What's On at UWA

Oliver Messiaen's ethereally stunning twentieth century masterpiece first premiered in 1941 to an audience of Messiaen's fellow prisoners of war at the Stalag VIIIA prisoner-of-war camp, in Gorlitz, Germany. On this viciously cold night hundreds were offered hope, Graeme Gilling (piano), Ashley Smith (clarinet), Semra Lee (violin) and Jon Tooby (cello) combine their considerable musical weight for this extraordinary piece of music.

Where do native bees live in contested urban environments? How has the colonisation and urbanisation of Perth affected native bee populations? What is the nature of the human/bee interactions and what cultural roles do they play? In the context of a global honey bee crisis, Australian colonisation, and disappearing habitats, a current art/science residency is investigating the nature of bee populations in urban areas. Whilst there is much publicity surrounding the global disappearance of the European honey bee, little attention has been paid to native bee populations and habitats.

Native and European bees are particularly important in pollinating local flora and contribute to the unique biodiversity of the South West region. They also hold unique significance for the Nyungar community. Despite the importance of native bees, little is known about the ecological and cultural consequences of Perth colonisation and urbanisation on these insects. The relationships between bees, humans and the colonisation and urbanisation of Perth are complex. Although there are over 2,000 described native bee species in Australia, 800 of which occur in WA, most are solitary and rarely seen. Nests and habitats are destroyed through landscaping, gardening and land clearing activities. There is also concern over the displacement of native bees by feral European bees.

This talk describes a project involving artists Susan Hauri-Downing and Tarsh Bates, and the Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) at UWA which combines the different perspectives of art and science to explore human/bee interactions, ecologies and place. We will also discuss the roles of artists within science research groups and show some preliminary outcomes of the residency.

DMA candidate Clare Tunney will be giving her final lecture-recital on the Bel Canto Cello next Thursday 14 June (5pm) in the Eileen Joyce Studio.

Entry is free, all welcome!

Join us for an exclusive evening with Western Australia's award winning film Producer Nelson Woss as he shares his in-depth journey on the 'The making of Red Dog'.

Nelson will share the trials and triumphs of filming with Koko, cast and crew in WA’s wild outback before joining Dr Erica Smyth, Chair of UWA’s Centenary Trust for Women, for a one-on-one ‘on the couch’.

The night will also feature Nelson's 'sizzle reel' of never before seen footage and Koko's red carpet experiences plus a special viewing of Koko's screen-test.

Following the presentation (7.00pm) guests are invited to join Nelson for a drink in the University Club (a cash bar is available at the club).

Tickets: $30 adults, $20 concessions, $10 students U/15. Part proceeds to the Shenton Park Dog’s Refuge Home

To ensure a seat please book early. RSVP's close Monday 11 June 2012.

Special thanks to our event sponsors: Addwealth and ArthurG.

Nigel Helyer will discuss six recent projects, that focus upon the role of memory and site in establishing identity such as GhosTrain and three, including Vox on the Rox, that develop the concept of 'audio portraits' and sonic cartography into the arena of art and science. Nigel Helyer (a.k.a. Dr Sonique) is a Sculptor and Sound Artist with an international reputation for his large scale sonic installations, environmental sculpture works and new media projects. His practice is actively inter-disciplinary linking creative practice with scientific Research and Development.

www.sonicobjects.com

Perth Upmarket is Perth’s premier quarterly market for original and handcrafted wares. The market brings together over 150 of Perth’s most talented artists, designers, craftsmen and gourmets all under one roof at the University of Western Australia’s Winthrop Hall. Incorporating a dedicated Junior Upmarket and Gourmet section.

It is commonplace to purport that Islamic art is non-representational because of a religious ban on figurative expressions. Although this statement is far from being comprehensive or entirely true, the opposition to the figurative arts is a constant feature in the landscape of Islamic art throughout the centuries and this is one of the reasons why portraiture never fully develop as a specific genre. However, a few notable exceptions exist and they will be explored during the talk together with an introduction on the reputed religious ban and to which extent the figurative arts blossomed in a secular environment.



Stefano Carboni was appointed the 11th Director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia starting in October 2008. Previously he was Curator and Administrator in the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Visiting Professor at the Bard Graduate Center in New York. He joined the curatorial staff at the Metropolitan Museum in 1992 after completing his graduate studies in Arabic and in Islamic Art at the University of Venice and his Ph.D. in Islamic Art at the University of London. At the Metropolitan Museum he has been responsible for a large number of exhibitions, including the acclaimed Venice and the Islamic World, 828-1797 (2006-2007).

His publications include authoring and editing several exhibition catalogues, among which are Glass of the Sultans (2001); the prestigious Barr Award winner The Legacy of Genghis Khan. Courtly Arts and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353 (2002); and Venice and the Islamic World; another major publication is the catalogue of the Islamic glass collection in the National Museum of Kuwait (Glass from Islamic Lands. The Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait National Museum, 2001).

