plancius World Map 1594, 1594. Hand coloured engraving. Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth.
the same time they allow us to create entire worlds anew, worlds without necessary or rational limit. Maps delight with their colours: empires at a glance, voids of blue; swathes of pink across colonial ambition and desire. Maps invite challenge, conflict and endless dispute: lines drawn across desert sands or over rebellious mountain ranges divide people by cartographic concept and governmental expedience rather than ethnographic reality. Wars are fought over scraps of territory; neighbourhood gangs define the limits of their influence; real estate prices fluctuate on either side of the lines we draw. Little, it seems, remains unmapped in our obsessively technological world: distant galaxies perhaps; the deeps of the oceans; the centre of our planet; desire; the contours of the human heart. But what maps inspired the idea of Australia? In Manning Clark’s History of
MAGPIE SPRINGS P R E S E N T S
Gays Arcade (off Adelaide Arcade)
Exciting artist run contemporary gallery / shop in the heart of Adelaide.
Australia we read of Javanese who “on finding the current carrying them southward... abandoned their junks and rowed for shore in fear of being drawn into the abyss of Pausengi from which there was no return.” How did the concept of the Great Southern Land emerge from suspicion, hint and fantasy into reality? Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia, recently opened at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, brings together the finest collection of historic maps yet assembled in Australia that together chart the coming of our region into the modern, European consciousness – our austral terra incognita slowly incorporated into the rational northern mind. This is the first time many of these maps have been seen in Australia, rarely coming out of their European vaults. The British Library, the Vatican and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France have all lent treasures that (practically and conceptually) map the journey from ancient and medieval ideas of what lay at the lower ends of the earth,
Other highlights include the map that first made the Pacific an ocean – Hessel Gerritsz’s Mar Pacifico, Mar del Sur, on loan from the Bibliotheque Nationale De France; Hendrick Doncker’s The Sea Atlas (1659) with its gold-leaf illustrations and fantastic guesses as to parts of the world yet undiscovered; an 1842-printed Cosmographia by Ptolemy; beautiful medieval Christian and Islamic maps; and secret maps of Australia commissioned by the Dutch East India company, before completing the journey with examples from Captain James Cook, Louis de Freycinet and Matthew Flinders. The National Library in Canberra is the exclusive Australian venue for this exhibition which runs for a strictly limited season. The exhibition coincides with both the national capital’s centenary year and the bicentenary of Matthew Flinders’ map of Australia in 2014.
»»Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia is on show now at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, until March 10, 2014. The exhibition is free but bookings are essential. nla.gov.au/exhibitions/mapping-our-world
ROYAL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ARTS INC. RSASA Members’ Summer Exhibition: Summer Daze
Window display will run from December 1 to December 31
Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm Phone 8232 0265
www.tartscollective.com.au
Warm Rocks, watercolour by Coralie Armstrong
Rules of Colour by Julie Frahm
Journey by Carolanne Wasley
6 Dec – 12 Jan 2014 Art Market will be held Sun 8 Dec till Christmas, artworks under $200
ImpressIons In Watercolour
A mix of artworks in a daze of summer, paintings, mixed media, photographs, textiles, prints & sculptures
Exhibition by Alan Ramachandra
RSASA Summer School workshops: 6 – 30 January 2014
Exhibition Dates 15th Dec - 27th Jan Workshop dates 11-12 Jan $190 booking info@magpies.com.au Demostration 19 Jan - 2pm
Tutors: Roe Gartelmann, Alan Ramachandran, Gerhard Ritter, Margaret Tuckey, Sophie Hann, Arthur Phillips, David Braun, Russell Boyd. Check out www.rsasarts.com.au for entry forms.
1870 Brookman Rd Hope Forrest 8556 7351
Where: RSASA Gallery, Level 1, Institute Bldg, Cnr North Tce & Kintore Ave, Adelaide. Mon – Friday 10.30 – 4.00pm, Sat & Sun 1 – 4.00pm. Closed public holidays & over Christmas break till 2nd Jan 2014 For more information: Bev Bills, Director, RSASA Office: 8232 0450 or 0415 616 900.
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.
48 The Adelaide Review December 2013
VISUAL ARTS
Trenton 1933, Burbank 1947, London 1820, Santa Fe 1937. All works are 2013, oil on panel, 25 x 20cm
Profile:
Daryl Austin by Jane Llewellyn
D
aryl Austin is messing with our minds in his current exhibition at Greenaway Gallery. He’s taking the fundamentals of portraiture and turning it on its head. The images have a vintage feel and titles like Dublin 1911 leaving the viewer wondering, is it a portrait of a real person from Dublin in 1911 or something else? On closer inspection you realise there
is something skew-whiff - the subjects have different coloured eyes, they are all distorted. “I have constructed them so they all kind of have a vintage photo look. Except once you start looking closer you realise it’s all constructed, it’s all made up basically.”
at them and at some point think, `They all can’t have different coloured eyes, so what’s that about?’” He is questioning portraits and photos, what’s real and what’s not and our acceptance of an image because of preconceived notions.
Titled Fictions the exhibition focuses on the idea that everyone believes photos and photo portraits. “These portraits are constructed and smashed together and they become new people, they have never existed,” he explains. “I have given titles to them of what they might be and times, I have no idea if that’s the case.”
Austin hasn’t always focused on portraits, having previously looked more at the subject of painting itself. “I guess since about 2006 my work has been getting more naturalistic. I have been learning the skills of painting more naturalistically.” Austin felt the best way to do this was through portraiture which would make him even more engaged with the act of painting.
Austin wants to show people that just because it’s a portrait, and it looks like someone, that doesn’t necessarily make it a good portrait. “One of the works, Minnesota 1927 has an albino eye and a pale blue eye. It’s about having that point of difference where people can look
Austin is particularly interested in painting people and the audiences’ reaction to these paintings. “The trouble is most people’s perception is, `Why would I want a picture of someone I don’t know on the wall? It’s not a member of my family.’ As soon as it becomes
something not real, or something else is going on, people’s perceptions change.” The whole basis of this body of work is to turn the focus around from the portrait itself, to it being seen for its value as a painting. “That is one of the difficulties with portraiture, that the primary aim seems to be about a likeness of someone and never about it being a painting. I’m trying to swing it around so it’s an interesting painting and sure it’s someone but it’s not a real someone. Or it could potentially be a real someone.”
»»Daryl Austin Fictions Greenaway Art Gallery Continues until Friday, December 20 darylaustin.com
A coMbINAtIoN of StRENGth
Art Exhibition 8 December 2013 – 26 January 2014
by Amanda Hyatt & Mel Brigg
zen like watercolours and oils with spiritual overtones.
DAVID SUMNER GALLERY 359 Greenhill Road Toorak Gardens Ph: 8332 7900
Claire Ishino, Haru-1, gouache on illustration board, 15x15cm
Tues to Fri 11-5 | Sat to Sun 2-5 www.david-sumner-gallery.com
Art Market 12-5pm 8 December 2013
The Empty Bowl by Mel Brigg
Couta Boat by Amanda Hyatt
Opening on 8th Dec
Elodie Barker, Cathy Brooks, Susanna Brown, Lianne Gould, Erin Harrald, Claire Ishino, Leo Neuhofer, Stephanie JamesManttan, Sophia Phillips, Di Radomski, Paul Tait, Yvonne Twining, John Ullinger, Erika Walter
1 Thomas Street (cnr Main North Road) Nailsworth
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 49
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE CHEESE MATTERS
am forbidden to make the same cheese and have it commercially available for consumers who wish to buy it. Nobody in their right mind would want to produce anything that could be harmful to eat, that is why we have food safety systems and they most definitely have their place. However, if I am prepared to make raw milk cheese within a tight food safety framework and test it before I release it for sale – and if the cheese is microbiologically safe – why then can I not have the choice to make and sell this product?
Raw BY KRIS LLOYD
O
riol Urgell, a Barcelona cheese expert, recently paid me a visit at the cheese factory in Woodside. His experience spans for more than 20 years with the Spanish and EU dairy industries; he is also an accomplished cheese judge. His purpose in Australia was primarily to visit cheese makers to assist them with technical aspects of their craft and their facilities. I took Oriol through a Woodside Cheese Wrights degustation in order to gain insights about our cheese making standards given his vast judging experience. One cheese stood out for him and perhaps came as no surprise. Our raw milk version of the semi-hard goat-milk cheese we call Figaro. His brow furrowed in deep concentration before he said, “This is the best cheese I have tasted all year. This is very good, it is elegant but has length of flavour and is very complex, I am very happy to taste this.” I had to explain that this cheese was only for tasting, it is not commercially available due to our current Food
Safety Standards regulations laid down by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand. I have been making raw milk cheese for more than 10 years for my own interest and use. I have conducted many blind tastings over this period with individuals across many disciplines who I consider to have excellent palates. When I make these cheeses I ensure they are made from the same milk source on the same day; one batch raw, one batch pastuerised and finally matured in identical conditions for the same length of time. Interestingly all the findings have consistently pointed to the raw milk version as a complex and
more dynamic offering with length of flavour and a slight paste colour variation. When travelling, this is also consistent with my own experience with raw milk cheese. I personally would like to have the choice of making raw milk cheese and I believe the consumer should also have the choice to purchase raw milk cheese. It puzzles me somewhat, that I can purchase raw milk Roquefort legally in Australia. It is made in France, using French milk from somewhere, by an unknown French cheese maker, shipped to Australia over several days and it is all quite legal. I, on the other hand, a reasonably well-known Australian cheese maker, who can point to the local milk source and ship to retailers next day,
Currently there is a clause in the Standard that allows a version of raw milk cheese making, which is a step in the right direction, however, it is not true raw milk cheese making and it does not allow styles such as Roquefort, which are higher in moisture and softer, to be produced. While I am working within that framework to bring my version of raw milk Figaro, which we will name Greedy Goat, to market I have had to change the way I produce the cheese to meet the criteria and obviously the result is different.
» Kris Lloyd is Woodside Cheese Wrights’ Head Cheese Maker woodsidecheese.com.au
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50 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
ULTIMATE BACKYARD PARTY Barrio is dead. Long live Lola’s Pergola – Adelaide Festival’s 2014 party destination where chefs and winemakers will be the stars. BY DAVID KNIGHT
S
outh Australia’s gastronomic scene is the most exciting it’s been for years with quality new eateries such as Peel St, Jock Zonfrillo’s Street-ADL and Orana, the re-opening of Magill Estate, as well as the recognition of innovative restaurants such as Hentley Farm and Bistro Dom. These establishments are complemented by the buzz of street food and laneway destinations resulting in a scene that caters for the high end, the experimental hunters, as well as the street. Bistro Dom’s Head Chef Duncan Welgemoed, who was just named Adelaide’s chef of the year by The Advertiser, will showcase this new food wave at Adelaide Festival’s Lola’s Pergola: a nightspot where you can indulge in high quality degustation meals and enjoy the theatre of cooking from some of the best chefs from SA and beyond. The Adelaide Festival’s food and wine-driven after-hours destination is from the team behind Barrio’s The Naughty Corner and Neon Lobster, The Happy Motel (the culinary arts collective that
Duncan Welgemoed
Welgemoed joined this year). Barrio and Lola Pergola’s Creative Director Ross Ganf approached Welgemoed about this year’s Adelaide Festival club after a controversial dinner the Bistro Dom chef created for The Naughty Corner called Roadkill in Snowtown. For Lola’s, the Michael North trained chef suggested the team throw parties like Welgemoed and his food and wine mates do up in the Adelaide Hills with “incredible winemakers and wicked food” that is not like every other food and wine event in this state. The result: First Fruit – 10 degustation dinners that will be Lola’s Pergola’s signature series of events. “We want to focus on the small guys that are unknown within the larger demographic,” Welgemoed explains. “To actually feature them and say, ‘Hey guys, we’ve got incredible winemakers and incredible chefs – let’s stop looking interstate and focus on our backyard’.” First Fruit will feature innovative local, national and international chefs using
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THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 51
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE local produce in conjunction with resident winemakers for the long-table dinners. Alongside Petaluma Wines, the winemakers include three of this state’s most dynamic in James Erskine (Jauma), Anton van Klopper (Domaine Lucci) and Brendon Keys (BK Wines) who are causing enormous ripples in the wine industry with their creative hand-crafted wines. “We’re basically giving them the stage to go crazy and really show themselves without having to be nice, corporate or reserved: ‘This is what we do. Here’s our booze. You don’t have to travel to the McLaren Vale or the Hills, check us out in our environment.’ I’d love to take people up to see the Jam Factory where James [Erskine] works or Anton’s [von Klopper] garage. People outside of that world don’t experience it. This is the recreation of that.” Unlike Barrio there will not be live bands at Lola’s. “It’s more focused on DJs with the chefs and winemakers being the performance artists and rock stars to a certain extent,” Welgemoed says. “That’s why the collaborations have to be noteworthy in terms of how mental it actually is, so it is a performance and it’s not like another Tasting Australia.” The Battle Royale dinner is the ideal event to check in with SA’s young talent. Hentley Farm’s Lachlan Colwill, Zac Ronayne (Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill), Ben Sommariva (Penny’s Hill), The Lane’s James Brinklow and Emma Shearer will battle it out in an Iron Cheflike event to see who can claim the new generation’s bragging rights. But this state’s cooking trailblazers aren’t forgotten, as The Old Boys degustation will feature Cheong Liew (The Grange), David Swain (Fino) and Mark McNamara (Appellation) to join forces for a dinner that celebrates their groundbreaking achievements.
On an international level, ex-Fat Duck chef Gavin Baker (now based in Melbourne) will be here with his Mist Project, where Baker immerses himself with locals so he can deliver a dinner that communicates his discoveries. In Adelaide, Baker will spend time with local winemakers. More international representatives are the team from Noma’s Nordic Food Lab who will partner with James Viles from NSW’s Biota Dining. Other nights of note include The Gypsy China Tea Party featuring Lee Ho Fook’s Victor Liong and his sister Ev, who will create a dinner of contemporary Chinese food with matched teas and whiskey. and Victorian Bitters starring two of Melbourne’s most exciting chefs: food legend Raymond Capaldi (Hare & Grace, Fenix) and young-gun Dave Verghaul (The Town Mouse). Then there’s Welgemoed’s night – Duncan’s Dungeon, which will see him collaborate with Rag and Bones for a degustation theme like no other. “Rag and Bones is an artist collective who are really into the underground art scene. I really want to show a subculture of South Australia, there’s a massive kink scene down here and a mental art scene as well. I want to show that side of Adelaide because it’s known for its weirdness and its dark underbelly.” The degustation dinners will cost $130 per person, but punters can flash less cash to experience the chefs’ creations, as every chef will create a retail food item available for Lola’s Pergola patrons not there for the degustation. “The retail kitchen will be pumping out to the public through the smokehouse, a Hills Hoist BBQ, which is a pit BBQ done with a Hills Hoist with loads of grills, charcoal and a pretty stoking menu, which is restaurant quality stuff. That’s where the Happy Motel comes into its own with killer concepts from James Brown [MASH and The Happy Motel] dressing the hell out of it.”
With Lola’s Pergola and First Fruit, Welgemoed wants Adelaide to recognise the innovative new guard that exists in their hometown. “Look at what Hentley Farm’s doing; Peel St, Street and what we’re [Bistro Dom] doing. Then there’s the bar scene, Clever Little Tailor, those guys are becoming individuals and are known for that. We’re not being known as a nice place to visit, we’re actually known as a destination – a food and wine destination.” All have not embraced this movement. Ann Oliver took to Twitter to criticise both Welgemoed and Colwill after they took out the major honours at the Advertiser Food Awards: “Give me a break Hentley Farm best restaurant South Australia and Duncan Welgemoed best chef no wonder no one flies into Adelaide just to eat,” she Tweeted. Welgemoed fired some colorful Tweets back to Oliver in response. The Bistro Dom chef said he didn’t care that Oliver had a go at he and Colwill but was angry at the comment “no wonder no one flies into Adelaide just to eat”. “Adelaide is actually small enough as a collective for everyone to stick together and promote South Australia. We still have that big country town mentality where we know everyone and we eat in each other’s places. It’s not like Melbourne and Sydney where it’s so massive and dynamic; we’re small enough to embrace it. Let’s do it. Let’s move forward and create something for us.”
Fruit First Program The Gypsy China Tea Party (Friday, February 28) featuring Victor (Lee Ho Fook) and Ev Liong (Whiskey & Alement) Terroir on the Table (Saturday, March 1): James Viles (Biota Dining) and Nordic Food Lab (Noma) Yakitori Sugar Pie (Sunday, March 2): Adam Liston (Borrowed Space) and Quang Nguyen The Misty Maker (Thursday, March 6): Gavin Baker (ex Fat Duck and The Mist Project) Mamma Shpagett (Friday, March 7): Jared Ingersoll (Danks Street Depot) and Alex Herbert (Bird Cow Fish) Battle Royale (Saturday, March 8): Zac Ronayne (Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill), Lachlan Colwill (Hentley Farm), Emma Shearer, Ben Sommariva (Penny’s Hill) and James Brinklow (The Lane) Appetite for Excellence (Sunday, March 9): Chloe Proud (Ethos), James Viles (Biota Dining) and Sonia Bandera (Rockpool) The Old Boys (Thursday, March 13): Cheong Liew (The Grange), David Swain (Fino) and Mark McNamara (Appellation) Victorian Bitters (Friday, March 14): Raymond Capaldi (Hare & Grace, Fenix) and Dave Verhaul (The Town Mouse)
» Lola’s Pergola Torrens Riverbank Friday, February 28 to Saturday, March 15 adelaidefestival.com.au
Duncan’s Dungeon (Saturday, March 15): Duncan Welgemoed (Bistro Dom), Imogen Czulowski (Fino) and Alpha Box & Dice
52 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
Food For Thought Relaxed Entertaining BY Annabelle Baker
I Lime Curd Tarts With Toasted Meringue • • • • • • • • •
Juice of six limes 1.5 Cups caster sugar 200g Butter – cubed 6 Eggs 24 Mini sweet pastry cases 4 Egg whites 1 Cup caster sugar ¼ Teaspoon cream of tartar Pinch of salt
1. Place the lime juice, caster sugar, butter and eggs into a bowl that can comfortably sit over
a pot of simmering water. Make sure that the simmering water does not touch the base of the bowl. 2. Use a whisk to stir the ingredients until the butter is combined and the mixture begins to thicken. You will know it is ready when the mixture holds a line on the back of a spoon. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least two hours but it will keep for at least a week. 3. Spoon the curd into the pastry cases. 4. Whisk the egg whites until frothy and then add the caster sugar, cream of tartar and pinch of salt, continue whisking until the mixture holds a stiff peak. 5. Pipe meringue ‘hats’ on top of the curd tarts. 6. Using a blowtorch, toast the meringue.
love the idea of entertaining at home but the reality is often a whole different experience. Gone are the days of formal sit down dinners with stifling table settings and pompous food. Entertaining is now much more relaxed and the formalities have almost disappeared. Relaxed entertaining is much more suited to our current lifestyles but effort is still required and the temptation of serving frozen finger food, in my opinion, should be avoided at all costs. Stand up functions are much easier to manage and have an organic relaxed vibe, the food is easy to prepare in advance and looks impressive arranged as the centerpiece of the party. Organising and hosting a party definitely needs to be approached without hesitation or fear and when you discover the winning formula for a great party, stick to it! Without being crammed in like sardines the trick to a good party is definitely a large amount of people in a small space – socialisation by default. Weather it is a glass of bubbles, cocktail or something virgin, giving guests a drink on arrival, instantly gets the party started. But for me it is all about the food and if you can get that right you are almost guaranteed success. A big party faux pas is the concept of finger food and how it is served. It should be, as the name suggests, eaten with your fingers and with ease. Attempting to juggle plates, drinks and napkins is never appreciated by guests and only discourages people from enjoying the food on offer. If you are going to serve food that has a certain element of DIY then access to table space should be provided, allowing guests to put their drink down and get stuck
Tomato Tart Tatin • • • • •
Adelaide Hills
www.wicksestate.com.au
12 Small vine ripened tomatoes 100g Caster sugar 50ml Red wine vinegar 2 Sheets puff pastry 100g Goat’s cheese
1. Cut the tomatoes in half and place onto a cake rack resting on a baking tray. 2. Place in an 80-degree oven for two hours. 3. Place the sugar in the middle of a small saucepan and gently pour water around the sugar creating a divider between the sugar and the sides of the pan.
in. I love a combination of bite size food that can be passed around the room and a table of more substantial food that allows hungry guests a place to frequent. Keep it easy for guests to access food and drinks and the rest will follow. Use food as the main attraction, decorate tables with rustic boards lined with bite-sized morsels and abundant platters that get your guests involved.
Twitter.com/annabelleats Styling and props by Tania Saxon, The Prop Dept
4. Turn the heat on to medium and avoid the temptation to stir. 5. When the sugar starts to resemble golden caramel carefully add the vinegar. The mixture will take a couple of minutes to come back together. 6. Leave to reduce for three to five minutes until the mixture becomes thick and glossy. 7. Remove the caramel from the heat and leave to cool for five minutes. 8. Spoon the caramel on a baking tray in circles roughly the same size as the tomatoes. 9. Place the tomatoes upside down onto the caramel. 10. Cut 24 circles out of the puff pastry sheets, two sizes larger than the tomatoes.
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 53
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FOOD.WINE.COFFEE Moroccan Lamb Filo Bites • • • • • • • • • • • • •
1 Brown onion 1 Garlic clove Extra virgin olive oil 10 Medjool dates 2 Tablespoon currants 500g Lamb mince 2 Tablespoons of apricot jam 6 Tablespoons ras el hanout 2 Eggs 5 Sheets of filo pastry 50g Melted butter Salt and pepper 24 Blanched almonds
Method 1. Finely dice the brown onion and garlic clove. 2. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat with a splash of olive oil and cook the onion and garlic until soft; set aside to cool. 3. Finely chop the dates and currants and soften in two tablespoons of recently boiled water. 4. In a large mixing bowl add the mince, apricot jam, ras el hanout, eggs and softened onions, garlic, currents and dates with a large pinch of salt and pepper. Mix until well-combined – clean hands will give you the best result. Leave to rest in the fridge until required.
Potato Rosti with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche • • • • • • •
2 Large potatoes 2 Teaspoons sea salt 2 Spring onions 40ml Melted butter 200g Smoked salmon 200ml Crème fraiche Dill sprigs
1. Grate two large potatoes and place in a colander lined with a thin tea towel.
11. Place the puff pastry over the tomatoes and gently convince the pastry to tightly cover the tomato with your fingers. 12. Bake in a 200-degree preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
2. Finely slice the spring onions and add to the draining potatoes. 3. Sprinkle with the sea salt and leave to sit for 10 minutes. 4. Ring out the potato mixture over a sink, removing as much liquid as possible. 5. Combine the drained potatoes with the melted butter. 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. 7. Using a medium-sized cookie cutter place a large teaspoon of the mix inside the mould to create a tight circle. 8. Bake in a 190-degree preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. 9. Cool on a wire rack and serve with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and dill for garnish.
13. Leave to rest for five minutes and then carefully turn them upside down using a knife or spatula. 14. Crumble a small amount of goat’s cheese onto each tart and serve warm from the oven or at room temperature.
5. Place the first sheet of filo pastry onto a clean work surface and brush with a thin layer of melted butter. Repeat the process for the remaining four sheets leaving the top layer without a layer of butter. 6. Lightly grease a mini-muffin tray with oil spray. 7. Using a cookie cutter that is two sizes larger than the muffin size, cut 24 circles from
the filo sheet. 8. Place the filo circles into the tin, molding them into cups. 9. Spoon or pipe the lamb mixture into the cups until slightly higher than the side of the tin. 10. Garnish each one with a blanched almond. 11. Bake at 190 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.
54 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
Hot 10 100 Wine Wines
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN
2013 HOT 100
SA WINES RESULTS The judges of the annual The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wines publication and wine show judged an Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir South Australia’s top wine of 2013.
T
he winning wine, Lofty Valley Wines’ 2012 Steeped Pinot Noir, was described as the “ultimate experience in drinkability” by the judges. The Adelaide Hills wine led the way for the booming wine region, which once again dominated the Top 10, as well as the other awards, including The Le Cordon Bleu Award for Best Aromatic Light to Medium Bodied White Wine with Texture. This prize went to Paracombe Wines’ 2013 Pinot Gris. BK Wines’ Skin n’ Bones White 2012, also from the Adelaide Hills, won TAFE SA’s inaugural Dreamers and Believers Award, as the wine that pushed the boundaries stylistically. Led by Chief of Judges James Erskine, the 19 judges from all over the country blindtasted around 1100 South Australian wines to discover 2013’s most drinkable wines. The full list of the hottest 100 wines is available in the free publication The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wines 2013/14, which is available now.
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 55
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d
an
ine exp d W er
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Lofty Valley Wines Steeped Pinot Noir 2012 Adelaide Hills
d’Arenberg The Noble Prankster Chardonnay Semillon 2010 Adelaide Hills
Loomwine Long Yarn Riesling 2013 Eden Valley
Shobbrook WInes Syrah 2012 Barossa Valley
Wicks Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 Adelaide Hills
THE TOP 10
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lo
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Regency gastRonomic adventuRes se
Who
like
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The Regency Gastronomic Adventures is an exciting new food program showcasing TAFE SA’s finest food lecturers and South Australia’s culinary talents offering gourmet short courses. Classes are run at TAFE SA’s Regency International Centre, a world-class facility that delivers training in cookery, hospitality management, patisserie, bakery, butchery, tourism and food processing. The Centre has a state-of-theart brewery, an Artisan Cheese Academy, coffee academy and a winery.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
St Hallett Old Vine Grenache 2012 Barossa Valley
ess&see Chardonnay No1 2012 Adelaide Hills
Mosquito Hill Blanc de Blancs Sparkling 2010 Southern Fleurieu
Woodstock Wine Estate The OCTOgenarian Grenache Tempranillo 2011 McLaren Vale
Woodstock Wine Estate Little Miss Collett Moscato 2013 McLaren Vale
Some of these courses include: Cheese, beer, artisan bread, smallgoods production Interactive ‘master’ cooking / patisserie class demonstrations Corporate kitchen, developing work team bonding sessions Food and wine degustation including ‘luxury wine and cheese matching’ Festive Cheer - Christmas cooking at its best
For Bookings: www.eventopia.co/rga Other inquiries: 08 8348 4446 or email regencyhospitality@tafesa.edu.au
tafesa.edu.au
56 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
A Whole New World
Hand Made Winemaker Brendon Keys is the toast of this year’s Hot 100 SA Wines with three drops in the annual wine publication including the winning wine, Lofty Valley Wines’ Steeped Pinot Noir.
Switch Wine’s Vanessa Altmann returned to the Hot 100 SA Wines judging team this year after her first experience changed her approach to winemaking.
K
eys, who runs BK Wines with his wife Kirsty, as well as the Altamont Wine Studio, was stunned after the awards were announced. “Speechless – as you could probably tell from my prepared speech which consisted of ‘Holy shit’.”
by Vanessa Altmann
A
fter three days of stained red teeth and cultural adventure, The Adelaide Review Hot 100 SA Wines experience is one that challenges and engages the assessors to view wine differently. The judges not only assess the technical aspect of the wine’s quality but also dig deeper to truly experience each drop. Whether we drink wine socially or formally assess it, the Hot 100 acknowledges that our consumption doesn’t occur in a vacant space but is actually bursting with outside influences. But what if we took this experience a step further, as drinkers and judges, to embrace the cultural essence of wine, which is equal to its technical quality? A whole new world opened for me as a winemaker after my first Hot 100 experience. A stronger connection emerged between my culture and the wines as an expression of my surroundings, values and influences. This connection is part of the Hot 100 experience. Wine assessors are immersed in
by David Knight
Vanessa Altmann
a vast spectrum of culture, from street food and fine dining experiences to visits to Adelaide’s Museum of Economic Botany and the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. This city’s culture surrounds us. It is the song in my head, the memories of shared meals and wine. A wine assessor’s palate is not only made up of taste buds, but also a connection to the mind and heart, which is fuelled by experiences from the past and hopes for the future. It is the realisation that each judge’s interpretation of wine quality will vary from the judge standing next to them, or taken in another context, the person who is sitting beside them in a wine bar. With these fresh insights I took my wine home, away from the lab, and put it back on my family’s table. I began to embrace this connection to culture as the wines I created evolved; it was a conscious production shift to live each wine as it was created. This has completely changed the intent and my interaction with each parcel of fruit. This shift
The Hot 100 Launch The InterContinental hosted the launch of The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wines publication on Thursday, November 7. Channel 9’s Will McDonald was the master of ceremonies while guests enjoyed music from the State Opera and the Adelaide Youth Orchestra’s String Quartet.
Photos Andreas Heuer
» TO SEE MORE IMAGES VISIT ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
in focus allowed the wines to lead me along their journey, to be present as they evolved and I find new ways to relate to my love of wine and celebrate its diversity. I embarked on a new kind of wine this year, a wine to reflect the value of connections to what we drink and how this interplays with the community. Organic fruit was grown and picked by friends – fermented whole white grapes on skin, with stalk – and finally handbottled in the same place. The vibrancy of South Australia’s food, wine, music and culture do not exist as individual threads, but are among many weaved through our community fuelling much richness. The Hot 100 SA Wines brings a new momentum to our conversation around what culture means to each of us and is imprinted in the minds and hearts of those engaged and revitalised by its celebration of South Australia.
switchwine.com.au
Aside from the winning Pinot Noir, other Keys wines in the Hot 100 are BK Wines’ Gower 2012 Pinot Noir and Skin n’ Bones 2012 White, which took out the inaugural TAFE SA Dreamers and Believers Award. The judges called the Steeped Pinot Noir “the ultimate experience in drinkability”. “I always try to make a wine that makes you want a second glass and I think a better wine is one that makes you feel the bottle is empty way sooner than it should be. So if that’s drinkability then, yes [it is an aim when making wine]. But I think you need to be careful about the word drinkability – if it implies that the wine is simplistic and doesn’t make you think then, no. I want to make wines that people want to pick up and talk about – talk about the style, about where it comes from – and wines you want to share with friends.” Keys has been Lofty Valley Wines’ (owned by Brian Gilbert) winemaker since 2010 and he drives these wines in a direction that suits Gilbert’s personality whereas with BK he pushes “so many more boundaries because it’s my own risk”.
The Adelaide Review December 2013 57
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HOT 100 like Lofty Valley my job is to make the best product with the material that’s brought to me. As James Erskine [fellow winemaker] would say, ‘I help to bring someone else’s dream to reality’. After I’ve done my work, my clients go on tour and promote their own albums.”
Brendon Keys.
“What I’ll say about Lofty Valley is that Brian came to me with awesome fruit. It’s a spectacular vineyard and I’m psyched to work with the fruit and with Brian. I’m excited to see where this vineyard goes over the next 10 years. I think we’re only just seeing the potential of this vineyard – it’s still so young, it has a lot more to give.”
another month, tasting it every day until I liked the balance and then pressed it off to barrel like you would a red wine. What you end up with is a spicy, tannic white wine with driving acidity. A bit of Chardonnay was added to contribute creamy roundness – Savagnin is like a staircase with hard edges; you add a small amount of Chardonnay and that fills in the gaps to make a gentle slope.
A BK wine that pushes the boundaries is the Skin n’ Bones Pinot Noir, which won the inaugural TAFE SA Dreamers and Believers award.
“The award is a nice honour but I’m not experimenting for the sake of experimentation – I’m pushing the boundaries to make the best possible product from what we have. So if the wine is viewed as unique and leaves an impression and if that exposes more people to the variety and a different style of wine, then that’s fantastic.”
“The story behind this wine is that Savagnin was mistakenly introduced into Australia as Albariño and after it was widely planted the CSIRO discovered the error and everyone ripped it out, leaving only a small amount. Savagnin is predominantly grown in the Jura region of France and I’ve always liked those wines and I didn’t think anyone had given it a fair chance here – it was just ripped out when really we should have experimented with it. When I tasted the fruit for this wine in the vineyard the juice wasn’t terribly interesting – all of the flavour, the spice, everything interesting was in the skins, so there I thought the best way to get all of that character out of the grape was to make it like a red wine. “The fruit was brought to the winery, put into a red fermenter and punched down twice a day like you would a red to extract the flavour from the skins. After it fermented for seven days I allowed it to sit on skins in the fermenter for
Keys launched BK Wines in 2007. The winery has a rock‘n’roll edge to it with the experimental aesthetic and BK’s hand made mantra, which also serves as the winery’s unforgettable knuckle tattoo logo. Keys also runs the Altamont Wine Studio, named after the infamous Rolling Stones headlined 1969 concert. “I had been at another winery before Altamont but in 2012 I needed a new home to make my wine and other peoples’ so the concept of Altamont Wine Studio was born. If you make an analogy with the music industry, Altamont is like an independent commercial studio and I’m the producer. I can take my own project in its own direction but with something
With an objective to “produce super natural low tech wines with amplification” Keys believes the Australian wine industry is in a state of flux and reinvention with winemakers of his ilk being recognised across the country and internationally. Aside from the Hot 100 honours, James Halliday’s Wine Companion, which included a five-star rating, named BK Wines as one of the Top 10 Dark Horses of 2013 and The Huffington Post, of all places, covered him earlier this year. “The best analogy to understand what’s happening is the skateboard movie, Dogtown and Z-Boys. The protagonists in that film – the Z-Boys – that’s whose coming to the fore in the Australian wine industry now – maybe even throughout the whole of the global industry. In the mid-70s, skateboarding was very conservative, then the Z-Boys came to the surface and had such a different approach; they had style and no one knew how to judge or understand it. What that did, though, was change skateboarding utterly to what it is today. “In the wine industry, success until very recently, has been very conservative and has meant ticking all of the varietal boxes at the wine shows. But along comes a show like the Hot 100 and recognises that, out there in the industry, it’s all being turned on its head – it’s not just about variety any longer, it’s about style. There’s a change happening in the industry and the easiest thing to do would be to reject it. And the Hot 100 is still pretty much the only place you can express these types of wines and get recognition – but they need a platform and this is a great place to start. This is the future of the industry. The Z-Boys have arrived.”
