Just About Now is A collection of things happening in our spaces & places, physical & digital, intersecting culture, community & CREATIVITY
“The Yoorrook Justice Commission, represented by the design at the centre of the logo, is central to the truth telling for injustices for First Nations people and in turn is central to making recommendations for healing, system reform and practical changes to laws, policy and education.
“The circles represent meeting and community and they are connected through the songlines of culture and understanding.”
ART | PHOTOGRAPHY. NOW. Jill Orr | The Promised Land Refigured. “Framed by the impact of Australia’s policy of turning back asylum seekers who arrive by boat, The Promised Land Refigured engages with the anticipated issue of global homelessness, due to the outcomes of mass destruction of homes and environments resulting from climate change.”–Linden New Art, Acland St, St Kilda. 24 Feb–19 May 2024.
2013–2021. Boat Turnbacks By Australia | Asylum Insight. “873 people (including 124 children) seeking asylum were returned under the Operation Sovereign Borders program between 2013 and 2021. The exact number is not available due to a 2013 government decision not to release ‘on-water’ operational information and gaps in operational updates.”
2017. A Letter From Manus Island | The Saturday Paper | Behrouz Boochani. “For many months, the refugees living inside Manus prison have had to endure extraordinarily oppressive conditions orchestrated by the Australian government. During this time, the Department of Immigration used various strategies in order to force refugees out and transfer them into three new camps: East Lorengau, Hillside and West Haus.”–Behrouz Boochani
BOOKS. 2006. Heat | George Monbiot. How we can stop the planet burning
NOW. The Greatest Threat To Life On Earth (2023) | George Monbiot. It’s not what you think | DoubleDownNews. “In 2016, Monbiot announced that he’d converted to veganism in order to reduce his impact on the environment.”
The best way to save the planet? Drop meat and dairy | The Guardian
I’ve converted to veganism to reduce my impact on the living world | The Guardian
NOW. How Consumerism Destroys Our Minds (2021) | George Monbiot. Consumerism is the stifling of our moral imaginations | DoubleDownNews
PLACE. 1986. Linden New Art. So, who is this Linden? The Linden is named after… the colour of lime trees. Citron vert? Chartreuse?
BOOKS. 1939. La chartreuse de Parme | Stendhal. A French lit classic. A chartreuse or charterhouse is a monastery of the Order of Carthusians.
“C’est un monastère de Chartreux, nommés ainsi car le premier monastère fut fondé dans le massif de la Grande Chartreuse, au cœur des Alpes près de Grenoble. L’ordre monastique, très austère, a prospéré et a fondé dans toute l’Europe des chartreuses.
C’est aussi le nom d’une liqueur digestive excellente préparée à base de plantes par les moines de la Grande Chartreuse. Il y en a deux variétés, la jaune et la verte. Je préfère la verte.
Le titre de Stendhal La Chartreuse de Parme évoque le monastère où se retire son héros, sauf qu’il n’y a pas de chartreuse à Parme…”–Michel Rabaud, Paris
ART | THEATRE. 2005. Le dernier caravanserail | Ariane Mouchekine | Theatre du soleil. Presented by the Melbourne International Arts Festival, 6-22 October 2005, at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton.
NOW. NEWS ARTICLE. Feb 2024. Boat arrivals who reached WA taken to Nauru | Financial Review | Tom McIlroy and Maxim Shanahan
NOW. NEWS ARTICLE. Feb. 2024. Western Australia boat arrivals: what are the current laws and policies on asylum seekers? | The Guardian | Staff
PLACE. 1880. Royal Exhibition Building & Carlton Gardens. “The property is typical of the international exhibition movement which saw over 50 exhibitions staged between 1851 and 1915 in venues including Paris, New York, Vienna, Calcutta, Kingston (Jamaica) and Santiago (Chile). All shared a common theme and aims to chart material and moral progress through displays of industry from all nations.”–UNESCO
MUSIC | MUSIC VIDEO. NOW. Fibonacci Sequence by Max Cooper, Video by Yoshi Sodeoka. “I’ve been working on a commission for Salzburg festival and Barbican London to create a new show based around Italy. So I’ve been delving into some historic Italian music and science to find ideas for new audio and visual content. The most famous of all sequences, the Fibonacci Sequence, had to be included.” The inaugural Melbourne Now Or Never Festival in 2023 presented Max Cooper at the Royal Exhibition Building.
BOOKS. 1202. Liber Abaci by Leonardo Pisano, a.k.a. Leonardo Fibonacci.
