Opening Night invitation: Infant Earth

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26 May 2016

gallery@pumpkinlane.com.au

Join us next Thursday 2 June and take a journey back in time at the opening night of Emilie Huertevent’s solo exhibition Infant Earth.

Infant Earth

Emilie Huertevent

Opening Night: 2 June 2016, 6.00 – 9.00pm

Exhibition dates: 3 June – 12 June 2016, Thursday to Sunday, 11am – 6pm

Emilie’s work captures the ideas, movements, and feelings of the moment. Opening her new exhibition ‘Infant Earth’, she aims to transport the beholder into a world of full and deep energy. Her idea is to confront the beginning of Earth, when Nature was overriding, with today’s world and how humans are altering it by their unconscious actions. The best way to describe this new exhibition is probably to use the words of Shree, who follows Emilie’s work (about the painting called ‘Cave’): I get a feel of diving into the depth of my mind. Deep cave in perpetual darkness.

Join us on the opening night for a first look at the exhibition over a glass of wine and a chance to meet Emilie herself and learn more about her art.

Emilie Heurtevent

‘Gone’ – Emilie Heurtevent

Opening night drinks are provided by our lovely neighbourhood bar Surabaya Johnny’s

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pumpkinlane.com.au

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70 Years The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

By

Radical Royalist

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25 May 2016

On 25th May 1946 – to this day 70 years ago – a new Kingdom was born. H.H. Emir Abdullah of Transjordan (1921 – 1946) proclaimed the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and he became His Majesty King Abdullah I.

King Abdullah I bin al-Hussein

Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, was born in February 1882 born in Mecca, Hejaz, which then belonged to the Ottoman Empire, and he was the second of three sons of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah. He was educated in Istanbul, Turkey and Hijaz. From 1909 to 1914, Abdullah sat in the Ottoman legislature, as deputy for Mecca, but allied with Britain during World War I. Between 1916 to 1918, working with the British guerrilla leader T. E. Lawrence, he played a key role as architect and planner of the Great Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, leading guerrilla raids on garrisons.

When he assumed the Throne of Transjordan in 1921, he established the first centralised government out of a mostly tribal and nomadic society in this territory. Over the next 30 years, he focused on nation building and developing the institutional foundations of modern Jordan. He is also remembered for promulgating Jordan’s first Constitution in 1928 and holding the country’s first parliamentary elections in 1929.

During these three decades, King Abdullah I presided over a series of Anglo-Transjordanian treaties, culminating in the 1946 Anglo-Transjordanian Treaty, ending the British mandate and granting the new Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan full independence. He laid down the basis for democracy in the Kingdom and called for political pluralism. The first political party was formed during his reign. A poet himself, he used to meet with poets, writers and scholars and discuss the country’s affairs.

On 20th July 1951, King Abdullah, while visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, was shot dead by a Palestinian from the Husseini clan. He was succeeded by his son King Talal bin Abdullah (26th February 1909 – 7th July 1972). Under the reign of King Talal the country prepared a new liberalised Constitution in 1952, which introduced a culture of Arab unity by declaring Jordan part of the Arab nation. During the short reign reign, Jordan concluded important agreements including a pan-Arab collective security agreement and announced compulsory free education. The introduction of compulsory free education, the first of its kind in Jordan and the Arab world, had a positive impact on the country’s future development.

King Talal bin Abdullah

Born in Mecca in 1909, King Talal studied at the British Military Academy, Sandhurst, and in 1929 became the first Jordanian officer to graduate from the institute. As an officer of the Arab Army, he participated in battles between Arab and Israeli forces in Jerusalem, Ramallah and other Palestinian towns. In 1934, he married Zein Al Sharaf, the late Queen Mother, who died in 1994.

He was King of Jordan from 20th July 1951 until forced to abdicate in favour of his son Hussein due to health reasons on 11th August 1952.

Hussein ibn Talal was born on 14th November 1935, in his parents’ villa in Amman, in what was then the Emirate of Transjordan. His family’s circumstances were modest. Though heir to the throne, his father, Talal ibn Abdallah, supported his family of three sons and a daughter on an allowance of pounds 1,000 a year. Hussein received his primary education at schools in Amman and then at 13 was sent to Victoria College, Alexandria, an Egyptian boarding school on the British model. He recalled repairing his school uniform with a needle and thread to spare his parents the expense of replacing it.

Prince Hussein was standing only a few feet away when his grandfather was murdered, and saw the king’s bloodstained turban roll across the floor in front of him. The 16 year-old only escaped death himself by what seemed a miracle: a bullet aimed at him struck a medal on his uniform. He was thrown backwards but otherwise unhurt; his grandfather had given him the medal only the day before.

