Managing director of Ebono Institute and major sponsor of The Generator, Geoff Ebbs, is running against Kevin Rudd in the seat of Griffith at the next Federal election. By the expression on their faces in this candid shot it looks like a pretty dull campaign. Read on
Brisbane’s inner suburbs have some of the best examples of this state’s unique timber architecture. But for such a sought-after style of house there’s almost no consensus on what we should and shouldn’t call a “Queenslander”. Real estate agents know that adding the term to an advert can spike the enquiry levels. Builders are working the word into their descriptions in fairly imaginative ways (one applies the name to brick homes with timber-gabled facades – really?)
Maybe if it’s built north of the Tweed any house can legitimately share the title. But today we thought we’d ask you to share your thoughts: what makes a Queenslander a Queenslander? Surely there are four key elements: it’s elevated from the ground, has a hardwood frame and softwood linings, the main materials are timber and tin, and it has a verandah.
Looking back into our history there were plenty of practical reasons for elevating the homes: to keep residents cool in summer, to allow easy construction on sloping land, to avoid floods, and to keep the timber away from termites. Under the house used to be a place for playing out of the sun, hanging the washing and a bed for the dog (or even a not-so-welcome relative). In “modern” times we saw this as an opportunity for extra space for media rooms, studies and garages. Are these still Queenslanders?
During our early years there were plenty of variations on timber home designs. Those built from 1859 to 1901 are often called Colonials (for our time as a colony). Bungalow is the common term for the next generation of styles that were usually more elaborate and included gabled, asymmetrical facades. In the 1920’s we adopted elements of the Californian Bungalows – even way back then we were taking design cues from the USA. You’ll also hear them called “inter-war Queenslanders” and there’s a huge range of designs built through this era. Those with an eye for detail can often date a home from its verandah posts, balustrades and windows. How simple was life when to keep up with the Joneses you just needed a bullnose tin sunhood?!
Not surprisingly the Great Depression saw more simplicity and conservatism in design and by 1933 bricks were considered a modern option. Fibro was first manufactured in Queensland in 1936 and its easy-care maintenance meant it quickly became a popular cladding material. We’re still ripping the toxic stuff out of homes today.
If you’d like a very thorough read on the topic try “Brisbane House Styles 1880 to 1940” by Judy Gale Rechner (1998). Maybe every real estate agent should have a copy so we can get the terminology right! There’s no doubt we’re proud of our Queenslanders and their rich history – whatever the name means to you.
Briohny Walker and Anna Carlson: Brisbane Free University
In the week that ended with students across Australia rallying against the Abbott Government’s plan to deregulate University fees, I joined about 40 others at a Brisbane Free University event in a car park off Boundary Street in the West End of Brisbane. The discussion was about refugee rights.
It was a refreshing change to be part of conversation that was not dominated by partisan politics, but instead focused on the lived experiences of refugees, as recounted by Anthropologist Dr Gerhard Hoffstaedter; and on their rights in law as detailed by UQ Law lecturer Dr Peter Billings. Rather than a conventional lecture style, the discussion, facilitated by Brisbane-based activist, writer and lawyer, Marissa Dooris, involved a dialogue between the academics and the participants.
Brisbane Free University (BFU) was established in October 2012 and is the brainchild of three West End women, Briohny Walker, Anna Carlson and Fern Thompsett. In recognition of her leadership in her local community through BFU, Anna Carlson, with the BFU team, was the inaugural winner in the Youth Category for the Kurilpa Local Legends Awards in 2013.
I spoke recently with Briohny Walker and Anna Carlson. The third member of their team, Fern Thompsett, is travelling and researching free university models in the US. On May 30 she represented BFU on a panel at the Left Forum in New York City.
The concept for BFU came about, Anna Carlson said, from their dissatisfaction with the traditional university process. “We had connections with a lot of people who had critical and important information to share, that was very rarely getting beyond the sandstone. We were pretty passionate about the idea that education has the capacity to make the world more just. It has that capacity, but at the moment it is caught within hierarchies that limit access to it.”
