Brisbane-based actor, director and writer Lucas Stibbard has a reputation for being darn funny. In 2011, audiences chortled their way through his smash-hit show, boy girl wall, where Lucas expertly played the roles of 25 characters, sharing the stage with only a sock puppet. The effort earned him a nomination for Best Male Actor in a Play at the 2011 Helpmann Awards, alongside industry heavyweights Geoffrey Rush, Richard Roxburgh and Toby Schmitz. Lucas is no stranger to riding the feast or famine seesaw that is an artist’s life and 2011 brought a banquet of roles, audiences and successes, but it also taught him that ‘balance’ is vital to his wellbeing.
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Resting beside a lagoon in an old coconut plantation on the Malaysian island of Langkawi, an ageing banyan tree sits stoically with a temple at its base. In the grounds surrounding this ‘Temple Tree’ are eight renovated colonial villas of Chinese, Eurasian, Malaysian and Indian descent, given new lives as boutique dwellings in a pristine tropical setting. But the beautifully ornate exteriors, awash with once-bright colonial colours subdued with age, are just the beginning of the magic of this unique resort. (more…)
The rhythmic whirl of the printing wheel, the overwhelming smell of fresh ink, the tactile pleasure of running your fingertips over thick, cotton paper. These are all simple pleasures that compose the daily toils of Alischa Herrmann, the graphic designer who left a successful career as a corporate art director to explore her passion for the art of letterpress. Almost five years on since she made the decision to follow her heart rather than her head, her home-based studio Bespoke Letterpress is delighting people worldwide with its menagerie of carefully created paperie. (more…)
Travelling the world on the back of a motorcycle can give you a wealth of thinking time, not to mention a distinct perspective on life. Spending two years intermittently traversing the African continent on two wheels was the impetus for Swedish entrepreneur Mats Wahlstrom to shift his focus in life to the realm of boutique hotels. In 2004, the rugged adventurer recognised an underlying spirit in an abandoned 14th-century palace in Palma on the Spanish island of Mallorca. With the deft touch of his entrepreneurial hand, the palace was soon brought to life as the hotel Puro Oasis Urbano, a member of Design Hotels. (more…)
Melbourne-based product designer and maker Tim Fleming designs for the real world and also spends time lampooning design ideas in his imaginary land, Flatland. Tim makes actual limited-edition objects for Flatland on a miniature scale (think palm trees, skulls, crossbones and four-leaf clovers) and recently began tackling large-scale installations such as giant hand mirrors and escalators to nowhere, as well as crafting beautiful furniture. He also illustrates and self-publishes comic zines full of cynical characters and mock advertising that tell people how to live – although, he points out, he doesn’t expect anyone to listen.
Those with a penchant for the avant garde will be delighted to hear that Meng Jinghui is bringing his play, Rhinoceros in Love, to Brisbane Powerhouse as part of Brisbane Festival from September 21–24. Meng is China’s most influential theatre director and Rhinoceros in Love, written by his wife Liao Yimei, is China’s most successful play. The play is loved as much for its dark love story as its poetic language, mixed media design and pop soundtrack. It has been performed more than 800 times to more than one-million people – impressive stats for an experimental work that could hardly rustle up an audience on its opening night.
From Balmain’s seemingly ubiquitous jacket of 2009, to the camouflage prints that invariably make an appearance on catwalks every few seasons, military has long been a source of inspiration for fashion designers. But for British designer Christopher Raeburn, the inspiration was not merely aesthetic. Inspired by the challenge of creating ethically aware fashion pieces, Christopher launched his namesake label in 2008. In the years since, he has propelled himself into the spotlight by using reappropriated military fabrics to create functional, intelligent, and meticulously crafted garments.
While many of us have daydreamed about our dazzling moment dancing in the spotlight, Spanish-born Rafael Bonachela was one of the few who put his body and dreams into action. His innate talent was spotted at 15 in his first dance class. By 20, he was dancing professionally with London’s Rambert Dance Company, one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary dance touring companies. After 14 years with Rambert, he launched his own dance company and also took on freelance projects choreographing for the likes of Kylie Minogue. As artistic director of Sydney Dance Company since 2008, Rafael is excited to present the national premiere of his multi-award-winning dance piece, The Land of Yes and the Land of No, showing from September 28 to October 1 as part of Brisbane Festival 2011.