At the time of his coronation, on 2nd May 1953, Hussein was just 18 (by the Islamic calendar). His cousin Faisal II of Iraq was crowned King of Iraq on the same day. Having ascended the throne as a teenager, he was as a young king the target of numerous attempted coups and assassinations. Later, two Arab-Israeli wars and a civil war threatened the existence of his throne and the state itself. He was under threat as much from political enemies among his Arab neighbours as from a militarily superior Israel.

The result of King Hussein‘s determination to safeguard his position is a country which enjoys a degree of openness, stability and prosperity not widely achieved by other Arab states. The King also secured the prize that had eluded his predecessors: a peace treaty with Israel.

King Hussein was motivated by a strongly mystical, if sentimental, belief in his own destiny as the only remaining Hashemite king. His dynasty traced its ancestry back to the Prophet Mohammed and beyond, and had ruled Mecca for seven centuries until it was seized by Saudi forces in 1925.

King Hussein and Princess Muna with their sons, Prince Abdullah and Prince Faisal, later followed the twins Princess Aisha and Princess Zein.

But in King Hussein’s mind the ideal of a universal Hashemite monarchy persisted, taking the form of a benign authoritarianism that drew legitimacy from Islam and the traditional values of the desert Arab.

At the end of July 1998, it was made public that King Hussein was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. On 7th February 1999, King Hussein died of complications related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was, at the time of his death, one of the longest-serving leaders in international politics. He had been the King of Jordan for over 46 years. His successor was his eldest son, Crown Prince Abdullah.

Just present and fourth King, Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein was born on 30th January 1962 and has been the King of Jordan since he ascended the throne on 7th February 1999 upon the death of his father.

King Abdullah II and Queen Rania with their children, Princess Salman, Prince Hashem, Princess Iman and Crown Prince Hussein.

He was born to King Hussein and his second wife, the British-born Princess Muna al-Hussein. Abdullah was named Crown Prince shortly after his birth. King Hussein transferred the title to his own brother, Prince Hassan, in 1965, only to return it to Abdullah in 1999. King Abdullah is married to Queen Rania of Jordan, who is of Palestinian origin.

Kick start your weekend with winter recipes, foodie news and more

By

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25 May 2016

Foodie News: May

So much has been happening around town. We’ve gathered together some winter pick me ups – from seasonal coffee to a decadent breakfast recipe, local Pinot Noirs, fun offers and more

Straight from the source

How Market Lane has changed the way we drink coffee.

Recipe: Cinnamon French Toast

A perfect mix of sweet and savoury flavours finished off with generous lashings of yoghurt, this decadent breakfast will warm you from top to toe.

GET RECIPE »

Matt Skinner’s Top 5 Victorian Pinot Noirs

Special Offers

There’s not too many things to love about winter, but great Pinot Noir has to be one of them. Matt Skinner gives his top five Victorian favs to pick up this season, and they’re absolutely on point.

Art and Social Change

By

Michael Hunt

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25 May 2016

How much of a role can art and the creative process play in not only fostering greater understanding but a broader and deeper connection to an issue that has collectively help shape our national identity? Art and Social Change- Dust: a case study, is a book written by Dr Donna Jackson, who was driven by a desire to “create a much-needed resource that captured her approach to influence social change” The process saw Jackson engage with over 425 participants as part of a large scale arts project that focused on asbestos, a material that was widely used in Australia until the 1980’s, but one which has left a devastating legacy, still felt and survived by many.

Do you have any personal connection to the subject matter that you led you to researching it through this case study?
I was directing a theatre show about the building industry in 2006 called ‘We Built This City’ and in this process I met a bricklayer named Ron Patton. He told me he had been to 6 funerals in 6 months for other building workers who had died. They had become sick from exposure to asbestos at work. So I did some research and I found out that many other people were getting sick too. Sometimes people in their 30’s who had been exposed when their parents were renovating when they were children. It can be as easy as being around while an old asbestos shed is being knocked down to breath in an asbestos fibre.

Ron invited me to the 2006 Asbestos Memorial Service, which is held once a year in November in the Edge theatre at Federation Square, alongside the Yarra River in the centre of Melbourne. I went to the service with my friend, composer and songwriter Mark Seymour. He had written the music and performed in We Built This City and accompanied me to see if the issue of asbestos was something that could be developed into a project structured along similar lines.

The service, led by Bishop Phillip Huggins, was non-denominational and very moving. As a theatre person I admired the skill with which Bishop Huggins acted as the leader and compère for the service. I appreciated the manner in which he led the audience/congregation to be present in the room by inviting people to introduce themselves and shake hands with others seated nearby, which created a personal connection. He used the hour to lead us into a place of sorrow and contemplation where the deaths from exposure to asbestos were acknowledged. He also led a section where people could light a candle or place a flower in a pool of water to remember a family member who had died. Huggins then brought the audience into the present by asking them to join with him to give thanks to all the people who were working to fight this issue. With this there was a feeling of hope and of working for change as a group on this issue rather than being paralysed by grief. This was a memorial service and also a fine piece of theatre that led the audience through the dark into a place of strength.