2019. Master Fibonacci: The Man Who Changed Math by Shelley Allen. Fibonacci In Art And Architecture fibonacci.com
PLACE. 1999. The Vineyard, always on the edges keeping a community safe if not sane to the wee hours. Open daily until 3am.
2019 and then again NOW. Future of St Kilda’s Vineyard bar in doubt as owners face eviction | Cara Waters | SMH The Age. If Port Phillip City Council is serious about placemaking, why tear down this place that has been at the the heart of many a St Kilda night and in the hearts of many a St Kilda local?
MUSIC. COMMUNITY. NOW. St Kilda Blues Festival, 1–3 March 2024. “A weekend celebrating the spirit of music and all things blues. Music everywhere for everybody.”
DOCUMENTARY. NOW. Monochrome: Black, White & Blue | Jon Brewer. With Joe Bonamassa, Kevin Boyle, Jake Bugg, Malcolm John Rebennack, Morgan Freeman, B.B. King. Available on SBS On Demand. “Jon Brewer explores the history of blues music and the plight of the people in America’s deep south.”–SBS On Demand.
MUSIC. NOW. From Benin, Yoruba/Fon Angelique Kidjo at Hamer Hall, Tuesday 5 March 2024. “Forever a voice for change, Angélique Kidjo’s Mother Nature confronts such pressing issues as racial inequity and the climate crisis, again proving her rare power to transform complex subject matter into music that is radiantly joyful.”–Arts Centre Melbourne
MUSIC. Angelique Kidjo at Tiny Desk Concert (12 September 2022)
MUSIC VIDEO. 1994. Agolo by Angelique Kidjo. Ayé!
PLACE. 1982. Hamer Hall. Named after Victorian Premier Rupert James “Dick” Hamer (haay-mer).
“On 6 November 1982, The Melbourne Concert Hall opened, and in April 2004 was renamed Hamer Hall after former Premier Sir Rupert Hamer in honour of his tenacity and passion to ensure Melbourne could boast a major cultural facility able to compete on the international stage.
Hamer Hall was subsequently closed for two years to undergo a $135.8 million major redevelopment funded by the Victorian Government. Reopening in July 2012, key improvements were made to the auditorium (acoustics, technical capability, and audience and artist comfort) and public areas (foyers, bars and toilets), with the exterior of the building updated to include a new river entrance, fantastic views of the city and a chic [sic] dining precinct.”–ACM
PLACE. NOW. The Fox: NGV Contemporary. The Arts Precinct is birthing another major home for the arts. “Melbourne is the cultural capital of this nation and The Fox marks its next great offering to the world. This project signals Australia as a great contemporary nation with a significant creative force. This building will be a beacon of the culture of our time.”–Angelo Candelapas, The Fox Architect, Candelapas & Associates, Sydney
DOCUMENTARY. From Canada, by Anishinaabe/Polish author Tanya Talaga. Spirit To Soar (2021) directed by Michelle Derosier, Tanya Talaga. Available on SBS On Demand only until Thursday 7 March 2024.
“A followup to Talaga’s award-winning 2017 book Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death and Hard Truths in a Northern City, the film updates the story of the deaths of several indigenous teenagers in Ontario’s Thunder Bay, centring in part on the effects of their deaths on surviving family members.”–Wikipedia. More on Spirit To Soar here
DOCUMENTARY. From Australia, Wide Open Sky (2015) by Lisa Nicol. Winner, Audience Award for Best Documentary, Sydney Film Festival 2015.
“Wide Open Sky takes us into the lives of Kyh, Mack, Opal and Taylah, four brave and hopeful primary school children who travel far from home to music camp to prepare for the choir’s big concert. They have just three days to learn a demanding repertoire. Set against a stunning landscape and featuring music by acclaimed band Dirty Three, Wide Open Sky is a funny, heartwarming snapshot of childhood in rural Australia.”–eOne ANZ. Available on SBS On Demand. Watch the trailer.
FILM. NOW. The Taste Of Things [La passion de Dodin Bouffant] directed by Trán Anh Hùng, with Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel. Winner Best Director Award – Cannes Film Festival 2023.
NOW. Alliance Française French Film Festival, 6 March to 2 April.
PLACE. 1936. The Astor Theatre. “The Astor Theatre is a cinema in the grand, old manner. The last single screen cinema of its kind in continuous operation in Melbourne, still standing since its grand opening in 1936, and one of only a few single screen movie theatres from the 1930s in the world screening repertory movie programming.”–The Astor
MUSIC. NOW. From First Nations Australia & Melanesia (Oceania) Wantok Musik’s Sing Sing at Memo Hall, Thursday 7 March 2024. “Wantok Sing Sing with George Telek, Radical Son, Tio, Frank Yamma & David Bridie is a vibrant, joyful celebration of culture from Melanesia and First Nations Australia, all together in one huge show.”