He lectured widely in the museum and outside and taught courses in Islamic Art and Curatorial Studies on a regular basis at the Institute of Fine Arts (NYU), Hunter College (CUNY), and the Bard Graduate Center for the Decorative Arts in New York

Following the official opening of Jimmy Pike’s Artlines: You call it desert, we used to live there, the Berndt Museum will be hosting an exhibition focus day. This will provide members of the public the opportunity to witness spectacular music and dance performances as well as to hear from the family of Jimmy Pike and the curators of the exhibition to gain an in depth understanding of the artworks and their creator.

Afternoon tea will be served.

Please RSVP by Friday 29 June to Alexandra Tough on [email protected] or (08) 6488 3079

Join Dr John Stanton, Curatorial Director of the Berndt Museum, for a talk on the current exhibition - previously unseen works on paper by distinguished Walmajarri artist Jimmy Pike, c.1940 – 2002.

Pike is best known for his paintings in acrylics on canvas. He also produced a large number of felt-tip pen drawings on paper. Desert Designs reproduced some of these on fabric; others remained in sketchbooks and have not previously been seen. The works on display are a fraction of the collection held at the Berndt Museum. They were created between 1990 and 2000, in the heat and wind at Kurlku outstation, and at a table on the verandah at his home in Broome.

Dr Stanton will also talk about Pike’s upbringing in country to the far south of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley – an area the Kardiya (white man) called the Great Sandy Desert, but to the Walmajarri was home and a good place to live, thanks to the Beings of the Jumangkarni (Dreamtime). A number of works in the exhibition focus on the activities of the Dreaming Beings at these places.

Free event.

Oron Catts, Director of SymbioticA, will present a lecture on biological portraits at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, during which attendees will find petri dishes into which a personal flora of bacteria will be collected from each interested participant and cultured for a week in the laboratory. Viewing of this biological self-portrait will be conducted one week later at SymbioticA’s lab room 222 on Thursday 12 July between 2- 3 pm.

Location: Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Cnr Fairway, Crawley. When: Thursday 5 July, 3.30–5pm. (Then Thursday 12 July 2012, 2-3pm School of Anatomy and Human Biology Lab Room 222).

Bookings: Places are limited. Please RSVP to [email protected] by 5pm on Monday 2 July 2012. Enquiries: (08) 6488 3707 or [email protected].

The Quest of Jimmy Pike demonstrates the extraordinary life of internationally renowned artist Jimmy Pike, a Walmajarri man who became an artist through the most unlikely of circumstances. The film depicts Jimmy Pike’s introduction to art and the story behind the man that became an Australian icon.

The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery will be open in the evening from 5-6pm for a special viewing of the exhibition prior to the film.

Limited seating, please RSVP by Friday 29 June to Alexandra Tough on [email protected] or (08) 6488 3079

In celebration of the magnificent exhibition Beyond Likeness: contemporary portraiture on show at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, join Western Australia’s own guitar specialist John Casey and his guitar ensemble in an intimate conversation that explores the aural portraits created by composers. Don’t miss out on this intimate and fascinating journey.

Presented by the UWA School of Music and the UWA Cultural Precinct.

Standard $35 Friends of UWA School of Music/Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery $30 Tickets at BOCS www.bocsticketing.com.au or 9484 1133

Scarlet Road follows the extraordinary work of Australian sex worker, Rachel Wotton. Impassioned about freedom of sexual expression and the rights of sex workers, she specialises in a long-overlooked clientele – people with disability. This screening will feature the Director's Cut of Scarlet Road (70mins) and will be followed by a Q&A session featuring Rachel Wotton, Dr Gareth Merriman (WA Sexology Society) and Dr Paul Maginn (UWA, Urban and Regional Planning). The Q&A session seeks to highlight and explore the various public policy issues, especially urban planning, health and law, that surround sex work, sexual citizenship and the sexual aspirations and needs of people with disabilities.

There is a cost to attend this event with all proceeds being donated to Touching Base Inc and the Fred Hollows Foundation. Tix can be purchased from - http://www.trybooking.com/BPCK

Join renowned Western Australian artist Julie Dowling and Lee Kinsella, curator of Julie Dowling: Family and Friends, as they talk about Julie's auto-ethnographic approach to portraiture and the stories that resonate behind the works in the exhibition. Free event.

Tarsh Bates is a PhD candidate at SymbioticA. During this seminar she will present her proposal for her PhD research in which she will describe her intention to explore the complexities and contradictions of human relationships with two non-vertebrate organisms, bees and the single-celled yeast, Candida albicans. Bees and candida are of particular interest as they are both domesticated organisms, requiring care, and are intimately connected to our well-being, yet can pose some threat to that well-being. Recent critical theory has investigated the nature of relationships between humans and other animals. However, the vast majority of this research ignores encounters with non-vertebrate species, particularly those with which we live intimately or have domesticated. Non-vertebrates such as insects, fungi and bacteria are by far the most prevalent organisms which humans encounter, yet these creatures are often disregarded; unlike mammals and other vertebrates, they are difficult to recognise as kin as they do not look back at us. Nevertheless these organisms are critical to biocultural diversity and environmental survival.