How vital do you feel is the role art and theatre plays in pushing agenda and asking questions central to Australian society, in past, present and future contexts?

The most important thing to do as a theatre artists is to entertain people and make high quality experiences for audiences. Great theatre had always been about provocative ideas that move society and ideas forward.. look at ‘Summer of the Seventeenth Doll’ that is full of very new ideas about relationships and the roles of men and women. I am interested in ideas so I am happy to work in theatre, film and any medium that is useful to communicate an important idea. To push an idea or agenda we can now use the internet and TV to create change as well as theatre.

When creating political theatre, I focus on the experience of the audience going to the theatre rather than the issue. If you are instinctively a political person, as I am, the pull of the issue you want to make the world understand is seductive. But I have learned that I can communicate this more effectively by making stimulating theatre and events. I’ve had to hone my craft to be able to make something as a writer and director that will give people something they can’t get in a screen or online experience.

What have been some of the more startling revelations found through your research?
I was surprised to find out asbestos at different times in Australia’s history was placed in cigarette filters, mattresses, playdough and even on condoms.

What have been some of the greatest or most positive outcomes of this process so far, conversations, or questions that have arisen in direct response?

I was lucky to meet people who were sick with mesothelioma and they were very inspiring because they knew they were nearing death they would still go and lobby politicians for changes to the laws and for compensation. Being near brave people makes you be a braver person I have found.

I was very happy I heard a woman in the audience say in the foyer that her son had just started work as a plumber and she was going home to talk to him about asbestos and not getting exposed.

Has there been any challenges in bridging between academia and arts?
The challenge is to be able to change languages very quickly and to use language that is appropriate for the context you are working in. In both these areas it is useful to have a sense of humour. They also have in common that both the too serious artist and the too serious academic can be a annoying!

What is your hopes for the future of this project?
I hope this book will become the ‘go to’ book for people who want to make political theatre. I also hope some schools will use the book as a resource for lesson plans in drama classes and to create and put on their own theatre shows on the topic of asbestos.

Art and Social Chage- Dust: a case study will launch on Sunday the 19th of June at the Williamstown Literary Festival Hub at Williamstown Town Hall at 6pm for more information on the event click here

Shake It Up

By

Michael Hunt

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25 May 2016

Something must be said for Australia’s love of Burlesque, our own scene here is undeniably one of the best in the world, done in a distinctly aussie way, full of cheek and humour. Though burlesque as a form, is perhaps to stuck in it ways, Burlesque Queen Becky Lou, is out to shake it up. Here in this performance, she combines the classic “five-minute routine” with spoken word, influenced by her continuing work with director Wes Snelling, perhaps better to know to some as Tina Del Twist. With a creative pairing such as this, Shake looks certain to be sensational, teasing and an enticing late night booty call of a show… and you can catch it this Saturday at The Butterfly Club. Writer Jessi Lewis met with Becky Lou to talk burlesque, sexual irreverence, feminism and the melding of forms.

Becky, introduce us to the work, what can we expect from Shake?

This is the 5^th season of Shake, I’ve been doing it for about a year and a half, it came out of doing burlesque for quite a while, nearly a decade now, but I just had the urge to do something more. In burlesque I was always a strip tease revivalist, I’d never used my voice in performance, all though I did come from a theatre background, but I hadn’t been doing any theatre or spoken work for a long time. Wes use to work with me quite often at burlesque, he sort of went “you need to do something more than what you’re doing”, I think he knew I was getting a bit bored with the same old five-minute burlesque routine format. Then I realized that I was actually terrified of speaking, and thought about why I was comfortable being nude on stage in front of people, how they thought I was so brave for doing that, but I couldn’t actually get up and use my voice, so the show came out of that. Now it’s a combination of storytelling and me performing all of my old burlesque routines without leaving the stage, which is a fun experiment in itself.

What’s your take on the resurgence of popularity surrounding Burlesque in Australia?

The burlesque revival started about 20-25 years ago, and I think it’s really dying out a little bit now. But it came at just the right time, in that kind of second wave feminist surge of sex positivity. It was just perfect, it started as a revival of the early 20^th century art form which was the precursor to modern day stripping. It had kind of become a lost art, it came out of all these different movements like the swing dance, the retro scene and vintage scene and the New York performance arts scene and the Sydney queer performance scene. That’s was sort of late 80’s early 90’s, all these things happened at the same time all over the world. Part of it was a revival of that old stuff, and honouring the woman who did that, but never had the respect they deserved back then because of the performers that they were. I think its maybe been twenty years now that it’s been really popular, and in Australia it’s in the last 5 to 10 years that it’s become huge. So I think it was a lot to do with that movement, and since I’ve been doing it I’ve seen the waves of different kind of people doing it. When I started it was quite an underground scene when, then it became a really popular thing in the mainstream and got a lot of media attention, lately its sort of hens parties and people coming out from the suburbs to have a fun night out.