“Sing Sing is a tok pidgin word from Papua New Guinea meaning a large musical gathering, a celebration in song and dance, a music party. The concert presents 16 of the finest musicians from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Australia featuring Pitjantjatjara elder Uncle Frank Yamma and PNG music legend Sir George Telek. The musicians each share songs and stories from their culture and language, accompanying each other and collaborating to find new levels of connection, under the artist direction of 7-time ARIA award winner David Bridie.”–Memo
Find out more about the Artists of Wantok Musik (desktop view only)
MUSIC. NOW. It’s much more than just Music, it’s Bridie. This Is A Good Diary (2023) by David Bridie, from his album It’s Been A While Since Our Last Correspondence.
MUSIC. NOW. The Etcetera Prayer (2023) by David Bridie & Kathleen Fallon
“David Bridie is an Australian contemporary musician and songwriter. He was a founding mainstay member of World music band Not Drowning, Waving. During his solo career he has issued five studio albums and worked on soundtracks for Australian films and television. Bridie is the founder and artistic director of Wantok Musik Foundation; a not-for-profit music label that records, releases and promotes culturally infused music from Indigenous Australia, Melanesia and Oceania. In 2019 he received the Don Banks Music Award.”–Wikipedia. davidbridie.com/about
PLACE. 1924. St Kilda Memorial Hall. NOW. Memo Music Hall.
“From 1961 to 1965 MEMO Music Hall was the home of TELEFIL recording and film studios under the supervision of legendary sound engineer Bill Armstrong. The stars of Channel 7’s weekly variety program Sunnyside Up, including Olivia Newton-John, recorded the audio at MEMO miming to the pre-records live on-air.
Amongst its claim to recording history fame is its location for Normie Rowe’s 1965 hit, It Ain’t Necessarily So. Banned initially for its lyrics, it was the first number one record in both Sydney and Melbourne, by a Melbourne-based artist.
In the 1980s and early 1990s Pan Pacific films were based at MEMO where it was used for filming and as a rehearsal space. The 2003 film Ned Kelly starring Heath Ledger was rehearsed here. MEMO.”–MMH
ART | PERFORMANCE. NOW. From Melbourne and the world over, House Of The Heart by Finucane & Smith. Only until Sunday 10 March at the Dragon Gallery, Chinese Museum.
NOW. “Finucane & Smith return with their stunning cocktail of cabaret for the head, the heart and all the senses, to the luckiest place in town, the Chinese Museum’s Dragon Gallery. A cornucopia of extraordinary singers, dancers and storytellers in a work that swirls across language and culture to explore home, family and how we create a sense of place, and heart-felt belonging in this country we all call home.”–F&S
ART | PERFORMANCE. 2018. Words On Fire | Moira Finucane. “When do words inspire and when do they incite? When is speech free, and when is it hateful? Fighting words, funny words, insulting words and incendiary words – for better or for worse, language moves us and it matters.”–Wheeler Centre Gala
PLACE. 1985. The Museum Of Chinese Australian History & Chinatown, Melbourne
COMMUNITY. 2024. Year Of The Dragon. Dai Loong, The Millennium Dragon Parade, Melbourne
Dai Gum Loong, Bendigo. “Every year, Dai Gum Loong weaves through the streets of Bendigo at the Gala Parade during the Bendigo Easter Festival. On other days, you can see him at Golden Dragon Museum.”
MUSIC. From Brazil, Gilberto Gil at The Palais Theatre, Tuesday 12 March 2024. Afro-Brazilian “multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the leading names in Brazilian music and an originator of the movement known as Tropicália (or Tropicalismo).”–Britannica
1969. “Aquele abraço”: the pain of prison became joy, forgiveness, and samba | Instituto Gilberto Gil
