2011 ACT Writers Centre Awards

Column: Bit Parts | Date Published: Tuesday, 5 July 11 | 1 year, 10 months ago

WHO: ACT Writers Centre
WHAT: 2011 ACT Writers Centre Awards
WHEN: Now!
WHERE: actwriters.org.au/awards

The 2011 ACT Writers Centre Awards are now open. The awards include the Michael Thwaites Poetry Award for an emerging ACT region poet, the Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award for an emerging ACT region writer, the Z4 Wines Awards for book and restaurant reviewing and the ACT Writing and Publishing Award, recognising, rewarding and promoting writing by ACT region authors that have been published by small publishers or self-published. All ACT Writers Centre Awards close in September. Winners will be announced at the 2011 ACT Writers Centre Christmas Party in December. Details are available at actwriters.org.au/awards

	Mindscapes: WHO: Mindscapes WHAT: National Short Film Competition call for entries WHEN: Now! WHERE: Call Rachel Muller on 02 62497756 or email admin@mhccact.org.au Are you a film maker looking for a project that enables you to explore a topic that affects people every day around the globe? Then the National Mindscapes Short Film Festival 2011 is for you. World Mental Health Day on October 10 is fast approaching and the ACT Government and mental health community are marking the occasion by holding a Mental Health Music, Arts and Film Festival called Mindscapes. The theme of the Mindscapes Festival is No Health without Mental Health which is also the theme for the National Short Film Competition. Films must be seven minutes or less and there are three categories. Entries close on Friday Sept 2.

	Elements exhibition: WHO: Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre WHAT: Elements exhibition WHEN: Now until Sat Aug 6 WHERE: Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre This year Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre celebrates its 40^th birthday. Canberra is home to many of Australia’s internationally renowned practitioners and has a reputation as a seeding ground for creative development. To celebrate the Centre has curated a series of group exhibitions titled Elements. This series highlights the diversity of craft and design mediums – metal and jewellery, glass, fibre, ceramics and wood – and showcases work by influential and leading craft practitioners and designer makers. The second exhibition in the series, Elements: glass, highlights the diverse practice and processes artists employ in exploring the medium of glass.

	Fiona Veikkanen: WHO: Fiona Veikkanen WHAT: Warmth and Welcome exhibition WHEN: Wed July 6 – Sun July 11, opening Thurs July 7, 6pm WHERE: The Front Gallery and Café Wild woollen objects, sculpted, stitched and crocheted, will occupy the inviting Front Gallery and Café in Warmth and Welcome. This exhibition is about warmth – warmth and welcome, comfort and coziness – on a chilly Canberra evening. The works convey the ways we keep warm, and the nourishment derived from a lovingly handmade object. Artist Fiona Veikkanen is making a name for herself working with tactile, homely materials, and making the familiar seem strangely new and wonderful. Woollen garments, blankets and yarn have been collected and transformed into a show that includes sculpture, textiles, books and drawings. fionaveikkanen.blogspot.com .

	Jacqueline Bradley: WHO: Jacqueline Bradley WHAT: The Outdoors Type exhibition WHEN: Fri July 15 – Sat Aug 20 WHERE: Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman House Jacqueline Bradley is a Canberra based artist who during a residency at Bundanon began exploring this unique landscape and our interaction with it. Her exhibition The Outdoors Type at Canberra Contemporary Art Space will present the work she made during this residency and open up new ways to interact with our environment. Walk into the gallery and you could be forgiven for thinking The Outdoors Type consisted simply of vintage dresses hanging from the ceiling from unusually long coat hangers. Vintage fabrics and weathered wood take us back to a time when less people lived in cities and we had a greater relationship with the land. But look again. These are not ordinary clothes. Armed with Bradley’s creations we can lay down old grudges, and pave the way for a new friendship with the outdoors.

	Arab Film Festival: WHO: Arab Film Festival WHAT: Stories From the Front WHEN: Thurs July 14 – Sun July 17 WHERE: Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive The 2011 Arab Film Festival will present a selection of films that take the pulse of the Arab world in a time of incredible change. Presenting front-line stories from Morocco to Iraq and beyond, this year’s program is a round-up of the best films coming out during this Arab Spring. Showcasing the fascinating cultural shifts reshaping our world, many of these films come direct from the Middle East and North Africa and others have been presented at major recent festivals including Cannes, Dubai, Berlin and Sundance. “These films are going to make you laugh and cry, and they will surely take you on a journey,” said festival co-director Fadia Abboud. For more info head to nfsa.gov.au and arabfilmfestival.com.au .