So, what was it about Burlesque that really drew you in, inspired you?

The comedy really, I started in Perth, I saw the first burlesque troupe there, Sugar Blue Burlesque and loved the costumes, they were beautiful, and the vintage inspiration, I took allot from that. I love the visual comedy element to, the physical element and the irreverence towards sexuality.

Let’s talk about feminism, it’s become a hot topic in media lately, what do you think is the reason behind this?

I think social media has a lot to do with it, because people are getting braver at talking about things we never used to talk about for so long, people are getting more comfortable with sharing personal stories, they have seen what other people have gone through or are experiences, I think its reached boiling point at the moment. That’s part of the reason that the spoken element to the work is really important. Basically in the show, I’ll do an act, then I will tell a story, it kind of works in the cabaret sense, some of the stories sort of lead into an act, or the acts comes out a story that I’ve just told.

What have been some of the highlights and lowlights of your career so far?

Performing in New Orleans in The House of Blues is definitely a highlight, we kind of blew the Americans away which was really cool, it was great to go and show that our scene was of a really high standard, in the birthplace of mid-century burlesque. Doing my solo show has sort of changed everything, I’m not so much doing burlesque so much anymore, I’m kind of doing story telling as well, that the direction I’m going in now. Though low-lights, I don’t know if I can talk about low lights without offending people, but you get your awful audiences every now and then, particularly in the last couple of years, you get audience that are a little rougher around the edges.

What do you think sets us apart from other burlesque scenes around the world?

Definitely the sense of humour, is huge a part of what sets us apart, the burlesque revival in Australia had its roots in the Sydney queer scene in particular, with people like Imogen Kelly, coming out of Kings Cross strip clubs in the 80’s 90s. and they were kind of these amazing punk feminist, and there’s a real sense of humour, irreverence and a “fuck you” element to it.

Shake is playing this Saturday night at The Butterfly Club, book your tickets here

MICK THOMAS, TRACE BUNDY (USA), ROCK 4 REGAL and more Edit

By

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25 May 2016

mick thomas, trace bundy (usa), rock 4 regal and more edit

As May comes to an end, we thought we’d go out with a bang and give you not one, not two, but three opportunities to get amongst theBOB DYLAN 75th BIRTHDAY SALUTE which kicks off on Friday night, continues through Saturday night and sums up on Sunday afternoon. The line-up is second to none featuring the best of the best in Aussie talent including; Angie Hart, Chris Wilson, Tex Perkins, Shane O’Mara, Gallie and Suzannah Espie just to name a few. Bob Dylan’s music has stood the test of time and continues to set the benchmark for many folk singer / songwriters worldwide. Be quick to secure your tickets for this one folks as they are selling fast!

We also have FOUR NEW SHOWS to announce this week. First up in June, be treated to FETE DE LA MUSIQUE, a showcase of free events to celebrate the universal language of music. Catch MICK THOMAS & THE ROVING COMMISSION as they make their way back to MEMO in July along with special guest SAL KIMBER. August brings internationally acclaimed guitar virtuoso TRACE BUNDY(USA) downunder and September features charity event ROCK FOR REGAL in support of Motor Neuron Disease.

Please READ ON for more info about our shows and other news…

NEW SHOW ANNOUNCEMENTS

SUN

19

JUN

mick thomas, trace bundy (usa), rock 4 regal and more edit

FETE DE LA MUSIQUE (MAKE MUSIC DAY)
Featuring Ali Barter, Penny Ikinger, Baro, The Seven Ups & DJ Edd Fisher presented by Alliance Française, France Alumni & RRR FM. More info

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SAT

30

JUL

MICK THOMAS & THE ROVING COMMISSION – “MID WINTER HIT OUT”
Balladeer, poet, folk and pub-rock hero Mick Thomas continues to ignite the party with his unique mix of folk, roots and country w/guest SAL KIMBER More info

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SAT

13

AUG

TRACE BUNDY (USA)
Internationally-acclaimed guitar virtuoso TRACE BUNDY is a ‘must see’. All the way from the US he will perform his only Melbourne show at MEMO. More info

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SAT

03

SEP

ROCK 4 REGAL
A charity concert to support Motor Neurone Disease Research. Feat. 12 huge bands incl. GRANDHOUR, THE HIGGS, GREENTHEIF, FIRES WERE STARTED & more! More info

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THIS WEEK

FRI

27

MAY

BOB DYLAN 75TH BIRTHDAY SALUTE
Feat. ANGIE HART, SIME NUGENT, GALLIE, SUZANNAH ESPIE, LISA MILLER, REBECCA BARNARD, VAN WALKER, CHARLES JENKINS & more an all-star band led by SHANE O’MARAMore info