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58 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
The Nature of Coffee by Derek Crozier
Coffee Central by Derek CrozieR
B
ar 9 Central exudes a warm homely feel needed when escaping the daily city grind. With children’s books serving as menus and old house doors attached to the counter, the décor, menus and staff are inviting. But you know this place is serious when you see the long Synesso espresso
machine up the front. Bar 9 Central uses Five Senses coffee and Tweedvale milk to give you that ‘boutique in the city’ experience. It was very busy on the day I arrived but the barista was still able to chat about coffee, which is a good sign that they know exactly
N what they’re doing. He offered me a sun dried Panama Boquete Lerida for my espresso, which he handed to me straight over the machine. The acidity was bright and pleasant with hints of peaches coming through in the aroma. The latte was a blend called Black Label, which was made up of Serra Negra (Brazil), Colombian Asprounion and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Kochere. The crema sat beautifully around the latte art of a rosetta leaf and the taste of caramelised nuts was predominant at first but then came the chocolate berry aftertaste.
ature’s Providore provides a marriage of organic fresh food with a boutique level of coffee. It has the feel of a farmers’ market upon entry but as soon as you approach the counter there stands a passionate barista with two coffee grinders ready to go. There’s ample indoor seating and a relaxed feel to the venue that doesn’t make you want to leave after that last sip. They keep the coffee exciting by trying different beans weekly and seasonally from around the world supplied by The Barun. The well-educated barista suggested I try the Kenyan Mugaga for my espresso. His explanation of the tasting profile for that
Bar 9 Central uses fresh local produce and is a good location for when you’re in need of decent coffee while shopping or on a break. I noticed the barista was watching me closely as I sipped my espresso and knocked back my latte, which tells me that they’re looking for that feedback to reach that perfection that boutiques aim for in the industry.
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THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 59
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FOOD.WINE.COFFEE CONSCIOUS FOOD AND WINE FIESTA
particular bean was spot on. There was a rich jam taste that was present in the aroma and the berry notes came through in the after taste. There was plenty of dark brown crema that was present until the end.
Held as part of the second Adelaide Transition Film Festival, the Conscious Food and Wine Fiesta was held on Friday, November 1.
The latte was made with Indonesia Sumatra beans and Tweedvale organic milk with an eight-leaf tulip as the latte art. It had a good mixture of dark brown shades on top, which held the taste of the crema all the way through. The Indonesian coffee’s sweet notes complemented the silky smooth milk and it all went down a treat. It’s great to see a place that supplies local, seasonal, organically-grown produce and a large selection of super foods and wellbeing products. Nature’s Providore is somewhere you can pop in, relax, put your feet up with a guilt free healthy meal and enjoy a boutique level of coffee made with natural passion.
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60 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
In Search of Heston’s Perfection
than Perigord ones from France – they’re so good. It’s also the Indigenous stuff – lemon myrtle or whatever – it’s being able to look at those things and then come at it from two angles. It might be a Cornish pasty, a Scotch egg, a pork pie, it might be a sausage, it might be a burger, it might be a food that Britain’s taken into their arms and Australians have done the same – take that and twist it with some Indigenous produce. Also, to take some of the nostalgic foods that you have in Australia, from lamingtons to Tim Tams, and then twisting it.”
Eyebrows were raised at the teaming of one of the world’s most innovative chefs with Coles but Heston Blumenthal explains that his relationship with the giant supermarket chain continues his fascination with the challenge of producing food with a shelf life, as well as native Australian ingredients.
The night before this interview, Blumenthal ate at Jock Zonfrillo’s new restaurant StreetADL. Zonfrillo is known for his foraging and love of Indigenous ingredients. Blumenthal says the Adelaide-based Zonfrillo is a great chef who contains the “kind of knowledge I’m really excited to start learning about”.
BY DAVID KNIGHT
U
K celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal turned modern gastronomy on its head with his science-enabled cooking and multi-sensory approach to dining with his iconic first venture The Fat Duck, which was followed by books, television shows and eateries such as Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and The Hinds Head. Although The Observer’s Chef of the Decade is known for popularising molecular gastronomy (a term he doesn’t like as it sounds elitist) through his acclaimed three Michelinstarred restaurant The Fat Duck, Blumenthal has always balanced his exotic creations with accessible meals away from the Duck. His first book was a family cookbook (Family Food: A New Approach to Cooking) and his early ventures into television, such as In Search of Perfection, showcased classic and nostalgic foods. Then there is his upcoming restaurant, due to open at London’s Heathrow Airport next year, which will be inspired by the work he did for In Search of Perfection. Blumenthal has a history of working with supermarkets. He worked behind the scenes for Marks & Spencer and has a range of products available at Waitrose in the UK. Last year, Blumenthal’s Christmas range was available exclusively to Coles, and sold out in weeks. The range is back this Christmas. Next year the
supermarket will launch Blumenthal products inspired by native ingredients. “I’m absolutely fascinated at the whole process and the challenges that we, whether it’s a supermarket or a food company, have in producing food that is transportable and has a shelf life, whether it’s frozen or fresh or whether it’s an ambient product,” Blumenthal explains over an Earl Grey tea at Public CBD. “I also believe that within any price category you have a big variance in quality, so something for 75 pence can still be great. Through the behind the scenes work I did for Marks & Spencer, I started to get more interested in the mechanics. We started working with Waitrose five years ago and we took some of the ideas and techniques that we developed for either The Fat Duck, the other restaurants or for some of the TV shows, and tried to incorporate those into the range that we’re doing in the UK.” In town as part of his third trip to Australia this year, Blumenthal was a guest of Margaret River’s Gourmet Escape. He’s also in the country to research and discover native ingredients for next year’s range. “Australia has some of the best produce in the world, the beef is the best in the world and this year we’ve bought more Australian truffles
“The native Indigenous ingredients will be the initial flagship approach and the idea is that it’s through my eyes. I’m a big kid who is inquisitive. When you see something for the first time, that’s when your mind gets excited and energised. The more you get used to something that’s when the creativity becomes a little bit more difficult – the more you know about a subject. At the beginning, you’re not influenced by knowledge you have on that subject, so you’re prepared to try a much wider range of things. So, that’s really important.” In The Fat Duck Cookbook, Blumenthal wrote that he would one day like to retire in South Africa. It’s also been reported that Australia will host his first restaurant outside of the UK. “I can’t guarantee it, but I will say it’s more than pretty likely that the next restaurant I’ll open will be in Australia. The South African retirement thing; I’ve got loads of relatives over there, so my dad had a beach house over there, and my sister’s been there for years. That was always planned. But I might be 105! I may be able to retire over there and split my time between there and here. It’s my third time here [Australia] this year. I love it.”
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The Adelaide Review December 2013 61
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FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
Tasmania
in so doing, irrevocably changing the life and landscape of Tasmania forever. Abel Tasman was the first European to sight the island in 1642 when he sailed by on his warship Heemskerk. Then there was Captain Bligh, who is said to have planted the first fruit trees and vines on Bruny Island in 1788. George Bass sailed up the Derwent in 1802 on his circumnavigation of Tasmania with Matthew Flinders and noted the suitability for viticulture. Each journey added a new layer to what has become the modern wine industry.
Yet no matter how brave the explorers or how bold their plans, none of this would be possible if Tasmania’s natural history hadn’t made it suitable for viticulture. Tasmania’s position on the high latitudes means it is exposed to the weather from the Indian Ocean, Bass Strait and Tasman Sea. These prevailing winds lash the coast with rain and cooling winds. In addition, a series of ancient volcanic uplifts have created the valleys and mountains that contribute to the rugged terrain and complex terroirs.
Today, the evolution continues as a new band of explorers focus their viticultural attentions on Tasmania. This activity is driven in part because of the effects of global warming, sending winemakers in search of cool climate vineyards; and part because drinkers have become more aware of the pleasures of cool climate wines, of which Tasmania makes some of the finest. For Tasmania’s new band of explorers, the state abounds with new frontiers and possibilities. Here are a few reasons why …
Bay of Fires Riesling 2013
Tolpuddle Chardonnay 2012
Stargazer Tasmania 2012 Pinot Noir
Holyman Pinot Noir 2012
Tamar Valley RRP $35 bayoffireswines.com.au
Coal River Valley RRP $65 tolpuddlevineyard.com
Tasmania RRP $50 stargazerwine.com.au
Tamar Valley RRP $50 stoneyrise.com
“Find balance and beauty will follow,” says winemaker Peter Dredge of his approach to winemaking across a range that includes still and sparkling wine. “We share our ideas, our knowledge and our curiosity to bring out the best in every parcel of fruit. We balance acidity against sweetness to create delicate Rieslings.” This wine, the 2013 Bay of Fires Riesling, manages just that. An attractive and intriguing expression of Riesling, it brims with aromas of grapefruit, lime, blossom and musk. It delivers more of the same on the palate, all zipped up with a lovely line of acid.
The latest venture from Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith of Shaw + Smith in the Adelaide Hills, this project came about when the pair travelled to Tasmania in 2011 ‘for a look’ and came back as owners of the esteemed 25-year-old vineyard. This is the first release of the Tolpuddle label, which includes two wines – a Pinot Noir and this, the Chardonnay, a lean and racy wine of elegance and finesse. Brimming with lemon and citrus notes, the palate offers minerality, some nutty complexity and a long and racy finish. And the name? “The Tolpuddle Martyrs were English convicts transported to Tasmania for forming an agricultural union.”
“Stargazer is about stopping every now and then to look upward towards the heavens,” and is the new venture from winemaker and wine judge Samantha Connew. The label pays tribute to Abel Tasman who “must have spent a fair amount of time gazing towards the heavens”. For Sam, a native New Zealander, Tasman was an obvious link as he was the first European to sight both Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand. This first release also includes a Riesling from the Derwent Valley. This wine, the Pinot Noir from Huon Valley, spills with cherry, raspberry and herbal aromas while the palate continues with nicely woven oak and a pleasing hint of spice.
Like the original explorers, Joe Holyman has seen a lot of the world. A native Tasmanian, he has completed vintages in Douro, Provence and Burgundy and travelled to many other parts of the world making and drinking wine. In 2004, he and wife Lou returned to Tasmania, purchased a vineyard and started making wine under the Stony Rise and Holyman labels. The results are excellent. This, the 2012 Holyman Pinot Noir is an intense and vibrant wine that brims with red berries and wild strawberries flecked with a hint of spice. The ride continues on the palate with intensity, spice, berry aromas, a firm structure and long and lovely length.
by Andrea Frost
I
t is not easy to pinpoint when Tasmania’s wine industry started. Of course there were the explorers who brought European ideas of agriculture and ownership, and
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THE ADELAIDE R EVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FORM D E S I G N • P L A N N I N G • I N N OVAT I O N
ZUSTER
Melbourne high-end family-owned furniture company Zuster recently launched their new range in Adelaide
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COLOUR TRENDS
PIA AWARDS
JON GOULDER
Laminex Group Design Director Neil Sookee discusses the new colour trends
The Planning Institute’s annual Awards for Excellence recently recognised South Australia’s best in the planning industry
JamFactory welcomes one of Australia’s best designer-makers Jon Goulder to its team as Creative Director
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64 The Adelaide Review December 2013
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Trends in Colour When Laminex/Formica launched its three new colour palettes in Adelaide recently, the response was overwhelmingly favourable.
by Leanne Amodeo
N
eil Sookee is what you would expect anyone who lists ‘trend vision’ on his CV to be – innovative, astute and very comfortable thinking outside the box. As the Group Design Director for Australia and New Zealand at Laminex Group he’s in the business of predicting future interior trends. In Adelaide recently to launch the Laminex/Formica Colour Trends Report Sookee was forthcoming about what consumers can expect. “It’s about natural materials and a warm, earthy palette that’s not too literally interpreted. And it’s about products that last; it’s not about conspicuous consumption
anymore.” Sydney-based Sookee believes the shift towards an organic aesthetic is a significant one, which is why it informs one of the report’s three major themes. The Nutopia trend takes its inspiration from artisanal practice and high-end craftsmanship; timelessness, sustainability and harmony are its main drivers. This translates into a palette of warm greys, muted greens, pale oranges and classic wood grain effects. Nutopia may have broad appeal but it doesn’t
design + craftsmanship
make the report’s other two themes – Purity and Clash – any less inviting. The prior takes its cue from new technologies and reflects an ultra-modern sensibility manifest in a range of cool whites, vibrant pastels and biomorphic patterns. Clash is in complete contrast; inspired by rapid urbanisation, it translates into a palette of bright reds, greens and oranges, bold blacks and messy stripes.
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This trend vision is the outcome of extensive global qualitative research by Formica in which Sookee was personally involved. “We engaged with the design community in blue sky discussions about materials and style preferences,” he says. “So we went in with no preconceived notions; qualitative research is actually a vehicle for designers to indicate to
The Adelaide Review December 2013 65
adelaidereview.com.au
FORM us what we should be working on.”
explains McCarroll, adding that each piece has to work and stand on its own.
The methodology differs quite considerably from a standard quantitative approach, promising more dynamic results. As innovative as the qualitative process may be, however, there are still pragmatic product management questions that have to be considered. Product differentiation in a highly competitive marketplace and the constant pressure to come up with something ‘new’ are unavoidable challenges that surround the launch of any product range. Sookee is the first to admit trend forecasting is a tricky balancing act. “For our finishes to be successful they have to be almost anonymous and not clamour for attention when combined with other materials on a project,” he explains. “They can’t be so signature that a designer will only use them once; but we do need to do something that’s different.” It’s as much an art as it is a science, with a considerable margin for error. But Sookee has 30 years’ experience under his belt and he’s learned a thing or two during this time. “The trick is to be right more times than you’re wrong,” he says. “Yes, there’s risk when you make management decisions, but if you don’t risk then nothing ever changes. It’s a pragmatic business approach; we just happen to be talking about design.” Nutopia, Purity and Clash each have unexpected characteristics but these three palettes can ultimately offer consumers successful individual solutions. “Colours mean something different to all of us,” says Sookee. “And what each person does with these palettes is entirely up to them.”
thelaminexgroup.com.au
After completing furniture design at RMIT University, McCarroll’s first range of furniture was manufactured in their father’s factory in the mid 1990s and sold through a local furniture store. The collection was then sold through Daimaru – a Japanese department store and former anchor tenant at Melbourne Central Shopping Centre. Zuster now has a large manufacturing plant and a talented team of skilled staff.
The Zuster Sisters by Daniella Casamento
O
ver the last 17 years, the name Zuster has become synonymous with Australian designed and made high-end furniture. Established in Melbourne, the family owned company recently launched their range of furniture and homewares through Outdoors On Parade in Norwood. Zuster’s expansion into Adelaide is in response to growing interest from local designers and follows the success this year of their Sydney showroom which opened in April, and the launch in August of their latest collection, Traverse, at Sydney Indesign 2013. Zuster, meaning ‘sister’ in Dutch, is a name that perfectly underscores the heritage and business model for which sisters Wilhelmina
McCarroll and Fleur Sibbel are known among designers. McCarroll is a Director and the design visionary for the Zuster brand and Sibbel is the Managing Director. The sisters’ design lineage stems from their grandfather who established a home building business after arriving in Australia from Holland. Their father, Meyer Sibbel, carried on the business and manufactured kitchens and wardrobes for the houses that he built. “We’ve got photos of houses that were built in the 50s and 60s with that handle detail in the kitchen cupboards so it’s been adapted,” explains Sibbel pointing out the handle of a buffet unit nearby. “Willy’s redesigned it to make it more modern.” “The interiors had a really European look and we still use a lot of the details of the joinery that they used in Holland in some of our pieces today,” adds McCarroll. Attention to details such as shadowlines, the way handles are designed and the elevation of joinery off the ground are a signature Zuster look. “We are always looking for the minimal look so you’ve got to pare everything back,”
“With everything we manufacture, we customise size and we have 10 different finishes and colours over the American Oak stains that we do,” explains Sibbel. “We can do leather inlays or all timber tops for desks and our dining tables are mostly solid timber in American Oak with solid legs. But we can do a veneer top as well,” she says. Colour has also been incorporated into the range of furniture and is becoming increasingly popular. Fixings and drawer runners are always concealed and as much attention is given to the back of the units as the front so pieces can be used as room dividers. Zuster pieces are increasingly being selected for commercial projects too. From the time McCarroll first puts pen to paper to draw designs, to the time a product has been engineered, prototyped, photographed for catalogues and installed in the showroom is a mere 12 weeks. “She is amazing,” Sibbel says with admiration. “I build ideas in my head over periods of time,” McCarroll says. “Next year we are going to launch new pieces probably every month to two months.”
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66 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FORM
PLANNING INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA SA AWARDS
From Plan to Place - Commendation - Piazza Della Valle.
BY GEORGE INGLIS
T
he Planning Institute’s annual Awards for Excellence demonstrate the very real value that planning and planners add to the everyday lives of South Australians. In an industry that so often gets bad press it’s vital that we tell the good news stories, to share the countless achievements that help shape built environment to reflect our aspirations as a community. At a time when planning is in the spotlight – with debate swirling around issues such as the State Government’s plans for increased urban density around inner metropolitan sites – it’s more important than ever that planning professionals and the
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planning sector as a whole demonstrate the enormous positive contribution they can make to the built environment. The 2013 Awards for Excellence judging panel was presented with strong nominations from across most fields of planning practice and throughout the state. The quality and variety of the 2013 field is testament to the planning profession’s capacity for innovative and creative responses to urban and regional planning challenges, even under difficult and fast-changing circumstances. The award winners give a useful indicator of planning’s focus over the last year, and hint at what we might see emerge from the sector in the coming year. This year’s suite of winners presented pioneering solutions to the challenges of growth on Adelaide’s urban fringe and new approaches to ‘future proofing’ industry in the state’s regions. It embodied the ongoing revolution in place making and the nascent sea change in how planners and policy makers incorporate community input into their thinking. We also saw planning used as a prism through which to envisage healthier, happier communities. As any awards program like this should, the 2013 Awards for Excellence showcased leadership in responses to current planning trends, community expectations and policy. Entries in the 2013 Awards reflected contributions from planning practitioners in the private sector, in Councils and in State
Government. They show once again that good planning can positively shape communities and environments across the state. I congratulate all the winners and the nominees for being a part of this year’s Awards. I would also like to personally thank all of those people who helped make the Awards process run smoothly and the Awards night a success, particularly the judging panel under the steady guidance of Awards Convenor Stuart Moseley as well the PIA staff and volunteers whose efforts culminated in an inspiring evening thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.
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THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 67
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
PLANNING INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA AWARDS
Best Planning Ideas - Small - Winner - Foods for Life.
2013 AWARDS FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE • PLANNER OF THE YEAR AWARD Winner: Sandy Rix (Renewal SA) • YOUNG PLANNER OF THE YEAR AWARD Winner: Tammie Hamilton (City of Playford) • FROM PLAN TO PLACE AWARD Commendation: City of Onkaparinga, Jensen Planning + Design, Giordano & Associates, Brecknock Consulting, Lelio Bibbo Pty Ltd, Lucid Consulting Australia, Piazza della Valle Italian Heritage Association and Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. • OUTSTANDING STUDENT PROJECT AWARD TERTIARY AWARD Winner: Hannah Shaw Commendation: Michael Dickson
Best Planning Ideas - Small - Commendation - Kadina.
• BEST PLANNING IDEAS LARGE PROJECT AWARD Winner: City of Port Pirie Regional Council and Connor
Holmes (A Fyfe Company) District Council of Franklin Harbour, Masterplan SA Pty Ltd and Ian Robertson Design Commendation: City of Onkaparinga • BEST PLANNING IDEAS SMALL PROJECT AWARD Winner: Adelaide City Council, Foods for Life and Troppo Architects • PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PLANNING AWARD Commendation: District Council of the Copper Coast, Wax Design, URPS, InfraPlan and Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. • PROMOTION OF PLANNING AWARD Winner: Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood • PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PLANNING Winner: City of Salisbury Commendation: District Council of Loxton Waikerie, Adelaide City Council and Jensen Planning + Design
• IMPROVING PLANNING PROCESSES AND PRACTICES AWARD Winner: District Council of Mallala, Hickinbottom Group and Connor Holmes (A Fyfe Company) • PRESIDENT’S AWARD Winner: Heart Foundation SA, South Australian Active Living Coalition, CIC Australia and Renewal SA • MINISTER’S AWARD Winner: Medium Density Project. City of Onkaparinga. Commendation: Two Wells Residential Growth Framework. District Council of Mallala, Hickinbotham Group and Connor Holmes (A Fyfe Company) • FELLOW ELEVATIONS Awarded to: Alan Rumsby and Stephen Smith
68 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
PLANNING INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA AWARDS PLANNING INSTITUTE’S NIGHT OF NIGHTS
Planner of the Year: Sandy Rix
On Friday, November 8 The Planning Institute of SA celebrated their annual winners at their Big Night Out at the Sebel Playford.
R
enewel SA urban planner Sandy Rix was named PIA’s 2013 Planner of the Year for his contribution to planning and his “clear and focused leadership, outstanding quality of work, effort and/or achievement as a planner”. “I am delighted and of course honoured that my peers have made me ‘planner of the year’,” Rix said. “Planning is critical to the future prosperity, enjoyment and, in fact, survival of our cities and towns. It is a profession that offers the opportunity to make a difference in so many different areas – strategic, economic, design and social to name a few.
Gary Mavrinac, George Inglis and Darren Starr.
Patrick Clifton and Victoria Shute.
Rix is currently General Manager of Projects for the South Australian Government for strategic planning and environmental services, which includes the role of Bowden Urban Village’s Project Director. “In the last decade or so I have shaped and influenced many ‘game-changing’ projects in Adelaide mainly through Renewal SA. These have included the ground-breaking Bowden medium-density development; Playford Alive, renewing part of our most disadvantaged areas; the North Terrace boulevard redevelopment and most recently Riverbank. All these projects have the purpose of providing more opportunities for our community through more housing choice, better places to meet and enjoy and more economic activity
Ben Hewett, Matthew Loader and Stuart Moseley.
including investment ready development sites. I am proud to have been involved in the important design and community consultation processes for such projects.”
Hon John Rau, Steve Grieve and Ben Hewett.
Mayor Kym McHugh, Vickie Chapman and George Inglis.
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THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 69
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New Directions
establishing new national and international networks in exhibition, production, distribution and media. Goulder’s ambitions are not only for the JamFactory but for the wider Australian design industry as well. What the furniture studio has to contribute in the bigger design picture is not to be underestimated. Goulder, for one, knows JamFactory’s potential; not for nothing he moved his wife and two young children half way around the country. He is also well aware of Adelaide’s growing reputation for good design. The current development and movement taking place is an indication Adelaide’s future is as promising as it is exciting.
Adelaide is set to welcome one of the country’s best designer-makers as the new Creative Director of JamFactory’s furniture studio, as Jon Goulder begins in January and the buzz surrounding his appointment has already begun.
Within this milieu Goulder’s vision makes perfect sense; most importantly it feels achievable. His laidback, amicable attitude will see him fit in right away and his strong work ethic will guarantee results. His close collaboration with JamFactory CEO Brian Parkes may seem a formidable partnership, but there’s no doubt applicants will be clamouring for the opportunity to be mentored by Goulder. For those lucky enough to be chosen their future is very, very bright.
BY LEANNE AMODEO
W
hen Jon Goulder relocated to Western Australia seven years ago he did so with clear goals in mind. Helping the non-profit cultural organisation FORM establish the Midland Atelier was first on the agenda. Second was turning the creative hub into a nationally and internationally recognised centre for design excellence. As head of its furniture workshop he managed to do just that – and then some. By the time Goulder resigned from his position late last year the Midland Atelier was a self-sustainable success story responsible for reinvigorating Western Australia’s design scene. Come the beginning of the New Year and Goulder will be relocating once again; this time to Adelaide. His appointment as Creative Director of JamFactory’s furniture studio has sent ripples of excitement throughout the Australian design industry. All eyes are on the designer-maker following his recent achievement at the Midland Atelier. This time around, however, he’s not starting from scratch. “The furniture studio’s outgoing Creative Director Tom Mirams has done an amazing job; I have some big shoes to fill,” he says. “But I’m really excited to be part of the JamFactory’s new direction under the guidance of Brian Parkes.” Such modesty is characteristic of the New South Wales Southern Highlands native, belying his reputation as one of the country’s most renowned designer-makers. His most recent accolade was a nomination for the IDEA (Interior Design Excellence Awards) 2012 Gold Medal, but Goulder has received multiple awards and widespread recognition since founding his own studio in 1996. Most significantly as the winner of the Hobart Art Prize in 2004 and inaugural winner of the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award in 2003. As a fourth generation craftsperson his training in upholstery and furniture making began from a young age under the mentorship of his grandfather and father and culminated in design studies at the Canberra School of Art. It’s no surprise that Goulder’s resulting body of work is highly refined and exceptionally well
jongoulder.com jamfactory.com.au
crafted; defined by an aesthetic that is clean, elegant and thoughtfully considered. While he exhibits regularly, many of his pieces are held in private and public collections. A number of them, including the Glissando credenza, Calypso lounge and Amore Mio chair, are nothing less than iconic. Goulder’s experience is an asset to the JamFactory role and his appointment has overwhelmingly positive implications for the organisation. “I have proven commercial results in one-off exhibition work, limited edition collectibles and design for production,” he says. “So I bring an actual working practice to JamFactory that can help the Associates gain a real world perspective.” As a mentor to the three Associates chosen from a national and international pool of applicants each year Goulder’s practice will serve as a teaching model. It’s his job to help them grow their own practice and show them pathways for future success. New commercial opportunities will be set up and Associates will develop their skills through commissions and the designing of furniture and objects for production and exhibition. In this respect the JamFactory furniture studio will run in the same way as the Midland Atelier furniture workshop, except on a smaller scale. Regardless of size, Goulder’s goals are still crystal clear. “I want to make the JamFactory furniture studio the place in Australia to come and study or practice furniture design,” he says. “And I want to give it that reputation very quickly.” One of his priorities will be
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70 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FORM
New Suburban Stuart Harrison’s latest book presents thirty of the best residences from across Australia and New Zealand that celebrate the ideals of the suburban condition. by Leanne Amodeo
I
t’s no coincidence that two of the most compelling photographs in New Suburban feature children having fun outdoors. The sight of a giggling little girl running on the grass outside Six Degrees’ Heller Street Park and Residences and the young siblings jumping into the backyard pool of Victoria Road House by Fiona Winzar is enough to put a smile on anyone’s face. Both scenes may be humble snapshots of Australian family life but they are far from unremarkable; each sums up everything that is right with the suburbs. Is it any wonder the Australian appetite for suburban living has been reignited? New Suburban is a positive response to this very question and its editor and writer Stuart Harrison presents a smorgasbord of possibilities. His project selection features thirty architect-designed dwellings from Australia and New Zealand that celebrate the ideals of the suburban condition: openness, flexibility, informality, light, proximity to
the city and spaciousness. The experience of being outdoors is highlighted throughout the book and pertinent themes of connection, quality of life, sense of place, adaptability and sustainability are recurring. As an architect and co-host of The Architects radio show on Melbourne’s 3RRR, Harrison is well placed to spot current trends in design and urbanism. He is one of Australian architecture’s most vocal supporters and his commentary is always as engaging as it is intellectually rigorous. Thankfully he never relies on mere trend-spotting; as a result New Suburban appeals with a timely examination of the reinvented family home. As Harrison lets me know, “We build two types of dwelling en masse in Australia; very terrible large houses and very terrible small apartments, but there is a middle ground”. New Suburban swiftly removes the stigma of living in the suburbs by championing new forms of urban living that comfortably inhabit
this middle ground. The complexities of the contemporary family are accommodated and innovative renovations, houses, additions and apartments abound. House Reduction by Make Architecture Studio and MCK Architects’ DPR House are only two examples of such innovation; both are nothing short of dynamic. Harrison also reminds us how important modesty is to good design and this is why the understated Florence Street by Nest Architects’ is just as integral to the examination. It almost goes without saying that all the residences in New Suburban are architecturally outstanding. The point is to show off the best of the best and Harrison has a very discerning eye. Should he have focused solely on Australian residences (there are only three New Zealand projects included)? Perhaps it’s a marketing strategy employed to broaden audiences? Regardless, Harrison’s selection can’t be faulted and the diversity showcased across 344 pages is impressive. This variation makes New Suburban’s narrative all the richer and Harrison’s neat ordering of all thirty dwellings into three chapters provides a tight editorial framework. The most exciting of these chapters is the last, The Suburban Remade, which intrigues because of the hybrid, non-traditional nature of its nine featured residences, such as Andrew Maynard Architects’ Hill House. Each is a delicious promise of what’s to come as we slowly transition towards other forms of urban living. When Harrison discusses each residence he is clear and succinct. His description is excellent and although he relies heavily on architectural vernacular his writing is never dense or alienating. For a book that has the concept of family at its
heart, however, what surprises is the apparent absence of the family’s voice from the overall narrative. Yes, a pull quote attributed to the respective owner is included in each residence’s discussion but it functions as a graphic device rather than personalised commentary. Integrated quotes from the owners and architects could have served each discussion very well by injecting greater human interest and insight into each dwelling’s unique story. As with Harrison’s previous book, the very well received Forty-six Square Metres of Land Doesn’t Normally Make a House, Stuart Geddes is again responsible for design. His art direction and layout is much more restrained this time around and it lends New Suburban an easy accessibility that immediately guarantees broader appeal. Forty-six Square Metres sometimes felt suffocated by its own design, often making the editorial seem secondary. This doesn’t happen with New Suburban as Geddes achieves the perfect balance between his dynamic style and Harrison’s solid content. There is real joy to be found in this book. From the use of an opening quote from television’s The Wonder Years to the luscious feel of the matte paper stock and the images of children playing gleefully outdoors, there’s a spirit of generosity on each page and it clearly emanates from Harrison’s desire to share his passion for high-quality architecture. Even before the first project is discussed, his introduction does a good job convincing us ‘suburban’ is not a dirty word and living in the suburbs is no reason to be ashamed. We need to find ways to incorporate those traditional suburban ideals into the way we build and ultimately the way we live.
»»Stuart Harrison’s New Suburban: Remaking the Family Home in Australia and New Zealand is published by Thames & Hudson. RRP: $70 thameshudson.com.au
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THE ADELAIDE
REVIEW ISSUE 406 DECEMBER 2013
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
THE HOT 100 Winemaker Brendon Keys is the toast of our annual Hot 100 SA Wines show
54
CAR CRASH
THE BATTLE FOR INFLUENCE
LOLA’S PERGOLA
John Spoehr writes that Holden is on a collision course with closure
Luke Slattery surveys Australia’s proliferating think tanks and policy institutes
Duncan Welgemoed champions the new food and wine guard for the Adelaide Festival
06
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GENERAL MANAGER MEDIA & PUBLISHING Luke Stegemann luke@adelaidereview.com.au
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The UK star chef talks his love of Australian produce and native ingredients, which will influence a range of products to be launched next year
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INSIDE 05 06 08 10 14 16 18 26 27 32 42 FOOD FOR THOUGHT Annabelle Baker selects perfect relaxed 49 entertaining recipes for the holiday season 63
Features Business Politics Society Opinion Columnists Education Books Fashion Performing Arts Visual Arts Food. Wine. Coffee FORM
52
66 PIA AWARDS The results of the annual Planning Institute of Australia (SA) Awards
COVER CREDIT: Brendon Keys. Photo supplied.
CONTRIBUTORS. Lachlan Aird, Vanessa Altmann, Leanne Amodeo, Kathryn Bellette, D.M. Bradley, John Bridgland, Michael Browne, Wendy Cavenett, William Charles, Derek Crozier, Alexander Downer, Stephen Forbes, Andrea Frost, Roger Hainsworth, Andrew Hunter, Stephanie Johnston, Kiera Lindsey, Jane Llewellyn, Kris Lloyd, John Neylon, Amelia Pinna, Nigel Randall, Christopher Sanders, Margaret Simons, Luke Slattery, John Spoehr, Shirley Stott Despoja, Graham Strahle, Ilona Wallace. PHOTOGRAPHER. Jonathan van der Knaap
“Hobart is one of the 10 best cities to visit in the world...” Lonely Planet
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The city has become Australia’s boutique art, food and heritage capital. It is our second oldest metropolis, and boasts some of the best restaurants, art galleries, markets and heritage precincts in Australia. The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is an art museum located on Hobart’s Berriedale Peninsula, and is the largest privately funded museum in Australia. It presents antiquities, modern and contemporary art from millionaire David Walsh’s private collection. Walsh has described MONA as a “subversive adult Disneyland.” Be prepared...it’s an art gallery and museum like no other! $850 (incl GST) per person includes: • Return flights to & from Adelaide in one day • Visit to Salamanca Markets • Lunch at Anglesea Barracks + in-flight hospitality • Visit to MONA • All on-ground transport Departure & Arrival Depart Adelaide 22 March, 2014, 7:30am Return Adelaide 22 March, 2014, 6:00pm Bookings: (08) 8231 9812
FEATURE
OFF TOPIC:
“I’ve also been commissioned to do a lot of portrait photography. I’ve done stuff for bands, both live and promotional material. I muck around with some slightly abstract stuff. I’m also very keen to take photos of my family, my kids and all those sorts of things.”
Stephen Yarwood
Yarwood has a big collection of street art photography – “I wandered around Shoreditch in London for half-a-day with a camera looking for a Banksy” – and he won two Town Planning Awards for his photography.