2021. Refloresta by Gilberto Gil, Gilsons and Bem Gil.
2022. Gilberto Gil at 80: ‘Bolsonaro has a retrograde worldview, an opposition to any advance’ | The Guardian | Carlos Albuquerque
PLACE. 1914. Palais Theatre, St Kilda
MUSIC. NOW. SummerSalt 2024 at Catani Gardens, all day Saturday 16 March, from 1pm. “SummerSalt is back in 2024 to deliver another season of live music in some of the most scenic locations in the country! This year showcases an exciting international artist alongside some Aussie favourites for a stellar line-up featuring James Bay, Matt Corby, Ziggy Alberts, Thelma Plum, Kita Alexander, and Mia Wray.”–SummerSalt/Ticketmaster
PLACE. Late 1920s. Catani Gardens. “Heritage listed Catani Gardens sit next to the world famous St Kilda foreshore. The gardens are named after their designer, Carlo Catani.”–City of Port Phillip
1914. Captain Cook Monument by James Tweed in Catani Gardens, St Kilda. “Victoria police are investigating ‘criminal damage’ to a century-old Captain Cook statue in St Kilda in an apparent protest over the Australia Day public holiday.”–The Guardian. Read the news article here. “Cook did not visit Port Phillip.”–Emily Wind, The Guardian
SPORT. NOW. The 2024 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Reserve, Thursday 21 March to Sunday 24 March.
Community Day. Free Park Pass tickets on Thursday, 21 March, for residents and business owners within postcodes 3182, 3205, 3206 and 3004. Information for local residents and businesses
PLACE. 1864. Albert Park Reserve, roughly 2.25 square kilometres of parkland for community sport… except during the Australian Grand Prix.
COMMUNITY. SPORT. Community Sport in Albert Park. “There are currently 20 sporting fields, which accommodate around 42 clubs and host numerous local, interstate and international sporting events.”–Parks Victoria
MUSIC. NOW. From the USA, African-American Meshell Ndegeocello at Melbourne Recital Centre, Tuesday 26 March 2024. “With a body of work extending far beyond the early hits and virtuosic bass playing for which Ndegeocello is most renowned, her music defies categorisation. Her vocals, a captivating fusion of authoritative raps, pensive spoken word, and ethereal choruses, add yet another layer to her multifaceted artistry in an unmissable performance.”–MRC
MUSIC. (2021) Meshell Ndegoncello at Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
MUSIC. (2023) Meshell Ndegeocello – The Atlantiques (Official Video)
PLACE. 2009. Melbourne Recital Centre. “Designed by architecture firm Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) with acoustical engineering by ARUP Acoustics, the Centre’s musically rich spaces are of the calibre of landmark halls such as Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal and London’s Wigmore Hall.”
PLACE. Melbourne Arts Precinct. “The Melbourne Arts Precinct has a rich cultural history and has been an important gathering place for Wurundjeri and visiting Kulin Nations for millennia. Development Victoria is delivering the transformation of the Melbourne Arts Precinct, Australia’s largest cultural infrastructure project, on behalf of Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation.”
MUSIC. Sunday Blues at The Espy. Basement please.
PLACE. 1878. The Esplanade Hotel
MUSIC. Paul Kelly | How To Make Gravy (2013). Paul Kelly on the wall of The Espy is St Kilda’s most famous local. paulkelly.com
COMMUNITY. 1975. The Story Behind The Image. “The historically significant gesture of pouring of a handful of red soil by Gough Whitlam into Vincent Lingiari’s hand on 16 August 1975, symbolised the legal transfer of Wave Hill station back to the Gurindji people. It also meant the Gurindji became the first Aboriginal community to have land returned to them by the Commonwealth Government and would be a turning point – the start of the Aboriginal land rights movement for the rest of Indigenous Australia, that continues even today.”–SBS NITV
MUSIC. Paul Kelly | From Little Things Big Things Grow (1991). “Written by prominent Australian singer-songwriters Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, the lyrics chart the Gurindji people’s struggle for land rights. The song tells the story of the Wave Hill Walk-Off in 1966, through to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically handing their land back eight years later – an event which become a catalyst for the Aboriginal land rights movement.”–NFSA
COMMUNITY. 1992. The Redfern Speech. Prime Minister Paul Keating at the launch of Australia’s celebration of the 1993 International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Redfern Park, 10 December 1992. (Duration 16:50)–NAA
COMMUNITY. 2008. National Apology To The Stolen Generations (2008). “On 13 February 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and assimilation. The journey to National Apology began with the Bringing Them Home report – the findings of an inquiry instigated by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 1995.”–NMA
DOCUMENTARY. 2023. Pat O’Shane | Rebel With A Cause. “The story of how Pat O’Shane AM defied the odds to become one of Australia’s most brilliant legal game changers, and a look at her ambitious federal election campaign.” Available on SBS On Demand
BOOKS. 2023. Killing For Country: A Family History by David Marr. “David Marr is a Guardian Australia journalist. He is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most influential commentators, writing on subjects such as politics, censorship, the media and the arts. He has been a journalist since 1973 and is the recipient of four Walkley awards for journalism.”
