October 21, 2009 – 9:40 am
Every Secret Thing is one of the best books written about life in the Northern Territory since Xavier Herbert’s Capricornia – that’s a pretty big call but I reckon this book is just as funny, brave and deadly serious as that grumpy old curmudgeon’s masterpiece.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Fun stuff, Some places I've been, Writing and writers
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Tagged central Arnhem Land, David Unaipon Award, Every Secret Thing, Mainoru River, Marie Munkara, NT Literary Awards, Tiwi Islands, University of Queensland Press, Xavier Herbert's Capricornia
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October 18, 2009 – 10:00 am
From the dim recesses of memory I recall that Mandawuy turned up one night while we were on tour in Sydney with an old battered guitar, a swag of great songs and a keen desire to get them heard by as many people as possible.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Aboriginal & Islander Art, Australian politics, Music
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Tagged Australian Story, Balanda, Gove Peninsula, Gunatj, Jimmy Little, Mandawuy Yunupingu, Methodist Missionary Society, Natasha Robinson, Paul Kelly, Rirratjingu, Swamp Jockeys, The Australian, Treaty, Yirrkala
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October 2, 2009 – 8:59 pm
The Laarri Gallery is in the small community of Yiyili, an hour or so’s drive west of Fitzroy Crossing in, at this time of year anyway, the dry and hot heart of the Kimberley.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Art
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Tagged Aboriginal Art Centres Guide, Aboriginal Independent Schools of WA, Australian Art Collector Magazine, Ganinya, Goolgaradah, Gooniyandi, Joy Warring, Know Your Granny, Kurinyjarn, Laarri Gallery, Mervyn Street, Moongardie, Norman Cox, Pullout Springs, Rocky Springs, Yiyili community
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October 1, 2009 – 2:36 pm
The Shire of Halls Creek is particularly impecunious; it has a very small rating base and few other revenue opportunities…it is responsible for a very large road network that it does not have adequate resources to maintain at an appropriate level…[t]he poor state of the Tanami Road is a serious impediment to providing services of all kinds.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Australian politics, Northern development, the Tanami Track
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Tagged central desert shire, Geoff Vivian, Kimberley Page, Lajamanu, Rabbit Flat, the Coyote mine, The Granites, The Tanami Mine, the Tanami Track, Tilmouth Well, Warlayirti Artists, Yuendumu
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September 8, 2009 – 10:22 pm
I’m sitting here in the “Balgo Hilton” waiting for someone to come back from where I’ve just been.
We most likely passed each other on the road sometime yesterday as I struggled up the 530 kilometres of the torture that is known as the Tanami Track from Yuendumu up here to Wirrimanu – formerly known as [...]
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Animals, Birds, Birds and people, Writing and writers
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Tagged A. P. Thomas, Balgo, C. G. Brandenstein, Tanami Track, Taruru : Aboriginal Song Poetry From the Pilbara, the Balgo Hilton, Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre, Wirrimanu, Yuendumu
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September 5, 2009 – 4:59 pm
It may just be because 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, but to me there seems to be a greater willingness to engage or a broader interest in Indigenous Astronomical Knowledge among the mainstream astronomical science community than there is in many other scientific disciplines.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Aboriginal & Islander Art, Animals, Birds and people, Religion
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Tagged Aboriginal Astronomy, Adele Pring, Alma Nungarrayi Granites, Astronomy and Australian Indigenous People, Barnimbir (Venus) the Morning Star, Bill Harney, Dark Sparklers, Elvina Track, Guringai people, Ilgarijiri - things belonging to the sky, International Year of Astronomy, Kuringai National Park, Macquarie University Adjunct Professor Ray Norris, Questacon, South Australian Education Department, the ABC's Big Aussie Starhunt, The Emu in the Sky, Wajarri Yamatji language group, Wardaman language group
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September 5, 2009 – 5:59 am
The focus of “Ilgarijiri – things belonging to the sky” is a collaborative project between artists associated with the Wajarri Yamatji region and radio astronomers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), based in Perth, Western Australia.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Aboriginal & Islander Art, Art
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Tagged Alma Nungarrayi Granite, Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP), by Gemma Merritt, by Sonya Edney, Emu Egg time, Ilgarijiri - things belonging to the sky, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), International Year of Astronomy, Murchison Radioastronomy Observatory (MRO), Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), Seven Sisters, Seven Sisters by Margaret Danishewsky, Square Kilometre Array (SKA), Wajarri Yamatji people, Warlukurlangu Artists, Yuendumu
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September 4, 2009 – 6:29 pm
If you are in Alice Springs this weekend you can do a lot worse than go along to the Aralauen Arts Centre and catch the Desert Mob show that will be opening there Sunday – you might be lucky and see one of Nungarrayi’s paintings in the exhibition.
By Bob Gosford
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Also posted in Aboriginal & Islander Art, Art, Birds, Yuendumu
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Tagged Alma Nungarrayi Granites, Araluen Arts centre, Bessie Nakamarra Sims, daughter, Desart, Desert Mob, grandaughter, Kingfisher Gallery, Mother, Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa (Seven Sisters dreaming), Paddy Japaljarri Sims, Paul Kelly, Warlukurlangu Artists, Yanjirlpirri Jukurrpa (Star dreaming), Yiwarra - Milky Way Dreaming, Yuendumu
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August 22, 2009 – 11:50 am
These bird sculptures are just about the best bird sculptures I have seen. Made out of the scattered bits of metal that we discard in tips, along the road or just leave to rust where they die, they become a whole lot more than the sum of their parts.
The north of South Australia has a lot of some things – rocks, sand, caravans etc – and a distinct lack of other things – people, good coffee, humour…except for this little oasis of fun
