Arts & Culture

On face value, Bega’s Farmer's Market has a lot going for it. It offers fresh, local food sourced within 250 km. The weekly Friday market is centrally located in Bega’s Littleton Gardens and it even has a stall which will sell your excess produce for you for a small commission. So why, so often, does a view of the market...

A young Bega Valley-based indigenous writer and performance poet has been recognised as an instrument of healing and reconciliation with a prestigious mentorship. Director of the Aboriginal Writers Retreat, award-winning Yankunytjatjara poet Ali Cobby Eckermann offers a yearly mentorship to an unpublished Aboriginal poet she believes writes poetry that ‘has the capacity to heal’. For 2019, Ms Cobby Eckermann has chosen Meaghan...

“This is going to be an incredible facility for our community, and if you want to have a say on how you would like it to come together, now is the time,” says Mayor Liz Innes. The layout of the new Batemans Bay Regional Aquatic, Arts and Leisure Centre at Mackay Park is up for discussion, with three options presented...

For 13 years it sat idle, but on Thursday, January 3, after three months of hard work by sisters Alison and Maria Walker, Umbarra Cultural Center opened its doors to the public again. “We’ve started a fire,” Maria says from behind the counter “to motivate the community and bring it back to life - to create meaningful work.” After dashing...

The timing for the launch of a cool new experience at the National Museum of Australia could not be better. As Canberra and the surrounding region swelters through another heat wave, chilling out in Antarctica via a groundbreaking virtual reality film is one sure way to find relief, and learn a lot about a continent most of us are unlikely...

What do a blacksmith, a Hollywood stuntman, a gypsy skiffle-blues style band and the power of art have in common? The diverse subjects all featured in About Regional's 2018 arts and culture coverage. The most popular articles reflected the broad interests of our readers, and this year, the list had an overwhelmingly positive vibe. Stories highlighted the achievements of people...

When three young women burst through the door to attend Wyndham photographer Jodie Dickson’s class in May 2017, Dickinson thought “aaahh, we’ve got some energy here. These girls are busy.” The class, organized by feminist collective mNemosyne was the beginning of mentoring by Dickinson to Bega High Students Jemma Mundy, Shakira Smith, and Makayla Deards, who have all proven...

If a world-class exhibition at the National Library of Australia centred on three voyages of Captain James Cook is not the definitive record of the great explorer’s place in history, it must go close. The exhibition, Cook and the Pacific, which runs until February 10, 2019, not only has material unseen previously, it includes how he has been studied over the...

Whether it’s pondering the depths of Edvard Munch or getting stuck into leading a local Christmas card making workshop, self-described Goulburn-based ‘art agent’ Barbara Nell is ready for action. Her role…always connecting you with art. Artist and educator for over 35 years, Barbara has been a primary, high school and TAFE art teacher. More recently, she’s been running adult art...

Osher Günsberg has seen enough high-pitched hyper romance to recognise its allure, even when the imagery is 150 years old. Standing in front of The Lady of Shalott, a painting literally drowning in passion, death and sex at the National Gallery's Love and Desire exhibition, the Bachelor host instantly clocks the intensity. "The body language of the people depicted, the...

A Bega Valley start-up has joined global technology giants in criticising the anti-encryption laws passed during the last sitting of Federal Parliament for 2018. Under the banner of the Reform Government Surveillance (RGS) coalition, companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Dropbox, Evernote and Twitter have slammed the new laws. In a statement earlier this month, the group said, "RGS has consistently...

Aspiring artist Gemanuelle Magpantay has the potential to be one of Canberra’s next biggest artists! Her sweet, sultry vocals and R&B/soul flair have garnered her some significant recognition in the nation's capital. But what makes this local talent so special is that she that she loves to use her music to uplift people and for positive change in the world....

An intrepid Monaro based photographer and publisher has captured the Winter of 2018 in the Snowy Mountains in a book that is ready to cool the Summer of the same year. 'Alpine Australia – A Celebration of the Australian Alps' not only portrays the stunning high country of New South Wales but that of Victoria as well. Kybeyan based Craig Lewis...

It's a gentle summer afternoon and beneath the dappled light of tall trees, an old blue touring caravan is parked. It's the home of Spirit Natural clothing, the brainchild of a budding entrepreneur whose vision for a gentler, more sustainable world is underpinned by some hard-headed research into how to make it happen. Tom Osborne from Michelago may look like...

  Plans for a new arts and community centre in Narooma are live again with the town's creators keen to see the idea progress. "Narooma needs it" was the general consensus at a recent community meeting. The Narooma School of Arts is leading the way, presenting preliminary designs and plans for land next to the historic Kinema. Spokesperson Laurelle Pacey says the volunteer...

Not only lauded as a hero for modern Liberals, it seems that John Howard is also a true believer, at least to the extent that he and Scott Morrison both think that the government will win the next Federal election. It was very much an event for true believers of all kinds this week as the Howard Library at the...