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The White Hat Melbourne Newsletter
Archived
Newsletter No.174 - 26 May 2006
Contents
This Sunday at Fed Square there are celebrations for Italian National Day. You can sample the food, enjoy the entertainment and discuss what tactics an Italian soccer team would have used to beat the Australians. Later in the week you can attend a gala Italian Australians Social Club Ball. Details at Ethnic Festivals in Melbourne.
The St Kilda Film Festival starts on Tuesday. Details at Film Festivals in Melbourne. +----------------------------------------------------+ This Sunday there is a Baby and Children’s Market in Ringwood. Details at Fairs & Fetes in Melbourne. There is also a fair and concert based around the culture of PNG and the Top End at the Arts Centre called Sing Sing 2. In Dandenong there is a Chinese May Dragon Festival. Details of both at Ethnic Festivals in Melbourne.
The energetic dance performers of Stomp return to the maj this week while in South Morang (you all know where that is) there are still a few performances remaining of Grease. Details at Theatre in Melbourne.
On Sunday, Sydney Road Brunswick will be closed to through traffic except trams. It will be a bit like Swanston walk except you’re allowed to walk on it. Hop on your bike and head off to Brunswick. We should explain to our readers at Clunes that inhabitants of the inner suburbs get very excited about being able to wander up the middle of a main street. Details at Cycling in Melbourne.
Melbourne has an international puppet festival approaching and the organisers are looking fro volunteers. If you like more information, send us an email.
“To Nat and Crystal. Congratulations on crossing your ‘RubyCon’. Good luck with what might encounter out there.
From another hippie chick.”
We noted with interest this email contained double spaces after each full stop. Back in the olden days of manual typewriters (and classical references such as Crossing the Rubicon) this was a common form of layout. With the arrival of electric typewriters, word processing and layout software, the technology looked after the sentence spacing and the double space became archaic. We suspect our hippie chick’s odometer is on the wrong side of the big five O. “Hi, Like many I suspect - I was referred to your newsletter by a long time reader. I have had the pleasure of reading your most recent newsletter and would like to while away some of my Friday afternoons taking in your suggestions on and about our wonderful city. Again like many, I bustle to and from the city day in day out and really don't stop to wonder. I love Melbourne, I love coming back to Melbourne after travelling here and there. . .
All the best, Russell”
“We are interested in children's activities, entertainment and arts suitable for children (which doesn't mean 'dumbed down'). We are new to Victoria, live in the country but want our children to visit Melbourne regularly. We are looking for educational activities: science, environment, maths, history, geography etc. Our kids love learning and seeing new things. Older primary aged. Lyn” “Hello white hats,
I'm writing in reply to your newsletter 130 article regarding smart street art in Melbourne. I know this is an unbelievably late reply but I was hoping to incite more discussion on this idea. I'm just writing to offer my perspective on "tags" and "tagging" that you seem to look down upon. I understand that this is a both aesthetically and legally contentious issue, but despite the beliefs of what seems like an overwhelming majority of views on the issue (discounting those who actually tag) I would like to put forward my view on tagging as a legitimate (if not legally condonable) piece of graffiti art culture. I should make clear, I do not say that it is art in its own right, rather that it is a part of the artistic ethos of graffiti, and may be defended as such. Oh, and I found the sarcastic quotation marks (I know sarcastic quotation marks when I see them!) you placed around "graffiti artists" (wow, a double entendre using PUNCTUATION) offensively derogatory of people who are trying hard to write their place into a world into which they do not fit. I understand that some people who claim to be "graffers" are in fact just defacing for the hell of it and as such could not be considered culturally legitimate or condonable, but in any movement or system there will be morons who abuse it and that's a problem with people in general, not any particular movement or system. And any such ethos that forcibly prohibited morons is not one I want to be a part of. You have to allow people freedom for a person to abuse you, but the same freedom is what allows the creation of new, great artwork. Freedom of expression has always been a two-edged sword. Now the reason I accept tagging as a practice is not for the tag itself, but rather its intention and meaning. All graf (or all conscientious graf at least) is an attempt to soften and humanise a highly systematised world, to shape it rather than letting it shape you. And to put your identity (there's a reason that most graf is in fact the graffiti name of the artist) into the world around you that perhaps is the only way you can feel a part of it. Graffiti artists were originally mostly poor black children, or in other words, people for whom the current system of society simply didn't work. If they did all the "right" things (go to school, get a job, work, raise a family) the odds were they would still always struggle and would die poor black and young (or at least much younger than any white person). So these alienated individuals tried to claim back some of the world, and their medium was graffiti. To put your name up on a wall is to own that little bit of your world. It is to be a part of it where maybe before you felt that you couldn't. And so there is what tagging is to me: it is an attempt to claim back some of the world, to own it and yourself in it. It is the response of the alienated individual. Maybe if the world were softer on down and out people as opposed to catering to those who don't need the help (the tax cuts to the upper tax brackets anyone?) then there would be no need for graffiti and tagging would disappear (or at least conscientious tagging, I'm sure there would still be some defacing morons out there, but they probably wouldn't have much courage to tag without a more legitimate artistic front to hide behind). Anyway, I realise that I have now written a longer response to your article than the original article itself, but you have raised a contentious issue and I felt there should be a voice for the people standing on the other side of said issue. If you do aim to be intelligent and informed, maybe you should take another look at this issue and how you present tagging in your guides and newsletters. Some people may just blindly accept your opinion and recycle it into the current intolerance of street art. Your article was very witty, pithy in fact, and quite middle class too. If you would like to start a movement of smart, engaged street artists I know some good people who would be happy to help. But most of them are already out tagging. Sincerely Feet
"with my feet in the air and my head on the ground"
The entry Feet is referring to can be found at Graffiti. You can find other references to street art in our newsletters at Melbourne's Disappearing Hidden Gems and Deadly Sins No.4 & No.5 (to be read as a pair).