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SAT

28

MAY

BOB DYLAN 75TH BIRTHDAY SALUTE
Feat. CHRIS WILSON, GALLIE, SUZANNAH ESPIE, LISA MILLER, SIME NUGENT, REBECCA BARNARD, VAN WALKER, CHARLES JENKINS & more an all-star band led by SHANE O’MARAMore info

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SUN

29

MAY

BOB DYLAN 75TH BIRTHDAY SALUTE
Feat. TEX PERKINS, ANGE HART, SIME NUGENT, GALLIE, SUZANNAH ESPIE, LISA MILLER, REBECCA BARNARD, VAN WALKER, & more! plus an all-star band led by SHANE…More info

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NEXT WEEK

FRI

03

JUN

DON WALKER & THE SUAVE FUCKS
After launching his brillliant album ‘Hully Gully’ genious songwriter DON WALKER and band will perform a special Melbourne show. With guest: LIZ STRINGER More info

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SAT

04

JUN

HELLS BELLES (3PM)
An all-female 30 piece pop choir THE DECIBELLES present their annual show with gorgeous renditions of Australia’s chart toppers over the past 20 years. More info

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SAT

04

JUN

HELLS BELLES (7PM)
An all-female 30 piece pop choir THE DECIBELLES present their annual show with gorgeous renditions of Australia’s chart toppers over the past 20 years. More info

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OTHER SHOWS COMING UP @ MEMO…

FRI 10 JUN – Zorba Gypsy Party feat. Shakshuka, The Imprints & D-Jinn
SAT 11 JUN – Tex Perkins & Charlie Owen w/ guest JR Reyne
FRI 17 JUN – Mental As Anything w/guest Joe Matera
SAT 18 JUN – ‘Leave Your Hat On’ – Songs Of Joe Cocker
FRI 24 JUN – Belmar Records Top 10 Vol 4 CD Launch
SAT 02 JUL – Nathan Hawes – I’ll Remember w/guest Josh Cashman
SAT 09 JUL – Epic Brass presents horn hits of HUNTERS & COLLECTORS, MIDNIGHT OIL, THE SAINTS & more..
SAT 31 JUL – AViiDA ‘Dear Me’ w/guests Bloom
SAT 06 AUG – Gallie – East Coast Tour
SAT 27 AUG – Into The Mystic – The Music Of Van Morrison
SAT 22 OCT – Monique Brumby – Thylacine 20th Anniversary
SUN 23 OCT – The Soldiers Wife

Visit www.memomusichall.com.au for More Info

COMING UP @ THE WINNEBAGO LOUNGE:

SUN 29 MAY – THE EXOTICS
SUN 05 JUN – THE JUNES
Located upstairs in the St Kilda RSL, from 5pm. Free Entry!

OTHER NEWS…

The line-up for EPIC BRASS has now been finalised and it is absolutely sensational! Presented by JACK HOWARD & his five piece horn section and fronted by some of Melbourne’s finest singers including; SEAN KELLY (Models), RON PENO (Died Pretty), PAULIE STEWART (Painters & Dockers),STEVE LUCAS (X),PENNY IKINGER (Wet Taxis) andFIONA LEE MAYNARD.

MEMO Music Hall would like to invite you to become a Sponsor / Partner!
Have your business / organisation gain high exposure both online and
offline through affiliation with us!
For MORE INFO, please email marketing@memomusichall.com.au

MEMO Music Hall – 88 Acland Street, St Kilda. (Entrance to venue via Albert Street) View Map

Artist, Rock Star & Gentleman

By

Terri Lee Fatouros

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24 May 2016

UNPLUGGED & UP CLOSE

MICHELANGELO RUSSO – Artist, Rock Star and gentleman.

Imagine being able to channel creative inspirations into captivating works of art and to transform your internal rhythmic emotive pulses into melody, thus creating liquid landscapes in the form of distinctive songs.

Visual artist and multi instrumentalist, Michelangelo Russo can and does so brilliantly.

I first met Russo last year whilst interviewing Hugo Race of The True Spirit band. I was charmed by the mischievous glint in Russo’s eyes, casual rock star glamour and delightful Italian accent. He oozed an unassuming yet intoxicating talent just waiting to be enjoyed. Russo plays keys, harmonica and electronica in Race’s band, and the night I caught up with Race and his band was at the Toff in Melbourne on the last leg of their Australian tour before heading overseas on their world tour. I was impressed to say the least.

Russo was born in Campobasso, southern Italy during the 60s and as an artist has exhibited around the world as well as touring the world several times as a professional musician, thus imprinting creatively on so many people.

In 1980 Michelangelo moved to Pescara where he held a number of solo and group exhibitions. During this time he performed and recorded with a local punk band, Marilyn’s Corpse.

In 1990 he relocated to Berlin, where he soon felt a strong affinity with the city’s artistic energy.

Shortly afterwards he established a studio in the heart of East Berlin, just before the collapse of the Wall. Needless to say, Berlin was fertile ground for young pioneering artists during this electrifying time.