Tarsh’s PhD research follows on from her recent Master’s project, in vitero, which involved her living with and taking care of eight scientific model organisms for a period of seven months in a laboratory and public art gallery. Like this project, her PhD research will be undertaken through critical artistic inquiry, combining theoretical and philosophical inquiries with aesthetic and phenomenological research. Tarsh’s current project aims to extend the notion of alterity, which philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas described as a phenomenological mode of negotiating Self and Other, from strictly human relations into those between humans and non-humans. Tarsh hopes to facilitate understandings of human encounters with non-vertebrate, non-human Others through artistic explorations and conscious self-experimentation with bees and candida.

Feedback on the presentation is encouraged and welcomed.

In collaboration with The University Club of Western Australia, The School of Music proudly presents Brass Royalty and World Artists Robert and David Childs. Joined on stage by Perth’s own Royal Agricultural Society Brass Band of WA, these world-renowned Euphonium players are both in high demand across the world.

Robert Childs is a leading figure in the world of brass music. For over thirty years he has performed at the highest level giving solo performances in many of the world’s most prestigious venues. He is now the Musical Director of The Cory Band.

David Childs has emerged as one of the finest brass soloists in the world today. Since winning the brass final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2000, he has not ceased to wow audiences with his astonishing technique, extrovert musicality and engaging stage presence.

Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to see father and son together in performance.

For bookings please contact the University Club of Western Australia: Telephone 6488 8770 (Monday - Friday 9.00am - 8.00pm)

Price (includes canapé reception) Standard $65 Friends of UWA School of Music $60 The University Club of Western Australia Member $60

This talk will present the theories and curatorial decisions behind a recent exhibition by Donna Franklin as a part of her PhD research at Edith Cowan University. The exhibition included works of local, national, and international interdisciplinary artists. The artworks selected for the exhibition will be discussed in relation to Franklin’s interest in the communicative role the arts plays: In particular as a site of interrogation into aspects of “systemic colonisation” and the “life world” concerning future cultural engagement with non-human life (Habermas, 1970). Creatures of the Future Garden as an exhibition aimed to engender the development of gallery spaces that facilitate multiple uses: As a site of conservation, wilderness and education (Gessert). Franklin is seeking audience opinion regarding the exhibition and workshop presentations with the intention of generating further interest in animal welfare, the environment, science and arts, in as many diverse contexts as possible. This puts into practice Franklin’s passion for generating real-time experiences with non-human life, and hands-on education, as strategies to explore the natural world and examine biotech futures. Exhibiting Artists: Dr Trish Adams, Tarsh Bates, Donna Franklin, George Gessert, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Kirsten Hudson, Svenja Kratz, Angela Singer, The Made Generation: Gary & Susie Cass, Jesse Brown, Nicholas Lozanovski, Sasha Whittle.

Franklin is currently a PhD candidate (Philosophy) and academic in Cultural History and Theory at The School of Communication and Contemporary Arts, Edith Cowan University. Her various research projects investigate the role art/science collaboration has in generating public awareness and debate raised by developing biotechnologies or investigates ecology environment. She has a particular interest in creating artworks that explore an engagement with the non-human, such as fungi, plants and animals. During her Master of Arts, she was awarded an artist residency at SymbioticA: Centre for Excellence in Biological Arts, UWA. She has collaborated with scientists and artists to produce artworks and conduct art/science workshops for festivals, galleries and schools. Selected exhibitions include: Animals People: A shared environment POP Gallery Brisbane 2011, Signs of Change Form Gallery 2010, SuperHuman RMIT Melbourne 2009, Biotech revisited EAF 2008, Skin to Skin FAC08. Techno Threads Science Gallery Dublin 2008, ARS Electronica Festival 07, Mycologia Mundaring Arts Centre 2007, Second Skin ENTRY06 Vitra Design Museum Germany and Taiwan 2007, BEAPworks06 Australia, Hatched 05 PICA, BEAP04.

The Roman Archaeology Group of Perth presents two fully illustrated lectures on Roman Archaeology: Palmyra: an ancient oasis between East and West presented by Rebecca Banks; and The Roman Peloponnese presented by Kevin O'Toole. Saturday 21 July, 1:30pm at Social Sciences Lecture Theatre, UWA. Afternoon tea will be served between lectures: $7pp (RAG members) and $10pp (non-members). For more information on the RAG, please visit http://www.humanities.uwa.edu.au/research/cah/roman-archaeology

The Annual Lecture is the highlight of the year for the UWA Historical Society and Convocation and we are delighted to welcome Winthrop Professor Cheryl Praeger to the podium to reflect upon her years on Campus and subsequent experiences and achievements.

Mathematician Cheryl Praeger has served the University of Western Australia as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Professor since 1976. She leads a flourishing research group in pure mathematics and is in the top one per cent of highly cited mathematicians in the world.

Attendance is free.

Nine German Arias - Hymns to Nature by George Frideric Handel

Sung by Sara Macliver, Soprano

Accompanied by Paul Wright, violin; Noeleen Wright, cello; Andrew Tait, violone; Stewart Smith, harpsichord and chamber organ. Wednesday 25 July 7.30pm Government House Ballroom Tickets: $60/$50 conc/$20 student To Book: UWA extension / 08 6488 2433 / http://tiny.cc/NineGermanArias