David Marr’s Killing For Country | Australia’s Biggest Book Club (2024). “David Marr discusses his latest novel, Killing For Country, a richly detailed saga of politics and power in the colonial world — of land seized, fortunes made and lost, and the violence let loose as squatters and their allies fought for possession of the country — a war still unresolved in today’s Australia.”–The Australia Institute
COMMUNITY. 2023. Federal Referendum: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.
An Open Letter: All Australians should read this statement from Indigenous leaders, regardless of how they voted | The Monthly | Rachel Withers. “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are in shock and are grieving the result. We feel acutely the repudiation of our peoples and the rejection of our efforts to pursue reconciliation in good faith.”
POST-SCRIPTUM:
ART. MUSIC. BOOKS. Hares & Hyenas? That’s the bookstore tucked under the stairs at the Victorian Pride Centre.
Hours: 10am to 5:00pm –Monday to Saturday. 11.30am to 5:00pm –Sunday.
From their shelves: Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure, presented by the artist’s family, and Queen Uncovered by Peter Hince.
ART. 1987. Jean-Michel Basquiat | King Pleasure (detail)
Jean-Michel Basquiat died from a drug overdose in August 1988, aged 27.
“2,231 drug-induced deaths were reported in Australia in 2021, with 1,675 of these deaths unintentional.”
“Overdose deaths are not spread equally through society. Over one third of all unintentional drug-induced deaths occurred among residents from the most disadvantaged areas. The rate of unintentional drug-induced deaths among Indigenous Australians was almost four times that of non-Indigenous Australians (20 per 100,000 population, compared with 5.9 per 100,000 for non-Aboriginal people). Males are also over-represented, with 70% of unintentional drug-induced deaths in 2021 being men.”–Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2023
“There were 1,559 alcohol-induced deaths recorded in 2021, a rate of 5.4 deaths for every 100,000 people living in Australia.”
“Alcoholic liver disease was the highest underlying cause that contributed to alcohol-induced deaths (1,008 deaths) in 2021 (Table 1). This is followed by mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol use (327 deaths), accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (118 deaths), and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent (3 deaths) and intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (1 death). The remaining 102 alcohol-induced deaths have resulted from cardiomyopathy, degeneration of nervous system, acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, myopathy, polyneuropathy, gastritis and Cushing’s syndrome.”–Alcohol-induced deaths in Australia, FARE
ART. Hungry Ghost (2006, detail) by Helen Norton. Australian artist Helen Norton was born in St Kilda in 1961.
“In Buddhism, hungry ghosts, or pretas, are beings who are tormented by desire that can never be sated. (…) The preta realm is defined by attachment, and the truth that we can never end the suffering of unquenched desire, no matter how much we consume.”–Lion’s Roar
BOOKS. In The Realm Of Hungry Ghosts by Dr Gabor Maté. “The question is not why the addiction, but why the pain.”
“From street-dwelling drug addicts to high-functioning workaholics, the continuum of addiction cuts a wide and painful swath through our culture. (…) Countering prevailing notions of addiction as either a genetic disease or an individual moral failure, Dr. Gabor Maté presents an eloquent case that addiction – all addiction – is in fact a case of human development gone askew.”
Next time you walk our streets, it may be helpful to look at the homeless and roughsleepers from a different lens.
When you come home, it may be helpful to look at members of your household with the same lens.
Gerome Villarete, Secretary
POST-POST-SCRIPTUM:
MUSIC. Palestine by Yann Tiersen | Live in Berlin Tempelhof Airport ARTE Concert. “Passengers invites Yann Tiersen under the steel canopy of Tempelhof Airport. An expansive setting for the sound of album 11 5 18 2 5 18 the electronic version of his album Kerber, an ode to the Breton island of Ushant.“
IDEAS. Louise Adler on the place of politics in the arts. Laura Tingle | 7.30 Report, 4 Dec 2023. “Louise Adler AM is an Australian publisher. She was CEO of Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) from 2003 until 2019, when she became editor-at-large at Hachette Australia. In March 2022 she took up a three-year appointment as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week, starting with the 2023 edition of the event. Louise Adler was born in Melbourne to Jacques and Ruth Adler, Jewish immigrants from Paris, France, who arrived in Australia in 1949.”–Wikipedia
MUSIC. Be Free by Ten City (Emmaculate & Shannon Chambers Mix). “The pursuit of happiness is a basic right. The right to live with dignity, why would anybody want to take that from me? How about I’ll respect you, then you’ll respect me. Then together–Life, Love, Laughter and Liberty. I expect that. And I want that. For everybody.”