Art
Pirrku Warrapina, Tarnanthi festival
The Tarnanthi festival of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art is gathering artists from across Australia to showcase new creative work. As part of the festival’s Big Weekend, the Art Gallery of South Australia will stage Pirrku Warrapina, an event that pulls together the written, oral and artistic traditions of Australia’s first nations storytellers.
In the language of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide plains, Pirrku Warrapina means the lover of telling stories – referring to the custodian who interprets the world around them and keeps history alive. Some of the most provocative voices in Australian writing – including Bruce Pascoe, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Ellen van Neervan and Nyurpaya Kakia-Burton – will translate the artworks on show into words, and discuss what it means to be a first nations storyteller in contemporary Australia.
• Pirrku Warrapina is at the Art Gallery of South Australia on 18 October
Music
Glenn Richards
Former Augie March frontman Glenn Richards will share the stories behind his work in an evening of music and conversation in Fremantle. The English lit grad started making music with local Shepparton mates in 1995, some years before the indie rockers struck fame. One Crowded Hour topped Triple J’s hottest 100 in 2007 and Richards’ words left a mark, too, winning him the Apra breakthrough songwriter award that year.
The song spoke to the nation, telling of youthful longing and thwarted ambition, though Richards said he was more concerned with “the way words moved together”. In 2014 the band got back together after a seven-year hiatus. In that time Richards had moved to Tasmania, released a solo album (Glimjack), and read a lot of Robert Dessaix. He also cut back on drinking and smoking so expect to see a healthier, happier Richards on stage in Freo.
• Glenn Richards plays the Fremantle Arts Centre on 18 October
Theatre
A Rabbit for Kim-Jong Il
A week after North Korea’s 70th anniversary, Griffin Theatre Company stages a new play about a giant rabbit eaten by Kim Jong-il – and it’s based on a true story.
In 2007, a German farmer who won a prize for breeding the world’s largest rabbit was approached by the North Korean embassy. They asked him if he would sell his giant rabbits to a breeding farm in their country. He agreed to sell them at a special low price and, down the track, to help the farm. Months later, officials cancelled his trip but the farmer, Karl Szmolinsky, insists the rabbits were eaten by the North Korean leader at a special banquet.
The tale has been taken up by Patrick White and Griffin award-winning Kit Brookman and spun into a play, in which Brookman also stars as Felix, the pet of the giant rabbit breeder. Directed by Lee Lewis (who collaborated with Brookman on a production of Twelfth Night), it’s sure to be an interesting take of the story.
• A Rabbit for Kim Jong-il is at SBW Stables theatre, Sydney from 17 October to 21 November
Musical
Strictly Ballroom
Baz Lurhmann’s debut film Strictly Ballroom has been part of the Australian consciousness since 1992. The story began in 1984, at Nida, where Luhrmann drew on his childhood spent at dance competitions to stage a 25-minute play. The tale of following your dreams and not fearing failure (“a life lived in fear is half-lived”) has now been retold across three media.
In 2014 the film that launched Luhrrmann on to the world stage returned as a stage musical in Sydney. With costumes by Catherine Martin and music by the likes of Eddie Perfect and Sia, it remained a classic Luhrmann spectacle, retaining the glitz and cultural cringe of the original. It even includes original choreography by John “Cha Cha” O’Connell. Now, almost a year later, the dance cards are freeing up, as the musical closes its Brisbane season.
• Strictly Ballroom ends its season at Queensland Performing Arts Centre on 17 October
Ideas
Smart City Leadership, Melbourne Knowledge Week
Melbourne was named the world’s most liveable city by the Economist this year for the fifth year running. Even so, the City of Melbourne has an eye to the future as it launches a new ideas festival, based around how to best shape the city in the decades to come.
The week of 50 curated events spanning 35 venues begins with a panel on smart city leadership, where the former Melburnian of the year Prof Sharon Lewin (who has been researching a cure for HIV aids) will be joined by economy strategists, business leaders and a robotics specialist. In a conversation led by the journalist Peter Mares, they will discuss how to build a smart and resilient city. Festival goers can also join the community classes, get an inside look into a chamber orchestra, learn about physics and more.
• Smart City Leadership is at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 19 October
