New Yulgilbar Fellowship now open to Clarence Valley visual artists

Clarence Valley Council media release:

February 19, 2015

New Yulgilbar Fellowship now open to Clarence Valley visual artists

A GRAFTON Regional Gallery Travelling Fellowship for 2015 is now open for applications from visual

artists living and working in the Clarence Valley.

This inaugural $10,000 fellowship is dedicated to Clarence Valley artists wanting to travel to locations in

Australia or overseas in order to develop ideas, skills and contacts and explore and experience creative

and innovative visual arts.

Gallery director, Jude McBean, said the Fellowship, supported by the Yulgilbar Foundation, was open to

Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists, groups and individuals and was only limited by the artist’s

imagination.

“We encourage applications from visual artists of all mediums and levels who reside in the Clarence

Valley Council area. Our aim with this Fellowship is to allow the successful applicant to explore what is

important to them, their work and career,” she said.

“This is a significant opportunity for Clarence Valley artists to have experiences that they couldn’t

ordinarily afford and to be paid for their time in committing to such an opportunity. Applications could

include meeting or visiting inspiring artists, galleries or regions, to participate in workshops, residencies,

visual art festivals biennales or conferences.”

Application forms and guidelines are available through the gallery on gallery@clarence.nsw.gov.au or via

its website www.graftongallery.nsw.gov.au

Inquiries can also be made to fellowship coordinator, Jane Kreis, on 0409 814 067 or at

janekreis@gmail.com

Destroy the Joint is counting dead women

Margaret Olley's The Yellow Room studio recreated at Tweed Regional Gallery until Sunday 15 March 2015

The Yellow Room exhibition celebrates its name-sake — the small, unassuming, pale yellow room at the rear of the Victorian terrace that formed part of Olley’s home studio at 48 Duxford Street, Paddington, Sydney. The significance of the room to Olley’s life and work lead to its re-creation at the Margaret Olley Art Centre.

The exhibition features a stunning selection of yellow room still lifes and interiors from the early 1990s until 2011, the year of her death

It also features preparatory sketches and unfinished paintings that reveal more of the process behind Olley’s work. 

Her process is the inspiration for an interactive digital painting program that visitors can use to create their own artwork in the MOAC.

Margaret Olley (1923 - 2011) Yellow Room, Evening 1993 oil on board

Private collection, Brisbane, courtesy of Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

Tweed Regional Galley: 2 Mistral Road (Cnr Tweed Valley Way) Murwillumbah South NSW 2484 

Opening hours: Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day.
CLOSED to the public on Monday and Tuesday

Australian Prime Minister Abbott puts boot into delicate death row negotiations

Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s use of aggressive megaphone diplomacy can only make matters worse for two Australian citizens on death row and their families back in Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald 19 February 2015:

The Indonesian government has warned it does not respond to threats, after Prime Minister Tony Abbott reminded the country it had provided $1 billion in aid after the 2004 tsunami.

"Threats are not part of diplomatic language," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters. "And from what I know no one responds well to threats."

Earlier Mr Abbott said Australia would let Indonesia know in "absolutely unambiguous terms that we feel grievously let down" if the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran proceeded.

"Let's not forget that a few years ago, when Indonesia was struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami, Australia sent $1 billion worth of assistance, we sent a significant contingent of our armed forces to help in Indonesia with humanitarian relief and Australians lost their lives in that campaign to help Indonesia," he said.

Mr Nasir said there was  a saying in Indonesian "orang akan terlihat warna sebenarnya" (people will show their true colours).

"So I hope the statement (Mr Abbott) made doesn't show the true color of Australians.

Malay Mail Online 19 February 2015:

SYDNEY, Feb 19 — Prime Minister Tony Abbott today denied threatening Indonesia over the fate of two Australians on death row by linking their fate to aid, insisting he was simply pointing out the depth of ties between the neighbours.

As tensions mount in the bid to save Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Abbott yesterday said Jakarta should remember the significant monetary aid Canberra supplied in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 tsunami.

He urged Indonesia to reciprocate in Australia’s time of need, but the comments were coolly received in Jakarta with the foreign ministry warning that “threats are not part of diplomatic language”…..