Off Topic and on the record, as South Australian identities talk about whatever they want... except their day job. Adelaide Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood is a town planner by trade; one of three careers he considered along with physics and photography. The latter is still a keen hobby.
“The Town Planning Institute of South Australia had a photograph competition two years in a row, which was a popular vote competition, and I won, which was great. One of them looked down from a hotel on Ho Chi Minh City and its incredible eclectic building colours with the randomness of the intense density of housing, which was very contrasting. The other is one I’ve got at home, which is the best photograph I’ve ever taken. It’s in Cambodia at Angkor Wat, and the shape of one of the buildings is this perfect brick shape and right next to it, and at sunset, the cloud actually matched the built form. So, I’ve got this photograph of a black silhouette of this built form and the cloud silhouette is identical. You get that fluke photograph once in your life.”
by David Knight
“
I did a WEA course in photography when I was at university,” Yarwood begins. “In our planning degree we also had to do a Photography of Landscape unit. Straight out of my university degree, my first job was actually in a photographic studio, so I got to understand the process and the chemistry side of things. I bought a really good camera. Back then not many people had cameras. People used to always lean on me to take photographs and I used that as a driving force behind my desire to travel, see things and keep a photographic record. “I made a conscious effort to walk the streets, explore and look at the architecture, the built form and even urban systems such as public transport – I’d even find myself taking photographs of bins. I particularly
Stephen Yarwood
like the contrast between old and new, rich and poor, and exploring some of the different colours cities used and how it contrasted in different ways, which gives that city or place its uniqueness. I’ve always made a conscious decision to carry a camera with me and I’ve had multiple cameras and certainly have quite a collection of old film sitting in a big pile, which hopefully one day I can do something about.” Yarwood’s hobby resulted in commissions and awards.
“I was a volunteer for the Feast Festival as its official photographer. That was for their 10th anniversary. I’ve had some of my photography published in various newspapers. There’s one photograph of mine that made it onto a filesharing site that actually came back to me in a council report. I took it in Denmark and I gave it to News Ltd. They used it in the paper and then they put it on a public sharing site. A consultant found the photograph, used it as the back cover of a report, which they presented to council. That’s a one in a billion.
Yarwood says his urban photography and observation relates back to the ‘flaneur’ philosophy – the art of watching. “It’s an old philosophy around city observation and being separated from the crowd and consciously being somewhere more than anyone else but not physically being there. That’s a sense of watching and trying to understand what works in urban systems. I use the photography as a tool to sharpen that skill. Everyone likes to be a street watcher, I consciously do it and it helps me understand what I’m doing and how things work.”
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6 The Adelaide Review December 2013
BUSINESS
Car Crash – Automotive Industry on Collision Course? General Motors Holden is on a collision course with closure. It was possible to secure GMH’s future prior to the federal election if bipartisan support for a coinvestment package was pledged but it wasn’t. Instead, assistance to the industry became a political football.
by John Spoehr
T
he major auto producer had made it well known over recent years that it needed continued coinvestment from the Federal and State Governments to maintain its operations in Australia. Chief Executive Mike Devereux was extraordinarily candid about the need for government to continue supporting the industry or risk closure. He made it clear that the future of production facilities in Australia was contingent on resolution of a co-investment package by late this year.
A pre-election commitment of $225m in co-investment from the former Labor Federal Government had been secured along with $50m from the South Australian Government. GMH employees offered up a wage freeze as a contribution to making the plant viable over coming years. As it turned
out, this wasn’t enough. GMH asked for more, claiming that global economic conditions had further eroded the competitiveness of their Australian operations. Rumours circulated that the price tag for staying in Australia had risen to around $500m – a number that caused many to question continued support for the company. It appeared that key figures in the Coalition shared this view while some like Ian Macfarlane harboured a more pragmatic position on what was needed. In the lead up to the federal election the Coalition pledged to cut automotive industry assistance by $500m and commission a Productivity Commission inquiry into the future of the automotive industry that would delay any decision on support for the ailing manufacturer until the end of March 2014. With the election of the Coalition to government, GMH were confronted with this reality, an outcome that very likely triggered
a decision at GM headquarters to close down its Australian operations. The warning signs loom large. The recent announcement that GMH boss, Mike Devereux, would leave Australia by the end of the year to head up General Motors’ Asia Pacific operations was ominous. Devereux had played a pivotal role in the negotiations
with the former Federal Government to try and secure a deal going forward. It is hard to have confidence in the future of General Motors’ Australian operations knowing that he will be leaving at such a pivotal time. It suggests that GM is keen to insulate the capable Devereux from the stench of closure. Adding to the gloom was the decision by visiting GM executive, Stefan Jacoby, to turn down a request from
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BUSINESS the Commodore and Cruze on their existing production platform for a few more years. Further cuts in the size of the workforce would almost certainly flow from this strategy prior to a decision to close by the end of the decade. Much more likely is an early December decision to close. Leaving it later in the year would be too cruel a blow for a workforce damaged by continued uncertainty. What would save GMH at this late hour? Well, nothing less than an announcement over the next few weeks by the Prime Minister that the Coalition is willing to co-invest upwards to $400m in the future of the GMH operations over the next decade. This is not a realistic outcome given the processes set in train by the Coalition Government through the Productivity Commission. An interim report by the Commission is due by the end of this year. While it may well draw attention to the great costs associated with losing the industry, the Productivity Commission is likely to conclude that other industries will benefit from the redirection of the skills and capital currently available to the industry – a view rooted in myopic neo-liberal economic orthodoxy. If GMH closes, GM will not reinvest in other sectors. It will consolidate its operations off shore, resulting in a net loss of investment.
the new Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane, for high-level talks during his brief Australian visit. Combined, all of these circumstances suggest that an announcement to close General Motors’ Australian manufacturing operations is probably immanent. There is another possible outcome. GM might decide to continue manufacturing
What Holden has been seeking to secure in Australia reflects global automotive and manufacturing industry realities. For decades high tariffs on imported cars protected the domestic automotive manufacturing sector. As these came down other forms of assistance became necessary to deal with the reality that the Australian automotive sector is playing on a very uneven economic playing field – per capita funding for the industry in Australia is around $18 compared to $90 in Germany and $96 in the US. Non-tariff barriers on the export of Australian vehicles to some countries in Asia provide insurmountable barriers to entry. In the real world, industry development is a beneficiary of government assistance and investment – a fact that is much more obvious in other nations, particularly in the automotive industry.
A great deal is now at stake if GMH closes. It could trigger the collapse of the Australian automotive industry, an industry responsible for 200,000 jobs and $21 billion in economic activity. In South Australia the closure of GMH would lead to the loss of up to 13,000 jobs, a devastating shock to families and communities at a time when manufacturing employment has been in sharp decline – over 30,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since the GFC. What this means is that a high proportion (more than onethird) of workers are likely to experience long-term unemployment in the absence of a very substantial assistance package – one designed to generate both shortterm employment opportunities through investment in infrastructure projects and drive the growth of new industry development opportunities that respond to demand. On the former, Raymond Spencer, Chair of the State’s Economic Development Board, was absolutely right to argue for a substantial boost in government investment in infrastructure over years to come. We have among the lowest public debt levels in the western world. Being parsimonious about the use of public debt to fund the modernisation of productivity-
enhancing social and physical infrastructure is dangerously shortsighted. If GMH closes in weeks or months to come, its parent company GM must leave more than the legacy of job and component supplier losses. It must invest, along with the Federal and South Australian Government, in major infrastructure and industry development projects that help recover from the crisis the closure would create. An adjustment package in excess of $500m will be needed to support this along with commitments to provide continuity of work for our major defence manufacturing contractors who face a sharp decline in their operations if new Australian government contracts are not awarded in the near future. Out of crisis might come transformative change for the better but only if we invest in it.
»»Associate Professor John Spoehr is the Executive Director of the Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre at the University of Adelaide
8 The Adelaide Review December 2013
POLITICS MODERN TIMES Our Gated Communities BY Andrew Hunter
W
alls have a powerful symbolism. They are the physical manifestation of a need to feel secure. They are erected to separate one group from another. They delineate us from them. The Berlin Wall was ostensibly built to keep one set of Germans out, but in the East actually served as an effective tool for keeping locals unsympathetic to communism in. Its fall will forever hold deeply symbolic resonance. Increasingly, walls are being built the world over to separate residents in affluent communities from outsiders seen to pose a threat to their security. Residential areas or housing estates with strictly controlled entrances to an enclave surrounded by a closed perimeter of walls and fences are referred to as ‘gated communities’. Gated communities are increasingly common in countries where violence is pervasive and the gap between rich and poor is great. In Brazil, such communities are called ‘condomínio fechado’ - literally, ‘closed housing estate’. Gated communities have become widespread in post-apartheid South Africa, and almost half of all new homes in California are built in communities surrounded by walls designed to protect the communities from outsiders. Sanctuary Lanes Resort is a community of 8000 residents in Victoria surrounded by walls. Entry is strictly controlled and CCTV cameras are many. The community pays a private security force to police the area. Its comprehensive security system occasions an annual cost of almost one million dollars. Sanctuary Lanes Resort is one of a number of gated communities in Australia. It cannot be said that violence is as prevalent in Australia as it is in the United States, Brazil
or South Africa. From what, or from whom, do the residents of Sanctuary Lanes, Victoria, wish to be separated? Sanctuary Lanes is located in the suburb of Cook Point and according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is one of the most affluent suburbs in Victoria. Suburbs such as Hoppers Crossing, Werribee and Altona North, where residents are far less prosperous, surround it. Gated communities are modern enclaves for people surrounded by far less prosperous residents of neighbouring communities. Adelaide is a harmonious city with a relatively low crime rate but it is only a matter of time before a proposal is developed to establish a gated community for our most affluent. We are not immune to the fundamental issues that are affecting the rest of the country, even if our civilised society appears to be more tolerant, inclusive and cooperative than those of neighbouring states. There are few gated communities in Western Europe and Japan, where relatively affluent societies also enjoy an even distribution of income. This is a not a coincidence.
It is in our common interest to build a society where success does not bring insecurity and fear. For an egalitarian nation like Australia, the ultimate form of surrender would be to accept great disparity in income inequality as a natural state. Inequality to the extent that is emerging in Australia will inevitably affect us all. Does anyone actually want to take refuge behind a wall of insecurity? The gap between the richest and poorest Australians continues to grow. OECD figures estimate that over one fifth of all growth in Australia’s household income between 1980 and 2008 went to the richest one percent. If income inequality in Australia continues to grow at the same rate, the space that separates our most affluent from the rest will become impossible to bridge. There is a significant body of evidence that suggests that inequality of wealth in highly competitive societies contributes to increases in the incidence of violence. In spite of our egalitarian heritage, Australia has in modern times developed social conditions that appear to be conducive to violent behaviour.
A competitive society that drives people to achieve great prosperity also often engenders a social context that prompts those same affluent individuals to seek refuge within secure enclaves. It appears almost inevitable that, as income inequality grows further, more Australians of significant personal wealth will seek to place a secure wall between themselves and the rest. This tendency must be opposed at each juncture. We must ensure that planning requirements do not promote such false divisions, so that we can address our shared fears. Almost a quarter-of-a-century ago, a wall that had divided one German people into two distinct groups was demolished, hastening change across Europe. In modern Australia, we must work to ensure that walls are not built to divide and isolate communities of people who inevitably share the same destiny. Irrespective of each person’s place on the social spectrum, everyone would be better served if false divisions were demolished. Our focus must forever remain the construction of a cohesive and harmonious modern society.
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The Adelaide Review December 2013 9
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POLITICS
Letter from Japan BY Alexander Downer
I
f you want to understand politics then you have to understand two things: economics and history. And if you want to understand the political trouble spots of the world, you have to understand politics. If you know nothing of history and can’t work out how a modern economy functions, then keep away from politics and eschew diplomacy. That’s my advice. Here’s an example of what I mean. As a contribution to trying to bring the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders closer together, I organised a dinner for them earlier this year. It was to be a simple affair which included the two leaders and their wives, me and my own wife and my deputy and her husband. I suggested the dinner be held on May 29. Kaboom! All hell broke loose. May 29 was the date the Ottoman Turks sacked Constantinople, destroying the Byzantine Empire once and for all. That wasn’t recently. It was in 1453! I quickly changed the date to May 30. But there is another point to think about. The Age of Enlightenment was a period of unbridled optimism driven by philosophers, scientists and politicians who believed the world could escape from the conflicts and deprecation of the past by learning, thinking, experimenting and changing the way things were. I was reminded of all this during a recent four day visit to that great city, Tokyo. In 1942 my father was captured and incarcerated by the Japanese during the fall of Singapore. He spent three-and-a-half years struggling to survive in the harsh and brutal Changi prison of war camp. He was one of the lucky ones. He managed to live, although only just.
Two or so years later the Menzies government asked the parliament to vote for the peace treaty with Japan which drew the final curtain on the Pacific War. Although a supporter of the Menzies government, my father couldn’t bring himself to support the treaty which left Emperor Hirohito on the throne and Japan free from paying huge reparations to the Allies. Put simply, he hated the Japanese for all they had done to him and his mates in Changi. He vowed he would never forgive them. He was – understandably – a prisoner of his own history. A few years passed; his anger remained unassuaged. But then in 1957 the Japanese prime minister – the grandfather of the present Japanese prime minister by the way – visited Canberra to sign with the Menzies government the 1957 Commerce Treaty which became the foundation of Australia’s modern economic relationship with not just Japan but more generally with Asia. It was one of the most historic moments in the long story of Australia’s engagement with Asia. So what was my father to do this time when parliament was asked to approve the Treaty? He held his nose and voted for it. He knew it made sense for Australia even though the Treaty was signed with the hated Japanese.
Australian and Japanese business people, academics and politicians began to prosper.
government and their foreign ministers during the 2007 APEC Summit.
In 1996, my father’s son became the foreign minister. On my first visit to Japan in that role I was urged by returned services organisations in Australia to demand a more wholesome apology from the Japanese for the horrors of the Pacific War. Driving from Narita airport to Tokyo, I discussed this with our redoubtable ambassador, Ashton Calvert. His only advice was for me to make the political judgment. So I did. The war had ended over half a century earlier. We had to move on. So I didn’t raise the issue with my Japanese hosts.
Japan had fully graduated as one of Australia’s most reliable friends and a champion of advancing Australian participation in Asian organisations like the East Asia Summit.
By the time my colleagues and I were bundled out of office by Kevin Rudd, our relationship with Japan had gone ahead in leaps and bounds. We even set up a Trilateral Security Dialogue with the Japanese and the Americans and arranged a joint meeting between the Japanese, Australian and American heads of
The last chapter in our family’s great Japan adventure came on Christmas Eve 2011 in Tokyo. My daughter gave birth to a little boy in Tokyo’s Aiku hospital. So there we have it: in three generations our family has gone from Changi to Aiku. It’s a metaphor for the way Australia’s engagement with Asia has changed so dramatically. In two generations we’ve gone from protection from Asian threats to bonding with Asian opportunities. There’s a lesson there for much of the troubled world. It’s one thing to understand history and to appreciate its influence on our ways of life. It’s another thing to be its prisoner.
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10 The Adelaide Review December 2013
SOCIETY
The Battle For Influence The first months of a new government is the perfect time to look at the role proliferating think tanks play in influencing public policy change.
by Luke Slattery
T
he first rule of think tanks is that they are not really think tanks at all. The word tank implies insularity yet bodies such as the Centre for Independent Studies, the Grattan Institute, the Institute of Public Affairs and the Australia Institute are powerfully engaged with the world. Nor is abstract thought core think tank business: these institutions are chiefly concerned with the generation of public policy. It’s hard to imagine any of them, irrespective of ideological inclination, disavowing Karl Marx’s axiom that the point of philosophy is not so much to interpret the world as to change it. There are times in the life of these policy change agents when they themselves become hostage to fortune, and the first few months of a new Government is an ideal time to observe them in flux. In the next 12 months think tanks aligned to the right are expected to thrive as their advice is brought to bear on government decision-making. But nothing is straightforward in the world of policy advocacy, in part because no one segment of the ideological prism owns any one policy: climate change being the most obvious case. It’s also the case, as The Grattan Institute’s chief executive John Daley points out, that a party in opposition is more likely to undergo a process of policy reflection and renewal than one in government, and it’s at such times in the political cycle that they are most in need of independent advice. So business might be expected to pick up
for think tanks attuned to Labor and, paradoxically, soften for those of the right. “Oppositions lack the resources of a bureaucracy helping them to dream up good ideas so think tanks can have more of an impact on them,” Daley says. “In general think tanks have better relationships with shadow ministers than ministers.” Daley’s institute, founded five years ago with matching grants totalling $30 million from the Commonwealth and Victorian governments, declines commissions from political parties and corporations. “The minute you do that it’s hard to maintain your independence because you’re thinking about what to say in your next report, if it’s going to offend the corporation or government department you’re going to be pitching to in a few days,” he says. The Grattan institute, though fiercely independent, is by no means disengaged from the political realm. “We talk to a wide range of public servants, advisors, ministers and shadow ministers,” Daley says. His reflections open a view of the traffic between policy institutes and government. “Sometimes it’s a matter of us saying, ‘We’ve got some work underway on X and we think you might be interested, we’d like to come and talk about it’. Sometimes it’s a case of them saying, ‘We’ve read your published piece on such and such and would like it if you could come and talk to us’. And sometimes we’ll meet at a third party event and strike up a conversation.” The political cycle is not the only thing altering the milieu in which think tanks operate
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He is charry, however, of being too closely identified with one side of the ideological divide, arguing that the IPA’s recently vocalised support for the proposed takeover of GrainCorp by the US agriculture behemoth ADM found support in the ALP, while the institute and the Greens take a similar line on civil libertarian issues such as surveillance. Roskam, who as IPA executive director since 2004 has seen two changes of government federally, concedes that the biggest change to date in IPA business comes in the form of “new members of parliament requesting information on a range of issues. But on another level it doesn’t change much in that we will continue to do policy for the long term irrespective of who occupies The Lodge. Given that we are a free market think tank we hope to be spending less time defending our existing freedoms and more time expanding our freedoms.” And in a sign of the IPA’s growing confidence Roskam adds that he will be pressuring Tony Abbott to make good on policy reforms that the
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The nation’s most voluble think tank is the Institute of Public Affairs, helmed by John Roskam. A political scientist with close Liberal Party ties who describes himself as a liberal conservative yet rejects the tag right wing – “that to me means Pauline Hanson” – Roskam runs a consistent free-market, at times libertarian, line on everything from public funding of the ABC to state surveillance. Asked about the impact
of media fragmentation on his ability to find a voice in the Australian political conversation he answers emphatically: “It’s fantastic. We’re now able to get our views across to friends and foes at the push of a button and marginal cost.”
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at the intersection of information, debate and policy: the fragmenting media landscape is also a force for change. The Lowy Institute for International Policy, the nation’s most highly ranked policy institute globally, maintains a non-partisan approach to policy advice. “New media technologies create opportunities for a think tank such as the Lowy Institute,” says executive director Michael Fullilove. “More than five years ago we led the think tank market in establishing our own blog, The Interpreter, now recognised as one of the world’s liveliest forums for the discussion of international affairs. More generally, the new technologies make it much more feasible now than it was a couple of decades ago for Australian scholars to publish in the best forums in the world, for instance The New York Times or Foreign Affairs. There is no reason why an Australian who has something to say, and the ability to say it elegantly, should not reach an international audience.”
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From left to right: John Daley, Richard Denniss, John Roskam, Greg Lindsay and Michael Fullilove.
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SOCIETY latter “speak on behalf of a constituency”. Part of his job, as he sees it, is “to tell a politician that if you don’t do X on behalf of the large numbers of people who care about X I’m going to tell them how disappointing you are. It’s a very direct and effective way of influencing the political mind.” It’s less effective, he admits, if a party has decided that it can get by without the support of a particular constituency, or if its support from that constituency is rusted on. “Then you might struggle,” he says.
institute has been advocating, such as a carbon tax review, reform of the national curriculum, and the repeal of section 18 c of the Racial Discrimination Act. Nor is there anything shy about his broader ideological aims. “We talk here about swinging back the pendulum,” he admits. At the opposite end of the policy spectrum is The Australia Institute, which styles itself a “progressive” think tank. The institute is led by economist Richard Denniss, formerly a strategic advisor to the Greens, and he plans to focus in
the medium term on social issues such as equity, and in particularly on the uneven distribution of wealth from the mining boom – the “winners and losers”, as he puts it. The institute is also vocal in its questioning of coal seam gas exploration, and raises a strongly reasoned opposition, in the language of classical liberal theory, to the lack of competition in the Australian banking industry. Denniss draws a sharp distinction between policy think tanks and politicians: the former “speak on behalf of their research” while the
The strategy pursued by Denniss is largely indirect. “I don’t go out of my way to lobby politicians,” he says. “On a wide range of issues we seek to influence the public mind, as well as the minds of non-government organisations and business leaders. In the battle for influence we wield evidence and ideas, commentary and debate. For me it’s not so much a question of whether or not I can get a meeting with the minister as whether or not our ideas are likely to be influential in this environment.” The Centre for Independent Studies, while it shares a similar disposition to the IPA, adopts a quieter and more cerebral approach to its work. “We are a little unusual,” admits its executive director Greg Lindsay. “That might be a reflection of my background. When I started the CIS in 1976 I was not an economist; I was not a policy person; I did mathematics and philosophy at university and I was concerned with the things that make
societies free. Our fundamental objective was to examine that, and while a lot of it does have implications for policy I think we need to think a little more broadly on issues.” To that end the CIS holds an annual lecture on religion, and leavens its diet of talks and papers on the failings of education and multiculturalism, the need for tax and health reform, with others on subjects such as Images of Liberty and Power or the role of Enlightenment values in Australia’s foundation. Though different from many other think tanks in its desire to remove itself from the cut and thrust of policy and survey a more varied cultural canvas, the CIS has much in common with other think tanks. Lindsay concedes, for example, that he has a different relationship to the new government than he did with the old. And yet some things, in think tank land, never change. “We made a fair effort with the previous federal government and we got on well with some and others made us tear our hair,” he says, “but that could happen with this lot too.”
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12 The Adelaide Review December 2013
BUSINESS
Financial Performance Do You Really Know? by Michael Browne
I
t’s that time of year when most private businesses have completed their report card from the previous financial year. But what do these results really say about the health of your business? Is your past performance the best measure of your future success? As we head towards the half-way point of the 2014 financial year, now is the perfect time to take a closer look to see what’s driving or hindering your business.
A business’ year-end financial results – statutory financial accounts, income tax position, and bank report – are vital parts of the annual business cycle and each in their own way validate the financial strength of a business. However, whilst they provide the
headline position, they do so from an historic perspective. So what tools should business owners be using to make these important assessments? Owners tend to have a good sense of the overall financial position – the ‘gut feel’ but may not be aware of the detail. The complexities and uncertainties of today’s business world make relying on the headline business performance potentially dangerous. A good place to start is to use the data already in your possession: the statutory reporting process, your budget and year to date performance. When combined, you will be able to assess your performance against budget, whether a reforecast is required and importantly, whether the business is on strategy.
Financial performance is more than just the headline indicators of the profit and cash position. Whilst genuinely important, they are to some extent lag indicators. They are a reflection of a point in time indicating what has happened and may not reveal the underlying business trend or what may be required to ensure the business prospers and grows. To get the real picture it is often necessary to dig deeper, below the headline position.
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For example, a relatively high cash balance may not always be a symbol of success, but rather an indicator of underinvestment, which may spell trouble in the future. A strong profit result may reflect a run down in stock, which will have to be replaced at a higher price leading to a squeeze on future margins and impact future profitability.
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Understanding where the business makes its money may require ‘a deeper dive’. Assessments of which products are the most profitable, which branches are making the greatest margin, understanding the optimal labour mix etc, all involve looking below the top line result and digging deeper. An assessment of the key business drivers may not necessarily require a sophisticated reporting package, but may require thought about the component parts of the business and how they can be measured on a timely basis. Recently a client reviewed its pricing strategy to understand how it was impacting overall profitability rather than top line sales. The outcome was a realignment of its
pricing strategy leading to a significant lift in financial performance. Another client was able to improve cash flow by reviewing its own billing cycle to better fit their customer’s own payment cycle. A careful review of the businesses banking and funding arrangements is also important. The timing of repayments, nature of bank covenants and interest rate arrangements can all impact on overall financial performance. As an example, a client was able to renegotiate their banking covenants to fit a change in economic conditions to improve their own cash flow without causing the bank’s own position to deteriorate. An assessment of the business drivers may require consultation with your financial advisor but may be some of the best money you’ll spend this year. The process enables you to look more closely at your business, have useful financial reports which give you timely feedback and enable you to quickly respond to changed business circumstances. In the run up to Christmas it might be worth taking a look at whether the business reporting process is really giving you the true picture of your financial performance.
»»Michael Browne is a Partner at PwC pwc.com.au
The Adelaide Review December 2013 13
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SOCIETY
Juggling the Transport and Land Use Matrix by Kathryn Bellette
T
he Integrated Transport and Land Use Plan, released by the Premier in October, is not simply aiming to ‘better connect’ SA within and between metropolitan Adelaide and regional South Australia. It fundamentally services the implementation of the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide. In recent years, population growth within the metropolitan area has been greatest in the middle and outer parts of the city but job growth has been in the mid and inner areas. This imbalance is a major challenge to the efficacy of the public transport system. One remedy for this is to encourage more people to live closer to the city centre, thereby requiring less travel to work. This translates to increased dwelling densities closer to the city along designated well-serviced transit corridors, as per the 30-Year Plan. The tram re-establishment program AdeLink is the primary focus for the investment in permanent public transport routes. Flinders University Associate Professor Clive Forster articulates some of the thinking behind the 30Year transport plan: “It’s true that there is a lot of enthusiasm around the world for transitoriented development, particularly associated with light rail/tram routes. This is largely due to the role of fixed rail transit in stimulating building investment, because it represents a major longterm public infrastructure investment that can’t easily be moved or changed, so it generates private investor confidence in a way that bus services cannot.”
Following this argument, does this mean that those living in the outer suburbs miss out? How does the system best service areas not in these designated corridors? People for Public Transport (PPT) President Thanasis Avramis: “Insofar as work-related transport needs are important, the proposals for the inner city appear sensible. However, there are significant transport needs that are unrelated to work. This includes travel for shopping, general business, social purposes and travel to school.” Given that fixed rail is more expensive per vehicle and doesn’t have the flexibility of buses (the ability to allocate bus size and routes according to demand over time), does the plan match horses for courses? Transport planner and Past President of the Australian Institute of Urban Studies (SA Branch), Ian Radbone explains: “The thing about the crosssuburban routes is that, while collectively they are very important, any one individual route has relatively low numbers travelling on it, compared with the radial routes. These are best serviced by flexible and relatively low capacity vehicles (buses). This coupled with buses working as feeder services to suburban centres and train stations creates greater efficiencies.” To meet patrons’ needs in terms of frequency, affordability and a network of destinations, it goes without saying that the enabler is significant ongoing investment, required across the tenure of multiple governments. For now at
least, Avramis says that the Plan lacks clarity about how the bus system in particular will meet these needs. Overall though the PPT President considers that the plan’s many proposals will assist to improve public transport usage and most likely reduce the level of car dependency in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Dr Iris Iwanicki, Past President of the Planning Institute of Australia (SA Division) agrees: “The 30-year transport plan supports the need for more efficient use of land in the longer term, better designed medium to high density living, improved public transport and less polluting options. People can reduce car dependence. It is therefore a welcome piece of the jigsaw of sustainable planning.” Driven by the desire to facilitate access to the export markets and address two state priorities; ‘realising the benefit of the mining boom for all’ and ‘premium food and wine in a clean and green environment’, regional SA gets a significant share of the transport investment. There are benefits also to tourism and regional communities’ access and safety via a plan to
address a growing conflict between freight, tourism and local travel needs in regional and remote SA. The actions to remedy this include targeted road duplication, bypasses and increased maintenance. The reference to maintenance may seem a little unusual in a landscape scale plan, but with remote outback roads costing up to six times the cost of metropolitan roads to maintain, it’s a necessary flag to budget makers. The expansive geography of SA coupled with a relatively low population will always result in difficult decisions about where to invest public transport dollars. The development of a plan for a 30-year period spanning multiple governments and an uncertain fiscal context is bold but essential. To not prepare, commit and commence implementing a long term integrated transport and land use plan would be to set the state on a certain backward path. “It’s good to see a plan come out,” says Derek Scrafton, Professor of Transport Policy at UniSA. “The last draft Transport Plan was in 2003. This wasn’t ever approved.”
...about friends sharing goodwill and hope. Christmas C hr is coming and once again Hutt St Centre w will be providing good food, good cheer and good com company for people who are homeless in Adelaide. Please donate online at huttstcentre.org.au or call the Hutt St Centre on 8418 2500
14 The Adelaide Review December 2013
OPINION MONTEFIORE Adelaide’s Lord Mayor has just completed year three of his term, with one to go. Few South Australians realise how significant it will prove to be – regardless of who was wearing the gold chain.
BY Sir Montefiore Scuttlebutt
T Remarkable and mysterious The Botany of Christmas by Stephen Forbes
T
he translucent colours characterising the saturation of glacé fruits with sugar describe the beauty, texture, scent and taste of fresh fruit – albeit saturated with sugar. In contrast the life-like colours and shapes characterising marzipan fruits caricature the fresh fruits they represent; regardless of faithful imitation, the texture, scent and taste of marzipan fruits give no hint of the fruit itself. While neither glacé fruits nor marzipan can claim the miracle or the powerful symbolism owned by the poinsettia gracing the same Christmas table, they’ve more than earned their place as edible table decorations. Last Christmas I explored glacé fruits – marzipan and the almonds that form the marzipan deserve the same attention. Most marzipan is made from sweet almonds although pistachios make a fine marzipan and even peach and apricot kernels are used. The characteristic strong bitter almond taste of the latter, and of wild almonds, indicates the presence of amygdalin (a precursor for prussic acid or hydrogen cyanide), which has to be detoxified before the kernels can be used. While marzipan might lack powerful symbolism and miracle, the almond can hold its own. In the Bible ‘... the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.’ In some traditions Aaron’s rod bore sweet almonds on one side and bitter almonds on the other – if the Israelites followed the path of the Lord sweet almonds would predominate – if they were to forsake the path of the Lord
bitter almonds would be the only produce. The selection of sweet almonds for cultivation is celebrated as one of the earliest tree domestications. Sweet almonds are found in archaeological sites in Numaria (Jordan) from 5000 years before present and later in Tutankhamun’s tomb. Almonds perhaps originated in Armenia and Azerbaijan but were already native to the Middle East as far as the Indus before being widely distributed through cultivation across the Mediterranean and North Africa. The origins of marzipan are likely in the first millennium and depended on access to a reasonable abundance of sugar, although honey was a likely early ingredient. Chaucer’s doctor knew Islamic medical luminaries including ‘Razis’ – Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi (850-935) who lived and worked in Persia as a clinician in the early 10th century and provides an early record of marzipan and its reputed curative qualities. The extreme art of marzipan sotelties (or subtleties) is apparent by Shakespeare’s time in Europe but I’ll leave that exploration to a food writer. Nobel laureate Thomas Mann was a Lübecker – a citizen of the German town as famed for its marzipan as for its author (Mann is sculpted as a life size marzipan sotelty in the Lübeck marzipan museum). Mann observed of both marzipan and the critics who had compared his work to marzipan, “... it is remarkable and, as I have said, mysterious …
And if we examine this sweet more closely, this mixture of almonds, rosewater and sugar, the suspicion arises that it is originally oriental, a confection for the harem, and that in all probability the recipe for this barely digestible delicacy came to Lübeck from the Orient by way of Venice … And it turns out that those wits are not so wrong as they themselves think, that Death in Venice is really ‘marzipan’ although in a deeper sense than they ever meant it.” Almonds are closely related to plums, peaches and apricots. If you have one in your garden you’ll delight in the sublime late winter blossoms and, assuming there’s another tree somewhere in the neighbourhood and bees pollinate the flowers, you can expectantly follow the fruits until close to ripeness in January. Just as the hulls begin to split to reveal the nuts, sulphur crested cockatoos are likely to appear for their only visit to your suburb for the year and strip the tree. Perhaps the almond tree is worth netting after all.
hree themes have characterised Adelaide’s Lord Mayor’s firstterm so far. They are the digital age, the bicycle, and unprecedented state government interference in City of Adelaide planning governance. Given the latter, for Mayor Yarwood there might be a temptation to instead anaesthetise himself in the online ether – the ubiquitous Wi-Fi-fed email, Facebook and Twitter traffic – or instead escape on his bike deep into the leafy park lands. But Mr Yarwood’s not for running; if anything, his energy already marks him out – in hindsight – as being the ideal person for the 2010-14 city mayor’s term given its very 21st century pressures – and for the times. Some might say this optimistically, others less so.
While some stone fruits in Australia have suffered grievously from a market that supports cheap imported fruit there has been a significant increase of almond orchards here. In the past decade orchards have expanded from around 6000 to 30,000 hectares and Australia is destined to become the second largest producer after California (with 81 percent of the world’s crop Australia is not destined to supplant California any time soon). If you are going to plant a tree (or an orchard) best wait until winter.
A Lord Mayor’s gig is a curious career beast, all pomp and ceremony, no real power, crushing schedules and endless charities, awesome public expectations, and unceasing criticism that the incumbent hasn’t yet mastered the skill of walking on water. Then there are the eternal – and infernal – Town Hall meetings with councillors who squabble about everything – and vote only for their interests, knowing that their leader cannot bang heads together, unlike a State Premier. Indeed, an alien from outer space would probably place a Code Red warning on any executive gig that demanded the wearing of robes and gold chain, worked the incumbent seven days and seven nights for four years straight, but paid a third of the salary of his CEO who endures none of these expectations and gets weekends and public holidays off.
