In late March an ensemble comprising experienced actors alongside tenants of the Waterloo housing community staged an original play entitled Turning Towers.
American singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy is a talented guitarist – melodic, dynamic, fierce, loose. Her distinctive vocal style is highly expressive.
The Harbour City Pirates baseball club held its presentation dinner on April 1. At the family event President Gary Fishburn invited the kids to take up a bat and swing at a skull-and-cross-bones piñata.
The footy’s back! You can just feel it in the air. You can see it on the faces of fans keen for the Rabbitohs to rebound strongly after disappointments in 2016.
We knew the day was coming, the redevelopment on the western side of Regent Street has gathered pace, but when we met for the last day of trading, it was an emotional occasion.
The winter months can be especially tough for anybody on a tight budget – finding money for the rent as well as the extra costs of warm clothes, energy and medication. Keeping healthy (physically and mentally) and eating well are important concerns.
Artist Melissa Carey has long loved drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. As a 12 year old she had her first jewellery stall. An art school graduate in hometown Perth, she worked for a while in the corporate sector but soon realised the office environment was not a healthy space for her. Three years ago she moved to Sydney where she has established her own creative business. From her share-space studio in Alexandria, Melissa conducts workshops in candle-making, printing and macrame. She enjoys festival work and volunteer work within the arts scene, as well as commissions large and small. Next month she hopes to complete an art residency in Berlin.
Hosting the Stranger: Between Religions (edited by Richard Kearney and James Taylor) features ten meditations on the theme of interreligious hospitality by eminent scholars...
Sydney Photo Fun (SPF) is a group with over 900 members – “camerateers” who meet regularly at various city locations to make and share photographic images. The group’s online archives boast stunning photographs from more than 250 meet-ups.
REDFERN: On Monday March 14 the Men Speak Out for Treaty forum was held at Redfern Community Centre, organised by the Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney. The forum was a complement to the Women Speak Out for Treaty forum held in Redfern in March 2015, and was facilitated by journalist and filmmaker Jeff McMullen.
The Living in Harmony festival saw colourful multicultural community events throughout March. Local highlights included Breaking Bread (March 10-12) at the Redfern Community Centre (an evening of discussion, damper and Jewish challah-bread making workshops), and the Just Say Hi film launch in Glebe (March 12), a moving documentary featuring local community groups – with a sound-score by Sydney Choirs and members of the public.
A new art space on Parramatta Road opened on March 12, between 2-6pm. Tetch Gallery co-owner Amanda Joy Robb talks to the SSH about the creative venture.
February 12-14 saw the inaugural Mount Kiera Downhill Challenge in Wollongong hosted by the Australian Skateboard Racing Association (ASRA) in cooperation with the International Downhill Federation (IDF).
The Aboriginal word marana means “stars”. Marana signifies a deep connection with the universe and a strong sense of spiritual belonging, and connotes the survival and durability of ancient cultures – the stars keep on shining. Marana is also the name of an innovative new service offering support and training opportunities for Indigenous pre-release prisoners. Employment on rel
WATERLOO: It’s common knowledge that Christmas can be a particularly anxious season for many vulnerable people. The timing of the government’s announcement of plans to redevelop the Waterloo estate, and the means by which those plans have been communicated, strikes many residents and housing representatives as highly insensitive and disrespectful.
South Sydney Herald distributor Eleanor Boustead recently spent four weeks in Turkey. A retired nurse, the Redfern local is also a keen reader, traveler and amateur historian. Eleanor has been fortunate enough to visit a different country every few years.
For Kerry, the responsibilities often create anxiety and frustration. She remembers when her daughter was happy and well. She enjoyed sports, studies and employment....
A free science fair and family fun day affirmed the value of traditional knowledge and practice, as well as the rich and complementary relationship between Indigenous and Western science.
REDFERN: Café owner-managers Georgia Woodyard and Anne Cooper are passionate about quality coffee and café-style dining. Their Scout’s Honour café at 118 George Street, opposite the fire station, is a thriving business. In the month of the literary event that was the publication of Harper Lee’s second novel (like the first and famous, To Kill A Mockingbird, the “follow-up” centres on the character – and café namesake – Scout Finch), Georgia took time to reflect on life and work in the neighbourhood.
A new college, the National Aboriginal College (NAC), is offering a variety of useful online courses and correspondence courses to people from all cultural backgrounds.
REDFERN: Basement Skate is a new specialist skate shop in Regent Street (downhill a short distance from the BP service station). Director Dave Robertson is assisted at Basement by chief collaborator and champion skater Maga McWhinnie, this month taking part in various competitions in Europe. Dave talks to the SSH about the thrills and simple pleasures of skateboarding.
Despite a long and complex inter-relationship it is frequently said that art and religion don’t mix. This is the case especially for protestant and modern institutions and cultures, the former marked by suspicion of images, the latter by rejection of faith.
Eight months ago Nathsaie (Honey) Pakdeesush moved to Sydney from her family home in Bangkok. Last month she commenced postgraduate studies in international business at the Sydney campus of the University of Wollongong. Four days a week she works at the Pronprohm Thai restaurant in Redfern Street, Redfern. A gracious and self-assured young woman who speaks three languages, Honey shares her passion for food, travel and business.
WATERLOO: Every Sunday at Waterloo Oval a festival of rugby league attracts an excited crowd. Mothers, fathers, aunties, uncles and league enthusiasts come to support the Redfern All Blacks. The proud club, founded in 1944, fields teams of boys and girls from five to 14 years. Games commence around 9am, with the final game usually finishing around 1pm.
Greens MP Jenny Leong relishes the privilege of having been elected to serve the people of Newtown. The past month has seen her give an inaugural speech in parliament, set up an electoral office in King Street, and engage a host of constituents on key issues including the WestConnex project, the Central to Eveleigh development, affordable housing and the maintenance of “diverse, safe, vibrant community spaces”. It’s an exciting time for the newly elected MP who brings palpable enthusiasm and expertise in a range of fields well suited to her portfolio responsibilities: Arts and Creative Industries, Rental and Tenancy Housing, LGBTIQ and Human Rights.
WATERLOO: On Friday May 22 students and teachers of Green Square School took part in a presentation ceremony at which the school received a brand new water tank. The event, moved indoors due to heavy rain, was part of the Green Gardens Project that will see 12 schools each receive a tank from GreenCo Water.
ULTIMO: South East Sydney Community Transport (SESCT) and Inner West Community Transport (IWCT) have announced a merger that will deliver numerous benefits to clients across nine Local Government Areas. From July 1, 2015, the new service, Access Sydney Community Transport (ASCT), will consolidate the achievements and commitments of its antecedent organisations. John Reynolds, Chair of the SESCT Transitional Board (from May 22), says: “I think it’s fantastic what’s happening. The merger was unanimously endorsed by members at the special general meetings in April. The good will developed by both organisations over the years has remained. Commitment to excellence will continue.”
REDFERN: Country music star and Australian Hearing ambassador Troy Cassar-Daley has written a new song for Australian Hearing. The song, which celebrates the gift of hearing, was officially launched on April 21 at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE). The event was emceed by Paul Brant, Manager of Recruitment Services, Australian Hearing.