She added that the concept is not a new one. “Free education movements have a long history. People have been setting up free spaces for education for a really long time and the history is not quite as gentrified as you might expect. In many cases the people who were setting up these sorts of institutions were people who were living in poverty or were living as wage labourers in very inequitable conditions.”
A number of the more recent free education movements and networks have emerged from Occupy Wall Street. ”And that was essentially what lead to our free university” Ms Carlson said. “There was a Brisbane free university (that wasn’t ours), that was open in Musgrave Park during the Occupy Brisbane time and that was one of the seeds for us that has grown into what we do now.”
“I think in many ways there is an increasing recognition that these kind of movements offer, not simply an alternative, but something that can be entirely different from the mainstream.” Ms Carlson said.
Commenting on the deregulation of fees and the rising cost of university courses foreshadowed in the recent federal budget, Ms Walker said that the concept of a free University has been “a vital part of the project that exists in protest against the corporatisation of universities”.
For the last year and a half BFU has been running fortnightly or monthly sessions in a car park in West End, covering quite a diversity of topics. Speakers and support crew give freely of their time.
As to topics, Ms Walker said, “One of the really fun things about Brisbane Free University so far has been the incredible variety of stuff we have had people talk on. It tends to work that we either have a topic we are interested in and we seek speakers, or more often, we hear about an amazing speaker or lecturer or we have a friend who has heard someone speak, and we contact them…. Our first ever talk was called ‘Capitalism and it’s Discontents’ and there has been, I think, an undercurrent throughout the talks which is critical of mainstream economic policy and the effects of that.”
“But”, she added, “it has been much broader than that. We have had talks about dieting and body image… Most recently we had one about alternative approaches to violence and we had three women speakers talking about violence against women from quite different positions …”
“We have also had stuff on the media. We are very interested in participating in the conversation that is leading up to the G20 this year and we’ve already had some sessions on that.” Unimpressed with mainstream media coverage of the G20 to date, Ms Carlson said, “I guess we could go about covering it better for ourselves, using social media and local community radio…”
Attendance at BFU events varies from a minimum of about 40 people up to 100 plus for some events. Ms Carlson said her favourite session to date, was about the gentrification of the West End. “We had some great speakers come and talk about what that would mean for homeless people and about gentrification trends in general. I think because a topic like this goes to the hearts of people who live in the area we had over 100 people turned up for that one.”
The venue, the chairs and audio equipment for events are all provided free or borrowed from local businesses and friends. “It is a free university and we want a venue that is simultaneously welcoming and widely accessible” Ms Carlson said. “Part of the reason that we started using the car park is that it was very open and very close to the street and had no overheads. Even cafes bring with them some expectation that you’re going to buy coffee or that you maybe feel at least a little bit obliged to participate in that capital exchange in some way. Whereas the car park is genuinely free. The downside of course is that it can be cold and sometimes really hot, but it does have a roof, it’s not an open car park.”
There are free universities in Dunedin in New Zealand, across the UK and the US, and the movement is expanding internationally. In Australia, Melbourne Free University predates BFU and is “a sight to behold”, according to Ms Carlson. She added though that Melbourne Free University is “probably less committed to the idea of public spaces than we are, as they started out as an organisation that held lectures in pubs and in cafes. I think it’s really interesting to see how the projects are aligned but are also really different, and I think that’s an enormous strength to the way free education can manifest”.
Ms Carlson and Ms Walker said they are very dedicated to being responsive to what people want the sessions to be about. Anyone who has an idea for a panel or speakers, or who wants to speak themselves, is welcome to put forward their ideas. People wanting to contribute ideas can contact BFU through its Facebook site.
Every session has been recorded, and sessions are podcast from time to time on the BFU website.
You can hear more of Anna, Fern and Briohny, along with Stephanie Vidot and Emma Wilson, on Brisbane Community Radio 4ZZZ’s “Radio Reversal” on Thursday mornings from 9am – midday.
– See more at: http://nofibs.com.au/2014/06/01/dyi-learning-at-brisbane-free-university-by-griffithelects/#sthash.CA01QSSd.dpuf
Work has started on the construction of a new state-of-the-art learning facility as part of a major redevelopment at Brisbane State High.
