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Cr Helen Abrahams with Mike Meade from Reclink and an event attendee
People’s Park in Boundary St a focus for community engagement.
On October 10, the Inner South Interagency Network (ISIN) held an event for the local West End Community as a part of Mental Health Day.
The local community was invited to join us for an afternoon of sausages, singing and fun activities at People’s Park in Boundary Street, West End. The event was attended by a wide variety of people including those with a lived experience of mental ill health, local service providers and the general public.
Music was provided by the Richmond Fellowship’s Choir and a drumming circle supported by Reclink, drawing in passing crowds. A free sausage sizzle, cold drinks and fruit were also provided to the general public.
Activities on the day included art and craft, yoga, hula hooping, juggling and a yarning circle. Information about support services for those experiencing mental health difficulties was also available on the day.
Richmond Fellowship Choir serenading in People’s Park
The event was kindly funded by the local councillor Helen Abrahams, via the Suburban Initiative Fund. Over 150 people attended the event and ISIN hopes to make the event an annual occurrence.
Jillary Lynch’s dot painting features in the Keringke Arts exhibition at WAG
Ltyentye Apurte was named for a local stand of bloodwood trees and Keringke Arts is named after an important and ancient place that was formed when the ancestor Kangaroo was passing through this land. Several of the Keringke Artists have responsibilities associated with the Keringke Rockhole site.
Keringke Arts today produces a wide variety of art products, reflecting the colour, rhythm and ambience of the land that is home for the Eastern Arrernte artists. The artists are represented nationally and internationally in many collections, and the work is prized for its unique style and authentic connection to an ancient living culture.
Various painters have developed this style of painting at Keringke Arts over a twenty-year period. The artists use pattern, colour, shape and design to create paintings that depict country, culture and self.
What: Keringke Arts Where: Woollongabba Art Gallery, Stanley St Woollongabba When: 12 Nov ~ 21Dec Opening: Friday 15th Novembrer 6 ~ 9pm
Freda with Louise and Harry Harrison: the eye-roll is because Harry insisted on teaching Freda to dance ballroom
The opening scenes of Across the Universe neatly compare and contrast sixties USA with Liverpool England through a pastiche of scenes from the Cavern (the Liverpool club that nurtured the unborn Beatles) and a US school prom dance.
The stark difference between the post-imperial rust-bucket economy of the UK and the effervescent affluence of a coming of age USA may well be instructive for those comparing the US and China, but for Beatles fans, the glimpse of the claustrophobic curves of the Cavern and the regimented back streets of England’s industrial North are tantalizingly brief.
Good ol’ Freda is a new film that leads us through the portal of the Beatle’s fan club directly into that world. It is recreated lovingly through photos, reminiscences and contemporary footage. At the heart of this recreation is the Beatle’s secretary and mainstay Freda Kelly. She took over the running of their fan club in 1964 and was tapped on the shoulder by Brian Epstein to take on the formal role as his secretary.
“The music scene was a man’s world in the sixties and the only role for women was in administration. There was not much to aspire to other than being the secretary of the man at the top. As Brian Epstein’s secretary I did not have far to go, I just had to hang on.”
Freda’s kiss and don’t tell approach is delicious
Freda had flings with some of the Fab Four but her kiss and don’t tell approach speaks volumes that are more delicious than if she had revealed blow by blow details that dominate the dollar-a-bonk, contemporary-romance genre driving Kindle sales.
Freda is fundamentally a decent human being. Loyal, firm and fair, she does not move to London when Epstein takes Fab Four headquarters there because her Dad is ill, lonely and worried about her. Rather than lose her stabilizing influence, Epstein splits headquarters, has a chat to old-mate Kelly and organizes a cross-England commute for Good ol’ Freda.
Pregnant with her second child and faced with a dysfunctional band following Epstein’s death Freda tells Apple management “I won’t be coming back to work. I’ve a life to get on with.”
Harrison replies, “Freda you were there at the beginning and now you’re going, maybe we should just end it here.”
And they did.
Her final editorial for the monthly Beatles magazine that she edited for more than a decade declared the Beatles formally disbanded. Her one page letter was reprinted around the world in every media available at the time.
Millions of people in their fifties and more remember that letter being read on the news, pored over in the playground and analysed from the pulpit.
Ultimately this is a nostalgic film, bringing back those memories for those millions.
It has another, powerful dimension, though. In an era when fame for fame’s sake and the instant gratification of always-on communications has raised a whole series of moral questions, Freda’s down to earth, honest love and respect for the fans cuts through the clutter.