The streets of New York have inspired many a dream. As Nick Chiu wandered down curious laneways and furtive back alleys, revelling in the energy and creativity of the city’s independent clothing boutiques, the seeds were planted for an idea that would bring creative fashion to the gents of Brisbane. Returning from his sojourn to Manhattan, and joined by his younger brother Ben, Nick opened Apartment – a men’s clothing boutique that has evolved from a streetwear-inspired 28 sqm space tucked in Elizabeth Arcade, to its new 200 sqm thoughfully curated retail space that fuels the sartorial appetites of Brisbane’s creative intellectuals.
As the morning sun peeks over three towering volcanoes and into the valley below, the ancient town of Antigua, Guatemala comes to life. At the centre of this charming pueblo – known for its Baroque architecture – a beautifully aged colonial building stands majestically on a block. The building’s exterior gives few hints as to what lies inside, save for a solitary wooden sign above the door revealing its name – Hogar de Ancianos Fray Rodrigo de la Cruz. A scarcely funded nursing home for the low-income and impoverished elderly of Antigua, Fray Rodrigo is a great lesson in the wonders of human connection. (more…)
Creative inspiration can take many forms. For Sydney-based theatre director Damien Ryan, his prevailing love affair with Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers began the moment his young eight-year-old eyes watched a film version of Romeo and Juliet. As an imaginative young lad sitting on the family couch, Damien’s fate in theatre was sealed, his eyes darting across the television, transfixed as the young lovers caught each other’s gaze at the ominous Capulet ball. With the vision of William Shakespeare set firmly deep within his creative vault, Damien will be joined by the theatrical talents of the Bell Shakespeare company when he directs Romeo and Juliet under the stars in an open-air setting at Brisbane Powerhouse, as part of Brisbane Festival from September 20–24.
If you think waste is unavoidable, think again. This is the message Dutch-born, Melbourne-based designer, artist and recycler Joost Bakker is sprouting through his sustainable restaurant project, The Greenhouse. Joost achieved his dream to build a zero-waste restaurant when he first launched The Greenhouse as a pop-up installation in Melbourne’s Federation Square in 2008, followed by a permanent site in Perth in 2009, and another pop-up in Sydney earlier this year. London and Brisbane are next on the cards. For Joost, the ultimate goal is convincing anyone who will listen that it’s smart and simple to create buildings that positively impact the Earth and help harvest waste, energy and food. Joost’s Greenhouses aren’t based on high-tech design (think steel and straw bales), but that’s the point, says Joost. Most of the design knowledge is centuries old and for the sharing.
There are many ways to brighten someone’s day – a anonymous thank you note, an unexpected smile, a handpicked bunch of flowers. But what about the discovery of a lone swing, in an unexpected location, just begging you to sit upon its perch and begin a clumsy aerial ballet with your legs, pumping higher and higher until your heart soars? The simple and infectious joy of a swing is what inspired Jeff Waldman and a group of his friends to create a project that installed swings in random locations across San Francisco, Los Angeles, the Marshall Islands and Panama. Soon after, impassioned by the dire situation that many children in Bolivia face, Jeff created a Kickstarter project with the aim to source enough funding to supply wooden swings to children in the troubled South American nation’s capital, La Paz. The project has since received twice as many donations as its original goal, proving that the power of a swing is a simple joy that is universally understood.
You can’t help but smile when chatting with Mara Bun. Her energy is infectious and she uses phrases like “bottled sunshine” and “equal parts total error and complete glee” to describe projects she is working on in her role as founding CEO of Green Cross Australia, based in Brisbane. Green Cross Australia launched in 2007 out of Green Cross International, which started its own special journey in 1993 with the bold mission to apply the Red Cross International medical emergency response model to ecological issues. Mara’s role is to convince partners across Australia that it’s easier to work together, rather than apart, to respond to environmental change and extreme weather events in proactive, creative and sustainable ways. It appears a daunting task but spend time talking to Mara and suddenly it all sounds achievable and bundles of fun.