At Christmas you might reflect that Christian iconography utilises almond branches as a symbol of the virgin birth of Jesus and as a symbol of Mary. The symbolism resonates with the Hebrew Bible’s characterisation of the almond, likely reflecting its early flowering, as a symbol of watchfulness and promise.
Given the stresses, a micro manager who likes to read everything should probably not embrace the digital world as much as Mr Yarwood does. Setting aside a day a week just to respond to every email he gets should probably be delegated, but that’s the kind of guy he is. Then there’s the bicycle.
»»Stephen Forbes is Director, Botanic Gardens of Adelaide
Adelaide being the perfect city for cycling with a perfect climate it’s a no brainer but add a heavy dash of old Adelaide conservatism and the crushed ice of Adelaide’s car drivers’ intense dislike of
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 15
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OPINION radical change, and too much cycling cocktail might turn out to be toxic. Mr Yarwood has been attending his cycling lemonade stall for three years now, setting the scene for major and fundamental inner city transport change – if those that follow him in future years have the same courage to pursue it to fruition. But if they don’t, and lapse back to the traditional lethargy of previous incumbents, the Yarwood pitch for two-wheels-better-than-four could be lost to history, and much invested energy wasted. Then there’s the ruthless prosecution of the Weatherill Government’s war with Town Hall that few outsiders know about. It ramped up behind the scenes virtually the minute he became Lord Mayor, chipping away at some of Town Hall’s traditional responsibilities, and reducing his own job spec from a four-page list to a few paragraphs. Function figurehead, chairman of various committees, signer of citizenship certificates, official welcomer to visiting delegates, and perceived endorser of radically new government planning policy. Aficionados of Mr Yarwood would say the latter is manifestly unfair, because he is an objective, articulate and very experienced former urban planner, and his youth, skills and qualifications have set him substantially apart from Lord Mayors of recent years. But his November 2010 win coincided with a perfect storm – the arrival of county sheriff Jay Weatherill, and a ramped up government shopping list
www.philhandforth.com
that included what turns out to be nothing less than an unprecedented state takeover of aspects of city planning administration and park lands development and governance deftly dodging the ongoing operational bills. It began with the $535 million Adelaide Oval, saw fresh interference in well-supported proposed heritage listings, imposed vast new development rule changes that fed city developer speculation, inserted a Dubai-esque Riverbank precinct vision, and right now sees an emerging blueprint for substantial interference in Adelaide’s park lands development. This contrasts the city’s traditional custodianship, and may destabilise procedures and policies set in stone only eight years ago by Dunstan era remnant and now-retired Premier, Mike Rann, who championed them in his so-called radical Adelaide Park Lands Act 2005. Given its symbolism in the minds of all South Australians, the government’s confidence
is telling. By comparison, Mr Yarwood’s refurbishments of Rundle Mall and Victoria Square, while overdue, in the long term will be seen as nothing more than routine city upgrading.
in the city but also across Adelaide’s suburbs – and the park lands if a planning minister wants it. The review’s recommendations haven’t even been written, but the endgame is being pushed through ahead of the state election.
Bare-knuckle fighting is not part of an urban planner’s DNA, and planning school nurseries train students to seek compromise at every turn. Mr Yarwood brought this characteristic to the Mayor’s Parlour on day one, but it has played into the hands of the sheriff’s men who’ve prosecuted a hard-nosed lack of compromise as they interfered with city traditions, forced administrators to re-write city policies and infected Town Hall with a cost-shifting virus – from state to Town Hall. Even while the government’s `expert planning review’ is under way, parliament has passed sheriff Jay’s Urban Renewal Act that will fundamentally revise the rules across the entire planning map, not only
It must be a curious experience to live in a Lord Mayor’s head when all of your training and energies are directed at contributing the very best to your city, but when the North Terrace inmates have escaped and have quietly taken over the traditionally aloof Town Hall asylum with a fast-paced agenda that could substantially change Adelaide’s public fabric in future years. Next March might see a cleanout of the asylum wards, but fresh inmates are certain to continue that agenda. This time next year Mr Yarwood will have sheriff Jay’s legacy stamp all over his graduation report, and, whether he likes it or not, the historians will make their judgements on that.
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16 The Adelaide Review December 2013
COLUMNISTS Six Square Metres Homesickness BY Margaret Simons
H Third Age The Chocolate Frog Affair BY Shirley Stott Despoja
I
ate my grandson’s chocolate frog. It was an unusually large one, given to him by his father as he left for work. I was meant to see him and his sister off to school happily, but things went wrong and I sort of confiscated the frog, giving the poor boy the evil eye when he dared to ask about it as the bus he catches to school arrived. There was no question of replacing it because of its size. There was nothing to do but to confess. “I ate it,” I said, some days later. “I am sorry.”
“Did you, grandma?” he asked. He has a slight English accent, which reminds me of John Howard Davies, the child actor in Oliver Twist and The Rocking Horse Winner (important films of my childhood). He even looked up from his iPod, which showed there was something going on in his little red head. We looked at each other. It was a moment. This old woman in his life was not only capable of greed but also theft. I no longer felt like one of those grandmas in the kids’ books who are short, fat, rosy-cheeked – and absolutely above reproach. I was just Shirley. I think I saw this in his eyes, along with some amusement. After all, chocolate doesn’t mean all that much to him. His life is full of amazing things and amazing people. He has never known something like Shout Night, the highlight of my childhood, until my father got bored with it, when a few sweets, such as musk sticks and bobbies, still available in Sydney despite the war, were shared out in the family as a huge treat. Shout Night was actually payday. I was the youngest by eight years, old enough to experience nice traditions like these, but too young to know why they ceased. To explain Shout Night and the scarcity of sweets in my childhood, I would have to take my grandson on a short tour of WW2, rationing, being hard-up but not quite poor, with a WW1angry dad… and he would be bored stiff. So a lot of the time we pretend my childhood was just like his and his sister’s: full of discoveries,
travel, getting out of music practice, about goodies and baddies (my baddies were Nazis and “Japs”; his are fictitious characters from films I would never sit through). I watch for eye-glazing when I talk about being young, but mostly it is the eyebrow-lift of disbelief. No car? No telephone?... but we had the beach, the tram rides, a dog, the backyard full of fruit trees. I can see them thinking they don’t need to feel sorry for me and that is a relief to them. But who am I to him? He is careful of me (“Mum, grandma needs help” – their stupid car is too low for me); he likes my house full of stuff, my overprotected cat… What will he remember of me when he is a man? It is worrying. Will he remember that I ate his chocolate frog? I suspect he will. We old people are working away on how we will be remembered. Not in obituaries, but in the minds of our descendants. And sometimes of younger friends. But this column is about my experience of old age and being a grandma of three is the most important thing to me. I can see I need to buck up. The chocolate frog affair was a Lesson. Here endeth. Little Christmas Cracker… As we get closer to the end of the year, I can’t help but think that 2013 has been most unsatisfactory. Not even the election was properly sorted. There is so much violence on TV and other entertainment that even a milk advertisement is ugly with it. I suppose we will go on telling ourselves that this doesn’t affect our sensibilities, but we are wrong, and just too lazy to do anything about it. Hanging over us all is the shame of our treatment of desperate people and sad animals. You will need to be pretty thick-skinned to rattle on about the joy of Christmas, but no doubt we will, and put our hopes in children and grandchildren to improve our civilisation. In which case it is the ultimate folly to prejudice their attempts by pulling the rug from underneath the planet, so to speak. We can do better, as our end of school year reports used to say. Handel’s Messiah is not the music for Christmas, to raise our spirits. Try his Fireworks twice daily instead. Squeeze a bit of joy out of this wicked, disappointing world. Forgive me: old people find optimism hard at this time of year. So be nice to your granny. Indulge her. Go on.
omesickness can take you by surprise, and right in the midst of the thrill of travel. I am presently in Shanghai, a city that feels like the centre of the world. Manhattan used to feel this way. I imagine London felt like this at the time Samuel Johnson asserted that if a man was tired of London, then he was tired of life. Shanghai is such an exciting place. Last night I walked along the Bund, with colonial buildings on one side of the river and the extravagant present of the Pudong skyscrapers on the other. There is nowhere like this in the world. This is a city caught in the act of destruction and creation. Only a generation ago, there was starvation in this country. The parents of the people who crowd the food courts and the shopping malls can remember people eating grass to fill their stomachs. China is a miracle, and I am lucky to be here. And yet. There was a moment yesterday, as I sat on a bus travelling through the frayed outer suburbs of the city, when I wished to be at home pottering in my few square metres of soil. The suburbs of Shanghai are in the process of being destroyed and recreated. From our bus, we could see old men carrying plastic buckets of water on poles as they tended their perfectly square vegetable plots. All around their remnant farms were factories and 20 storey apartment blocks and building sites. These market gardeners will, no doubt about it, have been built over by this time next year. Further out, there were fields of rice.
Every little farmhouse had a pond crowded with ducks. Every space was used to grow something. The men worked the fields with hoes and rakes, and scattered what looked like fertiliser by hand, out of a bucket. They were all old men. China has now had two decades of the single child policy. Most of those single children will gravitate to the city, carrying solo the hopes and expectations of their parents, and two sets of grandparents. Meanwhile the air was like soup. The pollution in China literally takes your breath away, and makes your eyeballs sting. If you have ever doubted that it is possible for human beings to so damage their environment that it becomes poison, then come to China. The papers are reporting that children are being diagnosed with lung cancer – a disease that normally takes decades to develop – as young as seven. Sitting high up on the highway viewing the farmers from my bus, knowing that they will soon be built over, or relocated, or simply unable to continue, I felt a longing to tend my own little patch. I was wondering if the passionfruit vine had grown to the top of the trellis. I was thinking of my little sundeck, my tomato plant and eggplant growing upside down in their suspended grow-bags, and the lettuce that was just coming into its own. I was wondering whether anyone at home had thought to water the plants. My stomach clenched with longing. At that moment, I thought how fine it is to have a home, to understand its customs and its ways and to plant a seed and watch it grow, knowing that (if it is not tempting fate to think so) life will be much the same next year as it is this. China is a miracle, and a dilemma. It doesn’t have that luxury.
@MargaretSimons
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 17
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COLUMNISTS legislation similar to that passed in England in 1857. The logic was simple; if divorce was easier, deserted women could remarry and their upkeep transferred from the state to their new husbands. South Australia raced the new bill through the parliament and women began to petition the courts for divorce, although they had to produce witnesses to verify their husband’s adultery, and also prove desertion or cruelty, while a man had only prove his wife’s infidelity.
Anonymous woman; W.J. Lott’s Paris Photographic Studio, 164 Rundle Street.
DR K’S CURIOUS CHRONICLES Lott’s Wife BY KIERA LINDSEY
“
The greatest evil” that could beset a fledging colony was, for Edward Gibbon Wakefield the mastermind of South Australia, an imbalanced gender ratio. If there were more men than women, he theorised, men
would be required to perform “all the offices that a woman usually performs for men”. Such had been the case in New South Wales and dire had been the moral consequences for that “sink of wickedness”. Thus, marriage became crucial to the way South Australia distinguished itself from all other Australian colonies. Problems began to surface in the 1850s, however, when thousands of South Australian men deserted their wives for the goldfields, only to return when their fortunes failed to claim whatever earnings the poor woman had acquired in his absence. The destitute state of these women made claims upon the public purse, which vexed colonial administrators. The solution came in an edict from the Home Office, insisting that all colonies enact divorce
In 1876, a little-known Plymouth migrant named Frances Lott, petitioned the court to divorce her husband of 12 years, William James, a man whose ‘shameful depravity, wanton cruelty and utter baseness’ shocked even the presiding judge, Chief Justice Samuel Way. The newspapers were equally appalled and covered the trial’s horrendous details, describing how William Lott beat his wife with his fists, dragged her by her hair, and carried a pistol, which he threatened would be easier to use on her than “eating his dinner”. Witnesses recalled that Lott treated his wife “like a dog” — even forcing her to tend to the two mistresses he kept in his photographic studio on Rundle Street. Horror rippled throughout Adelaide when Lott’s eldest daughter revealed to the court that her father had taken photos of her naked, thrashed her with a whip “until the blood came” and threatened to murder her if she told anyone. Condemning the case as utterly “reeking with filth”, Samuel Way granted Frances a divorce from “a creature” he believed to be so “thoroughly steeped in sensuality”, that he was “lost to all moral restraint and common decency”. Way then defied accepted practice by granting Frances custody of her two daughters. Not only did the Lott trial encourage more South Australian women to seek a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, it also brought this issue out of the shadowy confines of the domestic sphere and into the public domain where it captured the attention of numerous social reformers. The newly divorced Lotts’ were now free to live separate lives. William remarried; but both this union and his photographic business were doomed by what the papers’ condemned as his “filthy immorality”. Within a year, his second
ON GIFTS FOR CHRISTMAS
Source: CBA, 2012, Aussies set to spend $16.2 billion during Christmas 2012. Study conducted by Lonergan Research.
Social history connects the everyday of the past with its grand ideas and events. It is concerned with how little lives illuminate the big themes of history. Frances Lott was representative of a changing world in which women would increasingly insist upon both private and public respect. The story of Lott’s wife also suggests that ‘the greatest evil’ in colonial society lay, not only in the gender imbalance that once concerned Wakefield, but also in the imbalance of power that some experienced within the institution of marriage. *I acknowledge and appreciate the outstanding work of my UniSA Honours student, whose rigorous research assisted with the development of this story.
» Dr Kiera Lindsey teaches Australian History and Australian Studies at the University of South Australia
2013 CHRISTMAS APPEAL
IN 2012 THE AVERAGE AUSSIE PLANNED ON SPENDING
$475
wife had filed assault charges, and Lott was convicted of arson after attempting to burn down his studio, just days before the insurance lapsed. Next he was accused of manslaughter when a drunken associate died days after Lott repeatedly punched him in the face. Despite manslaughter charges, Lott challenged the will with a forged document that was dismissed by a contemptuous Magistrate. With ‘popular prejudice’ set against Lott, he experienced a sort of conversion and was last recorded conducting ‘open-air religious services’ in the Botanic Gardens. While William’s was a tale of public ruin, Frances’ future was so private that little can be found of her in the public record. We know that she remarried, but divorced her second husband a decade or so later when he deserted her for the Western Australian goldfields. It appears that for the remainder of her life, Frances lived in Adelaide with her two daughters, neither of whom married. Faint remains of the family plot can be found in the West Terrace Cemetery, where a modest gravestone bares the simple epitaph: ‘Mother’. A testimony, perhaps, to the determination she showed in securing a new life for her daughters.
OVER 100,000 AUSSIES DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A HOME Source: ABS, 2012, Census of Population and Housing: Estimating Homelessness 2011
GIVE THE ONE GIFT THAT REALLY COUNTS THIS CHRISTMAS TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A REAL AND LASTING DIFFERENCE. THANK YOU.
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18 The Adelaide Review December 2013
EDUCATION Art School… really?
W
hat must it be like for the postHoward generation to be heading to art college in this day and age?
Education Feature In the following pages, The Adelaide Review’s annual Education Feature focuses on everything from secondary school options to study in the arts.
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The perfect way to start the New Year! TERM 1 Courses will start Monday 3 February 2014 Enrolments are now open 319 Young Street Wayville SA 5034 P: (08) 8272 4281 E: adelaide@af.org.au W: www.af.org.au More than a language school, simply the best way to live and learn French
Adelaide College of the Arts has, at any time, approximately 1000 students studying many disciplines; acting – ceramics – television – costume – film – jewellery – photography – print-making – dance – writing – theatre design – sound and lighting – stage management and on the list goes… Many of these art forms are ‘ancient’, relying on established techniques and requiring a master and apprentice teaching methodology, whilst simultaneously allowing students to find contemporary relevance. There is something charming and timeless about an arts practice and there is a noticeable trend from the public towards purchasing ‘hand-made’ bespoke artisan products. This trend is driving a demand for ‘makers’, and for ‘makers’ to acquire the skills required to create this fine hand-made work. This is evidenced by the hundreds more students wanting to get into ACArts can currently be accommodated. Making the decision to follow an arts practice is perhaps, not as off the radar as it was a decade ago, due to this growing demand for the bespoke and artisanal. But, we are still a long way from valuing our creative sector for its conceptual contribution and I believe this stems from a significant moment in time. With the industrial revolution and subsequent introduction of the eight hour week came the most subtle and significant devaluing of creativity. It was then that a framework was designed that provided for maximum profitability through productivity. From the lowest to the highest paid person, time was now divided as eight hours work, eight hours rest and eight hours play. For artists and makers, this is where the trouble began. In this gentle re-alignment of the arts as play and not work, they were neatly and quickly devalued.
Here’s my analogy – Pat from Port Adelaide works eight hours each day. She then leaves work and cranks up the tunes. Pat enjoys at least seven hours most days, and much of the weekend, listening to music, reading, watching TV, going to the cinema, attending festivals and engaging in activity brought about by artists of one kind or another. Pat hasn’t really stopped to think that she spends as much time at work as she does absorbing/consuming the creative sector… perhaps more. Imagine the amount of time spent engaging in the arts and creative sector in South Australia… every person spending say, seven hours a day engaging in music, TV, books, writing, live experiences, online and more. That’s seven hours per day, or 49 hours per week, x 52 weeks per year x one million adults in SA = gazillions of hours spent engaging in work made by artists. Possibly more time spent in the creative sector than any other single industry. Artists and creative people need to recapture and revalue the whole concept of time in the play/work agenda. The Adelaide College of the Arts trains and develops artists to take up the opportunities afforded by the trend towards artisan products, and as well, educates artists and arts enablers to make highly engaging works for the likes of Pat from Port Adelaide to enjoy with the ‘play’ time that she values so dearly. [To pick up a made in South Australia, object-de-art, come to the ACArts Arts Bazaar, Friday, December 6, 1-8pm]
»»Christie Anthoney Creative Director 2010-13
The Adelaide Review December 2013 19
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ADVERTISING FEATURE takes on further meaning when viewed alongside the Middle Eastern mosaic portrait and funerary fragment from the third century. In 2014, Contemporary Art returns to the Art History program with the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art providing a dynamic backdrop and classroom for this study pathway. Curated by the Gallery’s director Nick Mitzevich, and assisted by Curatorial graduate Serena Wong, the 2014 biennial titled Dark Heart will present the up to the minute visions of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, including an ambitious new body of work by Alex Seton.
T
hrough the Art History program, developed and delivered by the University of Adelaide and the Art Gallery of South Australia, the gallery becomes the laboratory in which ideas regarding the history of art, and how curators approach, display and interrogate that narrative, are tested. Teaching is based around the collections
and the Gallery’s exhibition program. This Australian first program is now in its 11th year, with graduates now working in art institutions and galleries across the country. Any recent visitor to the Art Gallery of South Australia will tell you that the past and the present are entwined forces and that art
history is a dynamic and constantly shifting field. Nowhere is this more palpable than in the refurbished Melrose Wing of European Art where contemporary art jostles historic works of art – making sense of present realities through the lens of the past. Recent acquisitions such as the marble sculpture My concerns will outlive yours, carved with virtuosity by Australian artist Alex Seton, explores the contemporary resonances of the abiding theme of mortality. Seton’s life-size sculpture of a young person covered in an identified flag
»»For information contact Professor Catherine Speck on 8313 5746, email: catherine.speck@adelaide.edu.au arthistory.adelaide.edu.au
journey Scotch is committed to being a leader in teaching and learning. At Scotch we offer every opportunity for our students to achieve. Our focus on student wellbeing encourages resilience and resourcefulness, and aims to build students of good character. Register for a tour and see for yourself what makes Scotch, uniquely Scotch.
Scholarships are now open for 2015. Apply for Academic, General Excellence, Performing Arts, Boarding or Old Collegians Scholarships. Register for a tour online, or for further information or enrolment enquiries please contact enrolments@scotch.sa.edu.au or telephone the Head of Enrolments on 8274 4209. SCA0376
ART HISTORY – THE CONTEMPORARY TURN
‘Study for pleasure’ positions are available for those who are interested in learning more about contemporary art but do not have the time to commit to the full art history program. Other courses on offer in 2014 include Curatorial and Museum Studies, Interrogating Australian Colonial Art, Modern Australian Art, European Art: Renaissance to Revolution, as well as online courses.
20 The Adelaide Review December 2013
ADVERTISING FEATURE / EDUCATION
A Contemporary Education For Our Future Leaders
A
recent survey of South Australian business leaders found that educating its current managers will be one of the most important ways that we can differentiate ourselves in the Asian Century. In response to this, Damian Scanlon, Director of the University of Adelaide MBA, recognised the need for a program that responds to industry demands. “We’ve always had good feedback from our MBA graduates, but we wanted to truly reflect what the next generation of business leaders want.” Delivering on this commitment, the Adelaide MBA has announced new changes to what is taught in 2014. One of these changes is the introduction of a new compulsory course ‘Systems Thinking for Management’ that has been designed by a global expert in this area, Professor Ockie Bosch, to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to operate in complex environments. Mr Scanlon believes these skills are essential for any leader wanting to succeed in today’s business environment.
Appreciating that quality teaching is paramount, Mr Scanlon is committed to
A
delaide Central School of Art is an independent, not-for-profit, accredited Higher Education Provider that offers intensive training for students looking to develop careers as practising artists. The School offers undergraduate degrees, specialist short courses, workshops and masterclasses. In our studio-based teaching program we emphasise structured sequential learning, developing practical skills in parallel with rigorous intellectual inquiry. As a single-focus art school, all classes are led by lecturers who are leading practitioners in their field. The School is recognised nationally for its excellence in educational practice and student success. Students’ benefit from the range of experience and expertise offered by its staff of respected contemporary artists, writers and curators. Small class sizes and one-on-one interaction with lecturers create an environment that is both challenging and supportive. The School offers both day and evening classes, with the flexibility of enrolling in either
The Adelaide MBA has also introduced a Social Enterprise Project, which will form a compulsory part of the new program. “During our discussions with SA businesses, we’ve also found that they have a strong sense of social responsibility, not just the bottom line.” This project will give students the opportunity to apply their business acumen to make a difference in the community by contributing to an existing social enterprise project or creating a new one. “This is one way we can ensure that we are seen to be giving back to the community in a far more sustainable way,” says Mr Scanlon.
»»For more information about the Adelaide MBA, please contact our MBA Program Adviser at mba@adelaide.edu.au or 8313 6455.
single or multiple subjects catering to both full-time and part-time students. The extended 34-week academic year is deemed essential by the School as it enables increased studio time and enhanced learning opportunities. Adelaide Central School of Art is more than a school of excellence: it is an intense community of committed students and teachers. Formal learning is supplemented by a cooperative atmosphere of informal exchange of ideas and peer learning between students of all year levels. Adelaide Central School of Art moved to the Glenside Cultural Precinct in 2013 with the official opening of the School by The Hon. Jay Weatherill MP, Premier of South Australia on May 18, 2013. As well as providing new and improved teaching and studio facilities for our students we also with have been able to extend our secondary schools’ outreach program, artists’ talk series and extended our short-course offerings and associated public programs. Adelaide Central Gallery also has a new home with us, as does Central Artist Supplies … all set on beautiful grounds, conducive to en plein air painting and outdoor sculpture. These spacious and improved studio, teaching and reference facilities have been purpose-designed to suit the School’s learning needs, now and into the future.
Photo: James Knowler
Adelaide Central School of Art
attracting world-leading academics to teach in the Adelaide MBA, who combine current research with practical industry experience to deliver a relevant program. “This is a rare combination, but we have got the very best on board.”
Damian Scanlon
MPC6494_R
Make her next achievement a Walford Scholarship. WALFORD 2015 SCHOLARSHIPS We offer a challenging and rewarding environment where your daughter’s unique talents will be pursued to their full potential. A range of academic, general, boarding and music scholarships are available for entry into Walford in 2015. On-line applications are now open and full details are available at walford.net.au For further information, or to arrange a school tour, call 8373 4042 or email admissions@walford.asn.au Walford Anglican School for Girls Inc. 316 Unley Road Hyde Park South Australia 5061 | Tel. 08 8373 4062 | Fax. 08 8272 0313 | Web. walford.asn.au
22 The Adelaide Review December 2013
EDUCATION
FIRST-CLASS EDUCATION AT SCOTCH COLLEGE
P
reparing students for the world is what drives learning at Scotch College Adelaide.
As one of the finest independent schools in Australia, Scotch’s popularity among families is based on more than the first-class education it provides, but its broader aim of developing students as happy, successful and well-rounded young people. As students progress through the coeducational College – from its Early Learning Centre to the Junior, Middle and Senior Schools – they are encouraged to develop key character traits such as self-reliance, positivity and responsibility to set them up for long-term success beyond their schooling. This is particularly evident in the Senior School where students from Years 10-12 are afforded a diverse and dynamic curriculum incorporating a balance between core and elective subjects. In Year 10, students commence their journey towards their South Australian Certificate of Education accreditation and participate in the College’s Personal Learning Program, which comprises
‘real world’ work experience and community service to develop their perspective of life beyond school. Year 10s are also given a chance to attend an unforgettable school camp on Goose Island near Port Victoria – regarded as a rite of passage each year for all who visit. In Year 11, students are presented with an extensive range of subject choices to complement their study of compulsory numeracy and literacy programs, with these choices helping shape pathways to university, TAFE and the workforce. Year 11s also undertake their SACE Research Project – a detailed self-directed study in an area of particular interest to the student. In Year 12, more than 30 subjects are offered at Scotch to cater for a wide range of interests. Students are given every opportunity to succeed in their studies with extra time allocated in tuition programs to complement classroom learning, while the College’s innovative Futures Centre provides extensive support as students transition out of school into the next phase of their lives. Scotch College Principal Tim Oughton says sustained excellence in student performance throughout the Senior School – and indeed the
rest of the College – is achieved through small class sizes and exceptional teachers. “Scotch College endeavours to teach, guide and encourage students to become vibrant scholars who are able to learn independently, respect the rights of others and who are willing to serve and be passionate about life,” said Mr Oughton. “A diverse curriculum, small class sizes and highly-qualified teachers and support staff help students learn to their greatest potential, while the College’s exceptional co-curricular program provides additional learning opportunities through sport, drama, debating, film-making,
dance, music and visual arts. “We take enormous satisfaction from the College’s outstanding reputation for academic excellence, but more importantly, we are extremely proud of how we help develop students as fine young people in preparation for their adult lives.”
»»For more information about Scotch College enrolments or school tours, contact the registrar on 8274 4209, email enrolments@ scotch.sa.edu.au or visit scotch.sa.edu.au
Your creative journey starts here... Associate Degree of Visual Art
|
Bachelor of Visual Art
|
Bachelor of Visual Art (Hons)
The School offers undergraduate degrees, specialist short courses, workshops and masterclasses. All lecturers are leading practitioners in the field in which they teach. In our studio based teaching program we emphasise structured sequential learning developing practical skills in parallel with rigorous intellectual inquiry. Applications for Semester 1 2014 close 6 January 2014
Summer School 2014 - For beginners to advanced | Book Now Thursday 16 January - Friday 24 January 2014 Two-day intensives | Clay Figure Sculptures with Renate Nisi, Going Beyond Basket Weaving with Sandy Elverd, Advanced Figure Drawing with Rob Gutteridge, Experimental Drawing with Christian Lock, Alla Prima Painting, Colour and Light with Louise Feneley and Techniques of the Trade in Painting with Lisa Young. Half-day courses | Drawing Fundamentals with Trena Everuss, Introduction to Figure Drawing with Deb Trusson, Introduction to Oil Painting with Nona Burden, Abstract and Semi-abstract Watercolour with Arthur Phillips and The portrait from life with Daryl Austin.
Masterclasses | Book Now January 2014 Memory with Chelsea Lehmann, Looking Towards Narrative... the Extra Edge with Stewart MacFarlane and Painting the Narrative with Anna Platten. For more information or to make a booking call us on (08) 8299 7300
In the Gallery Uncharted Territory 2013 Graduate Exhibition 14 December - 10 January 2014 View work by BVA & BVA Honours graduates in the gallery and throughout the Teaching & Studio Building.
Image Anna Platten demonstrating in her Masterclass Creating the Narrative, held September 2013 Photography Ingrid Kellenbach
PO Box 225 Fullarton SA 5063 | Glenside Cultural Precinct 7 Mulberry Road Glenside SA 5065 [via Gate 1, 226 Fullarton Road] T 08 8299 7300 info@acsa.sa.edu.au www.acsa.sa.edu.au
The Adelaide Review December 2013 23
adelaidereview.com.au
ADVERTISING FEATURE
Prepared for a Confident Future
in community outreach activities enables each girl to genuinely understand and appreciate how she can make a difference. “We value our partnership with families and old scholars, as together we seek to raise confident, courageous and resilient young women who willingly engage in learning within and beyond school,” Ms Clarke said.
W
alford’s reputation as a leading school for girls was established in its early years and has continued throughout the decades.
Walford 2012/13 School Captain, Michaela, concludes, “I am grateful for the invaluable life lessons and friendships that Walford has enriched me with. The opportunities I have had at the school have enabled me to grow both as a leader and a person. I look forward to the next chapter of my life feeling confident and knowing anything is possible.”
Walford was the first girls’ school in Australia to offer all three programs of the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the first girls’ school in South Australia to offer the IB Diploma. More than 50 percent of Walford Year 12s consistently achieve a Tertiary Entrance Ranking in the top 10 percent of the State and well over 95 percent of Walford graduates go on to university.
Walford warmly welcomes students from ELC (boys are also welcome to attend ELC sessions) to Year 12. To find out more, contact the school or visit the website walford.net.au.
“For 120 years, Walford has maintained a dedication to excellence in the education of girls. By embracing innovation, remaining forward-thinking and always aiming high, we continue to set exemplary standards,” explains Principal, Rebecca Clarke.
facilitate positive interactions across year levels and to provide the sense of belonging and connectedness that each girl should feel with her school.
Walford is a vibrant community where learning is prioritised and lifelong friendships are formed. The campus is designed to
According to current Walford Year 12 student, Alice, this is being achieved. “One of my favourite things about Walford is the feeling
that everyone belongs.” Her classmate, Tiffany, added, “Walford is a great place to learn, I am so grateful for the support and education I have received from my teachers, and the amazing friends I have made.” The school’s commitment to learning extends beyond the classroom. Participation
»»For further information on admissions or scholarships, please contact Libby Emery, Director of Admissions, on 8373 4062 or email admissions@walford.sa.edu.au.
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time Thomas Merton
S T U DY A RT H I S TO RY
with the ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA and THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
2014 POSTGRADUATE COURSES: Contemporary Art, Curatorial and Museum Studies, Interrogating Australian Colonial Art, Modern Australian Art, European Art: Renaissance to Revolution Prospective online courses: Australian Art, Australian Indigenous Art, European Art: Renaissance to Revolution, Japanese Art Installation view: Heartland: Contemporary Art from South Australia featuring Yhonnie Scarce The Cultivation of Whiteness.
For more information visit www.arthistory.adelaide.edu.au, phone 08 8313 5746 or email catherine.speck@adelaide.edu.au
24 The Adelaide Review December 2013
ADVERTISING FEATURE / EDUCATION
Learn and Live French in Adelaide!
F
rench has never been more popular in the world, with no less than 220 million speakers recorded in 2013. In Adelaide, with a myriad of French cafes and restaurants opening every year, there is an undeniable attraction to everything French, it being the international language of cooking, arts and, of course, love!
Did you know that learning French could help children and adults alike live a better, more fulfilling life? By exposing children to a foreign language early in their life, parents can give them the unique chance to develop lifelong learning abilities: not only will they gain confidence by learning to communicate in another language, but they will be able to acquire other languages more easily, adapt to new situations and think creatively. Speaking a foreign language can give them access to greater opportunities, open them up to the world and increase their chances for a better future. The Alliance Française d’Adelaide is an Ethnic School affiliated with the Ethnic Schools Board, which is part of the Department for Education and Child Development (DECD). Adults can also greatly benefit from learning French by positioning themselves competitively on the international job market. Estimates
Photo: Lucile Barjot
Nested in leafy Wayville, the Alliance Française d’Adelaide offers the ideal environment to immerse in a culture that would otherwise be inaccessible to South Australians. With more than a hundred years of experience teaching French, the independent South Australian notfor-profit association is dedicated to bringing Australian and French cultures together. Part of an international network of over 800 Alliances set up in 136 countries, it is proud of its reputation and teaching practices. At the Alliance Française d’Adelaide, all the teachers are native French speakers, fully qualified and passionate about teaching French to South Australians!
in 2013 suggest that French speakers will reach one billion by 2060, thus increasing the importance of the French language in international relations and business. Beyond that, learning French opens the door to a new way of life, an art de vivre à la française, with its renowned French Gastronomy, recognised as World Heritage by Unesco, and its beautiful and diverse regions offering unparalleled sceneries. With a whole range of classes available for all levels including ‘French for
Travellers’, the Alliance Française d’Adelaide makes it possible to learn French effectively in a rewarding, engaging and fun atmosphere. For those who are after cultural events, the unique and vibrant cultural centre of the Alliance Française d’Adelaide offers a varied program of events throughout the year, including the French Christmas Market, the French Film Festival, Bastille Day and the Fête de la Musique.
»»Alliance Française d’Adelaide 319 Young Street Wayville For more information about classes and events, visit af.org.au or call 8272 4281
Applications for 2014 are open. Film & TV production, Acting, Set & Prop design & construction, Stage Management, Professional Writing + many more
APPLY NOW w w w.acarts.edu.au
Build your career in the arts industry among fellow artists and makers. All at once. All at the same place.