I’m fascinated what today’s media-savvy, cyber-cynical pop-consumers may have to say about it. I’m not sure they’ll be flocking to Freda to find out. Perhaps it’s a family outing, three generations of Beatle fans can get together and reflect on the last fifty years of pop music.
‘Could be a thing.
What: Good Ol’ Freda: Australian Premiere Screening
When: November 7th, 6:30pm
Where: Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre (BEMAC), 102 Main Street, Kangaroo Point
Subscribers to Westender eNews had the opportunity to win free tickets to this screening. The prize was taken out by long-term Beatle fan, Mike Meade. Congratulations to Mike and his mate who will be enjoying a night out courtesy of Westender and Antidote Films.
Becky Kanis (right) seen here with her wife Christine Marge
New York based Becky Kanis, co-founder of the 100,000 Homes Campaign in the US, will be in Brisbane for the next few days sharing her experience in tackling the problems of homelessness in our society and reporting on the positive outcomes being achieved in the US.
Ms Kanis is here at the invitation of West End’s Micah Projects and among other engagements she will be conducting a free public forum in Woolloongabba this Monday night.
According to Karyn Walsh, Coordinator of Micah Projects, Becky helped to launch the successful 50 Lives 50 Homes Campaign in Brisbane in 2010, based on her US experience.
“A total of 671 people have now been surveyed with the Vulnerability Index about their housing, healthcare and support service needs,” said Karyn. “223 people have now been housed and 190 people are supported by the 50 Lives 50 Homes campaign partners.
“Becky is an inspirational speaker, and her passionate commitment to ending homelessness shines through her every word,” said Karyn.
Free Public Forum with Becky Kanis
6pm – 7.30pm
Monday 4 November 2013
Refreshments served from 5.30pm
Trinity Hall, 68 Hawthorne Street
Woolloongabba 4102
Dr Barghouthi is here to beat the drums of peace, See him at the Trades Hall in Peel St on Monday
Dr Mustafa Barghouthi is here to talk about Peace in the Middle East and what western governments can and should do to help acheive it.
A Member of the Palestinian Parliament, Physician and President of the Union of Palestiniaarghouthi (also spelt Barghouti) has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded the Medal of Solidarity and Legion of Honour and is speaking at Peel St, South Brisbane next Monday.
Venue: Level 2, QCU Building, 16 Peel Street, South Brisbane
Mark H Moore at one of his Building Public Value presentations in the USA
Given the proposed cuts to the Arts sector in Queensland it is very timely that QPAC is presenting Show Me the Value, a talk by Harvard professor Mark H Moore on Monday 4 November.
Professor Moore will be joined for Show Me the Value by experts Dr Judith McLean, QPAC Scholar in Residence and Adjunct Professor at QUT (Creative Industries) and Dr Geoff Woolcock, Board Director of the Australian National Development Index and Adjunct Associate Professor Griffith University (School of Human Services and Social Work). The discussion will be facilitated by ABC Radio’s Steve Austin.
Show Me the Value will explore how the cultural sector can overcome some of the challenges it faces measuring and communicating the value it contributes to society and the economy.
QPAC Chief Executive, John Kotzas said “At QPAC we’re focused on how we can best manage and deliver on both our public and commercial imperatives. Being able to capture the whole picture of the value a cultural institution or organisation like ours creates therefore is crucial, but it’s not straightforward to do. That is why we’re fortunate to have Professor Moore explore this challenge with us while in Brisbane.”
Professor Moore first impacted policy debate around the world with his seminal work Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government andhis follow up book Recognising Public Value was published earlier this year.
“For QPAC, we’ve experienced solid growth in recent years and we want to maximise this success to deliver more public value to Queenslanders through our program. This is our responsibility as a cultural institution and we take it very seriously,” said Mr Kotzas.
Professor Moore first worked with QPAC in October 2012. As part of his program, Moore participated in a discussion for Radio National’sBig Ideas with Professor Julianne Schultz AM and Terry White GroupNon-executive Director and QPAC Trustee, Rhonda White. They explored the parallels when pursuing public value, private value and shareholder return.
“Show Me the Value will significantly progress our national discourse on culture – it’s important we in the sector find a way to convey culture’s relevance to contemporary Australian society and the value it delivers to individuals, communities and the nation,” said Mr Kotzas.
Telling the complete story has been notoriously difficult for the cultural sector and it has struggled through numbers alone. Professor Julianne Schultz AM highlighted the importance for the cultural sector to persist with its pursuit of achieving broader understanding and recognition in Australia at a recent Currency House breakfast in August, likening the journey to that of the environment and the significant progress made achieving recognition of its value.
Show Me the Value will be streamed live atwww.qpac.com.au/youtubelive and comments and questions are welcomed via twitter @QPAC using the hashtag: #publicvalue