During the Berlin period he had several solo and group exhibitions and performed and recorded with English musician, Paul Holmes and English duo, Anna Livia.

From 1994 (year of his arrival in Australia) Russo collaborated widely with musician/songwriter/producer Hugo Race and his band The True Spirit contributing to the recordings of over 10 albums as well as touring extensively with the band in Europe and Australia. Russo co-wrote several songs with Hugo: Surfing the Alpha, Ducados, Keep it On and Can you Read Me.

In 2009 he played on the soundtrack of Nude Studies, (Sydney Underground Films 2009).

Consequently with his unique flavour of harmonica and electronic keys Russo has contributed towards that much favoured sonic, industrial blues sound the band is now so famous for. It is in their latest album, The Spirit that Russo’s outer worldly electronica in tunes like Hematite and Information is very much emphasised. In particular, while they jammed around with these tunes, an impromptu structure kind of sprang up allowing the songs to take shape whereby creating the flow for Race to add his lyrics afterwards. On the odd occasion, the band will work like this and go with the flow during recording sessions.

Recently I caught up with Russo and over coffee this is what he had to say.

“I often feel inspired by music to paint and will allow the creative energy to flow through me. In fact, my latest exhibition, Bestie, held at Bird’s Gallery in Melbourne was inspired by my music. It’s a futuristic nightmare and I started painting the series the beginning of 2015.”

Russo best describes it like this.

‘The Bestie are representational snapshots -using a flash camera- of the darkest forest of our souls. Bestie; surprised, puzzled, sometimes pissed off, are blurry and overexposed. Bestie represents a travel through, but not exclusively evil, therefore some good, but also tradition, religion, sense of displacement, primordial rites and connection with the other world. In many cultures chiefs, wizards, shamans and evil legends are represented by horned figures. While researching horned characters through paganism, religion and popular beliefs, I came across many (until then unknown to me) gatherings in little villages around the area where I was born (southern Italy), where horned figures like ‘L’vomo Cervo’ (the deer) to name one, was representative of bad weather, for example, and was pushed out of the village with brooms and rakes’.

Russo claimed that the paintings seemed to assemble a life of their own whilst working on them and was able to channel his work in much the same way he does his music. As a ‘creative’, he morphed in and out of that mystical place in consuming surges of virtuosity.

I have to admit his paintings are undeniably otherworldly and each one definitely has a sense of ‘presence’ about them. All his ‘horned beings’ exude a unique personality unto themselves. Intriguing, beautiful and mysterious to say the least.

Russo’s natural charm and gentlemanly manner most likely has been shaped by his attitude of ‘going with the flow’ which he says has always proven successful for him; and this ‘flow’ has taken him around the world several times as a touring musician and as an exhibiting artist.

“I do believe in a universal plan and if you are tapped into this kind of energy things will happen for you and life will flow.”

Imbuing a genre of blues and roots in his harmonica playing has enabled him to fit into The True Spirit Band so well because all those guys have deep roots in the blues.

“In fact, Hugo and me have formed a duo playing a set dedicated to John Lee Hooker, and it’s basically straight blues with ‘cyber blues’ as they call it thrown in due to the effects used.”

Russo’s studio gallery is expansive and he teaches private classes and open workshops once a month on Encaustic art, (heated wax to which coloured pigments are added), along with other techniques. During his workshops he demonstrates how to make and mix the mediums as well as a fun way to paint with them. Something I’m looking forward to enrolling in.

Michelangelo Russo dynamism radiates in all directions and one can’t help but admire his tenacity in all that he does. As an artist he shines and as a musician he excels. All in all he genuinely appears to be a rock star gentleman indeed.

Russo is currently touring overseas in his band and expects to be back in Australia end of June. For more information please visit: www.michelangelorusso.com

By Terri Lee Fatouros music journalist

Antenna News from our friends at Sydney Film Festival

By

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23 May 2016

antenna news from our friends at sydney film festival

DOCUMENTARY NEWS FROM SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL

The line-up includes subjects as diverse as refugee crises, an elusive endangered parrot and docu-fiction hybrids. The inimitable documentarian Werner Herzog – whose last Festival film was 2011’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams – turns his idiosyncratic gaze to the many oddities of the Internet age, with Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World. Two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple has two entries in the year’s line-up: Hot Type: 150 Years of the Nation, a tour of America’s oldest continuously published weekly magazine, and Miss Sharon Jones, which charts the eponymous singer’s life and music.Weiner, about Anthony Weiner’s now-infamous 2013 New York mayoral campaign, has been hailed as “the best documentary about a political campaign ever made.” And the Festival continues to be as supportive of world-renowned non-fiction filmmakers as homegrown ones. The Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary competition again features films from ten Australian directors, covering subjects as diverse as their makers. BOOK NOW!