Performance artist Luke Roberts from IMA’s AlphaStation/Alphaville:
What attracted you to performance art?
I was very much inspired by the ritual and ceremony of the Catholic Church and the wildly different creative expressions of other cultures. Ritual/performance connects us all to greater wholeness.
Where does your creativity come from?
Creativity is an internal desire to interpret one’s world, contribute to human experience and be larger than oneself.
How do you ‘fuel’ that creativity?
To be an artist is to be a revolutionary. I’m convinced that art represents the greatest human endeavour and a pathway to all knowledge. (more…)
Christmas Day may lay claim to carols and crackers with crinkled paper hats, and Australia Day asserts ownership of anything green and gold, but when it comes to New Year’s Eve, anything goes. This year, the Brisbane Powerhouse welcomes No Years! – the ideal excuse to stay in Brisbane when 2011 rolls around. Seeing in the New Year with an explosion of musical talent, the fun-filled line-up includes The John Steel Singers, Jonathan Boulet and Little Scout. December 31 at Brisbane Powerhouse.
As a young boy in Coffs Harbour, Adam Ferguson daydreamed about being a spy. These days he works as an award-winning photojournalist so some might say his childhood dream transpired. Adam, 32, jokes he has a few things in common with secret agents: he receives an email with a mission and, if he accepts, he gets on a plane and lands in a foreign country (albeit armed with cameras rather than guns), embarks on making new contacts and hunts for the story. It’s James Bond without the martinis and pretty girls. Gags aside, Adam’s the first to admit there is nothing romantic about a career in photojournalism, especially in conflict situations. Flick through his web portfolio (www.adamfergusonphoto.com) and you’ll see how reality bites: heroin slums in India, suicide bombings in Afghanistan, and illegal dwellings in Pakistan. Adam says it’s a lonely job and a fickle industry but his passion for storytelling gets him through. (more…)
To those born with an innate sense of wanderlust, the experience of waking up in an unfamiliar place is a pure delight. But there are places that, despite their unfamiliarity, feature design so thoughtful, so intuitive, so bespoke that you can’t help but feel right at home. They are fleeting abodes that offer you a unique experience that at once surprises and comforts you, and reveals a charming side of your travel destination you never knew existed. For a growing global community of astute travellers, this is the Design Hotels experience. With a shrewdly curated stable of just over 190 hotels across the world, German founder of Design Hotels Claus Sendlinger and his heralded hoteliers are on an interminable quest to redefine the boutique travel experience. (more…)
The morning sunlight gently caresses your arms as you wander through the marketplace, your senses piqued by the melange of scents. Snippets of jovial Spanish whirl around you, as a rosy-cheeked old man with eyes that sparkle amiably coaxes you into sampling one of his organic peaches – freshly picked yesterday, he affirms with a wink. You find it hard to resist the golden hues of the plump fruit, and as your teeth break the tender skin, a rush of flavour fills your mouth and ignites your senses. The juice dribbles down your chin, your hands are gloriously sticky – and you are in heaven. Small but joyous moments like these compose some of the greatest delights of travel. But very rarely do you find a guide book to such experiences. After a stint living the high-flying lifestyle as a travel writer for Lonely Planet, Martin Hughes realised that it was the ‘slower’ experiences of travel that he treasured most. Inspired, he envisaged the concept for The Slow Guides – a series of travel guides that celebrates the local, natural, traditional and sensory experiences of a city. (more…)
If you love to dance in the dark because you think no one is watching, think again. Brisbane choreographer Claire Marshall DJed the upstairs decks for three years at favourite Fortitude Valley haunt, Ric’s Bar, and there she observed plenty of punters as they danced the night away. This material in part inspired her sold-out show, Hey Scenester, in January and its latest version, Slowdive, showing at Brisbane Powerhouse from December 3–11. With Slowdive, Claire is reliving the old-school grit and grunge of Fortitude Valley’s indie club scene and inviting audiences to join in too. Her vision is to push the boundaries of traditional theatre to blur the line between stage and seating, performer and punter. (more…)