26 The Adelaide Review December 2013
BOOKS
Bleeding Edge Thomas Pynchon / Jonathan Cape BY Luke Stegemann
Of all the unusual careers American fiction has thrown up – and there have been some mighty contenders – surely none match the continued iridescent strangeness of Thomas Pynchon, an author whose complete personal anonymity is a blank slate counterpointing the overflowing content, prodigious experimental style and teeming knowledge of his novels. Approaching what must be the closing stages of Pynchon’s career, his works fall clearly into two categories: the hectic paranoia of contemporary America – The Crying of Lot 49, Vineland and Inherent Vice – and the cryptic re-writing, via parallel, alternative historical narratives, of the birth and development of modernity and its multiple dark undersides – Gravity’s Rainbow, Mason & Dixon and Against The Day – with his first novel V combining elements of both. Taken as a whole, Pynchon’s novels comprise, it has been suggested, an entire history of the project that is the USA, dark-ambitioned science blending with music hall songs and mathematical conspiracies; bizarre, even
ridiculous characters with fragile human tenderness; a cornucopia of pornographic practices and flights of psychedelia all coming together to describe an entropic arc in which we are all falling into final weightless, exhausted darkness, as modernity, science, capital and history – forces at one point or another believed tamed – turn and treat us as playthings. Pynchon’s latest, Bleeding Edge, falls into the former category of contemporary paranoid slapstick, as he enters an area as yet untouched by his wide ranging vision – the 21st century. It is a perfect marriage between author and subject. Readers familiar with Pynchon’s work will know that plot summaries are by and large pointless; Bleeding Edge is of course sprawling and chaotic, as the world itself is; here is the state of mind, both hallucinatory and predatory, of New York in 2001, as the dotcom bubble bursts. The novel transpires both prior to and beyond September of that year, with 9/11 operating as a briefly mentioned fulcrum around which de-listed fraud investigator Maxine Tarnow investigates a murky swamp of links between new internet technologies, military interests and, as always in Pynchon, the subtle uses of power, surveillance and exclusion. As so often, he has been writing ahead of his time. For those yet to discover this almost unclassifiable author, Bleeding Edge might not be a bad place to start. It lacks some of the majesty of his earlier work, and the jokes don’t always come off, but there are the essential quest and conspiracy, and the trademark densely spiralling plot – above and below ground, real and virtual, legal and counterfeit, tangible and illusory – as Tarnow tracks her way around the deeply breathing NYC, from corpses to outlet stores, from cold war bunkers to speedboats on the Hudson, Russian mobsters to hackers, geeks, stoners and a host of other Pynchon staples – Jews, dope, and very odd combinations of food. Pynchon dares to take language and the imagination places others won’t or can’t; he remains the most beautiful and inventive prose stylist of his generation. And most importantly, his post-modernism does not exclude a warm embrace of those intangibles such as beauty, grace and love.
Leviathan: The Rise of Britain as a World Power David Scott / Harper Press
BY Roger Hainsworth
What a book this is! It is partly a narrative history of the first British empire that ended with the American Revolution, concluding with a brief glance ahead to the much larger second empire that emerged after 1783. However, Scott’s account is no mere narrative. This phenomenon of Britain’s imperial expansion needs explaining and Scott’s book is a long and interesting analysis of how the impossible gradually became the unlikely and finally emerged (in foreign eyes) as a sometimes dreaded reality. He begins in 1485 with the kingdom of Henry VII. This kingdom seems unlikely ground to sprout the British Empire. The population was then only two and a half million compared to France’s sixteen million, and only half what it had been before the Black Death of 1349. This disparity did not inhibit the English from
claiming a vanished empire in France. Although their efforts to retake it naturally achieved nothing, this imperial aspiration was perhaps a portent. Two centuries later England had an empire in America and the most powerful navy in the world and was a great power. All this came about despite bitter internal divisions in religion and politics and civil wars across the British Isles that slew more men proportionate to population than the war of 1914-18. Under Charles II the population actually declined. How could it happen? Scott’s explanation is ‘Leviathan’, a concept derived from the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, and defined as ‘the fiscal-military state’. Efficient administration through Parliamentary committees combined with taxation to service debt contracted with London’s commercial wealth, made possible the maintaining of Parliament’s large and efficient New Model Army from the closing years of the Civil War to the end of the Protectorate. After 1649 that 40,000-man army combined with an invincible new-modelled navy transformed England into a European power desperately courted by those bitter rivals France and Spain. Leviathan and England’s great power status failed to survive the Restoration in 1660 but the Glorious Revolution of 1688 saw the 1650s Leviathan revive by a combination of continuous parliaments, parliamentary committees dominated by relevant ministers, the creation of the national debt and the founding of the Bank of England. The powerful fleet of the 1650s now reappeared to serve the Rodneys and Nelsons of future generations, and not only the armies of Marlborough and Wellington, but even of Frederick the Great (through British subsidies) could serve British policies on the Continent of Europe. Despite her much larger population, wars with France left Britain undefeated and her imperial possessions enlarged. In fact the British government was not interested in geographical expansion (bound to prove expensive) but only expansion in commerce (bound to increase British wealth). The American war of independence cost Britain half her geographical empire but her empire of trade was as large as ever - and growing. Then came an industrial revolution that would make Britain the ‘workshop of the world’. All that, of course, falls outside the boundaries of this fascinating book. Let’s hope he writes a sequel!
Bali & Oates By Paul Greenway
RRP
9
$24.9
Australia’s recent phone tapping scandal comes as no surprise to Lonely Planet author and ex ASIO officer Paul Greenway. Since leaving ASIO, Paul has crossed countless international borders, actively engaged in foreign relations and listening in on private conversation, all in pursuit of the ultimate human interest: the perfect holiday destination! Paradoxically, Bali & Oates gives
an insider’s view of the farcical world of international relations. The action centres around Samantha Oates, who is Consul General to Bali, and her intelligence team. Their task: to work out how to protect the Australian Prime Minister on his forthcoming trip to Bali after terrorist group called B.U.T.T made a threat against him. The
Prime Minister¹s trip is of the utmost importance because it will secure relations between Australia and Bali with the signing of the multi-million dollar BOGAN (Bali Oil and Gas Access Negotiations) agreement. Enjoy a bird¹s eye view of Bali in this adventurous and ridiculously farcical but highly intelligent comedy.
jo-media@bigpond.net.au | 03 9681 7275 | www.jojopublishing.com
Paul Greenway Today Paul is best known as an award-winning travel writer and on December 10 he will release his first fiction book, Bali & Oates, at the South Australian Writers Centre at 7pm. He will also do a book signing at Dymocks Rundle Mall on Friday, December 13, 12.30pm. Get your signed copy. The perfect gift for holiday reading.
The Adelaide Review December 2013 27
adelaidereview.com.au
FASHION Fashion Rendezvous
GILLES STREET GRAND BAZAAR 2013 Sunday, December 1 (10am to 4pm) 91 Gilles Street, Adelaide gillesstreetmarket.com.au Gilles Street Market returns with a huge fashion bazaar. Expanding onto Gilles Street with an additional 50 stalls, this event attracted more than 6000 people last year. Free entry.
The Town Local
label Vege Threads, there is an increasing demand within Adelaide to support people trying to do something different. “There are amazing designers in Adelaide that are getting international recognition at present, so it’s definitely giving the city a new image in the fashion scene. We are a bit saturated with commercial brands and concession stores that I think people are looking for smaller local boutiques with independent brands to support.”
Presented by two Adelaide fashion and design institutions, Vege Threads and AHD Paper Co, The Town Local is a Renew Adelaide initiative that will bring a host of local and national boutique labels to King William St. by Lachlan Aird
T
he Adelaide Review speaks with the duo behind the store, AHD Paper Co’s Kara Town and Amy Roberts of Vege Threads, who have both returned to Adelaide from the east coast to grow their businesses. While their businesses are gaining traction nationally, and are just entering the busiest time of the year, when approached by Renew Adelaide as to whether they could use a retail space, the opportunity was too good to refuse. “We jumped on the opportunity,” they say. “We had spoken previously about collaborating on a mixed business store that provides beautifully-designed, thoughtfully-curated fashion and objects.” Furthermore, they agree that without the help of Renew Adelaide, an initiative that helps emerging, local creatives find a location for their business by renting out vacant premises around Adelaide, The Town Local would not exist.
“Both of us have admired the work of Renew Adelaide from our previous homes in Sydney and Melbourne, before we even moved back to Adelaide. To be involved is truly remarkable.” The Town Local is truly a grassroots enterprise, with Town and Roberts choosing to run the store entirely themselves so that they can personally share their knowledge on the makers, designers and artists of the goods they sell to their customers. The store opens with more than 20 suppliers, including their own labels and fellow Adelaide selfstarters B Goods, EST by Emma Sadie Thomson and Hunt furniture. As many of these businesses run primarily online, the duo are proud to announce that some of their interstate labels are exclusive to Adelaide. This includes Sydney accessory label, Benah, and Melbourne bedding specialist Kip & Co. Other interstate brands joining The Town Local’s roster include Local Supply and Epohke eyewear, Sydney perfumer Tête-
À-Tête Incendere and art-based clothing by Club Of Odd Volumes. In particular, Town and Roberts were overwhelmed by the response that they got from potential suppliers who were keen to be involved in their venture. “We have been so humbled by the response from all of our suppliers; their willingness to be involved was quite exceptional. As with AHD Paper Co and Vege Threads, we feel The Town Local is about working with like-minded people to form a supportive community where artists and makers take great enjoyment just to be involved.” Roberts adds that through her experience with ethically- and environmentally-sound
As with all of Renew Adelaide’s projects, the timeline of the store is not known, with The Town Local effectively serving as a ‘popup store’. As Renew Adelaide use premises that are currently up for lease, there is a chance that within a short amount of time a potential occupant will come along. This isn’t discouraging Town or Roberts though, who feel like even if The Town Local’s initial beginnings are short-lived, there is potential for its future growth. “We would love to have the store for a few months, or even longer,” they declare. “We love the idea of building a strong customer base, where we can listen to the market and evolve the space, all whilst furthering strong relationships with the brands involved. Who knows what the future holds, but we feel like we are onto a good thing!”
»»The Town Local 13 King William St, Adelaide Opening hours: 10am-6pm Tuesday to Thursday, Friday 10am-9pm and Saturday 10am-5pm
28 The Adelaide Review December 2013
OUT OF THE BOX 3. 1.
Gifts with a difference
6.
If you are stuck with gift ideas this festive season, here are some suggestions that may save the day (and stress).
4.
7.
2.
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Until Xmas
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off all shelf items
Consider Easels, Folios, Brushes, Journals, Pastels, Professional colour • Canvases stretched to order • Existing artwork re-stretched • Easy parking Call Greg Hanisch 8271 6912 Now at Glenside Campus centralartistsupplies.com.au
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 29
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
ADVERTISING FEATURE
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1. NV Turkey Flat Sparkling Shiraz. $40 / turkeyflat.com.au | 2. 2013 Turkey Flat Rosé $18 / turkeyflat.com.au | 3. Vis a Vis Travel Collection by Crumpler. Trunk 68cm $445 / aptoscruz.com | 4. Daler Rowney oil/w’colour/acrylic travel brushes $21.50 / centralartistsupplies.com.au | 5. Vondom Peacock $3595 / aptoscruz.com | 6. Design House Stockholm. Nordic Candelabra – 7 Arms Large $210.00 / aptoscruz.com | 7. Audrey $20 / gillesstreetmarket.com.au | 8. Candy jar from $8.60 / Baldocks.com.au | 9. Rembrandt soft pastels in rosewood box $60 / centralartistsupplies.com.au | 10. Unique handmade watercolour journal $35 / centralartistsupplies.com.au | 11. Hand painted wooden bead necklaces $18 / gillesstreetmarket.com.au | 12. Potted everlasting orchid from $44 / Baldocks.com.au | 13. Mens FUIC Bungee T-shirt $40 / gillesstreetmarket.com.au | 14. EMMA series by Stelton. Emma Tray $160, Vacuum Jug. $160, Vacuum Jug tea 1L. $160, Milk Jug thermo .3L $40, Thermo Cups set of 2 $40, Sugar Bowl with lid .15L $40 / aptoscruz.com | 15. Cake decorating class / voucher from $50 / Baldocks.com.au | 16. Shiraz Lovers Gift pack – featuring 1 x 750ml bottle each of 2005 Turkey Flat Shiraz, 2011 Turkey Flat Shiraz & 2009 Single Vineyard Shiraz “The Great” $185 (available online or from Cellar door only) / turkeyflat.com.au
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30 The Adelaide Review December 2013
SOCIETY
Totally Locally
WIN! FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN, ENTER YOUR DETAILS AT ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
ASO 2014 Season Opening Gala
by Stephanie Johnston
A
s Australia follows Europe into an era of small government, the conditions are ripe for a paradigm shift in the spheres of urban planning, place-making and locally-based economic development. ‘Community empowerment’ (replacing community consultation) is the new black in this arena.
Festival Theatre Friday, February 14, 8pm The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s 2014 Season Opening Gala celebrates Valentine’s Day in style with a supremely romantic night of Russian music including Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet and Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Russian pianist, Alexander Gavrylyuk. Also on the program is Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite Scheherazade.
The nourishment and empowerment of local communities has been a key platform of the UK government’s Big Society thesis, now impacting increasingly on Australian public sector policy. Big Society policies have however been criticised for transferring public wealth to corporate-like non-government entities, while disempowering small business, community organisations and the public sector. Ongoing austerity measures in the UK and elsewhere are on the other hand spawning a host of interesting DIY initiatives at the local level. Grass roots movements like the fastspreading Totally Locally campaigns are raising awareness and building pride in regional towns, and impacting on local economies in refreshingly simple ways. Totally Locally is an award-winning social enterprise and ‘shop local’ movement which supports independent retailers with a free branding and marketing campaign for their town. Teams of volunteers use the campaign and branding tool kit to promote the value of local shopping, celebrate their main street, create community events, and ultimately to lift the local economy. The concept operates on a positive celebratory platform, rather than pushing the more negative ‘use it or lose it’ ethos of less successful campaigns. In a deliberate attempt to cultivate ‘people power’ over political power, the Totally Locally tool kits are supplied free, directly to punters.
South Australian Prize
GIVEAWAY
Buy South Australian and The Adelaide Review have teamed up to offer a monthly all South Australian giveaway.
This month’s prize is a delicious Christmas chocolate hamper filled with an assortment of traditional boxed chocolate favourites from Haigh’s Chocolates, worth $200! Enter at: www.facebook.com/BuySouthAustralian
Paul Greenway Bali and Oates RRP $24.99
Government bodies, local authorities and even business associations are not supposed to use the resources or run the campaigns. There must be no formal membership, no committees, and no hierarchy so that anyone can join in at any time. (And nobody is told what to do.) The brainchild of brand consultant Chris Sands, the movement is having significant economic and social impact on the 30-something towns involved to date. The concept grew from an initiative in Chris’s hometown in Calderdale, in the foothills of the Pennines in West Yorkshire, where the first shop local ‘fiver’ campaign was tested. In Adelaide recently to conduct workshops in the Barossa and the city, Chris explained where his idea came from: “On holiday in the North Portuguese town of Viana Do Castelo, I came to wondering how a small town, miles from anywhere else, seemed to thrive as it did. I sat in the square and noticed that the cafe owner would walk over to the bakery for bread, the baker would walk over to the accountants with her books, the accountant went to the stationers, the stationers went to the cafe and the circle started again. It was then I realised that when everyone uses each other, the money in the town circulates round and round, each person supporting the other.” Rather than try to get people to give up their supermarket shopping habits in one hit, the ‘fiver’ campaign simply suggests that punters allocate five pounds a week to shopping locally. According to Sands, if all residents participate, that fiver can amount to millions of pounds circulated locally over time. Similarly, Totally Locally’s Tale of a Tenner film demonstrates how a 10 pound note has a multiplied effect in the local economy, amounting to 50 pounds of turnover in a single day, as it shifts
from tourist to bike shop, to barista, to butcher, to printer and back to bike shop. Research by British-based independent think tank the New Economics Foundation backs the five-fold multiplier effect thesis. They have created a rating tool to follow the money trail in local economies by measuring the first three rounds of spending by local government, community organisations and local businesses. Pilot studies involving 10 communities in five sectors across the UK quickly demonstrated that local procurement has far-reaching impacts on local economies. That result will come as no surprise to those observing the multiplier effect of farmers’ markets here in South Australia. Zannie Flanagan, founder of the Willunga Farmers’ Market, has often described the market as ‘Viagra’ for the town, which was struggling to lease out commercial space when the market was established just over 10 years ago. Willunga is now a happening little township and key tourism destination on the Fleurieu , with numerous coffee shops, restaurants and retail outlets selling local wares. “I always know that a market has made the grade when the real estate advertisements start including it in their location descriptions,” says Flanagan, who also set up the Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market in Goodwood. The multiplier effect is seeing a proliferation of ‘totally local’ markets themselves, which are in turn supporting an expanding catchment of regional grower and producer supply chains. The Adelaide Showground Farmers’ Market recently opened up a Thursday evening sub-branch in Prospect, and a brand new Sunday morning local organic produce market officially opens at the Market Shed on Holland in the CBD, as this article goes to press.
A book about a diplomatic farce involving Australian intelligence agencies. Seinfeld meets Yes Prime Minister set in Bali. Take a dash of paradise, add a hint of sex, a brace of Australian politicians, stir...
Philomena Selected cinemas From Thursday, December 6 A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman’s search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent. Directed by Stephen Frears. Stars Judi Dench, Steve Coogan and Sophie Kennedy Clark.
Salt The Odeon Theatre, 57a Queen St, Norwood Saturday, January 18, 8pm Salt – it can preserve food, melt ice, make you thirsty and sting your eyes. Too much can kill you, not enough makes you sick and it definitely shouldn’t be rubbed it into open wounds. Restless Dance’s premiere production Salt is directed by Spain-based Rob Tannion and is an exploration of worth, value and commodity, not just in terms of material goods, but also in selfesteem and societal values.
State Opera SA 2014 subscription season includes two of Giuseppe Verdi’s most famous and brilliant operas in brand new productions not seen before in Adelaide: La
Traviata, a timeless tale of scandal, honour, love
and sacrifice, in an exciting new co-production between State Opera SA, OperaQ and New Zealand Opera. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and State Opera Chorus. May 3, 6, 8 and 10, Adelaide Festival Theatre. October/ November next year brings Otello, a thrilling co-production from six companies spread across three continents, in a gripping saga of the destructive power of jealousy. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and State Opera Chorus. October 25, 28, 30 and November 1, Adelaide Festival Theatre. In addition, State Opera SA proudly announces the premiere of the Philip Glass Trilogy in August next year. In a world first, State Opera SA will present Akhnaten, Einstein on the beach and Satyagraha in three full cycles at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Art Orchestra, State Opera Chorus. For a brochure call (08) 8226 4790 or visit saopera.sa.gov.au
32 The Adelaide Review December 2013
PERFORMING ARTS
adelaide symphony orchestra
see. hear. feel. SEASON OPENING GALA 14 & 15 FEBRUARY FESTIVAL THEATRE Tchaikovsky Overture Romeo & Juliet Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade Join us as we celebrate the opening of our spectacular 2014 Season with a night of supremely romantic Russian music. Feel the sound of 75 musicians sweep over you, envelop you and take you to distant worlds. Take your Valentine for a romantic night out Have your picture taken on the red carpet Post-concert entertainment at the Piano Bar
Excite your senses. Book your tickets now. www.aso.com.au
Honestly Dishonest Sitting down with Vinh Giang and Matt Tarrant, neither embodies the quintessential image of a magician. They are, however, two of Adelaide’s most celebrated and successful young magicians, and after an award-winning, sell-out season at the 2012 and 2013 Adelaide Fringe, they will be returning in 2014 with their new show, Deception. by Lachlan Aird
F
orget top hats and capes, Giang wears Ralph Lauren casual business attire while Tarrant has a lip ring, tattoo and headphones resting on his neck. While
both are from Adelaide, the duo met online and joined forces to perfect their chosen brand of magic — mentalism — a term they say is best described as “mind rape”.
“We’re more interested in what’s going on in between your two ears,” Giang explains. Mentalism taps into a person’s intuitive behaviour, making them appear as if they have super-human knowledge about you and your thoughts. Giang has fused his skills as a mentalist with that of professional motivational speaking; a unique combination that he says is like “making medicine taste good”. He most recently performed for a convention of prominent financial institutions in Hong Kong, and prior to this interview had received an inquiry to perform at a similar event in India. Conversely, when he isn’t performing magic gigs at functions, or spending hours researching magic or making connections with magicians worldwide (he can proudly claim David Copperfield’s executive producer, Chris Kenner, as a close friend) Tarrant is the online content manager for SBS’ Danger 5. With different experiences and interactions with magic, Tarrant explains that Deception will explore their own fascination with magic.
The Adelaide Review December 2013 33
adelaidereview.com.au
PERFORMING ARTS
Giang and Tarrant are at the forefront of magic in Adelaide for reasons other than their trickery. They consider the Adelaide magic scene as “stereotypical” and “unwelcoming” and are innovating ways in which to share and market magic to new generations of magicians. Along with two friends, Giang created the online community, Encyclopaedia of Magic, which encourages people of all levels to learn magic and share their skills, adapting from a passion project to an online business that saw the team awarded 2013 South Australian Entrepreneur of the Year. Tarrant spends hours online learning new abilities and forging relationships with international magicians to help improve his networks. As a result, Andy Nyman, who is the producer for prominent UK TV illusionist Derren Brown, has produced Deception via online correspondence.
Furthermore, the two have an innovative approach towards marketing themselves, reaching out to their fans and supporters through the crowd-funding network Pozible in order to encourage audiences to help fund their show. With the goal for $10,000 achieved, it will allow for props, staging and production for Deception to be of the highest quality, as Tarrant explains. “We don’t want [Deception] to feel like a Fringe show. At the Fringe you go to one show and then another one a couple of nights later and the venue looks the same. We want to take over the venue [in Gluttony] and have it as our own.”
participating in a magic trick the entire time certainly made it overt. Giang explained that before we met he took a photo of a playing card on his iPhone, which had been sitting untouched on the table for the entire interview, and that while we were speaking he and Tarrant had been speaking to me in a way that would make me think of the card. Explaining that men usually select the Ace of Spades and women the Queen of Hearts, Giang gave me multiple chances to change my number. I finally settled for the Ace of Diamonds. Sure enough, when I opened the Photos App on his phone, the last photo taken was of the Ace of Diamonds. My mind was deceived.
More importantly, the campaign has helped market themselves to new and existing audiences – in the process selling tickets to the show before they officially even go on sale. “A lot of people performing for the Fringe, they don’t worry about tickets until one or two weeks before the Fringe starts,” says Giang. “This allowed us to sell tickets before FringeTix even opens.” If it wasn’t already clear that Giang and Tarrant always seem to be one step ahead of the game, being told as the interview came to an end that I had been unknowingly
2014 BROCHURE AVAILABLE NOW
»»Deception Gluttony Adelaide Fringe Friday, February 14 to Sunday, March 16 The 2014 Adelaide Fringe program will be released on Friday, November 29. adelaidefringe.com.au
Photo: Sam Oster
“When we see magic, we can sometimes figure out how it works if it’s sleight of hand or another simple trick. But then there are other types of magic where even magicians who have been performing magic for so many years go, ‘How is that even possible? Is it actually magic or is it something beyond that?’ In Deception we show some of the things that we’ve witnessed; future predictions, predicting the lottery, defy injury and death. And then it comes together in a final piece, which is this amazing routine of mind fucking everyone in the audience.”
Are you worth your weight in salt?
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17 - 25 January 2014 : 8pm 21 + 23 January 2014 : 12 noon The Odeon Theatre 57a Queen Street Norwood Tickets $25 / $20 conc book online at: www.trybooking.com
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34 The Adelaide Review December 2013
JACQUI WAY PHOTOGRAPHY 2013
PERFORMING ARTS
From Weird to Wonderful: A Recharged ASQ by Graham Strahle
A
t last the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) seems to have found its mojo. Anyone who has followed the ASQ over the years will be aware of its quite staggering membership turnover. If you lined up all its players on stage, past and present – 18 at the latest count – it would be enough to make up a small chamber orchestra. Management has been understandably touchy about this subject, tying to iron over the quartet’s high attrition rate and spasmodic internal crises. It’s been the same, but different, this year. In May came the announcement that violinist Anne Horton and cellist Rachel Johnston were leaving. This was just 14 months after first violinist Kristian Winther and violist Stephen King had joined. A quartet losing half its members is one thing, but doing so twice in three years is another; and that’s on top of a complete personnel changeover that happened
in 2006 when the Tankstream Quartet players were installed. But now there’s the promise that the ASQ can put all that behind them. Violinist Ioana Tache and cellist Sharon Draper, both from Melbourne, were recruited in what seems record time, and on the basis of its performances thus far, this new combination has serious firepower. Here in the year’s last subscription concert were four high calibre players who, while not yet fully unified in ensemble, exuded an energy and interpretational daring that seems strike out on a new path. In Schnittke’s String Quartet No. 3, contrasts were stupendous in scale, and Beethoven’s Op. 130 possessed a strikingly neat, finessed artistry along with depth of feeling. Draper said on the concert’s eve that the four players found an instant wavelength when they first played together, ahead of their
September Debussy tour. “On the first day, it was pretty evident to me that we get on very well as musicians. It’s like a relationship, like how one might wonder how two people in a couple get on at all when in fact they do. We’re still getting to know each other, of course. On certain days I say to myself, ‘Ah, I know not to say certain things next time’.” After one rehearsal, the four players got to work on a white board to brainstorm the group’s plans for 2015. Ideas sparked in every direction, Draper said: “Each of us wrote up our ideas, from wonderful to weird. Musically I love how every member of the quartet is willing to try something new,” added Draper. “I love playing anything by Beethoven and Brahms, and think of Mendelssohn as an incredibly interesting composer. But if you look at the quartet repertoire as a whole, there is a huge diversity, and that’s what is interesting.” Ligeti’s Quartet No. 1, ‘Métamorphoses Nocturnes’, which they played at the Melbourne Festival in October, was a case in point for her: “It was new for me, but I could play that piece every week.” Both Draper and the Belgrade-born Tache were students at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne, and one way or another all four players have known each other through their earlier careers. Says Draper: “I knew all the players well before. Steven I knew as a mentor of ACO2 (the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s youth ensemble) while I was in that as an emerging artist. Kristian I’ve
known since we were at school. We were both in AYO (Australian Youth Orchestra), me leading the cellos and he was concertmaster. We were playing Brahms’ Second Symphony and I remember he was such a vibrant musician, so energised – so rare in someone so young. So it is lovely to come back again in a full circle.” Angelina Zucco, ASQ’s Executive Director, says she had expected the recruitment process would likely extend to the end of this year and was in no need of hurrying it up. “We were a quartet in transition and we were ready for that. We could have kept working with guests, which, though this was not an ideal solution, allowed the opportunity for us to continue performing.” “The starting point in this recruitment process was all about relationships. Highstandard musicianship was a given – any of the players we trialled could have slotted in, in terms of their ability. Once that’s taken out, then it is a question of what’s the right fit. It is finally about relationships because these four players have to spend a lot of their time together. They have to be kindred spirits who live and breathe music together. We were fortunate to get a great team so soon.” The ASQ’s plans for next year include a possible China or South East Asia tour, and for 2015 a major international tour to Europe.
asq.com.au
Pianist with rock god tendencies Daily Telegraph
LUDOVICO EINAUDI In A Time Lapse Presented by Arts Projects Australia in association with the Adelaide Festival Centre
FESTIVAL THEATRE 11 FEBRUARY 2014 Tickets at BASS 131 246 or bass.net.au
SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL L I N E -U P
THE WORLD’S FESTIVAL
Billy Bragg
Muro
Arrested Development
Ngaiire
Femi Kuti
Washington
Mikhael Paskalev
36 The Adelaide Review December 2013
PERFORMING ARTS
Sounds and Sights of the Planet WOMADelaide’s 2014 line-up is finalised with Afro-beat superstar Femi Kuti, American singer-songwriter Neko Case and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan protégé Asif Ali Khan the latest highlight additions to the 2014 line-up joining already announced acts Billy Bragg and Arrested Development. Femi.
by David Knight
A
way from the music, the Planet Talks program returns to the four-day festival with Polly Higgins, Annabel Crabb, Simon Sheikh and Peter Garrett amongst the speakers while David Michalek’s giant hyper-slow moving three-screen Slow Dancing installation will add a new dimension to the global music celebration. WOMADelaide Director Ian Scobie says Slow Dancing will run every night during WOMAD from about 9pm and is an Australian exclusive.
“They are a series of some of the world’s great dancers filmed in high-definition and then slowed down, so the images are incredibly bright and crisp and realistic,” Scobie explains. “They are filmed against a black background, so you can see their bodies moving but you can’t quite tell if they’re on the ground or in the air. It’s really a meditation on dance, the body and movement as much as anything else. They’re quite mesmerising because they move quite slowly. They’re independently projected and are independent images, so they are not connected Megan Washington.
Neko Case.
in any way but you do get this sense of these huge human forms that are slowly moving and, of course, they are quite beautiful to look at.”
to strength with names such as Norman Jay and The Herbaliser DJs. Next year, the DJ program takes another giant leap forward with Quantic, DJ Yoda, DJ Muro and Awesome Tapes From Africa.
One of the musical highlights is the return of Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti, son of Fela Kuti, six years after his last appearance, with his band The Positive Force. Kuti has delivered two acclaimed albums after his last Adelaide show with 2010’s Africa For Africa and this year’s No Place For my Dream. “Femi is just the genuine article. It’s that no-brainer of what’s not to like about Kuti and his dancers to wrap up the night on stage one.”
THE CorinTHian SingErS
Sing Hodie!
Of Adelaide
Saturday 22nd December St Peter’s Cathedral, King William Road, North Adelaide
Sing Hodie!
Time: 9.00pm Tickets: $25 and $20 concession Bookings can be made at: www.trybooking.com/DYUC
This concert has guest Music Director Tim Marks combining our voices with Bella Voce to present a number of pieces in the annual Corinthian Singers of Adelaide Christmas Concert. Composers include: Rutter, Praetorius, Bassano, Philips, Dering, Ridou, Victoria and Belcher. Join us for a genuinely candlelit concert as we light up St John’s and St Peter’s and usher in the festive season.
Wednesday December 18th St John’s Anglican Church, 379 Halifax Street, Adelaide
Another intriguing addition is Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, who has toured with the Buena Vista Social Club and fuses Cuban jazz with urban elements: “The music from Cuba is wonderfully laid back and engaging and I think he’ll be a winner,” comments Scobie. Then there’s Qawwali singer Asif Ali Khan, a protégé of the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who performed at the inaugural WOMADelaide in 1992. “I saw him [Asif Ali Khan] at WOMAD in the UK this year and he’s an extraordinary Qawwali singer with a really beautiful voice and sound. He’s a terrific performer in that tradition of Nusrat.” Over the last few years, WOMADelaide’s late night DJ program has grown from strength
“It started a decade or so ago and it was something that Annette Tripodi, our operations and programs manager, started. It’s grown from the thing we did at the university, called WoZone. Originally we did it there as a late night club for people who want to carry on and its evolved from there. You’re right, it’s got a real following in its own right, that element in the program.” The combination of writers, scientists and academics at The Planet Talks stream, which began this year, adds another element, according to Scobie. “You have lovers of Qawwali singing at one end, DJs at another and then there’s a bunch of scientists and academics. It’s part of trying to broaden both the appeal and the audience-base of the festival that makes it more than just a bunch of artists on stages. It’s as much about the audience mix as it is about the performances.”
»»WOMADelaide Botanic Park Friday, March 7 to Monday, March 10 Go to womadelaide.com.au to view the full line-up
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 37
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
PERFORMING ARTS
THIS MONTH THE ADELAIDE REVIEW’S GUIDE TO DECEMBER’S HIGHLIGHT PERFORMING ARTS EVENTS
ADELAIDE CHAMBER SINGERS Deo Gratias St Peter’s Cathedral & Church of the Epiphany Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1 The ACS will perform some of the world’s best-loved Christmas music in two separate events, joined by guest harpist Alice Giles. The performances will include pieces by classical composers Benjamin Britten and Marc-Antoine Charpentier, as well as the premiere of a new work by ACS Director Carl Crossin.
THE BAMBOOS
LEONARD COHEN
THE ILLUSIONISTS 2.0
Governor Hindmarsh Friday, December 6
Entertainment Centre Wednesday, December 11
Her Majesty’s Theatre Friday, December 27 to Sunday, January 5
Melbourne soul-funk band The Bamboos will play at The Gov this month as part of their Fever in the Road Australian Tour. The group, which has received several ARIA nominations in recent years, will perform soulful tunes from their recent album as well as some older favourites.
Music legend Leonard Cohen will return to Adelaide with an enigmatic performance at the Entertainment Centre this month. Along with his spectacular nine-piece band, Cohen will perform his colourful and emotive anthology of songs, some of which have been described as the greatest of our time.
Seven masters of mental and optical illusion will perform at Her Majesty’s Theatre, presenting an edgy and exciting new production. The performance utilises cutting-edge visual effects and 3D interactive projections, propelling the audience into the future of magic and illusion.
“10/10... not to be missed” with
cHRiStine anu & MitcHell butel fRoM 29 DeceMbeR
•
feStiVal tHeatRe •
131 246
net. net.au
fi na no l Sa w Se le on at S !
Sun Herald
38 The Adelaide Review December 2013
PERFORMING ARTS
Anthoney to Head Festivals Adelaide Former Adelaide Fringe chief Christie Anthoney will be the new Executive Officer of Festivals Adelaide, the coalition of Adelaide’s major festivals.