Screening at the 2016 Sydney Film Festival are 65 documentaries from 27 countries in 31 languages. 59 are feature-length productions, 40% are directed by women filmmakers, 14 are Australian productions or co-productions, eight are world premieres, 52 are Australian premieres – and there’s one international premiere, for good measure. In short, it’s a broad representation of all that’s on trend in the documentary filmmaking world.

BAXTER AND ME
TUE 14 JUN 8:30PM | EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST

In this charming documentary, award-winning Sydney director Gillian Leahy (My Life Without Steve) combines her two great passions: dogs and film.

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DESTINATION ARNOLD
SAT 18 JUN 7:35PM | EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST

The moving story of two determined Indigenous women with a dream to make it to the Arnolds – an amateur bodybuilding competition being held in Australia for the first time.

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EUROPE, SHE LOVES
SAT 11 JUN 8:50PM –
EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST
MON 13 JUN 6:15PM | DENDY OPERA QUAYSAn excitingly original hybrid documentary about four young couples in today’s Europe, viewed both in and out of the bedroom, by award-winning filmmaker Jan Gassman.BOOK NOW

FIRE AT SEA
FRI 17 JUN 4:25PM STATE THEATRE
SUN 19 JUN 5:15PM – EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE STWinner of the Golden Bear for Best Film at Berlinale: a striking Italian documentary exploring the tragic refugee crisis on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.BOOK NOW

A GIRL IN THE RIVER: THE PRICE OF FORGIVENESS
SUN 12 JUN 6:30PM | DENDY OPERA QUAYSSharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film about honour killings in Pakistan won the 2016 Oscar for Best Documentary Short, and will screen in a double bill with her 2012 Oscar winner, Saving Face.BOOK NOW

IN JACKSON HEIGHTS
SUN 12 JUN 2:00PM | DENDY OPERA QUAYS
SUN 19 JUN 6:15PM | DENDY OPERA QUAYSCelebrated documentarian Frederick Wiseman explores New York’s Jackson Heights – one of the world’s most diverse neighbourhoods – in his exquisite fly-on-the-wall style.BOOK NOW

JHERONIMUS BOSCH – TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL
SUN 12 JUN 1:00PM –
EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST
TUE 14 JUN 10:00AM – STATE THEATREThe fantastical and utterly unique imagery of Dutch medieval painter Jheronimus Bosch is celebrated and interrogated in this true-life whodunit from the obsessive world of art.BOOK NOW

KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE
THU 16 JUN 8:05PM –
EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST
SUN 19 JUN 12:05PM – DENDY OPERA QUAYSSundance award winner: a provocative interpretation of the events leading to the first televised suicide, directed by innovative US filmmaker Robert Greene (Actress).BOOK NOW

KIKI
FRI 10 JUN 8:40PM DENDY NEWTOWN
SAT 11 JUN 3:50PM – EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE STThe 2016 Teddy Award winner at Berlinale: a walk through New York City’s voguing ballroom scene, led with swagger by gatekeeper Twiggy Pucci Garçon.BOOK NOW

ON RICHARD’S SIDE
WED 15 JUN 8:20PM –
EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE STFilmed over three decades, this intimate documentary charts the life-story of Richard, a young man with a complex disability since birth.BOOK NOW

LO AND BEHOLD: REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD
WED 8 JUN 6:15PM –
EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST
THU 9 JUN 3:55PM STATE THEATREWerner Herzog, director of such beloved classics of the non-fiction realm as Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, turns his inimitable eye on the evolution of the Internet.BOOK NOW

LIFE, ANIMATED
SAT 18 JUN 4:15PM – STATE THEATRE
SUN 19 JUN 11:00AM – EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE STAn award winner at Sundance 2016, Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams’ heart-warming documentary tells the unique story of a boy with autism and his love of Disney films.BOOK NOW

THE OPPOSITION
MON 13 JUN 6:20PM –
EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE STA David-and-Goliath battle between the residents of the Paga Hill settlement, Port Moresby, and the developers with plans for an international five-star hotel and marina.BOOK NOW

NOTES ON BLINDNESS
SAT 18 JUN 2:05PM STATE THEATRE
SUN 19 JUN 9:30AM STATE THEATREA beautiful and precise account of the world of blindness: an innovative visual recreation of the audio diaries of writer and theologian John Hull.BOOK NOW

TICKLED
THU 9 JUN 6:30PM – DENDY NEWTOWN
FRI 10 JUN 6:30PM – EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE STA jaw-dropping documentary on the surprisingly sinister world of competitive endurance tickling, from New Zealand co-directors Dylan Reeve and journalist David Farrier.BOOK NOW

WEINER
SAT 11 JUN 5:00PM STATE THEATRE
TUE 14 JUN 8:00PM DENDY OPERA QUAYS
SUN 19 JUN 5:45PM EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE STAbsorbing exposé of Anthony ‘sexting scandal’ Weiner’s 2013 New York mayoral campaign: winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary – 2016 Sundance Film Festival.BOOK NOW

