All posts filed under: society and culture

Introducing Ning Xue

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Who are you? My name is Ning. I am an artist, illustrator and graphic designer. I came from China. How long have you lived in Melbourne? Eight years. Why Melbourne? It is a beautiful living space on this planet. I enjoy the free and dynamic atmosphere. I found the pace of life here just right for me — not too fast, not too slow. I love the bright sunshine, fresh air, lovely birds and plants, cute night animals, ever-changing clouds and starry night sky. Friendly and genuine people everywhere. Also, it is a harmonious, diverse and multicultural community; people tend to respect and understand other people from different backgrounds. You can choose from any lifestyles: urban, suburban, farm, bush, mountain, seaside… What do you like to create and why? I draw simply because I love it. I love to be versatile and try to eliminate all boundaries. Drawing is all about play and fun. I love random things, simple lines, freehand brushwork, textures, collage. I love to draw animals, human beings, human beings with animal heads, …

Anzac — a documentary

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As many of you will know, tomorrow is Anzac Day, an annual memorial day held in Australia and New Zealand on 25 April to remember victims of war. A while ago I came across this 55-minute BBC audio documentary about the Anzac legend produced in December 2012 by Sharon Mascall and introduced by Australian author Thomas Keneally (best known for his book Schindler’s Ark). While it may seem strange turning to a Brit to tell us about the Anzacs, this doco — which includes many interviews with veterans and experts — is worth a listen. The piece explores not only the history of the Anzac story, but also the significant effect that it has had on Australia’s national identity.   BBC Audio Documentary: Anzac   For more information on the 2014 Anzac Day ceremony, visit the Shrine of Remembrance website.  

In conversation with pianist Hoang Pham

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It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon when I meet Hoang Pham in an inner-city cafe in Melbourne’s CBD. He orders a cafe latte, and as we sip our coffees I steal a few furtive glances at his hands. They look relatively unremarkable – really quite, well, normal. Somehow it seems unfair, considering this 28-year-old has performed as a piano soloist with the Melbourne, Brisbane and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and only two weeks ago won the prestigious ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards. ‘Melbourne’s the best city in which to be a musician,’ he says. ‘It’s not too big, first of all, and not too small. Compared with any other city in Australia – and perhaps even the world – we have a good mixture of people from different areas of life who happen to love classical music.’ Hoang was born in Vietnam, but soon after his birth his parents arrived in Australia as refugees. He began playing the piano at three-and-a-half years old, and by the time he was five he had already appeared on national …

Why do books cost so much in Australia?

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Books are expensive in Australia — too expensive for many people to afford to buy them regularly. There are complex reasons for this, which, for an economics dummy like me, are difficult to understand. In a nutshell, it seems publishers’ production costs in Australia are higher than in, say, the USA, and local copyright laws prohibit Australian booksellers from ‘parallel importing’ — importing the same books at cheaper prices. A few years ago, the government considered scrapping these restrictions, but finally decided against it. There was much debate about the pros and cons of parallel importing — see these articles by Jeremy Fisher, Michael Wilding and Matthia Dempsey. Having worked as a book editor in a local publishing company, I understand the need to support this industry that nurtures local writers, but on the other hand it’s difficult to do this if you can’t afford to buy its products. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way around this. If you want a locally produced book by your favourite author, you will need to save your pennies and pay for it — usually between $25 …

Introducing Conrad Williams

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    Who are you? Conrad Williams. Originally from London, England. How long have you lived in Melbourne? Two years, nine months. Why Melbourne? Firstly, Melbourne is very different depending on where in Melbourne you live. I have only ever lived in the inner suburbs so I can only speak from that experience… Melbourne has all the plus sides of city life that I enjoy without a lot of the downsides that often come as a city grows. It has a diverse range of nationalities represented in the population with all their varied cultures shining through in day-to-day life, as well as numerous festivals. It has a vibrant arts scene with many art venues and educational arts institutions. I am a musician so this is important to me. If you live in the inner suburbs as I do then it’s easy to meet people to socialise and collaborate on projects and hobbies because if you meet someone within the area, chances are they don’t live too far away. The crime rate is lower than most cities of a …

National indigenous television launched nationwide

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    At 12pm today, National Indigenous Television (NITV) launched free-to-air on Channel 34. Tune in and lend your support to this great initiative, which is providing a much-needed training ground and creative outlet for our indigenous media professionals. You can read more about the launch here. A worthy piece of news to get The Melbourne Local rolling again after a fairly long hiatus, methinks. I hope you’re all enjoying the silly season.      

melbourne writers festival

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  Flowers are blooming, leaves unfurling. The skies are beginning to clear and the insipid winter sun is finally rediscovering its bite. While our friends in the north sigh with the last throws of summer, here at the bottom of the world the coldest months of the year are finally coming to an end. As Mr Tolstoy once wrote,  ‘Spring is the time of plans and projects’ – a conjecture with which Melbourne clearly agrees. Because in this city, spring brings festivals – and more festivals. And then a few more. It all kicks off on 23 August with the Melbourne Writers Festival, which stitches together the end of winter and the start of spring with a programme full of brain-itching events. The MWF features panel discussions, seminars, book launches, readings, film screenings … the list goes on. This year I’m particularly excited to see a group of events featuring writers and editors from The New Yorker, that bastion of great long-form journalism. Most events cost around the $20 mark, but there are also a number of free ones. Some events are already sold out, so if you’re keen …

Introducing Tajette O’Halloran

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    Who are you? My name is Tajette. I’m a photographer, a filmmaker, a left-handed Scorpio. I love cheese and airports, I love the wind and creative magazines. I run my own little photography business called SHOT OF SOUL. How long have you lived in Melbourne? Almost four years now. Why Melbourne? After six years of Sydney and still not feeling at home, I finally came to the freeing realisation I could pack up and leave … and I did. Within two weeks of entertaining the idea in my head I packed everything I owned and drove down the Hume. I fell in love with this city and never left. Favourite cafe? Penny Farthing in Northcote. They see me with the worst bed hair and sleepy eyes every morning and are still so lovely to me. They know my coffee without me having to say a word. It feels a bit like family. Favourite restaurant? I’m a vegetarian so I’m not the most free and easy when it comes to eating out. A few …

Introducing Chris Mulhall

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    Who are you? My name is Chris. I live in Fairfield. I am a musician. I guitar, I sing, write, produce. I eat food, love to cook it, get inventive with it, shop for it, smell it, feel it, share it, think about it, plant it, watch it grow. Work a casual retail job. Passionate about the environment, sustainability, ethical produce, conservation, awareness, family, friends, music, life. A city-dwelling, sport-playing, Rudolf Steiner–influenced spiritual being. How long have you lived in Melbourne? Twenty-seven years, three months – minus travel times. Why Melbourne? Difficult… I was born here and haven’t yet been scared away. I suppose if you’ve been shown the secret laneways, bars, pubs, festivals, coffee hang-outs, live music venues, markets, gardens, suburbs (north, south, east and now even west all have lovely places to spend a day) then you have cool friends and you’re lucky! That’s the ‘Melbourne’ that we Melbourne folk miss when we’re anywhere else in the world. The fresh and vibrant farmers’ and community markets are without a doubt simply wondrous! …