“It’s not a public role necessarily. I don’t see myself creating Festivals Adelaide as a brand in any sense – other than to stakeholders and people who need to understand the importance of them to the state. I will be working with them all [the festivals] on a very operational level to some extent to see where there can be some shared resourcing and synergies. Also, I’ll be working to find strategic partners, particularly in the research agenda, because I’m sitting on gold here in terms of data.” Anthoney says her role will be reasonably organic to begin with.
by Christopher Sanders
A
nthoney, who is currently TAFE SA’s Adelaide College of the Arts’ Creative Director, will begin her three-year position in January. Anthoney says she will continue to be a “strong ambassador” for Adelaide College of the Arts (AC Arts) but says her new role is one that “would not come around that often”. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity. I thought long and hard about it and then put my hat in the ring. It’s a pretty extraordinary job, I have to say.” Festivals Adelaide is an alliance of this city’s 10 major arts festivals (including Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival, SALA and Cabaret Festival) that is based on a similar arts alliance in Edinburgh. Anthoney replaces inaugural
Director Tory McBride, who retired after 18 months in the role. “I feel very excited to be working with them [the 10 festivals] to see how I can support them but more importantly be an advocate for them interstate and overseas.” Anthoney was the Fringe Director for four years, the co-founder of the Garden of Unearthly Delights and has worked for many festivals including WOMADelaide, Come Out and the Edinburgh Fringe. Aside from her current AC Arts role, Anthoney is also an Adelaide Festival board member. One of Festivals Adelaide’s main aims is to increase the reputation of South Australia’s art festivals nationally and internationally.
“We’ll reflect on what works and what doesn’t and I’ll work with them. There are a couple of key things I want to do. One of them is to mine the data and look at what we have already. I don’t know of any alliance other than Edinburgh that is open to that. There’s a huge amount of information there. Slicing and dicing it in different ways will be very revealing.” Anthoney believes that the festivals are the psyche of this state and she wants that message to be delivered. “We are the city of festivals. We happen to have a lot of churches in our city but frankly what we believe to be the psyche of the state is in fact an understanding and an appreciation and value given to our festivals across the board. I think this alliance will play an important in ensuring that that message is loud and clear – overseas or interstate – in relation to the
brand of South Australia. It’s inherent and we know it, but we mustn’t rest on our laurels and let it go by. A strong part of my role will be to ensure that’s loud and clear.” The 10 festivals attracted nearly 64,000 visitors to South Australia last year delivering $63 million to the state’s economy. An interesting observation that Anthoney notes about South Australia’s major arts festivals is that all of them, bar one – WOMADelaide – are homegrown. “With sporting events, mostly one bids for them and they come and land in Adelaide for as long as we can hold the organisers’ here until another state bids for them. These festivals have grown up through the city and state over the decades and they’ve changed custodians now and again but they aren’t something that can be bought off to go interstate. It’s an interesting phenomenon. It’s not that we have to make sure they are secure here. The only one in that mix is WOMADelaide. Its owner is Peter Gabriel and it could be snatched by another state – not under my watch! Other than that Come Out, SALA, Fringe, the Festival, they are all inherent and part of this state’s cultural identity. I find that quite unique and grounding, and everybody in that group of festivals knows that we are the custodians. We’re doing the best we can for them for the future of the city and the state.”
festivalsadelaide.com.au
AWARD-WINNING SPIEGELTENT SENSATION RETURNS
A THRILLING NEW
‘CIRBCR A V O! US-CABARET
E X T RAV Daily Telegraph (UAGANZA’ K)
‘A SPIRIT OF
DEVILISH REVELR Y’
The Times (UK)
‘GRABS YOU BY T HE
S E A T OF YOUR PANT Time Out (UK) S!’ The Advertiser Fringe Review
PICK OF THE FRIN GE
Adelaide Fringe
- 2013
THE SHOW SO HOT, MADONNA CAME TWICE 14 FEBRUARY - 16 MARCH GARDEN OF UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS
WILL SELL OUT - BOOK NOW! LIMBOTHESHOW.COM
Presented by Strut & Fret Production House, Underbelly Productions and Southbank Centre
40 The Adelaide Review December 2013
PERFORMING ARTS British Film Festival Opening Night The opening of the inaugural British Film Festival was held at Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas on Friday, November 22. Guests enjoyed a screening of One Chance followed by drinks, canapés and live entertainment. The festival continues to Sunday, December 1. Photos Jonathan van der Knaap
Phillis and Tim Pettitt.
Sose Fuamoli and Jacquie Harris.
Patricia Sourdin, Richard Pomfret and Sophia Tsakalidis.
Rabia Manchanda and Liz Wilson.
KILL YOUR DARLINGS by D.M. Bradley
Maria Canala, Antoneleca Macchia, Aldo Macchia and Deonne Smith.
Louise Vadasz and Collette Snowden.
Camille Ferrier and Dominique Liard.
Elaine Virgo and Danny Baron.
Andrew Metcalfe and Natalie Williams.
The time is evidently right for ‘Beat Generation’ movies, perhaps as the group’s members are all sadly departed. While feature débuting co-writer/director John Krokidas’ film comes a year after Walter Salles’ longtime-coming adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, this is more a kind of ‘origins story’, the facts of which haunted the Beats ever after. Drawn from both the accepted truth and Kerouac and William Burroughs’ suppressedfor-decades novel And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (published after their deaths as no one, including them, liked it much), this is mostly seen from the perspective of the young, naïve and awkward Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe, rather daringly), who leaves an indenial dad (David Cross) and a delusional mum (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to attend Columbia University in 1944. Immediately falling in with the unpredictable Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan), with whom he becomes (very) close, the pair tear up literary classics, rob the library of ‘restricted’ titles and get high on Benzedrine with Burroughs (Ben Foster) and, after a while, returning serviceman Kerouac (Jack Huston, also in the similarly bookish Night Train to Lisbon). Also in the picture is David Kammerer
(Michael C. Hall, AKA Dexter, in a more vocal performance than we’ve seen him in ages), who’s increasingly obsessed with Carr and will do anything to keep him close, even as his object of affection is trying hard to free himself from anything and everything. Depicting a time just before the end of World War II, a period pre-rock’n’roll and pre-Ginsberg’s Howl when the Beats’ rebellion was taking shape and establishing how to truly shock The Establishment, Krokidas’ film takes a wisely neutral view of the tale, meaning that we get to both revel in the lads’ transgressions and see how all this indulgence can turn sour. The performances are fine: Foster (not as grotesque as usual) is a pitch-perfect, drug-addled Burroughs; DeHaan a wonderfully horny and dangerous Carr; Huston a cockily charismatic Kerouac; and Hall, stuck with the most unsympathetic role, manages to make Kammerer far more than some whiny spurned lover. Then there’s Radcliffe, so desperate to kill that darling Harry Potter, whose Ginsberg is the film’s heart, soul and hormones, and who’s very strong, whether he’s snogging the librarian, hallucinating wildly in a jazz joint or, ahem, auto-eroticising as he belts out his first poems in a frenzy. Howl indeed.
»»Rated MA.
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 41
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
PERFORMING ARTS ENOUGH SAID BY D.M. BRADLEY
While in no way as dark as a film such as The Crow, writer/director Nicole Holofcener’s latest is nevertheless difficult to view without looking for onscreen omens as it features, of course, the penultimate performance by the late great James Gandolfini, who died last June at only 51. Gandolfini proves very charming here and looks distinctly unhealthy throughout. His weight is a major plot point, which sometimes gives Enough Said an uncomfortable edge, especially as we know that it was a heart attack that carried ‘Jim’ off. Eva (Seinfeld’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a divorced massage therapist and ‘empty nester’ who feels a need to fill the gap that will soon be left when her daughter Ellen (nearunknown Tracey Fairaway) leaves home, and is talked into attending a party with a bunch of older people she doesn’t know. First meeting Marianne (Catherine Keener, in all Holofcener’s films), a poet (no, really), Eva then meets Albert (Gandolfini), whom she agrees to go out with, as he has a nice sense of humour and is also facing the imminent departure of his own daughter. When they hit it off and she’s romantically encouraged by her psychologist
friend Sarah (Toni Collette), Eva also finds herself becoming friends with Marianne, who’s intriguing, supportive and harbours a grudge against her ex-husband. And even if you haven’t seen the trailer or read the synopsis, you can surely tell where this is going – and how much it’s going to hurt.
After Holofcener’s sharper Walking and Talking, Lovely & Amazing, Friends With Money and Please Give, this might have been her funniest outing had it not become the movie where James Gandolfini died after completing his role – the one where he might have been able to change his image… if only.
» Rated M.
HHHHH THE INDEPENDENT
HHHHH EMPIRE
HHHHH ONE CHANCE BY NIGEL RANDALL
It would be far too easy to take the cynic’s axe to One Chance were it not so clearly a film wearing its sizeable heart on its formulaic sleeve. That it’s a biopic about the first ever winner of Britain’s Got Talent and is produced by Simon Cowell prompts fears of shameless self-promotion. Thankfully though, screenwriter Justin Zackham’s focus is spent more on the life of Paul Potts preceding his fateful, and well viewed, audition than on said television franchise. James Corden plays the unlikely singing sensation perfectly. It’s his engaging performance, together with Alexandra Roach’s (playing his girlfriend/wife, Juile-Ann), that lifts this film well above some of its more trite displays of crowd-pleasing. In fairness to the filmmakers, Potts’s real life did adhere quite closely to many well-worn conventions of the Billy Elliot-type film that One Chance so obviously aligns itself with.
THE GUARDIAN
As a shy, overweight boy Potts was bullied well into early adulthood. His passion for opera singing amidst the steel-working milieu he lived didn’t help matters much. After each promising opportunity is afforded (attending Venice’s famed school of Opera and being selected to sing for his idol Pavarotti) he encounters a setback (usually ending in surgery). His encouraging mother (Julie Walters) is as sweet as his discouraging father (Colm Meaney) is gruff. Then seemingly at his lowest, the idea to make a life-changing decision literally pops up in his face. The preordained outcome we already know. Director David Frankel plays it safe with what is, in the end, fairly lightweight entertainment aimed at the sort of audience who more than likely watch the ‘…Got Talent’ shows. It is enjoyable, predictable and you probably won’t remember it in a year’s time, but I’m always grateful that these middleof-the-road films still get made.
HHHH HHHH DAILY TELEGRAPH UK
EVENING STANDARD
A HIGH-GRADE HEART WARMER. THE GUARDIAN
BRILLIANT. RESERVE AN OSCAR FOR DENCH. TIME MAGAZINE
IN CINEMAS DECEMBER 26 ADVANCE SCREENINGS | FRIDAY 20 TH, SATURDAY 21 ST & SUNDAY 22 ND DECEMBER
» Rated PG
42 The Adelaide Review December 2013
VISUAL ARTS Explode
high camp inflections?
by John Neylon
B
For the aficionados this is obviously sourced from the 1972 Bruce Lee classic The Way of the Dragon. Norris and Lee’s pec flexing, knuckle cracking and shadow boxing before the fight is a highlight. So too is the original James Koo/ Joseph Wong soundtrack which enveloped both the artist and myself as we stood in a darkened aeaf gallery space, experiencing the clip. I say experiencing because not only is this the artist’s intent, but that is the nature of the Daniele Puppi viewing experience.
Christmas at Hanrahan Studio Sumptuous works to collect or give including
Brooks, Dickerson, Dowie, Hanrahan, James, Kahan, O’Leary, Olsen, Rayner and Sayer
5 – 15 December 2013 Jewellery from The Mistress Von Berlow Collection Susan Sideris at Hanrahan Studio By appointment, and open for the duration of this exhibition Week one: 2: 00 – 5: 00 pm Thursday – Sunday Week two: 2: 00 – 5: 00 pm Wednesday – Sunday 48 Esmond Street, Hyde Park, South Australia T 0449 957 877 hanrahanstudio @ bigpond.com Barbara Hanrahan and Jo Steele’s private residence and gallery are open for viewing during exhibition hours
image Barbara Hanrahan, Flower Piece (detail), 1976, hand coloured silkscreen
Remarkably, cinematic work emerged fullyfledged as it were in the artist’s practice soon
Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Magazzino Gallery, Rome.
am! Bruce Lee’s body rocks back with the force of the blow. Cut to Chuck Norris. No emotion but the eyes betray a hunter closing in. Another pivoting kick, straight for the head. But this time Lee is ready. He counters and in a catlike movement he fends then responds with successive blows to his opponent’s upper body. Then Norris is down, his legs taken out. He is finished and knows it. Time to move onto Green Beret movies and leave the kickboxing to Lee.
Fatica No 13, 2001–2013, audio-visual installation
after graduation. Undergraduate studies at art academies in Venice, Bologna and Rome exposed him to conventional fine arts training. It is very likely that a movies-rich childhood predisposed Puppi to instinctively want to experiment with moving images. One of his earliest projects involved creating an installation that incorporated a cinematic
restricted - RAYMOND ZADA SEEDS OF LIFE - CHRISTINA GOLLAN SMELLIN’ IT LIKE IT IS BLAK DOUGLAS AKA ADAM HILL
reenactment of the demolition of a wall, viewed within the actual site of demolition. This double-take dynamic is something the artist has continued to explore and is evident in one of the current aeaf exhibition works Factica No. 13. This work invites the viewer to look down a narrow ‘alleyway’ and engage with a film clip, which communicates the struggle of a man to force two doors apart. The grimacing face, the straining hands and highly audible gasps and grunts create a powerful sense of claustrophobia. This, like the Dragon fight sequence next door, does not behave as a conventional filmic object. The double projection used to suture figure with door has an unsettling, illusionistic quality that is hard to describe in its absence. Talking about this aspect with the artist, enveloped by the work and sounds of intense struggle, I became convinced that talking about it, in its presence, completed the viewing experience. The same ‘rule’ seemed to apply to the Dragon experience. The exchange of feelings and associations (such as the visual resemblance to Jack Nicholson doing his ‘Here’s Johnny’, The Shining thing) somehow reanimated an already turbo-charged sensory event. So, are we simply reliving something filmed, or being asked to indulge in a little nostalgia with some
You can try to keep this kind of lid on things but Puppi’s agendas are subversive. This is particularly evident in the jump-cut impact behavior of the projected image in relation to the screen. This is not video art in the sense that the image knows its place and the meaning is driven more by where and how the monitor is sited and viewed. When Lee’s foot makes contact, Norris’ body explodes outside the confines of the screen. Even the rectangular border of projection buckles at times under the implied force of impact. This is the outcome of a calculated practice, which sets about transforming any given space (in this case the aeaf galleries) into something approaching physical theatre, which has its own narratives and logic. Puppi has commented that in the absence of a beginning-and-end narrative one is left with a unit of time in which ‘something can happen’. He adds that the goals he sets are always the same, ‘to explore the space, make it ‘explode’, achieve a synthesis of perceptions, do something that is immediately visible, audible and tangible.’ Puppi’s work is readily accessed online but the sensory impact of the `original’ demands nothing less than quality immersion at his aeaf show before it closes soon. This is a benchmark opportunity to extend an understanding of how far film-based experiment has travelled since late 60s video art. The physicality of Puppi’s mediated experiences supports his claim that his practice is sculptural. As such, it is aligned with more conceptual understandings on the nature of the exhibition space as not a receptacle for art works but something created by the work itself. With Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris knocking the stuffing out of each other to a cacophony of noise this might not be the first thought that comes to mind when encountering the works. But without such underpinnings it is just another set of experiences among countless others on offer in the buzzing biosphere.
»»Daniele Puppi 432 Hertz: Reanimated Cinema and Environs Australian Experimental Art Foundation Continues until Saturday, December 7
Their Shadows in Us 14 December 2013 - 16 February 2014
1 November - 5 January 2014 Tandanya - National Aboriginal Cultural Institute Inc
253 Grenfell Street Adelaide SA 5000 daily 9am - 4pm - www.tandanya.com.au Raymond Zada, racebook, (detail), 150 x 150cm, digital print on Hahnemuhle, 2011 Christina Gollan, The Jewelled Gecko (detail) 2013, 40.6cm x 51cm, photo: Michal Kluvanek Blak Douglas, Untitled, October 2013, 27cm x 78cm, acrylic on cardboard, photo courtesy of the artist
F l i n d e rs U n i ve rs i t y C i t y G a l l e r y S tate L i b ra r y o f S o u t h A u st ra l i a N o r t h Te r ra c e , A d e l a i d e Tue - Fri 11 - 4pm, Sat & Sun 12 - 4pm w w w. f l i n d e r s . e d u . a u / a r t m u s e u m
The Adelaide Review December 2013 43
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VISUAL ARTS almost the whole space leaving just enough room to be able to move around and get different viewing angles. For Dady it’s about the process of making the work and installing it that’s important and as such he has left all the bars and struts exposed. Stacked together, the work has a very industrial feel to it and its overwhelming size makes it challenging to navigate. “All these artists reference exterior landscapes in some way. Dodd with the outback, KAB with the fencing systems, street, urban landscapes and Dady with travelling domestic devices,” says MacDonald.
A Glance to the Future by Jane Llewellyn
P
rovisional State Part II, currently showing at Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (CACSA), is in many ways a glimpse into the future for the gallery, which is looking to move beyond its current space. CACSA Curator Logan MacDonald explains: “The artists were asked to create artworks that were challenging to the white cube as well as to people who might be familiar with what we have done in the past with our projects.” CACSA are looking to move to the CBD and MacDonald says this exhibition is also about challenging the audience and making them aware of the limitations of the space and that in some ways the gallery has outgrown its Parkside digs.
Compared to Provisional State Part I, which ran during SALA, MacDonald says, “This is more of a concrete statement about the space. We invited three artists to create interventions into the space.” The aim was to make audiences feel uncomfortable by creating a white cube scenario that they may not have been expecting and one that goes beyond the usual constraints. The artists, KAB101, James Dodd and Johnnie Dady, are rebelling against the white cube structure but are also making a statement specifically about CACSA’s Porter Street gallery space. Take KAB’s work, Out of bounds, for example, it destroys all preconceived notions of how we view artwork and particularly how you might view it in this particular space. When you walk in you are immediately confronted with a huge wire fence acting as a barrier between you and the work. The fence makes reference to his graffiti background - of jumping fences and seclusion zones. “It’s a very simple and upfront statement about street aesthetics as well as his interest in typography and calligraphy,” says MacDonald. The fence also acts as a lens through which to view the work and controls the distance from which the audience can view it. Out of bounds looks at ideas of inclusion and exclusion not only in reference to his graffiti days but also in reference to galleries and how
Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art University of South Australia
art is represented. The work brings the outside in and presents a work that you would expect to see on the street rather than in the confines of a gallery. The fence leads you around to the middle gallery and Dodd’s work, Landscape. The space bears little resemblance to a white cube as Dodd creates a simple landscape with big cut out forms, which act as rock formations. He uses psychedelic colours and UV lights which create the impression of a landscape at night. “The colours and UV lights trigger off this strange psychedelia but at the same time there are these weird purple and blue hues that reference dusk,” says MacDonald. The work was a quick experiment of simple forms and with a diagonal wall and clever use of UV lights Dodd suggests different viewing angles. The final work is Dady’s Five caravans, which fits perfectly into the premise for the exhibition. “His idea was to bring these travelling, domestic interior/exterior units and re-present them inside a fixed interior environment,” says MacDonald. Dady enlisted the help of a CAD engineer to construct this extraordinary work of five caravans made of cardboard - some rest on their side, some are upside down. The entire structure takes up
10 Oct – 20 Dec 2013
Daniel Crooks
While CACSA’s bluestone building in Porter Street, Parkside, presents limitations and it’s clear they have outgrown it, it’s always been remarkable what they have managed to achieve in the space and this exhibition is testament to that.
»»CACSA Contemporary 2013: Provisional States II Continues until Monday, December 16 cacsa.org.au
LittLe treasures Handmade art and craft at affordable prices for Christmas
Runs until 21 December 2013
Little Treasures Free Artist Demonstrations Saturday 30 November 2 pm - 4 pm Cathy Jacobs: Painting and craft Dianne Wood: Textiles Saturday 7 December 2 pm - 4 pm Jasna Tepsic: Jewellery Paul Hester: Rusty galvanised iron animal sculptures Malcolm Jury: Woodwork
LA
ST
w
ee
kS
Premiering an Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund and Samstag Museum of Art site-specific commission
!
Saturday 14 December 2 pm - 4 pm Trish Loader: Wood Christmas ornament making Carolanne Wasley: Jewellery
Free entry - all welcome!
Pepper Street Arts Centre Exhibitions, Gift Shop, Art Classes, Coffee Shop. 558 Magill Road, Magill PH: 8364 6154
CHRISTOPHER ORCHARD
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 12 noon - 5 pm
ABOVE & BELOW 2
55 North Terrace, Adelaide T 8302 0870 Open Tue – Fri 11– 5pm, Sat 2 – 5pm
28 November 21 December 2013
www.bmgart.com.au
SMA TAR Oct 13.indd 2
13/11/13 1:08:04 PM
An arts and cultural initiative funded by the City of Burnside
www.pepperstreetartscentre.com.au
44 The Adelaide Review December 2013
A-Z Contemporary Art
D
Living Dead A really tough market to crack. On one hand there is a wall-to-wall universe of Walking Dead/Undead iconography that populates innumerable T shirts, DVD covers and ‘I’m a very creative Photoshop artist’ sites. Then there are the upmarket variants built around the idea flayed/desiccated bodies that look about to give up the ghost. Sample: a little taste of Francis Bacon’s ‘road crash’ figuration or Egon Schiele’s ‘garbag of bones’ nudes. This is heavy-duty territory. Not for the squeamish if tempted to indulge in selfportraiture.
Helpful hints on how to make your art say NOW. Plus ARTSPEAK Bonus Pack by John Neylon
I Vnt 2 Sk Yr Bld Vampires. So spooky. So hard to do. Art wise that is. Somehow articulated blood dripping jaws, Estee Lauder pallid blush cheeks, sightless eyes and wax-splattered coffins in a white cube gallery setting looks hokey. The challenge is there and I think you’re up for it. Ricky Swallow, Australia, born 1974, The exact dimensions of staying behind, 2004‑05, London; Maurice A. Clarke Bequest Fund 2013, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Courtesy the artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney.
DEATH Decay Here’s an idea. Take portrait photographs of all your friends. Ten years later do it again. Ten years later (okay so you really have to stick with the program) take a final set, hang them in time sequence in a gallery and invite same friends to the opening. You’ll be amazed at the response. No you won’t. You’ll die friendless. Here’s another idea. Put a bowl of fruit into a vitrine and over the next few weeks video fruit as it collapses into poxy, mouldy sludge. Hint: Extra humidity will grow insane mould. It’s not a new idea (see British artist Sam Taylor-Wood and various Dutch 17th century
painters) so think novelty like pineapples, paw paws and passion fruit. Suggestion: Personalise the concept by sitting at a table laden with food, for several days, then doing the Worm in the rotting remains. Recommendation: Food surfing can be tricky but British artist Stuart Brisley will show you how. Size Does Matter Try killing something off in the name of art. Hint: Avoid use of larger animals such as horses, cats and llamas. Bad publicity. Insects and smaller bugs are fine. Cane toads also. But not ladybirds. Bad luck. Flies have far
fewer friends. Adelaide Artist Craige Andrae put a bevvy of blowies into a vitrine and over subsequent weeks they bred and died. Only two letters to the editor. Celebrity Death Nothing, I repeat, nothing beats the strategy of aligning your work with a celebrity death. Think old school (Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Murat. Think modern (Warhol’s Grieving Jackie K). Think contemporary and everything old is new again. Check out: British artist Gavin Turk’s Death of Marat, with artist in the starring role. So let loose the Charlotte Corday (or young Turk) within.
Look Away Now Sometimes real deaths are too tough to make art about. Not so. Examples: Teresa Margolles’ installation, 127 Cuerpos / 127 Bodies at the 2012 Adelaide International consisted of a cable made of textile lengths from cloth used to hold the bodies of unnamed victims of Mexican drug trafficking. Australian artist Alexander Seton has used the device of the shroud to mask the identity of the deceased leaving the viewer to speculate. It’s all about deflection. So Greek tragedy. Skullduggery It’s the skull stupid. If Damien Hirst rolled $20 million of diamonds in elephant dung someone would notice. But stud a skull with little sparklers and everyone sits up. It works every time. We’re hardwired to notice skulls even if it’s on a totally flogged Papa Roach Connection T shirt or a Mexican Day of the Dead get-well card. A crowded field so do try to be innovative if looking for eyeline shelf position in arts global supermarket. Hint: Materiality matters. Try using Smarties, or, if flush, A-class drugs. Dem Bones Inspiration: Check out Mexican artist Jose Posada’s Calaveras (images of skulls and animated skeletons). This artist had distinct talent for blunting Death’s sting with his rollicking skeletons having an eternal knees-up. Admire: Ricky Swallow’s mortes particularly his sculptural riffs on 17th century still lifes and his life-sized vanitas, a seated skeleton (The Exact Dimensions of Staying Behind) which rattles some cages.
24 Nov 2013 - 3 Jan 2014 12th Annual City of Marion Community Art Exhibition
exhibitions gallery shop
An exhibition of artworks in various media by residents of the City of Marion images (right) artworks by Roger Hjorleifson, Lucie Winter, Jeremy G Paddick & Glenys Brokeshire
Gallery M Marion Cultural Centre 287 Diagonal Rd Oaklands Park SA P: 08 8377 2904 E: info@gallerym.net.au
www.gallerym.net.au
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 45
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VISUAL ARTS ARTSPEAK DECONSTRUCTION It’s all about the metaphysics of presence. But then you knew that. Blame Jacques Derrida. He floated the idea in the later 1960s. This coincides with the launch (1969) of the Danish Lego group’s Duplo range of simpler blocks (twice the height, width and depth of standard Lego blocks) for smaller children. From here on, art history is just one click after another. DEADLY Arguably the Best Ever art critical tag. From Australian Aboriginal English (‘excellent’, ‘fantastic’, ‘cool’). Try ‘Deadly, Unna? (Deadly eh?’) at the next exhibition opening. Australian kids used to ride deadly treadlys (bikes). Malvern Stars were OK but Dean Toselands deadly. Like art, all bikes are surface and symbol. But deadly dull. Change in the Weather. Oil on canvas, 122 x 153 cm
DESIRE An ‘A list’ term sprinkled freely within art discourse (see Discourse). Use with discretion as has multiple applications according to context such as male gaze, body as projection and fetishisation. According to Derrida our relationship to an art image may be linked to our desire to return it to its maker. Makes you think doesn’t it? Sometimes seen in the company of Revulsion with mixed results. DISCOURSE Occupies contested (see Contested) territory somewhere between the verbal and the visual. This ‘master’ (see Master Terms) term allows the user to write or speak at great length about anything on the basis that things aren’t all that they seem. Or is it that they are more than they seem? Or not what they seem? Help is on hand: ‘How do I know what I think until I see what I say?’ E. M. Forster.
Consider: American artist Jenny Holzer ‘s Lustmord installation. Skeletal remains arranged on tabletops confronted viewers when shown in Adelaide in 1998. Powerful viewing experience but too close to the bone? (see deflection).
Overview
I
Overlaying a grid onto his landscape represents the idea of a clash between man and the environment. He says, “I am hoping that the grid with its overlay of human forms – straight lines, verticals and horizontals – is like a mapping or a GPS overlay. It creates a contradiction in the normal way of representing landscape which is via atmospheric, spatial perspective.”
Stewart has spent most of the last 15 years moving around Australia and nature is very important to him. “I am a keen bush walker and beach stroller and I feel if I haven’t had an experience of nature in a day then my day is a little bit empty,” he says. In his paintings Stewart uses a grid and paints the landscape
Stewart chooses to take an aerial perspective of the landscape because he likes the idea of floating above it. “I love the distance it achieves and miniaturising human scale, trying to get that spatial comparison. You get all the grid lines and road lines and rivers all sort of crossing each other,” he says. Most of Stewart’s works are composed from photographs taken through commercial air travel. He has on occasion taken flights specifically to shoot the landscape but generally they are from images he has taken during his travels around the country creating an element of chance.
BY JANE LLEWELLYN
n the current political climate it must be difficult for artists working in the landscape genre not to make some comment on climate change - whether they are a sceptic or a believer. Landscape painter Mark Stewart prefers a soft approach. “I try not to make my art too dogmatic. But I am hoping gently in the titles I can suggest ways of thinking about the work,” he explains. “Suggestions that we are tweaking with the landscape, that we are tweaking with our environment.”
P R O F E S S I O N A L I S M AT L E I S U R E
commences
12 February For full programme contact Peter Bok
8346 2600 bapea@aapt.net.au
51 Wood Avenue Brompton SA 5007 T - 08 8346 2600 E - bapea@aapt.net.au http://people.aapt.net.au/~bapea
Christmas Gift Vouchers Available Beginners & Advanced Drawing Life Drawing Portrait Drawing Painting the Figure & Portraiture Beginner’s Painting General Painting Watercolours & Pen & Ink Figure Sculpture in Clay
$235 $280 $280 $310 $265 $265 $235 $310
Christmas Exhibition
The landscapes he produces are representational but also abstract. “I love the way that the fields will provide a patchwork, that is something of a geometric abstraction. It’s something [aerial perspective] I feel like I am still exploring, it’s got a long way to go.” The ongoing debate on climate change and what impact we have had on the environment allows Stewart to explore the topic. He says, “I think I will be continuing to explore the aerial abstract view of the landscape. I want to somehow combine that spatial exploration of traditional/representational landscape and then that geometric abstraction of looking at it from above, as a flattened surface.”
» Mark Stewart Overview Hill Smith Gallery Continues until December 14 hillsmithgallery.com.au
•
until 24 December
Andrea Fiebig, Sweet Apples, hand blown glass, 22cm high, $180 each
ART SCHOOL & GALLERY
2014 Term1
from an aerial perspective. “I am trying to show that the landscape we now experience is always mediated by technology.”
...it’s apples! 32 The Parade Norwood Mon-Fri 9-5.30 Sat 10-5 Sun 2-5 t. 8363 0806 www.artimagesgallery.com.au
46 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
Photo: Courtesy Studebaker National Museum, South Bend, Indiana
VISUAL ARTS post-war America (created by the need to house the millions of returning soldiers and their families). It was the perfect climate for a design and building revolution – particularly in California thanks in part to its buoyant economy, the many big-name architects and designers who lived there (including European émigrés, Neutra, Rudolph Schindler and Greta Magnusson Grossman and natives Millard Sheets, the Eames team and Alvin Lustig) and the benign climate that supported the coveted indoor/ outdoor lifestyle. Says Kaplan: “There was the incredible freedom of having the backyard, the pool, and the patio being an extended living room, which really changed the way people occupied space, making it a much more informal way of life, and in doing so, creating the need for different kinds of furniture and clothing.”
Raymond Loewy for Studebaker Corporation. Avanti automobile (image from company brochure) designed 1961,manufactured 1963–64.
Modern Living BY WENDY CAVENETT
C
alifornia Design 1930–1965: Living in a Modern Way – currently showing at the Brisbane Art Gallery – introduces Australian audiences to an era of accelerated change experienced in California in the decades before the war, but particularly during and after World War II. The exhibition traces this cultural and design epoch through more than 250 architectural, industrial, fashion and craft design objects that were made, in part, from war industry technologies and a particularly cooperative spirit that gave rise to a distinct form of modernism – “a loose, albeit clearly recognisable, group of ideas” – that is this exhibition’s focus. Curated by Wendy Kaplan, Department Head and Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and her colleague, Associate Curator, Bobbye Tigerman, California Design breathes life into an era many remember or still experience vicariously through mid-century modern films or the popular Mad
Men series. In the gallery space, this collection of objects and artefacts creates a dynamic social and cultural history that celebrates human endeavour and the utopian spirit that every age seems to produce, yet few reflect so vividly in its everyday products and philosophies. Objects such as Mattel Inc’s very first Barbie doll, the Charles and Ray Eames-designed moulded plywood chair, and Mary Ann DeWeese’s 1961 spandex and lycra woven stars and stripes woman’s swimsuit, reflect both the playfulness and optimism of this era as much as the idea that good, affordable design for the masses is paramount, perfectly illustrating the Eames’s famous quip: ‘The best for the most for the least.’ First to be seen are two key examples of California modernism, known for its unadorned, functional, and exquisitely realised objects and design vocabularies – a stunning 1964 champagne-coloured, luxury coupé
Studebaker Avanti, and secondly (and most remarkably) a shiny 1936 ‘Clipper’ trailer, its riveted aluminium casing (featured on aircraft fuselage) an aesthetic and design wonder, its futuristic, shimmering surface not out of place in the gallery’s clean, contemporary spaces. Enter the exhibition proper and four thematic sections reflect the rich curatorial threads: ‘Shaping’, which traces the emergence of California modernism; ‘Making’, with its focus on manufacture and production; ‘Living’, featuring housing, home interiors, and possibly the bedrock of California modernism – the indoor/outdoor ideal; and lastly, ‘Selling California Modern’, which tracks advertising and commerce because, as featured architectural photographer Julius Shulman once asserted: “Good design is seldom accepted. It has to be sold.” According to Kaplan, World War II produced the technology to make floor-to-ceiling windows, and the all-important steel framing that revolutionised housing design. Arts & Architecture (1929-1967) was a big supporter of residential steel, championing its use by sponsoring the Case Study House program, which commissioned numerous bigname architects (including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, and Charles and Ray Eames) to design and build low-cost but practical model homes to help service the housing crisis of
mark stewart overview 28 November - 14 December 2013 www.hillsmithgallery.com.au
Kaplan is quick to point out that while it was a period of unprecedented prosperity and optimism, the threat of nuclear annihilation felt real. Gilbert Adrian’s two-piece black dress from The Atomic 50s collection is a great example of using design to assuage people’s fears, Kaplan says, and is one of the many fashion highlights of the exhibition, as is the golden Margit Fellegi Woman’s swimsuit (1950) – probably made as promotion for Esther Williams’ 1952 movie, Million Dollar Mermaid – and the superb twopiece Swoon Suit (1942). California Design – a landmark exhibition tracing one of the great cultural and design epochs in America’s contemporary history – finds the perfect home in the Queensland Art Gallery, and promises to enthral Australian audiences who will no doubt relate to this optimistic, fun-in-the-sun, middle-class utopia that produced – to borrow Frank Lloyd Wright’s apt description – “beautiful [and affordable] forms for human use”.
