Category: General news

For the fifth year in a row, Griffith University Art Gallery (GUAG) in South Bank, is hosting the Churchie national emerging art prize, one of the country’s most rewarding for emerging artists.

The exhibition is a platform for emerging artists from all over Australia to showcase contemporary art as seen through their eyes and this year 31 exceptional artists competed for the $15,000 prize money, donated by Brand+Slater Architects.

Caitlin Franzmann, a Brisbane based artist who has had four solo exhibitions in Brisbane and Istanbul (2012-14), emerged as the overall winner of the competition for her work – Magical Thinking.

Caitlin Franzmann’s Magical Thinking is a pack of 24 divination cards which provides a space and a moment for the gallery visitors to slow down and reflect on their lives through random symbology, chance and intuitive interpretations.

According to Alexie Glass-Kantor, the Executive Director of ARTSPACE Visual Arts Centre in Sydney, who had the demanding task of judging the set of 41 works of art , the specialty of Churchie which sets it apart from other awards is the diversity and breadth of practice from the artists. Everything from media, to works that rely on explosives, were represented and this aspect introduced an artistic complexity to the range of works.

“Choosing the finalist and the highly commended was a really difficult choice but it was interesting because we ended up with the works of three Queenslanders and all women, unintentional but nonetheless very exciting. The highly commended has gone to Clark Beaumont for an engaging three screen video installation called Waiting for Barcelona which is based on the Woody Allen feature film Vicky Christina Barcelona. The other highly commended work is one of the most discreet works in the exhibition, a work by the artist Sarah Poulgrain and it’s a beautiful little pine frame with two pieces of derelict and a sort of smattering holding an image of a self portrait of the artist, wrapped in a landscape isolated in her own reverie,” she said.

“The whole process of selecting the finalists took probably about three and a half hours and at the end of the day it came down to the fact that these three works, had such an idiosyncratic, creative and natural approaches to the making of contemporary art that they felt like the right winners of the day,” she added.

Unlike other art awards, the Churchie emerging art price has no restrictions, categories or themes hence the exhibition includes painting, sculpture and photography, through to mixed media installation and new media works.

GUAG Acting Director Naomi Evans says that when we build a nation from nothing, culture and art helps to shape the identity of the society. Art, is a platform that allows an individual to explore and express their perceptions about politics, religion, sexuality or personal stories of joy or trauma and although there might be sub topics that some people might find potentially challenging or unsavory, there is no censorship and art is chosen on their merit.

“I think the idea of ‘emerging’ is really interesting, since emerging artists can be of any age and that’s very important to us because across generations there are people who may have had an art practice earlier in their life but stopped making work, everyone has different challenges that emerge in their life so they can be of any age. But I really believe that, it’s people who have shown a commitment to their art practice even though they’re at an early stage of their art career who fall under this category,” she said.

The Churchie exhibition is free and open to the public from 1st August to 20th September, with all works for sale at the Griffith University Art Gallery, 11am – 4pm every Tuesday to Saturday.

Tigers may be rare in Australia, but there are a growing number in Queensland…small business tigers that is.

Minister for Small Business, Jann Stuckey, said ‘small business tigers’ were those small operations that expected to see their revenue grow substantially over the next 12 months.

“Research conducted by DBM Consultants shows that Queensland has proportionally 50% more small business tigers than the other states,” Ms Stuckey said.

“Tigers account for 12% of all small businesses, 14% of the dollars earned in Queensland, and employ 13% of the workforce, the Queensland Government but they are growing fast. They are three times more likely to employ more staff in the next 12 months.

“These small enterprises really hold their own right across the board. They are less fazed by the current economic environment, more focused on managing cash flow, finding suitable staff, assessing the best ways to manage their expansion and have great capacity to finance the growth of their business.”

The Queensland Government is working to make it easier for small business to succeed through the Small Business Strategy and Action Plan 2013-2015.

“This is the first coordinated plan for small business in recent years, and supports the growth of small businesses that are competitive, create jobs and contribute to building a robust and diversified economy,” Ms Stuckey said.

“The upcoming 2014 Queensland Small Business Week, running from 1 to 6 September, will be an opportunity to put the spotlight on small business tigers.

<link>For more information visit business.qld.gov.au/smallbusinessweek

<caption tiger.jpg>Business tigers show speed, intelligence and success.

Restauranters and cafe owners in Southbank have been wallopped with a 30 per cent increase in rent courtesy of State Government.

The State recently took over the operations of Southbank Corporation claiming cost efficiency as a major driver. Southbank Corporation is the landlord for the restaurants along Grey and Little Stanley as well as those tucked into the Southbank Parklands.

Because of its role in maintaining the parklands, Brisbane City Council has been caught in the crossfire. Lord Mayor Quirk was recently pictured on the Westender Website putting a shovel into the sand next to the revamped City Beach. The revamping was largely in response to the extraordinary health challenges involved in maintaining an open air swimming pool with a sandy bottom, under trees containing an active bird population and surrounded by wooden infrastructure. The challenges of keeping the bacterial load below acceptable standards are immense.

Whether it is because of the bill for that investment or simply that the State government intends to milk its new cash cow ‘til it bleeds, we don’t know.

