Blueprint, an exhibition of fine arts prints by ten Brisbane printmakers opened at the Baber studio on Friday.
The show showcases a diverse talent of printmakers and artists whose approach to design, links experimentation and functionality through a cross-pollination of art and architecture.
Ann Roworth, one of the ten printmakers, uses aluminum etching to make her prints and her work ‘what the eye sees, the mind conceives’, is displayed at the exhibition.
“We’re all united by the fact that we’re printmakers, but there are a range of different techniques we use and we’ve been exploring the theme of art and architecture individually in our different approaches, within printmaking as an artistic medium,” she said.
Baber studio, a recently established architecture and design practice by partners Kim Baber and Monique Baber specializes in architecture, interior design, master planning, and public art project management.
According to Kim Baber, although there is a general notion that there is a direct link between art and architecture, the interrelation should not be forced since architecture and art are two separate disciplines with rear cross-over’s.
“Being informal about these interrelations is a good thing because it allows the in-cooperation of other possibilities and encourages the emergence of ideas such as Blueprint, ” he said.
The exhibition will continue until Saturday 20th September 2014 at Baber Studio, 9/173 Boundary Street, West End, Brisbane.
ICRC visit besieged Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah – Gaza
Gaza letter in Lancet causes a stir
In an open letter for the people of Gaza, 24 leading scientists and doctors denounced the aggression and challenged the perversity of the defensive hostility in Gaza by Israel.
The letter was published by the Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal which is one of the oldest and most prestigious general medical journals in the world.
In the letter, the 24 European and North American professionals acknowledged that they have worked in Gaza at some point and urged their colleagues, young and old, to join them to denounce the Israeli aggression.
“We are appalled by the military onslaught on civilians in Gaza under the guise of punishing terrorists. This is the third large scale military assault on Gaza since 2008. Each time the death toll is borne mainly by innocent people in Gaza, especially women and children, under the unacceptable pretext of Israel eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege they impose,” stated the letter.
After challenging the Israeli offensive, the letter illustrates the situation in Gaza in detail, by describing various facts and by mentioning the direct and indirect impact it has on the lives of the people.
The letter is also a platform that demonstrates their frustration and helplessness, due to the fact that even those who want to go and help are unable to reach Gaza due to the blockade by Egypt and Israel. A call for tighter sanctions on Israel, with cessation of any trade and collaborative agreements with Europe, was made.
The authors also registered their dismay that only 5% of their Israeli academic associates signed an appeal to their government to stop the military occupation of Gaza.
The letter concludes by recognizing the complicity of the European and North American countries and the rest of the Israeli academics, in the massacre in Gaza.
The letter has attracted a wave of criticism. Dr. Bruce M. Marmor, a veteran internal medicine specialist in Syracuse, New York, said it was “purely political, inaccurate and prejudiced.”
“The editors of The Lancet, which is supposed to be a medical journal, should have [recognized] the letter for what it is — a gross example of anti-Jewish bigotry, pure and simple,” said Dr. Marmor.
Following the response to “An open letter for the people in Gaza”, The Lancet has decided not to publish the names of signatories, concerned about threatening statements to the signatories posted on social media.
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.
Residents of Brisbane gathered to support Palestine
Last week’s rally to demonstrate Brisbane’s solidarity towards the people of Gaza, ignited a spark of emotions, affirmations and a wave of protests which spread like wildfire all over the country.
This week, the fire blazed high with simultaneous protests in Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.
Today’s demonstrations started with a walking tour around Queens street, organized by Mr. Phil Monsour, a singer, songwriter and an advocate for Gaza, to identify and boycott the stores that stock Sodastream products.
Sodastream, is an Israel based company which operates a major factory in an illegal settlement in occupied Palestine and manufactures environmentally sustainable alternatives to bottled soda drinks.
Earlier this month, the factory came under public scrutiny for dismissing 60 Palestinian workers on July 2nd, following an argument about the supply of insufficient food for the breaking of the Ramadan fast, since the employees were not permitted to bring their own food to work.
“ I have three words for the people gathered here today, boycott, divestment and sanctions,” Mr. Mansour said.
“ Through this act of boycotting sodastream, we have three objectives we wish to achieve. End the international support for Israeli occupation and apartheid. Equal rights for all and the right for all the refugees to return back to their homeland,” he added.
“ There is virtually no support from our parliament and the many organizations that are supposed to be beside us today. We need to shift the solidarity in this country into a political power. Therefore I call upon all the students, religious communities and trade unions to join hands and join us in this movement.”
The boycott of Israeli goods is a part of an international movement known as the ‘Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement’, initiated in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian organizations, which gained momentum internationally with the bombardment of Gaza.
Mrs. Isobella Jairus, a mother of two from the Gold Coast, was not aware of the intensity of the Gaza crisis until the shelling of a UN-run school in Gaza three days back.
“I was devastated by the horrific atrocity committed by the Israeli army. Until then I was not sure which side I was on, but after those little children and women were murdered in the shelling, I did my own research and found out that this is an asymmetrical war. The Israeli army targeted a UN run school and that shocked me, because people are not safe even under the protection of the United Nations. I realized that this is not a religious war but a freedom struggle of an oppressed people fighting to reclaim their land,” Mrs. Jairus said.