The new facilities would feature 40 classrooms, an arts centre, staff centre, tuckshop and other essential amenities.
The complex will accommodate approximately 850 students and enable the school to cater for a total enrolment of up to 3,000 students.
Minister for Education, Training and Employment John Paul Langbroek said Broad Construction Services Queensland was awarded the contract for the design and construction of the building which will cater for future growth including the move of Year 7 to high school in 2015.
“During the redevelopment, Year 7 students will move into an interim, designated precinct on the school’s current Edmondstone Street site,” Mr Langbroek said.
Brisbane State High School is one of Queensland’s 80 Independent Public Schools and was established in 1921 as the first academic state high school in Queensland.
Local lovers of Yoga – and there’s an awful lot of them wandering the streets of West End – will be heading over to Bowen Hills next month to take part in YogaFest, Australia’s largest Yoga Festival now in its 8th year.
According to Festival organiser, Jonathan Murphy, YogaFest just keeps getting bigger and bigger, with this year’s event featuring more than 90 presenters, including some of Australia’s most experienced yoga teachers, dance, ayurveda, massage, delicious healthy food, yoga related market stalls, and inspirational music concerts.
“There’s something for everyone at the YogaFest,” says Jonathan. “Experienced yogis can choose from a large range of workshops over the weekend, or for those newer to yoga, there are gentler yoga classes available, meditation and relaxation classes, and the option to listen to music, enjoy delicious food, receive a massage, and relax in the garden between yoga classes.”
The festival features two full days of yoga and related workshops, finishing each day with music concerts.
Over 100 local Westenders attended a Fight for Public Parks rally in Davies Park on Saturday June 7.
Addressing the rally were Gabba Ward Councillor Helen Abrahams, West End Community Association President, Dr Erin Evans, Federal Member for Griffith, Ms Terri Butler, and Adjunct Associate Professor Phil Heywood.
I caught up with Cr Abrahams before the rally and asked her what she hoped it would achieve. She said the most important thing is to inform people about what is happening under the current Brisbane City Council Administration. “They’re increasing the number of people they propose to put into the West End and they are reducing the amount of parks…” she said.
Councillor Helen Abrahams
Cr Abrahams said the current city plan proposes seven new parks for the West End and South Brisbane, but that the new City Plan, which comes into effect on July 1, 2014, removes four of those parks and replaces them with plazas. Plazas she said, are not parks.
A number of local residents also spoke with me at the rally telling me they are concerned that parks and infrastructure are not keeping up with growth into the region. Click here to listen to residents who attended the rally
Dr Erin Evans, President of WECA
West End Community Association President, Dr Erin Evans kicked off the rally with an appeal to residents to sign an e-petition to the Brisbane City Council which asks Council to honour the plan for parks in West End, and to not replace them with plazas. A plaza, Dr Evans said, is not a park. “A plaza is privately owned land, it’s paved, and it’s probably got cafes around the sides, it is actually probably more for pedestrian corridors, rather than open spaces”, she said.
Stressing the importance of public parks as opposed to plazas, Dr Evans said that as the population grows at the projected rate, 89 percent of people in the area will be living in apartments, and many of those will be families with children. “We need the public space, we can’t just get what the developers leave over”, she said.
Terri Butler, Federal Member for Griffith
Terri Butler, Federal Member for Griffith, told the crowd that Westenders are not alone in their struggle, and that residents in Bulimba, Kangaroo Point and Coorparoo, are all facing development issues. She stressed that the question is not one of being pro or anti-development, “… it’s one of wanting sustainable development that takes into account the needs of the local residents into the future.” Parks, she said, are not a trivial or peripheral issue, “This is an issue about the quality of life of residents in our cities, and that should be front and centre on the agenda of all politicians”, she said.