This weekend the Australian Garden at Cranbourne opens. This is the Australian natives’ branch of the Royal Botanic Gardens. I am not sure whether there is a new section opening or whether it is re-opening after bushfires swept through the area recently. Entry price is normally $9 (concesion $6.5 and children under 16 free) but Sunday will be free entry for all. Australian drought resistant plants offer some stunning possibilities for contemporary gardens. It is interesting that the best examples of such gardens we know are part of the landscaping of industrial complexes. By the way, congratulations to our Victoria’s Fleming's Nurseries whose entry contemporary garden design won the gold medal for the second year in a row at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London. For those interested in roses, there is a rose pruning workshop amongst the famous roses at Flemington Racecourse. Details of these events at Garden Festivals in Melbourne.
This week there are plenty of quality concerts to choose from including a free performance of Messiaen’s remarkable Quartet for the End of Time and a free concert of early music tonight (Friday) at Melba Hall. The Town Hall Proms series start featuring Rachmaninov’s popular 1st Piano Concerto. For details go to our home page and select ‘classical music’ under the drop-down menu of Music. There you will find the most comprehensive listing available of classical performances in Melbourne. If you are looking for a particular type of performances such as choirs then you would choose ‘Choral Concerts’ from the drop-down menu of “Type of Concert’ on the Classical Music page. The same applies for choosing music by particular composers or for particular instruments.
This coming Friday there is a scrapbooking bus tour around a number of outlets in Melbourne. Poor old hubby will have stay at home with the kids and miss all the excitement. Details at Craft Festivals in Melbourne.
On Wednesday night there is a photographic exhibition and gala auction night to raise money for World Vision's Sudan Crisis Appeal. Details at Federation Square.
“What sort of small minded review is this? Helps me none to find out about the vibe of the market and whats on offer, I only get your narrow minded view on things you have obviously never opened up to try and experience. Maybe throw the opinionated rubbish out the window and start again. Give me something interesting other than this ridiculous information you call 'A Guide'.
Sigrid”
The page to which Sigrid is referring is St Andrews Market. “Saw Todd McKenney & Nancye Hayes in "6 Dance Lessons in 6 Weeks" and it was delightful. We should have more theatre like this in Melbourne.
Margaret”
Details at Comedy Theatre. We also received this personal message “hi from nat. the kombi with crystals artwork is really attracting some attention. trouble is weve been stopped at least 2ce a day by the cops and they always want to search inside. Still people always toot us when they pass and that’s gr8. pay u back for the fone soon.
love nat”
This weekend there is a Symphony of Light featuring alternative therapies and be introduced to alternative lifestyles in Monbulk. This weekend is also the last of the Mushroom Hunts on the Mornington Peninsula. If you eat the wrong mushrooms you may find yourself experiencing an alternative lifestyle. For details, go to our home page and choose the appropriate weekend from the drop-down menu of events of What’s on in Victoria.
How well do you know Melbourne? First to the last quiz. - Opposite Princes Bridge is Y&J’s Hotel. What name does it have on its façade?
- On one side of Princes Bridge is Flinders Street Station. What was the name of the station on the other side and why was it separate?
- Explain the following statement – “Princes Bridge was controlled by The Skull”.
- For most of their history, the Carlton Football Club had a home ground in which park?
- What prince (or princes – now the AM have to decide where the apostrophe goes) was the bridge named after?
Kerry gave the only answers that came close. So here are the answers:
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Now to this week’s quiz. Last week David asked us for a quiz to do with taxis so here is our Melbourne Taxi Quiz. - The ‘little streets’ (e.g. Little Collins, Little Bourke, etc,) all run one-way east to west except for one. Which one?
- In the nineteenth century a cab was designed whereby the driver sat at the back and had control of the only door thus preventing the fares doing a runner. What was the name of this sort of cab and what book links it with Melbourne?
- You pick up a couple at 3am at the casino and they want a proper restaurant meal with tablecloths and table service somewhere in the city or inner suburbs. Where do you take them?
- In which suburbs would you find Garden City, Cherry Lake and Rushall Gardens?
- It is 2 o’clock Tuesday afternoon and you pick up a couple from the Hyatt Hotel near the corner of Collins and Russell Streets. They want to visit the National Gallery in St Kilda Road for a quick overview of the collection, visit the Victoria Market to buy some Australiana then go back to the hotel. Which route do you take?
- It is late Saturday night, there is some drizzle and the main street and that suburb is starting to turn a little ugly. You are relieved to flag down a cab. You tell the driver your destination in the leafy suburbs and he grunts in acknowledgement. Normally you would expect something a little more respectful, but tonight you are just grateful that he is prepared to work a suburb which most aren’t. He puts a CD in the player. There are a few disturbing chords followed a slinky saxophone solo. “Who wrote the music?” you ask. The cabbie seems to ponder his answer. The saxophone has been replaced by muted trumpet and later strings. “Are you talking to me?” responds the cabbie at last. “Yes, I’m talking to you.” The windscreen wipers continue their futile battle with the rain. “Who wrote the music?” The cabbie does not answer but drives on with a fixed stare. The windows start to fog. The saxophone has returned and seems to speak of a time or suburb where streets could be even meaner than the ones you’ve left. Who wrote the music?
No prizes – just glory and a warm inner glow.
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