“I stand for a free Gaza,” she concluded.
Members of the crowd in the rally for Palestine
After the walking tour, more than a thousand people gathered at the King George Square to demonstrate their solidarity towards the people of Gaza.
After acknowledging the elders of the land, Ms. Rebecca Barrigos quoted the words of Abu Yazan, a young political activist from Gaza, “ The Israeli cabinet is planning to meet up to negotiate ceasefire, but this time the victory is ours, take that fact and give up, Israel.”
Mr. Sameer Elegate, a Palestinian activist and a recent resident of Gaza whose relatives were victims of the war, was the second speaker.
“ I am from Palestine, my family is from Gaza . I called my sister two hours ago and she said that she and her family were safe, but she also said that they were afraid and they were just waiting . At this moment I don’t know if they are safe, that is the situation in Gaza,” Mr. Elegate said.
“ When I told her about our rally today, she said that she has a message for Brisbane. She said – I am a mother, I am a sister, I am a human being. I have every right to live like all of you in Australia, but I’m proud to remain in Palestine, I don’t want to leave Palestine because this is my home and I will hold onto it until I die,” he reiterated.
“She thanks all of you gathered here today to show your support, but she also said – please don’t stop, please support us until the end.
“ This is no longer a Palestinian issue, this is a human rights issue. We want to see non Palestinians from all over the world, people from different religions, color, culture and political alliance, we must all stand together in support for Palestine.
“ To make your actions matter you can do one thing. Boycott Israel, don’t buy any product made in Israel, don’t buy any product with a barcode starting with 729.
“They say that the Hamas is hiding behind the backs of the civilians to fight this war, yet after bombing hospitals, homes and schools repeatedly, the only dead bodies left behind are of women and little children. Please don’t fall for this deception anymore.”
Speakers Mr. Boe Spearim and Mr. Calum Clayton Dixon, representing the Brisbane aboriginal sovereign embassy affirmed their support for the movement by sharing the fact that even though the Aboriginal community and the Palestinian community were two different civilizations with separate cultural values, they share the same struggle for freedom from oppression.
“We say white Australia has a black history. Similarly Israel will always have a Palestinian history,” Mr. Spearim said.
On behalf of the Queensland teacher’s union, Mr. Kevin Bates, the president, voiced his support for a free Gaza and an end to the oppression.
On the other hand two other speakers, Mr. Jake Schoermer representing the QLD Greens and Dr. Imran Ali from the QLD Shia Council, were shuffled off the stage after they offended the crowd during their speech.
The microphone was snatched from Mr. Schoermer’s grasp while the crowd heckled him, and a protestor even pelted a shoe at the Greens spokesperson after he denounced Hamas for ‘war crimes’. Meanwhile a policeman had to interfere in order to prevent Dr. Ali from provoking the mass any further.
After the commencement of the speeches, the protestors marched around Queens street chanting and demonstrating their solidarity for the people of Gaza.
As the death toll in Gaza rises over 350, millions of protestors all over the world are taking to the streets to demonstrate their solidarity for the Palestinian people.
In Brisbane, thousands of people gathered at King George Square to protest the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza demanding the Israeli government to quite their offensive in Gaza, while urging the Australian government to discontinue their support for the Israeli carnage.
The march was organized by the Socialist Alternative of Brisbane and the Students for Palestine from UQ and QUT, whereas other organizations such as the Queensland Greens, The Socialist Alliance and a number of Faith and Cultural community organizations also endorsed the protest.
As the march moved down Queen Street, various demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and other banners with defaced Israeli flags, replacing the Star of David with swastikas.
When the crowd moved into Charlotte street, the air was gassed with non-toxic smoke bombs to ignite the emotions even more.
The protestors chanted slogans such as“Free free Gaza, down down Israel,” and “ Tony Abbot, you can’t hide, you are supporting genocide” .
An estimated two thousand people gathered to demonstrate their disgust for the Israeli onslaught. After a very vocal march around the streets of Brisbane, the demonstrations ended with the protestors chanting “In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.” Even though the protest was a peaceful one, the event was targeted by counter-demonstrators who tried to sabotage the peaceful nature of the protest by heckling the gathering and tried to instigate a violent reaction, but the trouble makers were immediately ushered away by the organizers before any disturbance erupted. Meanwhile the facebook page which promoted the event was targeted by spammers who posted comments such as, ‘it does not matter how big that protest will be tomorrow, or how many people in the world will protest against Israel, Israel will finish the job there soon. You and your friends can say and scream as much as you want.’
During his speech, a Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy spokesperson, Mr. Boe Spearim, inspired the people to keep fighting by citing the words of an aboriginal elder, “ As individuals we only dream. But once we come together, we make that dream a reality, ” he quoted.
Ms. Rutaba, a member of the students for Palestine and socialist alternative raised her voice to question the Tony Abbot government, “ Does Tony Abbot know the names of the 342 Palestinian men, women and children his government has backed to slaughter in Gaza?”
Mr. David Forde, a long time advocate for freedom in Gaza and an independent candidate for Stretton shared his disgust for the Abbot government’s numbness regarding this issue.
