Your Friend the Enemy
Almost a century ago, Idris Charles Pike, grandfather of painter Idris Murphy, wrote a letter to his sweetheart from the trenches of Gallipoli. In it he described the Australian, New Zealand and Turkish soldiers who exchanged goods – tobacco and papers for biscuits and jam. The Turks even left a note for the Australians signed “from your friend, the enemy”. Inspired by Pike’s recently recovered letters, this major touring exhibition features work by 16 artists who visited Gallipoli in 2014.
Your Friend the Enemy, ANU Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra, until 17 May, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, until 24 May, then Bathurst Regional Gallery, 19 June to 2 August
Rotunda
For many Australian and New Zealand towns, the local rotunda was the traditional place of celebration and memorial, where the brass band would strike up all the old favourites. That community spirit is remembered by the New Zealand Dance Company in its new work, Rotunda. Eight contemporary dancers use shadow-play, mace twirling, waiata and theatre to make a call for peace, and a live brass band combines modern music with traditional hymns.
Rotunda, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, 1 to 2 May, then Melbourne, Parramatta, Geelong
Fly Away Peter
Author David Malouf’s acclaimed novel Fly Away Peter has been transformed into a contemporary opera in honour of the Gallipoli centenary by composer Elliott Gyger, director Imara Savage and librettist Pierce Wilcox. The story of a young Queensland birdwatcher drawn into the horrors of the first world war is a meditation on life, death and the cyclical nature of things, making it classic territory for opera.
Fly Away Peter, Carriageworks, Sydney, 2 to 9 May
Theatres of War / Black Diggers
Parties on the western front, pop concerts in Vietnam, opera in the jungles of New Guinea ... performance has often been used to lift spirits in times of conflict, from the trenches of the first world war to the camps of Afghanistan. Drawn from Art Centre Melbourne’s performing arts collection, this show features photographs, scrapbooks, letters, posters and multi-media showing how art can unite, even on the battlefield, and bring a little bit of home to soldiers at war. Also at ACM is Black Diggers, Tom Wright and Wesley Enoch’s show challenging the traditional Anzac narrative.
Theatres of War, Arts Centre Melbourne, until 13 September. Black Diggers runs from 22-26 April
SSO and NZSO in concert
The spirit of the Anzacs will cross the Tasman Sea on Wednesday when two world-class symphony orchestras give simultaneous premieres to Australian and New Zealand composers. The SSO will perform James Ledger’s War Music for choir and orchestra, featuring words by Paul Kelly, and the NZSO has commissioned composer Michael Williams to write Letters from the Front. Both concerts will feature choristers of a similar age to the soldiers who served at Gallipoli.
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Opera House, 22 April, 6.30pm and 24 April, 8pm; New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, 22 April, 6.30pm, Town Hall, Auckland, 23 April, 7pm
Distant Voices
More than 57,700 Queenslanders served Australia in the first world war. The gallery of the State Library in Brisbane is given over to their personal stories, funnelled through the theme of distance – geographical, ideological, and emotional – and the communication lines that joined and divided people during the deadly conflict. There will also be performances by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Distant Lines, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, until 15 November
Gallipoli: Earth & Sky
Two West Australian artists have reinterpreted landscapes of war with work that goes beyond the battlefield, delving into the core of the earth and the depths of the night sky. Paul Uhlmann’s paintings imagine constellations of stars as they were on dates throughout 1915, alongside bronze sculptures by Lev Vykopal of topographical features of the Gallipoli peninsula.
Gallipoli: Earth & Sky, Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth, until 24 May
Follow the Flag
More than 150 artworks by artists such as Arthur Streeton, Russell Drysdale, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, Sidney Nolan,d Max Dupain and lesser-known soldier artists come together at the National Gallery of Victoria. From paintings and photographs to recruitment posters and medical sketches, the daily lives of those caught in the struggle for survival at home and on the front will be depicted in telling detail.
Follow the Flag, Ian Potter Centre, Melbourne, 24 April to 16 August