The official statement quotes the high cost of operating and marketing of Southbank. Small business owners who spoke to Westender suggested that with a stated passion for supporting small business and billions in their pocket thanks to the G20, the State Government might have waited for a bit before gouging its newest tenants.

Local advocate of ethical food, Richard Webb of Swamp Dog, is calling it a day. Webb has worked with many chefs in 4101 to heighten their awareness of the variety of local fish and the various ways to cook them. In the chef’s own words:

“In the last 3 years at Swampdog we’ve introduced thousands and thousands of people to new ( to them) fish. In some small way I’d like to think Swampdog has made a contribution to our culinary landscape. Through Betterfish we’ve also helped many chefs access a wider range of fish, with emphasis on more local fish. In my spare time I’ll continue helping chefs through Betterfish but at Swampdog it’s time to pass the baton. It’s well established now and the ball will continue to roll on. For me it’s time for other things. So that’s it folks.”

Swamp Dog will remain where it is, serving quality fish to customers in a relaxed and rustic setting on Tribune St.

This was actually suggested in a journal article two years ago. (Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy BJSM 2012 Vol 46)
While I disagree that constant sitting has the same type of detrimental health effects as smoking, more and more research indicates that sitting and inactivity contributes just as much to the public health cost as smoking – seriously!
So you sit and have breakfast (please tell me you have breakfast), you sit in the car, bus or train, you sit at work and you sit all over again at night! You can have a $1000 “ergonomic (now there’s a brilliant marketing term!) chair, fancy mouse pads, screen filters and monitor arms, but if you sit all day you decrease metabolism (get fat), lose muscle tone and compress key body areas, especially the lower back. Good research shows that even 90 minutes at the gym daily does not compensate for the effects of sitting all day at work.
The answer is really quite simple – don’t. For most workers reading this, standing at work may have a stigma attached – “oh he’s the strange guy with the bad back”. A change in many workplaces’ culture and leadership is needed to encourage daily workplace practices which have been proven to not only improve health and also productivity. Could you stand everytime you make a phone call? Could you move the printer away from your desk? Could you stand in meetings and still hold the conversation?
Ergonomics as an industry is a bit like weight loss. In theory, the answers are quite simple but we look for complex solutions, fancy gadgets and quite often shift the blame to someone or something else. Most modern workplaces do currently encourage sitting and we can make that as ‘ergonomic’ as possible, but, the evidence suggests strongly – if you sit all day, regardless of your set-up, you will suffer pain, reduce productivity and quite probably, suffer long term health concerns.

The Stafford by-election swing of over 18% against the LNP conveyed a dramatic message.

The public has had enough of the extreme decisions of the Newman government. This brings sharper focus to Campbell Newman’s “cash for legislation” deal with North Stradbroke sand miner Sibelco.

Following the deal, the Newman government spread misinformation to the media over its November 2013 amendments to North Stradbroke Island sand mining legislation.

Mainstream media did not check facts

An absence of fact checking by the media led to false reports that sand mining had already been extended to 2035. In the public interest, these require correction, which some media outlets have begun to make.

If the Newman amendments are not repealed, the financial benefit to Sibelco, the privately owned Belgian mining company, could be $1.5 Billion by its own reckoning – see Stop mining Straddie. But contrary to media reporting, an extension of mining at the Enterprise sand mine to 2035 (or 2027, as Sibelco previously sought) is not scheduled to occur until 2019. This is because relevant mining leases do not expire until 31 December, 2019.

In a revised article titled “Clive Palmer, Jeff Seeney and Campbell Newman’s Straddie donation”, published by the online newspaper Independent Australia, highly respected barrister Stephen Keim SC recently agreed that Sibelco cannot apply to extend the time frame for sand mining until 2019.

Parliament can repeal the Newman amendments at any time before 2019. That is likely to occur without a change of government, if the native title owners win their High Court action for a declaration that the Newman amendments are invalid under the Australian constitution.

The Newman government has misled the media and the public into believing that sand mining has already been extended to 2035 to quell dissent from the many who want to see the Queensland icon protected. If people think the extension has already occurred, maybe they will think it’s a waste of time talking about repealing the Newman amendments?

The reality is that even if the native title challenge to the validity of the amendments fails, if the LNP is voted out before 2019, the Newman amendments can be repealed by a future parliament. No compensation would be payable to Sibelco. Section 6 of the North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability Act specifically rules out compensation.

Caveat emptor

This would not be an unjust result. Sibelco purchased the mine in 2009 knowing that a key mining lease had expired in 2007 and had not been renewed. It was also aware that under the State’s expired lease laws there were legal obstacles to renewal of expired North Stradbroke mining leases. It also knew that there was significant opposition from indigenous owners, environment groups and others.

The Fraser Island Inquiry in 1976 concluded that sand mining causes “major, permanent and irreversible environmental harm.” The Federal government accepted the findings and ended sand mining on Fraser almost immediately. The Bjelke-Petersen government’s request for a two year transition was rejected.

Stradbroke’s future clearly depends upon its natural environment being protected. It is remarkable that Campbell Newman, with a straight face, can talk about a so called ‘transition’ away from mining of 22 years when 40 years ago Joh Bjelkie Petersen would have settled for 2 years for Fraser Island!