“There are only a handful of countries that support Israel’s oppressive occupation and expansionism – unfortunately, again one of them is our Australian government – and that includes both the government and opposition, with the exception of a few MPs and Senators,” Mr. Forde said.
“Yes a complete cease-fire must be supported to protect lives, but it must include a complete lifting of the illegal blockade, otherwise Palestinians will just keep dying – just more slowly,” he added.
To highlight the actions that people need to undertake, in order to pressurize the government to share the solidarity for the Palestinian people, he suggested, “Changing Australia’s position is a must. … Public pressure can do this. But this sort of political criticism in Australia is not only not tolerated, it is almost taboo.
“I ask you to undertake one simple step – do the one thing that politicians do not want you to do on this issue – that is engage with them – that is the one thing they don’t want you to do – because they don’t want this to be an issue for them. … At the end of the day, we vote them in; Same way, we can vote them out.”
He suggested that citizens contact their politicians directly using social media, letters and the telephone to make sure the level of concern is registered.
He also proposed ten questions people consider asking those politicians. Here are three:
“Do you support a peace setlement for al based upon international law and UN Security Council Resolutions and an end to the ilegal occupation?”
“Do you support Israel’s administrative detention of thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children, who are denied due legal process and often kept in-prisoned for years without charge?”
“What would you do it if was your home that was demolished, or your brother, mother, sister, son, daughter, father that was denied medical treatment or worse. What would you do?”
During his speech, Mr. Halim Rane, an associate professor for the school of humanities at Griffith university, said, “Israel has lost this war as far as the world public opinion is concerned.”
Phil Monsour, a singer and a songwriter, rephrased the lyrics of the song “we will rock you” by the Queens, into “We will boycott Israel”, to set the tone for the protest.
While the people of Gaza are facing the bloody consequences of Israel’s dramatic escalation of the 13-day conflict and Hamas’s intransigence in the face of mounting calls for a ceasefire. The Hamas leadership has come under increasing pressure from multiple international sources to accept an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Recently the French and Italian foreign ministers flew to Cairo, where negotiations have started to back Egypt’s call for a prompt de-escalation in the conflict. The Arab League has also backed Egypt’s call for a quick ceasefire, even as Israeli troops crossed the border into Gaza.
Meanwhile the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival, had tried to negotiate with the representatives of Hamas and failed to achieve an agreement for truce. At Jordan’s request, the UN security council held an emergency meeting on Friday and afterwards an official announcement was made that the secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, would be leaving for the Middle East to help mediate the conflict. When asked to comment about the efforts of the Arab League and the UN to extinguish the conflict in Gaza,
Mr. Leone Jordan, an Australian citizen and a Palestinian by blood, replied, “The Arab league and The UN are puppet organizations, the UN has been positioned there by America and other Western powers. The Arab League is another bunch of selfish sheiks who have their own interests in mind. Instead of demanding the Israeli government for a ceasefire, they are trying to negotiate with HAMAS representatives who are fighting with homemade rockets.”
“This is an asymmetric warfare between, Israelis backed by western military verses Palestinian fighters equipped with homemade rockets, in the besieged Gaza strip.
“The only reason these aristocrats are there, is to divert people’s attention to themselves while little children are being butchered. Kids who look like my children, my friends children, what if they were your children ? how would you react ? there’s no justification for this slaughter.
“Their efforts are a joke, a rhetoric, it’s finished. Their lies are being exposed. Don’t undermine the people’s intelligence, the people are smarter than that. Ban Ki Moon has no power, he’s just a puppet who continues the rhetoric, a puppet who says the same thing every year with no change.”
“Every two years we experience this kind of atrocities in Gaza, and funny enough, it always happens in the month of Ramadan. Why is that? The world is seeing through the rubbish of these politicians, people all over the world are protesting, and not because the mainstream media has done us any favors. It’s all because of social networking, people are seeing the inhuman acts that are committed against humanity.”
Ms. Rebecca Barrigos from the Socialist alternative of Brisbane supported Leone’s sentiment by stating, “This gathering is proof that the Palestinians who have resisted their repression for over 60 years do not stand alone. Western governments may give their unequivocal support to Israel but ordinary people who oppose oppression, who support justice, stand with Palestine and will continue to do so until Gaza is free.”
The Boundary Street Markets received a fascinating new addition today, with the delivery of a massive Motor Rail, to add a touch of rustic glamour to the markets.
The 10 ton Silver Bullet motor rail carriage was transported to West End on the back of a trailer, and then installed in place with the help of two 20 ton cranes.
The cranes hoisted the carriage off the trailer and, after the trailer drove away from underneath the carriage, it was firmly secured on the ground.
According to Mr. David Bostock, the manager of Boundary Street Markets, it will be an icon for the property and will be used as a seating area for the visitors of the Boundary street Market.
Mr. Fred Drake, the proprietor of ABSOE, discovered the motor rail carriage sitting in a neighbor’s property in the Brisbane valley.
Blueprint, an exhibition of fine arts prints by ten Brisbane printmakers opened at the Baber studio on Friday.