» California Design 1930–1965: Living In A Modern Way shows at the Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, until February 9, 2014. qagoma.qld.gov.au/californiadesign
The Adelaide Review December 2013 47
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VISUAL ARTS
Into the Unknown
through to Matthew Flinders’ brilliant charting of Australia in 1814. Not only maps: a variety of instruments of knowledge and navigation are on display, including globes, atlases and scientific devices, some drawn from our own national collections. A highlight among these treasures is the Fra Mauro from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, a two-metre hand-painted disc world that leaves Italy for the first time – its maiden voyage now after 600 years.
Mapping Our World at the National Library of Australia, Canberra.
by William Charles
The Fra Mauro, a large circular planisphere, is drawn on parchment and mounted on wood in a square frame. Unusually for medieval European maps, it is oriented with south at the top. It was created by Fra Mauro, a Camaldulian monk from the island of Murano.
Maps serve to represent not just the known but, even more enticingly, the unknown. In centuries past maps swelled at their corners with beasts and demons, guarding the uncharted deeps and uncrossed mountain chains, denizens of lands of terror, ignorance and death. The unmappable was a truly awful void; even Satan in Hell had his inscribed place within Dante’s ever-descending, contracting circles of pain. The map has, paradoxically, no boundary: it can represent both factual landscapes and imaginary ones with equal exactitude. While maps allow us to tie and section the world, rope it away behind boundaries, measure its contents and chart its treasures and dangers, chart its points of home and reassurance, at
T’Arts Collective
Photo: Adrian Lambert
M
apping can be as simple a thing as X marks the spot – an element of children’s games – and is usually taken for granted given its sheer ubiquity and multiple forms. Yet mapping represents one of the finest conceptual achievements of civilization – a transfer of three dimensional geographic (and abstract mental) space and environment into a specifically designed (usually) two dimensional representation. Maps tell the story of our world and how we navigate it, and what tools are at our disposal to do so. Maps are windows into the art, aesthetics, scientific development and moral universe of their creators, and are like crosssectional samples taken from ice or wood: each reveals the conditions of the time in which it came into being.
Petrus PLANCIUS. Plancius World Map 1594, 1594. Hand coloured engraving. Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth.
the same time they allow us to create entire worlds anew, worlds without necessary or rational limit. Maps delight with their colours: empires at a glance, voids of blue; swathes of pink across colonial ambition and desire. Maps invite challenge, conflict and endless dispute: lines drawn across desert sands or over rebellious mountain ranges divide people by cartographic concept and governmental expedience rather than ethnographic reality. Wars are fought over scraps of territory; neighbourhood gangs define the limits of their influence; real estate prices fluctuate on either side of the lines we draw. Little, it seems, remains unmapped in our obsessively technological world: distant galaxies perhaps; the deeps of the oceans; the centre of our planet; desire; the contours of the human heart. But what maps inspired the idea of Australia? In Manning Clark’s History of
MAGPIE SPRINGS P R E S E N T S
Gays Arcade (off Adelaide Arcade)
Exciting artist run contemporary gallery / shop in the heart of Adelaide.
Australia we read of Javanese who “on finding the current carrying them southward... abandoned their junks and rowed for shore in fear of being drawn into the abyss of Pausengi from which there was no return.” How did the concept of the Great Southern Land emerge from suspicion, hint and fantasy into reality? Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia, recently opened at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, brings together the finest collection of historic maps yet assembled in Australia that together chart the coming of our region into the modern, European consciousness – our austral terra incognita slowly incorporated into the rational northern mind. This is the first time many of these maps have been seen in Australia, rarely coming out of their European vaults. The British Library, the Vatican and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France have all lent treasures that (practically and conceptually) map the journey from ancient and medieval ideas of what lay at the lower ends of the earth,
Other highlights include the map that first made the Pacific an ocean – Hessel Gerritsz’s Mar Pacifico, Mar del Sur, on loan from the Bibliotheque Nationale De France; Hendrick Doncker’s The Sea Atlas (1659) with its gold-leaf illustrations and fantastic guesses as to parts of the world yet undiscovered; an 1842-printed Cosmographia by Ptolemy; beautiful medieval Christian and Islamic maps; and secret maps of Australia commissioned by the Dutch East India company, before completing the journey with examples from Captain James Cook, Louis de Freycinet and Matthew Flinders. The National Library in Canberra is the exclusive Australian venue for this exhibition which runs for a strictly limited season. The exhibition coincides with both the national capital’s centenary year and the bicentenary of Matthew Flinders’ map of Australia in 2014.
»»Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia is on show now at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, until March 10, 2014. The exhibition is free but bookings are essential. nla.gov.au/exhibitions/mapping-our-world
ROYAL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ARTS INC. RSASA Members’ Summer Exhibition: Summer Daze
Window display will run from December 1 to December 31
Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm Phone 8232 0265
www.tartscollective.com.au
Warm Rocks, watercolour by Coralie Armstrong
Rules of Colour by Julie Frahm
Journey by Carolanne Wasley
6 Dec – 12 Jan 2014 Art Market will be held Sun 8 Dec till Christmas, artworks under $200
ImpressIons In Watercolour
A mix of artworks in a daze of summer, paintings, mixed media, photographs, textiles, prints & sculptures
Exhibition by Alan Ramachandra
RSASA Summer School workshops: 6 – 30 January 2014
Exhibition Dates 15th Dec - 27th Jan Workshop dates 11-12 Jan $190 booking info@magpies.com.au Demostration 19 Jan - 2pm
Tutors: Roe Gartelmann, Alan Ramachandran, Gerhard Ritter, Margaret Tuckey, Sophie Hann, Arthur Phillips, David Braun, Russell Boyd. Check out www.rsasarts.com.au for entry forms.
1870 Brookman Rd Hope Forrest 8556 7351
Where: RSASA Gallery, Level 1, Institute Bldg, Cnr North Tce & Kintore Ave, Adelaide. Mon – Friday 10.30 – 4.00pm, Sat & Sun 1 – 4.00pm. Closed public holidays & over Christmas break till 2nd Jan 2014 For more information: Bev Bills, Director, RSASA Office: 8232 0450 or 0415 616 900.
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.
48 The Adelaide Review December 2013
VISUAL ARTS
Trenton 1933, Burbank 1947, London 1820, Santa Fe 1937. All works are 2013, oil on panel, 25 x 20cm
Profile:
Daryl Austin by Jane Llewellyn
D
aryl Austin is messing with our minds in his current exhibition at Greenaway Gallery. He’s taking the fundamentals of portraiture and turning it on its head. The images have a vintage feel and titles like Dublin 1911 leaving the viewer wondering, is it a portrait of a real person from Dublin in 1911 or something else? On closer inspection you realise there
is something skew-whiff - the subjects have different coloured eyes, they are all distorted. “I have constructed them so they all kind of have a vintage photo look. Except once you start looking closer you realise it’s all constructed, it’s all made up basically.”
at them and at some point think, `They all can’t have different coloured eyes, so what’s that about?’” He is questioning portraits and photos, what’s real and what’s not and our acceptance of an image because of preconceived notions.
Titled Fictions the exhibition focuses on the idea that everyone believes photos and photo portraits. “These portraits are constructed and smashed together and they become new people, they have never existed,” he explains. “I have given titles to them of what they might be and times, I have no idea if that’s the case.”
Austin hasn’t always focused on portraits, having previously looked more at the subject of painting itself. “I guess since about 2006 my work has been getting more naturalistic. I have been learning the skills of painting more naturalistically.” Austin felt the best way to do this was through portraiture which would make him even more engaged with the act of painting.
Austin wants to show people that just because it’s a portrait, and it looks like someone, that doesn’t necessarily make it a good portrait. “One of the works, Minnesota 1927 has an albino eye and a pale blue eye. It’s about having that point of difference where people can look
Austin is particularly interested in painting people and the audiences’ reaction to these paintings. “The trouble is most people’s perception is, `Why would I want a picture of someone I don’t know on the wall? It’s not a member of my family.’ As soon as it becomes
something not real, or something else is going on, people’s perceptions change.” The whole basis of this body of work is to turn the focus around from the portrait itself, to it being seen for its value as a painting. “That is one of the difficulties with portraiture, that the primary aim seems to be about a likeness of someone and never about it being a painting. I’m trying to swing it around so it’s an interesting painting and sure it’s someone but it’s not a real someone. Or it could potentially be a real someone.”
»»Daryl Austin Fictions Greenaway Art Gallery Continues until Friday, December 20 darylaustin.com
A coMbINAtIoN of StRENGth
Art Exhibition 8 December 2013 – 26 January 2014
by Amanda Hyatt & Mel Brigg
zen like watercolours and oils with spiritual overtones.
DAVID SUMNER GALLERY 359 Greenhill Road Toorak Gardens Ph: 8332 7900
Claire Ishino, Haru-1, gouache on illustration board, 15x15cm
Tues to Fri 11-5 | Sat to Sun 2-5 www.david-sumner-gallery.com
Art Market 12-5pm 8 December 2013
The Empty Bowl by Mel Brigg
Couta Boat by Amanda Hyatt
Opening on 8th Dec
Elodie Barker, Cathy Brooks, Susanna Brown, Lianne Gould, Erin Harrald, Claire Ishino, Leo Neuhofer, Stephanie JamesManttan, Sophia Phillips, Di Radomski, Paul Tait, Yvonne Twining, John Ullinger, Erika Walter
1 Thomas Street (cnr Main North Road) Nailsworth
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 49
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FOOD.WINE.COFFEE CHEESE MATTERS
am forbidden to make the same cheese and have it commercially available for consumers who wish to buy it. Nobody in their right mind would want to produce anything that could be harmful to eat, that is why we have food safety systems and they most definitely have their place. However, if I am prepared to make raw milk cheese within a tight food safety framework and test it before I release it for sale – and if the cheese is microbiologically safe – why then can I not have the choice to make and sell this product?
Raw BY KRIS LLOYD
O
riol Urgell, a Barcelona cheese expert, recently paid me a visit at the cheese factory in Woodside. His experience spans for more than 20 years with the Spanish and EU dairy industries; he is also an accomplished cheese judge. His purpose in Australia was primarily to visit cheese makers to assist them with technical aspects of their craft and their facilities. I took Oriol through a Woodside Cheese Wrights degustation in order to gain insights about our cheese making standards given his vast judging experience. One cheese stood out for him and perhaps came as no surprise. Our raw milk version of the semi-hard goat-milk cheese we call Figaro. His brow furrowed in deep concentration before he said, “This is the best cheese I have tasted all year. This is very good, it is elegant but has length of flavour and is very complex, I am very happy to taste this.” I had to explain that this cheese was only for tasting, it is not commercially available due to our current Food
Safety Standards regulations laid down by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand. I have been making raw milk cheese for more than 10 years for my own interest and use. I have conducted many blind tastings over this period with individuals across many disciplines who I consider to have excellent palates. When I make these cheeses I ensure they are made from the same milk source on the same day; one batch raw, one batch pastuerised and finally matured in identical conditions for the same length of time. Interestingly all the findings have consistently pointed to the raw milk version as a complex and
more dynamic offering with length of flavour and a slight paste colour variation. When travelling, this is also consistent with my own experience with raw milk cheese. I personally would like to have the choice of making raw milk cheese and I believe the consumer should also have the choice to purchase raw milk cheese. It puzzles me somewhat, that I can purchase raw milk Roquefort legally in Australia. It is made in France, using French milk from somewhere, by an unknown French cheese maker, shipped to Australia over several days and it is all quite legal. I, on the other hand, a reasonably well-known Australian cheese maker, who can point to the local milk source and ship to retailers next day,
Currently there is a clause in the Standard that allows a version of raw milk cheese making, which is a step in the right direction, however, it is not true raw milk cheese making and it does not allow styles such as Roquefort, which are higher in moisture and softer, to be produced. While I am working within that framework to bring my version of raw milk Figaro, which we will name Greedy Goat, to market I have had to change the way I produce the cheese to meet the criteria and obviously the result is different.
» Kris Lloyd is Woodside Cheese Wrights’ Head Cheese Maker woodsidecheese.com.au
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50 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
ULTIMATE BACKYARD PARTY Barrio is dead. Long live Lola’s Pergola – Adelaide Festival’s 2014 party destination where chefs and winemakers will be the stars. BY DAVID KNIGHT
S
outh Australia’s gastronomic scene is the most exciting it’s been for years with quality new eateries such as Peel St, Jock Zonfrillo’s Street-ADL and Orana, the re-opening of Magill Estate, as well as the recognition of innovative restaurants such as Hentley Farm and Bistro Dom. These establishments are complemented by the buzz of street food and laneway destinations resulting in a scene that caters for the high end, the experimental hunters, as well as the street. Bistro Dom’s Head Chef Duncan Welgemoed, who was just named Adelaide’s chef of the year by The Advertiser, will showcase this new food wave at Adelaide Festival’s Lola’s Pergola: a nightspot where you can indulge in high quality degustation meals and enjoy the theatre of cooking from some of the best chefs from SA and beyond. The Adelaide Festival’s food and wine-driven after-hours destination is from the team behind Barrio’s The Naughty Corner and Neon Lobster, The Happy Motel (the culinary arts collective that
Duncan Welgemoed
Welgemoed joined this year). Barrio and Lola Pergola’s Creative Director Ross Ganf approached Welgemoed about this year’s Adelaide Festival club after a controversial dinner the Bistro Dom chef created for The Naughty Corner called Roadkill in Snowtown. For Lola’s, the Michael North trained chef suggested the team throw parties like Welgemoed and his food and wine mates do up in the Adelaide Hills with “incredible winemakers and wicked food” that is not like every other food and wine event in this state. The result: First Fruit – 10 degustation dinners that will be Lola’s Pergola’s signature series of events. “We want to focus on the small guys that are unknown within the larger demographic,” Welgemoed explains. “To actually feature them and say, ‘Hey guys, we’ve got incredible winemakers and incredible chefs – let’s stop looking interstate and focus on our backyard’.” First Fruit will feature innovative local, national and international chefs using
T H E BI RT H PL AC E OF Mc L A R E N VA L E try our 2012 two tribes Shiraz Grenache which was awarded 4 gold medals australia wide
SeaSonS GreetinGS! Celebrate this Festive Season with oxenberry’s new oXenBUrGer topped off with our return release and ever So Popular Farmgate Sparkling red What a perfect combination to kick off this years celebrations!
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PHONE: 08 8323 0188
EMAIL: INFO@OXENBERRY.COM
SUN & PUBLIC HOLS 10AM – 5PM
MCLAREN VALE SA 5171
FAX: 08 8323 9642
WEB: WWW.OXENBERRY.COM
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 51
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FOOD.WINE.COFFEE local produce in conjunction with resident winemakers for the long-table dinners. Alongside Petaluma Wines, the winemakers include three of this state’s most dynamic in James Erskine (Jauma), Anton van Klopper (Domaine Lucci) and Brendon Keys (BK Wines) who are causing enormous ripples in the wine industry with their creative hand-crafted wines. “We’re basically giving them the stage to go crazy and really show themselves without having to be nice, corporate or reserved: ‘This is what we do. Here’s our booze. You don’t have to travel to the McLaren Vale or the Hills, check us out in our environment.’ I’d love to take people up to see the Jam Factory where James [Erskine] works or Anton’s [von Klopper] garage. People outside of that world don’t experience it. This is the recreation of that.” Unlike Barrio there will not be live bands at Lola’s. “It’s more focused on DJs with the chefs and winemakers being the performance artists and rock stars to a certain extent,” Welgemoed says. “That’s why the collaborations have to be noteworthy in terms of how mental it actually is, so it is a performance and it’s not like another Tasting Australia.” The Battle Royale dinner is the ideal event to check in with SA’s young talent. Hentley Farm’s Lachlan Colwill, Zac Ronayne (Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill), Ben Sommariva (Penny’s Hill), The Lane’s James Brinklow and Emma Shearer will battle it out in an Iron Cheflike event to see who can claim the new generation’s bragging rights. But this state’s cooking trailblazers aren’t forgotten, as The Old Boys degustation will feature Cheong Liew (The Grange), David Swain (Fino) and Mark McNamara (Appellation) to join forces for a dinner that celebrates their groundbreaking achievements.
On an international level, ex-Fat Duck chef Gavin Baker (now based in Melbourne) will be here with his Mist Project, where Baker immerses himself with locals so he can deliver a dinner that communicates his discoveries. In Adelaide, Baker will spend time with local winemakers. More international representatives are the team from Noma’s Nordic Food Lab who will partner with James Viles from NSW’s Biota Dining. Other nights of note include The Gypsy China Tea Party featuring Lee Ho Fook’s Victor Liong and his sister Ev, who will create a dinner of contemporary Chinese food with matched teas and whiskey. and Victorian Bitters starring two of Melbourne’s most exciting chefs: food legend Raymond Capaldi (Hare & Grace, Fenix) and young-gun Dave Verghaul (The Town Mouse). Then there’s Welgemoed’s night – Duncan’s Dungeon, which will see him collaborate with Rag and Bones for a degustation theme like no other. “Rag and Bones is an artist collective who are really into the underground art scene. I really want to show a subculture of South Australia, there’s a massive kink scene down here and a mental art scene as well. I want to show that side of Adelaide because it’s known for its weirdness and its dark underbelly.” The degustation dinners will cost $130 per person, but punters can flash less cash to experience the chefs’ creations, as every chef will create a retail food item available for Lola’s Pergola patrons not there for the degustation. “The retail kitchen will be pumping out to the public through the smokehouse, a Hills Hoist BBQ, which is a pit BBQ done with a Hills Hoist with loads of grills, charcoal and a pretty stoking menu, which is restaurant quality stuff. That’s where the Happy Motel comes into its own with killer concepts from James Brown [MASH and The Happy Motel] dressing the hell out of it.”
With Lola’s Pergola and First Fruit, Welgemoed wants Adelaide to recognise the innovative new guard that exists in their hometown. “Look at what Hentley Farm’s doing; Peel St, Street and what we’re [Bistro Dom] doing. Then there’s the bar scene, Clever Little Tailor, those guys are becoming individuals and are known for that. We’re not being known as a nice place to visit, we’re actually known as a destination – a food and wine destination.” All have not embraced this movement. Ann Oliver took to Twitter to criticise both Welgemoed and Colwill after they took out the major honours at the Advertiser Food Awards: “Give me a break Hentley Farm best restaurant South Australia and Duncan Welgemoed best chef no wonder no one flies into Adelaide just to eat,” she Tweeted. Welgemoed fired some colorful Tweets back to Oliver in response. The Bistro Dom chef said he didn’t care that Oliver had a go at he and Colwill but was angry at the comment “no wonder no one flies into Adelaide just to eat”. “Adelaide is actually small enough as a collective for everyone to stick together and promote South Australia. We still have that big country town mentality where we know everyone and we eat in each other’s places. It’s not like Melbourne and Sydney where it’s so massive and dynamic; we’re small enough to embrace it. Let’s do it. Let’s move forward and create something for us.”
Fruit First Program The Gypsy China Tea Party (Friday, February 28) featuring Victor (Lee Ho Fook) and Ev Liong (Whiskey & Alement) Terroir on the Table (Saturday, March 1): James Viles (Biota Dining) and Nordic Food Lab (Noma) Yakitori Sugar Pie (Sunday, March 2): Adam Liston (Borrowed Space) and Quang Nguyen The Misty Maker (Thursday, March 6): Gavin Baker (ex Fat Duck and The Mist Project) Mamma Shpagett (Friday, March 7): Jared Ingersoll (Danks Street Depot) and Alex Herbert (Bird Cow Fish) Battle Royale (Saturday, March 8): Zac Ronayne (Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill), Lachlan Colwill (Hentley Farm), Emma Shearer, Ben Sommariva (Penny’s Hill) and James Brinklow (The Lane) Appetite for Excellence (Sunday, March 9): Chloe Proud (Ethos), James Viles (Biota Dining) and Sonia Bandera (Rockpool) The Old Boys (Thursday, March 13): Cheong Liew (The Grange), David Swain (Fino) and Mark McNamara (Appellation) Victorian Bitters (Friday, March 14): Raymond Capaldi (Hare & Grace, Fenix) and Dave Verhaul (The Town Mouse)
» Lola’s Pergola Torrens Riverbank Friday, February 28 to Saturday, March 15 adelaidefestival.com.au
Duncan’s Dungeon (Saturday, March 15): Duncan Welgemoed (Bistro Dom), Imogen Czulowski (Fino) and Alpha Box & Dice
52 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
Food For Thought Relaxed Entertaining BY Annabelle Baker
I Lime Curd Tarts With Toasted Meringue • • • • • • • • •
Juice of six limes 1.5 Cups caster sugar 200g Butter – cubed 6 Eggs 24 Mini sweet pastry cases 4 Egg whites 1 Cup caster sugar ¼ Teaspoon cream of tartar Pinch of salt
1. Place the lime juice, caster sugar, butter and eggs into a bowl that can comfortably sit over
a pot of simmering water. Make sure that the simmering water does not touch the base of the bowl. 2. Use a whisk to stir the ingredients until the butter is combined and the mixture begins to thicken. You will know it is ready when the mixture holds a line on the back of a spoon. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least two hours but it will keep for at least a week. 3. Spoon the curd into the pastry cases. 4. Whisk the egg whites until frothy and then add the caster sugar, cream of tartar and pinch of salt, continue whisking until the mixture holds a stiff peak. 5. Pipe meringue ‘hats’ on top of the curd tarts. 6. Using a blowtorch, toast the meringue.
love the idea of entertaining at home but the reality is often a whole different experience. Gone are the days of formal sit down dinners with stifling table settings and pompous food. Entertaining is now much more relaxed and the formalities have almost disappeared. Relaxed entertaining is much more suited to our current lifestyles but effort is still required and the temptation of serving frozen finger food, in my opinion, should be avoided at all costs. Stand up functions are much easier to manage and have an organic relaxed vibe, the food is easy to prepare in advance and looks impressive arranged as the centerpiece of the party. Organising and hosting a party definitely needs to be approached without hesitation or fear and when you discover the winning formula for a great party, stick to it! Without being crammed in like sardines the trick to a good party is definitely a large amount of people in a small space – socialisation by default. Weather it is a glass of bubbles, cocktail or something virgin, giving guests a drink on arrival, instantly gets the party started. But for me it is all about the food and if you can get that right you are almost guaranteed success. A big party faux pas is the concept of finger food and how it is served. It should be, as the name suggests, eaten with your fingers and with ease. Attempting to juggle plates, drinks and napkins is never appreciated by guests and only discourages people from enjoying the food on offer. If you are going to serve food that has a certain element of DIY then access to table space should be provided, allowing guests to put their drink down and get stuck
Tomato Tart Tatin • • • • •
Adelaide Hills
www.wicksestate.com.au
12 Small vine ripened tomatoes 100g Caster sugar 50ml Red wine vinegar 2 Sheets puff pastry 100g Goat’s cheese
1. Cut the tomatoes in half and place onto a cake rack resting on a baking tray. 2. Place in an 80-degree oven for two hours. 3. Place the sugar in the middle of a small saucepan and gently pour water around the sugar creating a divider between the sugar and the sides of the pan.
in. I love a combination of bite size food that can be passed around the room and a table of more substantial food that allows hungry guests a place to frequent. Keep it easy for guests to access food and drinks and the rest will follow. Use food as the main attraction, decorate tables with rustic boards lined with bite-sized morsels and abundant platters that get your guests involved.
Twitter.com/annabelleats Styling and props by Tania Saxon, The Prop Dept
4. Turn the heat on to medium and avoid the temptation to stir. 5. When the sugar starts to resemble golden caramel carefully add the vinegar. The mixture will take a couple of minutes to come back together. 6. Leave to reduce for three to five minutes until the mixture becomes thick and glossy. 7. Remove the caramel from the heat and leave to cool for five minutes. 8. Spoon the caramel on a baking tray in circles roughly the same size as the tomatoes. 9. Place the tomatoes upside down onto the caramel. 10. Cut 24 circles out of the puff pastry sheets, two sizes larger than the tomatoes.
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FOOD.WINE.COFFEE Moroccan Lamb Filo Bites • • • • • • • • • • • • •
1 Brown onion 1 Garlic clove Extra virgin olive oil 10 Medjool dates 2 Tablespoon currants 500g Lamb mince 2 Tablespoons of apricot jam 6 Tablespoons ras el hanout 2 Eggs 5 Sheets of filo pastry 50g Melted butter Salt and pepper 24 Blanched almonds
Method 1. Finely dice the brown onion and garlic clove. 2. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat with a splash of olive oil and cook the onion and garlic until soft; set aside to cool. 3. Finely chop the dates and currants and soften in two tablespoons of recently boiled water. 4. In a large mixing bowl add the mince, apricot jam, ras el hanout, eggs and softened onions, garlic, currents and dates with a large pinch of salt and pepper. Mix until well-combined – clean hands will give you the best result. Leave to rest in the fridge until required.
Potato Rosti with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraiche • • • • • • •
2 Large potatoes 2 Teaspoons sea salt 2 Spring onions 40ml Melted butter 200g Smoked salmon 200ml Crème fraiche Dill sprigs
1. Grate two large potatoes and place in a colander lined with a thin tea towel.
11. Place the puff pastry over the tomatoes and gently convince the pastry to tightly cover the tomato with your fingers. 12. Bake in a 200-degree preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
2. Finely slice the spring onions and add to the draining potatoes. 3. Sprinkle with the sea salt and leave to sit for 10 minutes. 4. Ring out the potato mixture over a sink, removing as much liquid as possible. 5. Combine the drained potatoes with the melted butter. 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. 7. Using a medium-sized cookie cutter place a large teaspoon of the mix inside the mould to create a tight circle. 8. Bake in a 190-degree preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. 9. Cool on a wire rack and serve with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and dill for garnish.
13. Leave to rest for five minutes and then carefully turn them upside down using a knife or spatula. 14. Crumble a small amount of goat’s cheese onto each tart and serve warm from the oven or at room temperature.
5. Place the first sheet of filo pastry onto a clean work surface and brush with a thin layer of melted butter. Repeat the process for the remaining four sheets leaving the top layer without a layer of butter. 6. Lightly grease a mini-muffin tray with oil spray. 7. Using a cookie cutter that is two sizes larger than the muffin size, cut 24 circles from
the filo sheet. 8. Place the filo circles into the tin, molding them into cups. 9. Spoon or pipe the lamb mixture into the cups until slightly higher than the side of the tin. 10. Garnish each one with a blanched almond. 11. Bake at 190 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.
54 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
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Hot 10 100 Wine Wines
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN
2013 HOT 100
SA WINES RESULTS The judges of the annual The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wines publication and wine show judged an Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir South Australia’s top wine of 2013.
T
he winning wine, Lofty Valley Wines’ 2012 Steeped Pinot Noir, was described as the “ultimate experience in drinkability” by the judges. The Adelaide Hills wine led the way for the booming wine region, which once again dominated the Top 10, as well as the other awards, including The Le Cordon Bleu Award for Best Aromatic Light to Medium Bodied White Wine with Texture. This prize went to Paracombe Wines’ 2013 Pinot Gris. BK Wines’ Skin n’ Bones White 2012, also from the Adelaide Hills, won TAFE SA’s inaugural Dreamers and Believers Award, as the wine that pushed the boundaries stylistically. Led by Chief of Judges James Erskine, the 19 judges from all over the country blindtasted around 1100 South Australian wines to discover 2013’s most drinkable wines. The full list of the hottest 100 wines is available in the free publication The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wines 2013/14, which is available now.
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 55
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d
an
ine exp d W er
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Lofty Valley Wines Steeped Pinot Noir 2012 Adelaide Hills
d’Arenberg The Noble Prankster Chardonnay Semillon 2010 Adelaide Hills
Loomwine Long Yarn Riesling 2013 Eden Valley
Shobbrook WInes Syrah 2012 Barossa Valley
Wicks Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 Adelaide Hills
THE TOP 10
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Regency gastRonomic adventuRes se
Who
like
to
ex
The Regency Gastronomic Adventures is an exciting new food program showcasing TAFE SA’s finest food lecturers and South Australia’s culinary talents offering gourmet short courses. Classes are run at TAFE SA’s Regency International Centre, a world-class facility that delivers training in cookery, hospitality management, patisserie, bakery, butchery, tourism and food processing. The Centre has a state-of-theart brewery, an Artisan Cheese Academy, coffee academy and a winery.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
St Hallett Old Vine Grenache 2012 Barossa Valley
ess&see Chardonnay No1 2012 Adelaide Hills
Mosquito Hill Blanc de Blancs Sparkling 2010 Southern Fleurieu
Woodstock Wine Estate The OCTOgenarian Grenache Tempranillo 2011 McLaren Vale
Woodstock Wine Estate Little Miss Collett Moscato 2013 McLaren Vale
Some of these courses include: Cheese, beer, artisan bread, smallgoods production Interactive ‘master’ cooking / patisserie class demonstrations Corporate kitchen, developing work team bonding sessions Food and wine degustation including ‘luxury wine and cheese matching’ Festive Cheer - Christmas cooking at its best
For Bookings: www.eventopia.co/rga Other inquiries: 08 8348 4446 or email regencyhospitality@tafesa.edu.au
tafesa.edu.au
56 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
A Whole New World
Hand Made Winemaker Brendon Keys is the toast of this year’s Hot 100 SA Wines with three drops in the annual wine publication including the winning wine, Lofty Valley Wines’ Steeped Pinot Noir.
Switch Wine’s Vanessa Altmann returned to the Hot 100 SA Wines judging team this year after her first experience changed her approach to winemaking.
K
eys, who runs BK Wines with his wife Kirsty, as well as the Altamont Wine Studio, was stunned after the awards were announced. “Speechless – as you could probably tell from my prepared speech which consisted of ‘Holy shit’.”
by Vanessa Altmann
A
fter three days of stained red teeth and cultural adventure, The Adelaide Review Hot 100 SA Wines experience is one that challenges and engages the assessors to view wine differently. The judges not only assess the technical aspect of the wine’s quality but also dig deeper to truly experience each drop. Whether we drink wine socially or formally assess it, the Hot 100 acknowledges that our consumption doesn’t occur in a vacant space but is actually bursting with outside influences. But what if we took this experience a step further, as drinkers and judges, to embrace the cultural essence of wine, which is equal to its technical quality? A whole new world opened for me as a winemaker after my first Hot 100 experience. A stronger connection emerged between my culture and the wines as an expression of my surroundings, values and influences. This connection is part of the Hot 100 experience. Wine assessors are immersed in
by David Knight
Vanessa Altmann
a vast spectrum of culture, from street food and fine dining experiences to visits to Adelaide’s Museum of Economic Botany and the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. This city’s culture surrounds us. It is the song in my head, the memories of shared meals and wine. A wine assessor’s palate is not only made up of taste buds, but also a connection to the mind and heart, which is fuelled by experiences from the past and hopes for the future. It is the realisation that each judge’s interpretation of wine quality will vary from the judge standing next to them, or taken in another context, the person who is sitting beside them in a wine bar. With these fresh insights I took my wine home, away from the lab, and put it back on my family’s table. I began to embrace this connection to culture as the wines I created evolved; it was a conscious production shift to live each wine as it was created. This has completely changed the intent and my interaction with each parcel of fruit. This shift
The Hot 100 Launch The InterContinental hosted the launch of The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wines publication on Thursday, November 7. Channel 9’s Will McDonald was the master of ceremonies while guests enjoyed music from the State Opera and the Adelaide Youth Orchestra’s String Quartet.
Photos Andreas Heuer
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in focus allowed the wines to lead me along their journey, to be present as they evolved and I find new ways to relate to my love of wine and celebrate its diversity. I embarked on a new kind of wine this year, a wine to reflect the value of connections to what we drink and how this interplays with the community. Organic fruit was grown and picked by friends – fermented whole white grapes on skin, with stalk – and finally handbottled in the same place. The vibrancy of South Australia’s food, wine, music and culture do not exist as individual threads, but are among many weaved through our community fuelling much richness. The Hot 100 SA Wines brings a new momentum to our conversation around what culture means to each of us and is imprinted in the minds and hearts of those engaged and revitalised by its celebration of South Australia.
switchwine.com.au
Aside from the winning Pinot Noir, other Keys wines in the Hot 100 are BK Wines’ Gower 2012 Pinot Noir and Skin n’ Bones 2012 White, which took out the inaugural TAFE SA Dreamers and Believers Award. The judges called the Steeped Pinot Noir “the ultimate experience in drinkability”. “I always try to make a wine that makes you want a second glass and I think a better wine is one that makes you feel the bottle is empty way sooner than it should be. So if that’s drinkability then, yes [it is an aim when making wine]. But I think you need to be careful about the word drinkability – if it implies that the wine is simplistic and doesn’t make you think then, no. I want to make wines that people want to pick up and talk about – talk about the style, about where it comes from – and wines you want to share with friends.” Keys has been Lofty Valley Wines’ (owned by Brian Gilbert) winemaker since 2010 and he drives these wines in a direction that suits Gilbert’s personality whereas with BK he pushes “so many more boundaries because it’s my own risk”.
The Adelaide Review December 2013 57
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HOT 100 like Lofty Valley my job is to make the best product with the material that’s brought to me. As James Erskine [fellow winemaker] would say, ‘I help to bring someone else’s dream to reality’. After I’ve done my work, my clients go on tour and promote their own albums.”
Brendon Keys.