Mira Fuchs

By

Michael Hunt

-

23 May 2016

Moving, seductive and transgressive, Mira Fuchs is an intimate work presented in the round by extraordinary performer and live artist Melanie Jame Wolf. Drawing from the eight years Melanie worked as a stripper in gentlemen’s clubs, it promises to be both entertaining and unflinchingly personal, exploring sexuality and gender in both performance and more intimate aesthetics, Mira Fuchs is the first exploration in a trilogy that focuses on the economies of affect and ways of being a woman. Writer Jessi Lewis spoke with this talented artist ahead of her upcoming season at Arts House

Melanie Jame, lets start off, please introduce us to the work, what was the genesis behind Mira Fuchs?

Fuchs is the first in a trilogy of pieces about ways of performing being a woman. It draws on my 8 years experience of working as a stripper in a club in Melbourne to provide a lens for an intimate audience of 30 people to critically consider their own position in relation to the body, gender, intimacy, and performance as labour.

How have the eight years working in gentlemen’s clubs effected your work, and your approach to dance?

It’s really important for me to note here that I consider myself an artist and a performance maker, not a dancer. Mira Fuchs as a work is programmed in dance festivals often though, and that to me makes a lot of sense, because the piece draws on a very specific movement vocabulary and is very pre-occupied with questions around dance and performance as labour or work.

Working for eight years as a stripper effected my work as an artist by equipping me with a really nuanced skill set for reading and connecting with audiences, for holding a performative space for people, and for being really, super in my body and super, super present.

Visually what can we expect from this performance, and what of it’s intimacy?

Mira Fuchs is performed in the round for an audience of thirty people. It is a work in which an audience forms a community that needs to negotiate and re-negotiate being in close proximity to my performing body. But for me, intimacy isn’t about physical proximity – intimacy is about unique, present and direct exchanges of affect with individual members of the audience. So I guess, what you can expect is to be invited into a scenario in which we really spend some time together. This can be kind of delightfully challenging, but also really beautiful, and really fun.

How did you come to be a dancer, what inspires you about the form and what direction do you see dance taking into the future?

I don’t feel qualified to answer questions about dance. That’s not to say that I don’t engage with dance, I do, a lot, my closest circle of friends at home in Berlin are pretty much all dancers and choreographers…but, I’m not a dancer, as such. In making Mira Fuchs however, I have fallen into a greater thickening of my relationship to choreography…and what inspires me about that is working through and in the body as a material in relation to space in particular ways…and working through and with and in the different relationships that individuals have with their bodies – trained and most definitely otherwise. I sense that there is a lot of anxiety in some circles, and some countries more than others, about defining what dance is…but I don’t necessarily care about contributing to that drama.

What questions do you wish to pose in this Mira Fuchs?

Mira Fuchs is first and foremost about inviting people to consider how they participate in establishing and perpetuating the values that they share. It’s about inviting people to feel ok about not knowing things, especially how they feel. I don’t know how I feel about stripping. Even now. It’s complicated. And that’s what makes it so interesting. It should be complicated, it brings up so many important, tricky ideas around women’s agency and sovereignty over their bodies, their sexuality, their pleasure, their ability to detach and/or assign meaning to their actions; and ideas around how shame is a structural mechanism of control. So Mira Fuchs is an invitation for people to unpack whatever it is that they need to unpack around the subject. It is also an offer to people to witness what the labour, the actual work of stripping is, and to recognise and appreciate that. I don’t need conclusions on this subject, I am down with the complications and the consequent super great conversations that are produced by the work for audiences.

What value do you feel we put on art, in an economic sense, if any?

What I think is really important to talk about is that the labour of producing art is grotesquely undervalued and increasingly exploited. Making work that ‘works’ – and that means a lot of different things – making art, like for real and for a living, is a really labour intensive process which requires a whole refined, developed skill set. It also means spending a lot of time and space to develop a practice, space to fail and to be mentored and to refine your lines of inquiry with rigour. It’s a long game – making each new piece AND developing a practice. And clearly, in Australia right now – in light of the thoroughly violent, feudal cuts to Australia Council funding – art and artists doing anything actually interesting and actually relevant to international contemporary practices, not to mention the fostering of a vibrant national ecology of cultural production, are horrifically undervalued. And this is occurring as a part of hyper conservative agenda that is far more dangerous than ‘we’ seem to be willing to admit. With this devaluing, the means of cultural production end up only in the hands of the wealthy, and that is seriously, seriously capital O oppressive for so many hopefully very obvious reasons.

Mira Fuchs opens for a strictly limited season on Thursday the 2nd of June, at Arts House, North Melbourne, book your tickets here

St Kilda Film Festival 2016

By

Lisa Romeo

-

22 May 2016