Victorian Premier John Brumby, a Masterchef and dogs catching Frisbees will
all be at the Royal Melbourne Show on Thursday as the big event is officially
opened.
WHAT do most Australians know about Indonesian art? What role do the arts play in the picture they present of contemporary Indonesia? Not much, perhaps.
We heard from a young Indonesian filmmaker about thriving, youthful film communities across Indonesia and among Indonesian students in Melbourne; we shared some of the songs, stories and images collected by an Australian artist from northern Australian and eastern Indonesian communities once linked by ocean trade; we saw gigantic puppets created by young earthquake survivors near Yogyakarta, performing a zany new version of the Ramayana legend under the inspired leadership of Ian Pidd and the Snuff Puppet group.
So why don’t Australians know more about Indonesian arts? Why don’t our arts and film festivals abound with Indonesian entries, and our television screens with Indonesian street murals and touring rock groups?
So what can be done? First, we need a big new initiative from the Australian Government that would attract attention in both countries. And perhaps we should establish one or more Australian-Indonesian cultural centres and arts spaces in Indonesian cities, to showcase existing arts exchanges and encourage others. Several European countries already maintain such centres: we’d need to do something distinctive and new.
Back in Australia, Indonesian arts aficionados could form a strategic network, sharing information about what’s on, lobbying festivals, arts promoters, the media and government bodies.
We can try to make sure that next time the rock band Dewa 19 visits, its songs about Islamic love and inclusiveness reach not only rapt Indonesian students and residents, but the thousands of Australians who need to hear the message.
Pressure should be put on SBS to show the film Opera Jawa, whose director, Garin Nugroho, has been described by Peter Sellars as a new Ingmar Bergman or Michelangelo Antonioni. We should also urge the big festivals to stage Je.jal.an (The Street ) by theatre group Garasi, in which violent, hilarious and moving interactions on a teeming city street graphically symbolise the confusion and creativity of contemporary Indonesia.
We need to keep spreading the word, while hopefully sustaining our spirits with more celebratory get-togethers in the same vein as Asialink’s Indonesia Calling.
i know this is not an educational reading but it's good if you can come to the fiesta and witness whatever they have to offer.
the venue is not at Federation Square but it's at Queensbridge Square, Southbank.
showcasing Malaysia's cultural and ethnic heritage.promote Malaysia through arts, culture, traditional dances, cuisine, exhibition and tourismMayor of Melbourne and the Victorian State Minister for Multiculturalism
Malaysia and Australia have some similarities for multiculturalism. a country with diverse cultural backgrounds will face up to challenges and difficulties on the mutual understanding and social equality. So communication and learning from each other is important and necessary.
this was the book that my life should have been
following. This man was our god who had saved us from hell! But
when I went to America everything contained in this thing - the
beliefs, the ideologies - all crumbled right in front of me. I
realised I was really the victim of an incredible cultural
brainwashing
A very good Australian film 'Mao's Last Dancer'.
The main character(real one) is now living in Melbourne as a stockbroker. I think the film successfully highlights the contradiction between Communist China and America. Should go and see it.
Personally, i appreciate this movie so much. Mao's Last Dancer was opened on the same day in Melbourne as another movie called The Founding of A Republic. That was an obvious ideological confrontation. Though the two movies are telling story in the same country. Compared with the Singapore Girl TV Commercial, which was made by Asian for showing oriental spirit to the western in a western way, Mao's Last Dancer was made by Australia for showing their understanding of the age of ideological confrontation. I think for many western audience, there are a lot of languages and ideology during that special years could not be understood forever. But i appreciate the director and adaptor so much. Because sometimes we need others to help us grow.
The Bureau of Statistics says
Australia's annual net migration soared in the first three months of this year
to 278,000 - up from just 100,000 five years ago.
MELBOURNE'S population has reached 4 million and Australia's is surging
towards 22 million, according to new figures that have sparked fresh debate
about the impact of record migration.
Victoria's population jumped 112,000 in the year to March. Assuming Melbourne
has kept its share, the city is expanding by an unprecedented 90,000 people a
year, or more than 1700 a week.
While population growth has kept the economy growing and house prices rising
this year, it has also put pressure on public transport and other services -
especially as the growth is being driven by international students.
Government figures at the end of July showed that in five years, total
international student numbers have almost doubled from 288,400 to 547,663.
Nowadays, Chinese people are enjoying greater freedom of speech and access to Internet. Both external environment and domestic development contribute to this. As in the new nationalism that forbidden by authorized government, the changing web of Chinese nationalism is such a powerful tool that inspires people to observe and thought independently. It also creates online nationalism, which could be considered as a growing potential turbulence.
I agree what you talked about the online nationalism of Chinese as a growing potential turbulence.
In fact, there are a lot of cases showing the trend of the ' growing potentail turbulence'.
The debate between Chinese governement and the Melbourne Film Festival on the documentary of Rebiya Kadeer (The 10 Conditions of Love) has led to breakdown of Film Festival's offical site. People believed that the site has hacked by Chinese hacker.
I believe that the Chinese nationalism is obviously leading to an online nationalism which may impact on both positive and negative sides.