“What I’ll say about Lofty Valley is that Brian came to me with awesome fruit. It’s a spectacular vineyard and I’m psyched to work with the fruit and with Brian. I’m excited to see where this vineyard goes over the next 10 years. I think we’re only just seeing the potential of this vineyard – it’s still so young, it has a lot more to give.”
another month, tasting it every day until I liked the balance and then pressed it off to barrel like you would a red wine. What you end up with is a spicy, tannic white wine with driving acidity. A bit of Chardonnay was added to contribute creamy roundness – Savagnin is like a staircase with hard edges; you add a small amount of Chardonnay and that fills in the gaps to make a gentle slope.
A BK wine that pushes the boundaries is the Skin n’ Bones Pinot Noir, which won the inaugural TAFE SA Dreamers and Believers award.
“The award is a nice honour but I’m not experimenting for the sake of experimentation – I’m pushing the boundaries to make the best possible product from what we have. So if the wine is viewed as unique and leaves an impression and if that exposes more people to the variety and a different style of wine, then that’s fantastic.”
“The story behind this wine is that Savagnin was mistakenly introduced into Australia as Albariño and after it was widely planted the CSIRO discovered the error and everyone ripped it out, leaving only a small amount. Savagnin is predominantly grown in the Jura region of France and I’ve always liked those wines and I didn’t think anyone had given it a fair chance here – it was just ripped out when really we should have experimented with it. When I tasted the fruit for this wine in the vineyard the juice wasn’t terribly interesting – all of the flavour, the spice, everything interesting was in the skins, so there I thought the best way to get all of that character out of the grape was to make it like a red wine. “The fruit was brought to the winery, put into a red fermenter and punched down twice a day like you would a red to extract the flavour from the skins. After it fermented for seven days I allowed it to sit on skins in the fermenter for
Keys launched BK Wines in 2007. The winery has a rock‘n’roll edge to it with the experimental aesthetic and BK’s hand made mantra, which also serves as the winery’s unforgettable knuckle tattoo logo. Keys also runs the Altamont Wine Studio, named after the infamous Rolling Stones headlined 1969 concert. “I had been at another winery before Altamont but in 2012 I needed a new home to make my wine and other peoples’ so the concept of Altamont Wine Studio was born. If you make an analogy with the music industry, Altamont is like an independent commercial studio and I’m the producer. I can take my own project in its own direction but with something
With an objective to “produce super natural low tech wines with amplification” Keys believes the Australian wine industry is in a state of flux and reinvention with winemakers of his ilk being recognised across the country and internationally. Aside from the Hot 100 honours, James Halliday’s Wine Companion, which included a five-star rating, named BK Wines as one of the Top 10 Dark Horses of 2013 and The Huffington Post, of all places, covered him earlier this year. “The best analogy to understand what’s happening is the skateboard movie, Dogtown and Z-Boys. The protagonists in that film – the Z-Boys – that’s whose coming to the fore in the Australian wine industry now – maybe even throughout the whole of the global industry. In the mid-70s, skateboarding was very conservative, then the Z-Boys came to the surface and had such a different approach; they had style and no one knew how to judge or understand it. What that did, though, was change skateboarding utterly to what it is today. “In the wine industry, success until very recently, has been very conservative and has meant ticking all of the varietal boxes at the wine shows. But along comes a show like the Hot 100 and recognises that, out there in the industry, it’s all being turned on its head – it’s not just about variety any longer, it’s about style. There’s a change happening in the industry and the easiest thing to do would be to reject it. And the Hot 100 is still pretty much the only place you can express these types of wines and get recognition – but they need a platform and this is a great place to start. This is the future of the industry. The Z-Boys have arrived.”
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58 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
The Nature of Coffee by Derek Crozier
Coffee Central by Derek CrozieR
B
ar 9 Central exudes a warm homely feel needed when escaping the daily city grind. With children’s books serving as menus and old house doors attached to the counter, the décor, menus and staff are inviting. But you know this place is serious when you see the long Synesso espresso
machine up the front. Bar 9 Central uses Five Senses coffee and Tweedvale milk to give you that ‘boutique in the city’ experience. It was very busy on the day I arrived but the barista was still able to chat about coffee, which is a good sign that they know exactly
N what they’re doing. He offered me a sun dried Panama Boquete Lerida for my espresso, which he handed to me straight over the machine. The acidity was bright and pleasant with hints of peaches coming through in the aroma. The latte was a blend called Black Label, which was made up of Serra Negra (Brazil), Colombian Asprounion and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Kochere. The crema sat beautifully around the latte art of a rosetta leaf and the taste of caramelised nuts was predominant at first but then came the chocolate berry aftertaste.
ature’s Providore provides a marriage of organic fresh food with a boutique level of coffee. It has the feel of a farmers’ market upon entry but as soon as you approach the counter there stands a passionate barista with two coffee grinders ready to go. There’s ample indoor seating and a relaxed feel to the venue that doesn’t make you want to leave after that last sip. They keep the coffee exciting by trying different beans weekly and seasonally from around the world supplied by The Barun. The well-educated barista suggested I try the Kenyan Mugaga for my espresso. His explanation of the tasting profile for that
Bar 9 Central uses fresh local produce and is a good location for when you’re in need of decent coffee while shopping or on a break. I noticed the barista was watching me closely as I sipped my espresso and knocked back my latte, which tells me that they’re looking for that feedback to reach that perfection that boutiques aim for in the industry.
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THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 59
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FOOD.WINE.COFFEE CONSCIOUS FOOD AND WINE FIESTA
particular bean was spot on. There was a rich jam taste that was present in the aroma and the berry notes came through in the after taste. There was plenty of dark brown crema that was present until the end.
Held as part of the second Adelaide Transition Film Festival, the Conscious Food and Wine Fiesta was held on Friday, November 1.
The latte was made with Indonesia Sumatra beans and Tweedvale organic milk with an eight-leaf tulip as the latte art. It had a good mixture of dark brown shades on top, which held the taste of the crema all the way through. The Indonesian coffee’s sweet notes complemented the silky smooth milk and it all went down a treat. It’s great to see a place that supplies local, seasonal, organically-grown produce and a large selection of super foods and wellbeing products. Nature’s Providore is somewhere you can pop in, relax, put your feet up with a guilt free healthy meal and enjoy a boutique level of coffee made with natural passion.
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60 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
In Search of Heston’s Perfection
than Perigord ones from France – they’re so good. It’s also the Indigenous stuff – lemon myrtle or whatever – it’s being able to look at those things and then come at it from two angles. It might be a Cornish pasty, a Scotch egg, a pork pie, it might be a sausage, it might be a burger, it might be a food that Britain’s taken into their arms and Australians have done the same – take that and twist it with some Indigenous produce. Also, to take some of the nostalgic foods that you have in Australia, from lamingtons to Tim Tams, and then twisting it.”
Eyebrows were raised at the teaming of one of the world’s most innovative chefs with Coles but Heston Blumenthal explains that his relationship with the giant supermarket chain continues his fascination with the challenge of producing food with a shelf life, as well as native Australian ingredients.
The night before this interview, Blumenthal ate at Jock Zonfrillo’s new restaurant StreetADL. Zonfrillo is known for his foraging and love of Indigenous ingredients. Blumenthal says the Adelaide-based Zonfrillo is a great chef who contains the “kind of knowledge I’m really excited to start learning about”.
BY DAVID KNIGHT
U
K celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal turned modern gastronomy on its head with his science-enabled cooking and multi-sensory approach to dining with his iconic first venture The Fat Duck, which was followed by books, television shows and eateries such as Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and The Hinds Head. Although The Observer’s Chef of the Decade is known for popularising molecular gastronomy (a term he doesn’t like as it sounds elitist) through his acclaimed three Michelinstarred restaurant The Fat Duck, Blumenthal has always balanced his exotic creations with accessible meals away from the Duck. His first book was a family cookbook (Family Food: A New Approach to Cooking) and his early ventures into television, such as In Search of Perfection, showcased classic and nostalgic foods. Then there is his upcoming restaurant, due to open at London’s Heathrow Airport next year, which will be inspired by the work he did for In Search of Perfection. Blumenthal has a history of working with supermarkets. He worked behind the scenes for Marks & Spencer and has a range of products available at Waitrose in the UK. Last year, Blumenthal’s Christmas range was available exclusively to Coles, and sold out in weeks. The range is back this Christmas. Next year the
supermarket will launch Blumenthal products inspired by native ingredients. “I’m absolutely fascinated at the whole process and the challenges that we, whether it’s a supermarket or a food company, have in producing food that is transportable and has a shelf life, whether it’s frozen or fresh or whether it’s an ambient product,” Blumenthal explains over an Earl Grey tea at Public CBD. “I also believe that within any price category you have a big variance in quality, so something for 75 pence can still be great. Through the behind the scenes work I did for Marks & Spencer, I started to get more interested in the mechanics. We started working with Waitrose five years ago and we took some of the ideas and techniques that we developed for either The Fat Duck, the other restaurants or for some of the TV shows, and tried to incorporate those into the range that we’re doing in the UK.” In town as part of his third trip to Australia this year, Blumenthal was a guest of Margaret River’s Gourmet Escape. He’s also in the country to research and discover native ingredients for next year’s range. “Australia has some of the best produce in the world, the beef is the best in the world and this year we’ve bought more Australian truffles
“The native Indigenous ingredients will be the initial flagship approach and the idea is that it’s through my eyes. I’m a big kid who is inquisitive. When you see something for the first time, that’s when your mind gets excited and energised. The more you get used to something that’s when the creativity becomes a little bit more difficult – the more you know about a subject. At the beginning, you’re not influenced by knowledge you have on that subject, so you’re prepared to try a much wider range of things. So, that’s really important.” In The Fat Duck Cookbook, Blumenthal wrote that he would one day like to retire in South Africa. It’s also been reported that Australia will host his first restaurant outside of the UK. “I can’t guarantee it, but I will say it’s more than pretty likely that the next restaurant I’ll open will be in Australia. The South African retirement thing; I’ve got loads of relatives over there, so my dad had a beach house over there, and my sister’s been there for years. That was always planned. But I might be 105! I may be able to retire over there and split my time between there and here. It’s my third time here [Australia] this year. I love it.”
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The Adelaide Review December 2013 61
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FOOD.WINE.COFFEE
Tasmania
in so doing, irrevocably changing the life and landscape of Tasmania forever. Abel Tasman was the first European to sight the island in 1642 when he sailed by on his warship Heemskerk. Then there was Captain Bligh, who is said to have planted the first fruit trees and vines on Bruny Island in 1788. George Bass sailed up the Derwent in 1802 on his circumnavigation of Tasmania with Matthew Flinders and noted the suitability for viticulture. Each journey added a new layer to what has become the modern wine industry.
Yet no matter how brave the explorers or how bold their plans, none of this would be possible if Tasmania’s natural history hadn’t made it suitable for viticulture. Tasmania’s position on the high latitudes means it is exposed to the weather from the Indian Ocean, Bass Strait and Tasman Sea. These prevailing winds lash the coast with rain and cooling winds. In addition, a series of ancient volcanic uplifts have created the valleys and mountains that contribute to the rugged terrain and complex terroirs.
Today, the evolution continues as a new band of explorers focus their viticultural attentions on Tasmania. This activity is driven in part because of the effects of global warming, sending winemakers in search of cool climate vineyards; and part because drinkers have become more aware of the pleasures of cool climate wines, of which Tasmania makes some of the finest. For Tasmania’s new band of explorers, the state abounds with new frontiers and possibilities. Here are a few reasons why …
Bay of Fires Riesling 2013
Tolpuddle Chardonnay 2012
Stargazer Tasmania 2012 Pinot Noir
Holyman Pinot Noir 2012
Tamar Valley RRP $35 bayoffireswines.com.au
Coal River Valley RRP $65 tolpuddlevineyard.com
Tasmania RRP $50 stargazerwine.com.au
Tamar Valley RRP $50 stoneyrise.com
“Find balance and beauty will follow,” says winemaker Peter Dredge of his approach to winemaking across a range that includes still and sparkling wine. “We share our ideas, our knowledge and our curiosity to bring out the best in every parcel of fruit. We balance acidity against sweetness to create delicate Rieslings.” This wine, the 2013 Bay of Fires Riesling, manages just that. An attractive and intriguing expression of Riesling, it brims with aromas of grapefruit, lime, blossom and musk. It delivers more of the same on the palate, all zipped up with a lovely line of acid.
The latest venture from Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith of Shaw + Smith in the Adelaide Hills, this project came about when the pair travelled to Tasmania in 2011 ‘for a look’ and came back as owners of the esteemed 25-year-old vineyard. This is the first release of the Tolpuddle label, which includes two wines – a Pinot Noir and this, the Chardonnay, a lean and racy wine of elegance and finesse. Brimming with lemon and citrus notes, the palate offers minerality, some nutty complexity and a long and racy finish. And the name? “The Tolpuddle Martyrs were English convicts transported to Tasmania for forming an agricultural union.”
“Stargazer is about stopping every now and then to look upward towards the heavens,” and is the new venture from winemaker and wine judge Samantha Connew. The label pays tribute to Abel Tasman who “must have spent a fair amount of time gazing towards the heavens”. For Sam, a native New Zealander, Tasman was an obvious link as he was the first European to sight both Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand. This first release also includes a Riesling from the Derwent Valley. This wine, the Pinot Noir from Huon Valley, spills with cherry, raspberry and herbal aromas while the palate continues with nicely woven oak and a pleasing hint of spice.
Like the original explorers, Joe Holyman has seen a lot of the world. A native Tasmanian, he has completed vintages in Douro, Provence and Burgundy and travelled to many other parts of the world making and drinking wine. In 2004, he and wife Lou returned to Tasmania, purchased a vineyard and started making wine under the Stony Rise and Holyman labels. The results are excellent. This, the 2012 Holyman Pinot Noir is an intense and vibrant wine that brims with red berries and wild strawberries flecked with a hint of spice. The ride continues on the palate with intensity, spice, berry aromas, a firm structure and long and lovely length.
by Andrea Frost
I
t is not easy to pinpoint when Tasmania’s wine industry started. Of course there were the explorers who brought European ideas of agriculture and ownership, and
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THE ADELAIDE R EVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FORM D E S I G N • P L A N N I N G • I N N OVAT I O N
ZUSTER
Melbourne high-end family-owned furniture company Zuster recently launched their new range in Adelaide
65
COLOUR TRENDS
PIA AWARDS
JON GOULDER
Laminex Group Design Director Neil Sookee discusses the new colour trends
The Planning Institute’s annual Awards for Excellence recently recognised South Australia’s best in the planning industry
JamFactory welcomes one of Australia’s best designer-makers Jon Goulder to its team as Creative Director
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64 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FORM
Trends in Colour When Laminex/Formica launched its three new colour palettes in Adelaide recently, the response was overwhelmingly favourable.
by Leanne Amodeo
N
eil Sookee is what you would expect anyone who lists ‘trend vision’ on his CV to be – innovative, astute and very comfortable thinking outside the box. As the Group Design Director for Australia and New Zealand at Laminex Group he’s in the business of predicting future interior trends. In Adelaide recently to launch the Laminex/Formica Colour Trends Report Sookee was forthcoming about what consumers can expect. “It’s about natural materials and a warm, earthy palette that’s not too literally interpreted. And it’s about products that last; it’s not about conspicuous consumption
anymore.” Sydney-based Sookee believes the shift towards an organic aesthetic is a significant one, which is why it informs one of the report’s three major themes. The Nutopia trend takes its inspiration from artisanal practice and high-end craftsmanship; timelessness, sustainability and harmony are its main drivers. This translates into a palette of warm greys, muted greens, pale oranges and classic wood grain effects. Nutopia may have broad appeal but it doesn’t
design + craftsmanship
make the report’s other two themes – Purity and Clash – any less inviting. The prior takes its cue from new technologies and reflects an ultra-modern sensibility manifest in a range of cool whites, vibrant pastels and biomorphic patterns. Clash is in complete contrast; inspired by rapid urbanisation, it translates into a palette of bright reds, greens and oranges, bold blacks and messy stripes.
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This trend vision is the outcome of extensive global qualitative research by Formica in which Sookee was personally involved. “We engaged with the design community in blue sky discussions about materials and style preferences,” he says. “So we went in with no preconceived notions; qualitative research is actually a vehicle for designers to indicate to
The Adelaide Review December 2013 65
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FORM us what we should be working on.”
explains McCarroll, adding that each piece has to work and stand on its own.
The methodology differs quite considerably from a standard quantitative approach, promising more dynamic results. As innovative as the qualitative process may be, however, there are still pragmatic product management questions that have to be considered. Product differentiation in a highly competitive marketplace and the constant pressure to come up with something ‘new’ are unavoidable challenges that surround the launch of any product range. Sookee is the first to admit trend forecasting is a tricky balancing act. “For our finishes to be successful they have to be almost anonymous and not clamour for attention when combined with other materials on a project,” he explains. “They can’t be so signature that a designer will only use them once; but we do need to do something that’s different.” It’s as much an art as it is a science, with a considerable margin for error. But Sookee has 30 years’ experience under his belt and he’s learned a thing or two during this time. “The trick is to be right more times than you’re wrong,” he says. “Yes, there’s risk when you make management decisions, but if you don’t risk then nothing ever changes. It’s a pragmatic business approach; we just happen to be talking about design.” Nutopia, Purity and Clash each have unexpected characteristics but these three palettes can ultimately offer consumers successful individual solutions. “Colours mean something different to all of us,” says Sookee. “And what each person does with these palettes is entirely up to them.”
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After completing furniture design at RMIT University, McCarroll’s first range of furniture was manufactured in their father’s factory in the mid 1990s and sold through a local furniture store. The collection was then sold through Daimaru – a Japanese department store and former anchor tenant at Melbourne Central Shopping Centre. Zuster now has a large manufacturing plant and a talented team of skilled staff.
The Zuster Sisters by Daniella Casamento
O
ver the last 17 years, the name Zuster has become synonymous with Australian designed and made high-end furniture. Established in Melbourne, the family owned company recently launched their range of furniture and homewares through Outdoors On Parade in Norwood. Zuster’s expansion into Adelaide is in response to growing interest from local designers and follows the success this year of their Sydney showroom which opened in April, and the launch in August of their latest collection, Traverse, at Sydney Indesign 2013. Zuster, meaning ‘sister’ in Dutch, is a name that perfectly underscores the heritage and business model for which sisters Wilhelmina
McCarroll and Fleur Sibbel are known among designers. McCarroll is a Director and the design visionary for the Zuster brand and Sibbel is the Managing Director. The sisters’ design lineage stems from their grandfather who established a home building business after arriving in Australia from Holland. Their father, Meyer Sibbel, carried on the business and manufactured kitchens and wardrobes for the houses that he built. “We’ve got photos of houses that were built in the 50s and 60s with that handle detail in the kitchen cupboards so it’s been adapted,” explains Sibbel pointing out the handle of a buffet unit nearby. “Willy’s redesigned it to make it more modern.” “The interiors had a really European look and we still use a lot of the details of the joinery that they used in Holland in some of our pieces today,” adds McCarroll. Attention to details such as shadowlines, the way handles are designed and the elevation of joinery off the ground are a signature Zuster look. “We are always looking for the minimal look so you’ve got to pare everything back,”
“With everything we manufacture, we customise size and we have 10 different finishes and colours over the American Oak stains that we do,” explains Sibbel. “We can do leather inlays or all timber tops for desks and our dining tables are mostly solid timber in American Oak with solid legs. But we can do a veneer top as well,” she says. Colour has also been incorporated into the range of furniture and is becoming increasingly popular. Fixings and drawer runners are always concealed and as much attention is given to the back of the units as the front so pieces can be used as room dividers. Zuster pieces are increasingly being selected for commercial projects too. From the time McCarroll first puts pen to paper to draw designs, to the time a product has been engineered, prototyped, photographed for catalogues and installed in the showroom is a mere 12 weeks. “She is amazing,” Sibbel says with admiration. “I build ideas in my head over periods of time,” McCarroll says. “Next year we are going to launch new pieces probably every month to two months.”
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66 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
FORM
PLANNING INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA SA AWARDS
From Plan to Place - Commendation - Piazza Della Valle.
BY GEORGE INGLIS
T
he Planning Institute’s annual Awards for Excellence demonstrate the very real value that planning and planners add to the everyday lives of South Australians. In an industry that so often gets bad press it’s vital that we tell the good news stories, to share the countless achievements that help shape built environment to reflect our aspirations as a community. At a time when planning is in the spotlight – with debate swirling around issues such as the State Government’s plans for increased urban density around inner metropolitan sites – it’s more important than ever that planning professionals and the
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Best Planning Ideas - Large Winner - Port Pirie.
planning sector as a whole demonstrate the enormous positive contribution they can make to the built environment. The 2013 Awards for Excellence judging panel was presented with strong nominations from across most fields of planning practice and throughout the state. The quality and variety of the 2013 field is testament to the planning profession’s capacity for innovative and creative responses to urban and regional planning challenges, even under difficult and fast-changing circumstances. The award winners give a useful indicator of planning’s focus over the last year, and hint at what we might see emerge from the sector in the coming year. This year’s suite of winners presented pioneering solutions to the challenges of growth on Adelaide’s urban fringe and new approaches to ‘future proofing’ industry in the state’s regions. It embodied the ongoing revolution in place making and the nascent sea change in how planners and policy makers incorporate community input into their thinking. We also saw planning used as a prism through which to envisage healthier, happier communities. As any awards program like this should, the 2013 Awards for Excellence showcased leadership in responses to current planning trends, community expectations and policy. Entries in the 2013 Awards reflected contributions from planning practitioners in the private sector, in Councils and in State
Government. They show once again that good planning can positively shape communities and environments across the state. I congratulate all the winners and the nominees for being a part of this year’s Awards. I would also like to personally thank all of those people who helped make the Awards process run smoothly and the Awards night a success, particularly the judging panel under the steady guidance of Awards Convenor Stuart Moseley as well the PIA staff and volunteers whose efforts culminated in an inspiring evening thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.
PROWDLY SPONSORED BY:
» George Inglis, Executive Officer, PIA (SA Division)
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summer edition now available for download from www.gta.com.au
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 67
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
PLANNING INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA AWARDS
Best Planning Ideas - Small - Winner - Foods for Life.
2013 AWARDS FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE • PLANNER OF THE YEAR AWARD Winner: Sandy Rix (Renewal SA) • YOUNG PLANNER OF THE YEAR AWARD Winner: Tammie Hamilton (City of Playford) • FROM PLAN TO PLACE AWARD Commendation: City of Onkaparinga, Jensen Planning + Design, Giordano & Associates, Brecknock Consulting, Lelio Bibbo Pty Ltd, Lucid Consulting Australia, Piazza della Valle Italian Heritage Association and Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. • OUTSTANDING STUDENT PROJECT AWARD TERTIARY AWARD Winner: Hannah Shaw Commendation: Michael Dickson
Best Planning Ideas - Small - Commendation - Kadina.
• BEST PLANNING IDEAS LARGE PROJECT AWARD Winner: City of Port Pirie Regional Council and Connor
Holmes (A Fyfe Company) District Council of Franklin Harbour, Masterplan SA Pty Ltd and Ian Robertson Design Commendation: City of Onkaparinga • BEST PLANNING IDEAS SMALL PROJECT AWARD Winner: Adelaide City Council, Foods for Life and Troppo Architects • PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PLANNING AWARD Commendation: District Council of the Copper Coast, Wax Design, URPS, InfraPlan and Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. • PROMOTION OF PLANNING AWARD Winner: Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood • PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PLANNING Winner: City of Salisbury Commendation: District Council of Loxton Waikerie, Adelaide City Council and Jensen Planning + Design
• IMPROVING PLANNING PROCESSES AND PRACTICES AWARD Winner: District Council of Mallala, Hickinbottom Group and Connor Holmes (A Fyfe Company) • PRESIDENT’S AWARD Winner: Heart Foundation SA, South Australian Active Living Coalition, CIC Australia and Renewal SA • MINISTER’S AWARD Winner: Medium Density Project. City of Onkaparinga. Commendation: Two Wells Residential Growth Framework. District Council of Mallala, Hickinbotham Group and Connor Holmes (A Fyfe Company) • FELLOW ELEVATIONS Awarded to: Alan Rumsby and Stephen Smith
68 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013
PLANNING INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA AWARDS PLANNING INSTITUTE’S NIGHT OF NIGHTS
Planner of the Year: Sandy Rix
On Friday, November 8 The Planning Institute of SA celebrated their annual winners at their Big Night Out at the Sebel Playford.
R
enewel SA urban planner Sandy Rix was named PIA’s 2013 Planner of the Year for his contribution to planning and his “clear and focused leadership, outstanding quality of work, effort and/or achievement as a planner”. “I am delighted and of course honoured that my peers have made me ‘planner of the year’,” Rix said. “Planning is critical to the future prosperity, enjoyment and, in fact, survival of our cities and towns. It is a profession that offers the opportunity to make a difference in so many different areas – strategic, economic, design and social to name a few.
Gary Mavrinac, George Inglis and Darren Starr.
Patrick Clifton and Victoria Shute.
Rix is currently General Manager of Projects for the South Australian Government for strategic planning and environmental services, which includes the role of Bowden Urban Village’s Project Director. “In the last decade or so I have shaped and influenced many ‘game-changing’ projects in Adelaide mainly through Renewal SA. These have included the ground-breaking Bowden medium-density development; Playford Alive, renewing part of our most disadvantaged areas; the North Terrace boulevard redevelopment and most recently Riverbank. All these projects have the purpose of providing more opportunities for our community through more housing choice, better places to meet and enjoy and more economic activity
Ben Hewett, Matthew Loader and Stuart Moseley.
including investment ready development sites. I am proud to have been involved in the important design and community consultation processes for such projects.”
Hon John Rau, Steve Grieve and Ben Hewett.
Mayor Kym McHugh, Vickie Chapman and George Inglis.
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THE ADELAIDE REVIEW DECEMBER 2013 69
ADELAIDEREVIEW.COM.AU
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New Directions
establishing new national and international networks in exhibition, production, distribution and media. Goulder’s ambitions are not only for the JamFactory but for the wider Australian design industry as well. What the furniture studio has to contribute in the bigger design picture is not to be underestimated. Goulder, for one, knows JamFactory’s potential; not for nothing he moved his wife and two young children half way around the country. He is also well aware of Adelaide’s growing reputation for good design. The current development and movement taking place is an indication Adelaide’s future is as promising as it is exciting.
Adelaide is set to welcome one of the country’s best designer-makers as the new Creative Director of JamFactory’s furniture studio, as Jon Goulder begins in January and the buzz surrounding his appointment has already begun.
Within this milieu Goulder’s vision makes perfect sense; most importantly it feels achievable. His laidback, amicable attitude will see him fit in right away and his strong work ethic will guarantee results. His close collaboration with JamFactory CEO Brian Parkes may seem a formidable partnership, but there’s no doubt applicants will be clamouring for the opportunity to be mentored by Goulder. For those lucky enough to be chosen their future is very, very bright.
BY LEANNE AMODEO
W
hen Jon Goulder relocated to Western Australia seven years ago he did so with clear goals in mind. Helping the non-profit cultural organisation FORM establish the Midland Atelier was first on the agenda. Second was turning the creative hub into a nationally and internationally recognised centre for design excellence. As head of its furniture workshop he managed to do just that – and then some. By the time Goulder resigned from his position late last year the Midland Atelier was a self-sustainable success story responsible for reinvigorating Western Australia’s design scene. Come the beginning of the New Year and Goulder will be relocating once again; this time to Adelaide. His appointment as Creative Director of JamFactory’s furniture studio has sent ripples of excitement throughout the Australian design industry. All eyes are on the designer-maker following his recent achievement at the Midland Atelier. This time around, however, he’s not starting from scratch. “The furniture studio’s outgoing Creative Director Tom Mirams has done an amazing job; I have some big shoes to fill,” he says. “But I’m really excited to be part of the JamFactory’s new direction under the guidance of Brian Parkes.” Such modesty is characteristic of the New South Wales Southern Highlands native, belying his reputation as one of the country’s most renowned designer-makers. His most recent accolade was a nomination for the IDEA (Interior Design Excellence Awards) 2012 Gold Medal, but Goulder has received multiple awards and widespread recognition since founding his own studio in 1996. Most significantly as the winner of the Hobart Art Prize in 2004 and inaugural winner of the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award in 2003. As a fourth generation craftsperson his training in upholstery and furniture making began from a young age under the mentorship of his grandfather and father and culminated in design studies at the Canberra School of Art. It’s no surprise that Goulder’s resulting body of work is highly refined and exceptionally well
jongoulder.com jamfactory.com.au
crafted; defined by an aesthetic that is clean, elegant and thoughtfully considered. While he exhibits regularly, many of his pieces are held in private and public collections. A number of them, including the Glissando credenza, Calypso lounge and Amore Mio chair, are nothing less than iconic. Goulder’s experience is an asset to the JamFactory role and his appointment has overwhelmingly positive implications for the organisation. “I have proven commercial results in one-off exhibition work, limited edition collectibles and design for production,” he says. “So I bring an actual working practice to JamFactory that can help the Associates gain a real world perspective.” As a mentor to the three Associates chosen from a national and international pool of applicants each year Goulder’s practice will serve as a teaching model. It’s his job to help them grow their own practice and show them pathways for future success. New commercial opportunities will be set up and Associates will develop their skills through commissions and the designing of furniture and objects for production and exhibition. In this respect the JamFactory furniture studio will run in the same way as the Midland Atelier furniture workshop, except on a smaller scale. Regardless of size, Goulder’s goals are still crystal clear. “I want to make the JamFactory furniture studio the place in Australia to come and study or practice furniture design,” he says. “And I want to give it that reputation very quickly.” One of his priorities will be
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70 The Adelaide Review December 2013
FORM
New Suburban Stuart Harrison’s latest book presents thirty of the best residences from across Australia and New Zealand that celebrate the ideals of the suburban condition. by Leanne Amodeo
I
t’s no coincidence that two of the most compelling photographs in New Suburban feature children having fun outdoors. The sight of a giggling little girl running on the grass outside Six Degrees’ Heller Street Park and Residences and the young siblings jumping into the backyard pool of Victoria Road House by Fiona Winzar is enough to put a smile on anyone’s face. Both scenes may be humble snapshots of Australian family life but they are far from unremarkable; each sums up everything that is right with the suburbs. Is it any wonder the Australian appetite for suburban living has been reignited? New Suburban is a positive response to this very question and its editor and writer Stuart Harrison presents a smorgasbord of possibilities. His project selection features thirty architect-designed dwellings from Australia and New Zealand that celebrate the ideals of the suburban condition: openness, flexibility, informality, light, proximity to
the city and spaciousness. The experience of being outdoors is highlighted throughout the book and pertinent themes of connection, quality of life, sense of place, adaptability and sustainability are recurring. As an architect and co-host of The Architects radio show on Melbourne’s 3RRR, Harrison is well placed to spot current trends in design and urbanism. He is one of Australian architecture’s most vocal supporters and his commentary is always as engaging as it is intellectually rigorous. Thankfully he never relies on mere trend-spotting; as a result New Suburban appeals with a timely examination of the reinvented family home. As Harrison lets me know, “We build two types of dwelling en masse in Australia; very terrible large houses and very terrible small apartments, but there is a middle ground”. New Suburban swiftly removes the stigma of living in the suburbs by championing new forms of urban living that comfortably inhabit
this middle ground. The complexities of the contemporary family are accommodated and innovative renovations, houses, additions and apartments abound. House Reduction by Make Architecture Studio and MCK Architects’ DPR House are only two examples of such innovation; both are nothing short of dynamic. Harrison also reminds us how important modesty is to good design and this is why the understated Florence Street by Nest Architects’ is just as integral to the examination. It almost goes without saying that all the residences in New Suburban are architecturally outstanding. The point is to show off the best of the best and Harrison has a very discerning eye. Should he have focused solely on Australian residences (there are only three New Zealand projects included)? Perhaps it’s a marketing strategy employed to broaden audiences? Regardless, Harrison’s selection can’t be faulted and the diversity showcased across 344 pages is impressive. This variation makes New Suburban’s narrative all the richer and Harrison’s neat ordering of all thirty dwellings into three chapters provides a tight editorial framework. The most exciting of these chapters is the last, The Suburban Remade, which intrigues because of the hybrid, non-traditional nature of its nine featured residences, such as Andrew Maynard Architects’ Hill House. Each is a delicious promise of what’s to come as we slowly transition towards other forms of urban living. When Harrison discusses each residence he is clear and succinct. His description is excellent and although he relies heavily on architectural vernacular his writing is never dense or alienating. For a book that has the concept of family at its
heart, however, what surprises is the apparent absence of the family’s voice from the overall narrative. Yes, a pull quote attributed to the respective owner is included in each residence’s discussion but it functions as a graphic device rather than personalised commentary. Integrated quotes from the owners and architects could have served each discussion very well by injecting greater human interest and insight into each dwelling’s unique story. As with Harrison’s previous book, the very well received Forty-six Square Metres of Land Doesn’t Normally Make a House, Stuart Geddes is again responsible for design. His art direction and layout is much more restrained this time around and it lends New Suburban an easy accessibility that immediately guarantees broader appeal. Forty-six Square Metres sometimes felt suffocated by its own design, often making the editorial seem secondary. This doesn’t happen with New Suburban as Geddes achieves the perfect balance between his dynamic style and Harrison’s solid content. There is real joy to be found in this book. From the use of an opening quote from television’s The Wonder Years to the luscious feel of the matte paper stock and the images of children playing gleefully outdoors, there’s a spirit of generosity on each page and it clearly emanates from Harrison’s desire to share his passion for high-quality architecture. Even before the first project is discussed, his introduction does a good job convincing us ‘suburban’ is not a dirty word and living in the suburbs is no reason to be ashamed. We need to find ways to incorporate those traditional suburban ideals into the way we build and ultimately the way we live.
»»Stuart Harrison’s New Suburban: Remaking the Family Home in Australia and New Zealand is published by Thames & Hudson. RRP: $70 thameshudson.com.au
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