Local Resident and Adjunct Associate Professor in Urban and Regional Planning at Queensland University of Technology, Phil Heywood, outlined seven ways in which he thinks residents can advance the cause of parks for the West End. “By talking to friends and neighbours…, attending demonstrations like this, signing petitions…, writing blogs, for those that way inclined, sending emails.., using social media, making your voice heard in community associations like WECA, the West End Trader’s Association, and Parents and Citizens Associations, and political parties; all political parties”, he said, adding, “We want a suburb that remains open for people, not just for big business”.
Associate Professor Phil Heywood
In the final address to the rally Cr Abrahams, borrowing from Shakespeare, declared that “Clearly all is not well in Brisbane City Council under this administration, clearly all is not well with the new city plan, and clearly all is not well in the West End.” She accused Councillor Amanda Cooper, chairperson of the Brisbane City Council’s Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment Committee, of not being transparent or consultative about the planning process and changes to the city plan. “This” she said, “is a disgrace”.
Leo Tsimpikas, President of the West End Traders’ Association (WETA) told me in a separate interview about a week before the rally that if it is to survive, the West End needs more people and new developments. “Without the new developments, we will be stagnant…” he said. He added that, “we don’t want the 30 and 40 and 22 story developments, we want sustainable developments…”
“I think the council, the government, should make the developer create some green space, instead of having little spots of green space”, Mr Tsimpikas said, citing as an example, the site at 68 Vulture Street, which he said will be compulsorily acquired to make a 940 square metre park.
“I think that’s negative…” Mr Tsimpikas said, adding, “With all that, I want green space myself, but that’s got to be the responsibility of the developer coming in here, because he has to satisfy the people that buy the units….They want green space, they want to put their feet on the grass, so I think we can work together…”
I am seeking a comment from Cr Cooper about the City Plan and the Council’s planning process.
Shadowland sails us across a dreamscape that is familiar, challenging and beautiful
Truly exquisite.
Fans of the illustrated novel and cartoon love the imaginative freedom of the line to draw anything the mind can imagine.
Imagine, then, that a group of dancers decide to use their bodies as ink and the freedom of perspective provided by light and shadow to free that ink from the constraints of size and gravity. These eight dancers, then, have the power to fly, to grow and shrink – to become taxis, animals, aeroplanes, castles and opera houses.
Imagine that this imagining travelled the world and came to Brisbane and you will be somewhat prepared for Shadowland now playing at QPAC for ten (now nine) short days.
Many of us have seen shadow play at camps or country halls, sausages being hauled out of the innards of an authority figure held up to ridicule. With international travel almost more common than local entertainment the shadow puppets of Bali and northern India may be more familiar.
Shadowlands takes these traditions of storytelling and weaves them into a contemporary dance piece that is savvy, sassy and clever but, above all, beautiful – achingly beautiful.
The play opens with three actors flying through the air, lightly leaping from knee to shoulder to extended hand of the supporting members of the company, as they are dressed, in front of us, in mid-air, as they move. We step through a range of theatrical devices familiarising us with the power of shadow to bend perspective and, more importantly, establishing the relationship between the monochrome, dream world of silhouettes behind the screen and the real, coloured and fleshy world on our side.
We are prepared, now, to believe that the hand of fate can shape a beautiful woman into a travelling dog, two men into a satyr or three dancers into a jellyfish that can consume the beautiful woman/dog floating in the ocean and we can watch her being digested inside the jelly fish.
We are so completely transported that we can move seamlessly from the simple pathos of a stray dog enjoying a car ride, head out the window and all, to one of the most moving sensual love scenes ever portrayed on stage.
Shadowlands is magnificent on many levels. It is a celebration of being human, of the human body and our creative spirit. It combines physical theatre, ballet, comedy and shadow puppetry in a soaring performance that lifts you so far from the everyday that you cannot help being improved as a person. A transcendental experience. Truly exquisite.
Brisbane’s inner suburbs have some of the best examples of this state’s unique timber architecture. But for such a sought-after style of house there’s almost no consensus on what we should and shouldn’t call a “Queenslander”. Real estate agents know that adding the term to an advert can spike the enquiry levels. Builders are working the word into their descriptions in fairly imaginative ways (one applies the name to brick homes with timber-gabled facades – really?)
