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METRO 5 AWARDS
Fergus Binns has won the $40,000 Metro 5 arts awards with a painting titled 'Mount Kosciusko with Receding Snow Dome 2008'. It shows a snow dome protecting the summit as global warming depletes the winter snow cover.
The work takes as inspiration a landscape of Mt Kosciuszko, painted in 1863 by Eugene von Guerard, and featured in the recent Turner to Monet exhibition.
Jacquiline George was highly commended for a painting 'Bubbleboy', a still life of her pet dog encased in plastic bubble wrapping, and Jackson Slattery received the People's Choice Award of $10,000 for a triptych entitled 'Mistakes We Wish We Made, Irtusk Russia'.
The Metro 5 awards were instituted in 2003 for artists under 35 years of age and this year attracted more than 300 entries.
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ART DECO 1910-1939 EXHIBITION
An exhibition titled 'Art Deco 1910-1939' has opened at the National Gallery of Victoria as part of the Winter Masterpiece series.
The exhibition is organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and displays items influenced by the art deco style from cubist paintings to automobiles and architecture.
The exhibition will be seen only in Melbourne and is open until October 5.
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NEW REGIONAL ARTS PROJECTS ANNOUNCED
97 new arts projects in regional and remote Australia have been announced by the Commonwealth Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett.
The projects costing almost $850,000 are the latest in the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund program and will take place in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.
Suzie Haslehurst, president of Regional Arts Australia said "The Regional Arts Fund provides hundreds of opportunities for ordinary people to get involved in cultural activities and to be part of something special in their community."
Regional Arts Australia is now working within the cuts imposed in the last budget but is seeking a meeting with the minister to review funding.
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PICA CALLS FOR 2009 EXHIBITIONS PROPOSALS
The Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts is now calling for proposals for its 2009 exhibition program.
The institute is seeking to present work that reflects a contemporary approach; is conceptually refined; is experimental and innovative; pursues new media and ideas; and exhibits technical innovation and excellence.
The deadline for exhibitions proposals is Monday 14 July.
Contact the Curator Melissa Keys on (08) 9228 6300 or exhibitions@pica.org.au.
Or see PICA's website for the exhibition guidelines: www.pica.org.au.
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GOVERNMENT ANBNOUNCED ACCESSIBLE CINEMA PLANS
The Commonwealth Government has announced plans to improve facilities for some 4-million Australians with vision and hearing impairments at a number of small independent cinemas.
The Minister for Ageing, Mrs Justine Elliot, announced the Government would commit $350,000 in a one-off project to install audio description equipment and captioning equipment. More than half of the population aged between 60 and 70 has a hearing loss. This increases to 70% for those over the age of 70.
In 2001, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission won the agreement of Hoyts, Greater Union and Village cinemas to run three sessions a week of captioned or audio-described films in 10 locations nationally - 2% of Australian cinemas.
The Independent Cinemas Association of Australia, Media Access Australia and the Department of Health and Ageing will now work together to select 12 cinema in rural, regional and suburban areas to receive funds to install the equipment.
The program will bring to 22 the number of cinemas nationwide equipped to assist the enjoyment of patrons with vision and hearing impairment.
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'NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD' OPENS MIFF
A documentary film, 'Not Quite Hollywood', has been selected as the opening night film of the Melbourne International Film Festival. The Festival opens on 18 July.
'Not Quite Hollywood' is the untold story of "Ozploitation" films, Australian genre picture which follow overseas exploitation cinema models.
It's the debut feature for director Mark Harley and documents an era when Australian cinema got its gear off and showed the world a full-frontal explosion of sex, violence, horror and foot-to-the-floor, full-bore action!
Mark Hartley has been researching 'Not Quite Hollywood' for the past ten years, but has spent a lifetime watching, studying, researching and enjoying Aussie genre films.
The film will open nationally in cinemas on August 28.
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SINGAPORE ARTS FESTIVAL
The 22nd Singapore Arts Festival closed on Sunday 22 June with a massed concert, 'Hydro Sapiens', which attracted an 18,000-strong crowd to the Bedok Reservoir in the middle of the island.
The festival that ran throughout June drew close to 600,000 people over four weeks.
Apart from free events ticketed productions enjoyed an overall house of 74.2%. A total of 18 performances and 7 out of the 25 productions in the Core Programme were sold out.
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