March - mad about design

This month, Australia is alive with design. The new Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards in Brisbane will dovetail with April's design, building and construction industries' national conferences in Sydney.

The Design Institute of Australia will present its 2010 Australasian Student Design Awards in Melbourne. The L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival and the fashion retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria complement 15 years of Rosemount Fashion Week history in Sydney.

Handcrafted atelier pieces are showing from coast to coast with iconic furniture pieces and contemporary jewellery in Perth. On the east coast, 70 pieces of woodwork and furniture show in Bungendore.

Darwin will see objects by Sari Harris crafted in porcelain, silver, silicone and timber. Canberra will profile architect Glenn Murcutt. Launceston, home to the internationally outstanding Design Centre, a cascade of five galleries, hosts the Wood Design Collection. Adelaide will shine with eight of Australia’s most innovative glass artists.

New and revised Australian Stories

In addition to our Stories on Design, Modern Australian Fashion and Modern Australian architecture please see new and revised Stories:

F!NK design - an Australia design success story

The state of craft in Western Australia

Arts and crafts movement in Australia

Monthly call-out

The Australian Network for Art & Technology (ANAT) is calling creative practitioners and science and research organisations for the 2010 Synapse Residency. The program enables collaboration between artists and scientists. Applications due 23 April 2010.

Featured Resource

Careersindesign

Featured event

L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) - Melbourne

14–21 March 2010

The LMFF program is primarily made up of public events, including the L'Oréal Paris Runway, Fashion Collections, SIDEWALK and Independent Runway. Running during the festival, Penthouse Mouse is a pop-up shop that transforms deserted spaces into a temporary art and design hub. More...

Featured website

The Design Centre - Launceston, Tasmania

The internationally outstanding Design Centre, a cascade of five galleries, listed in 2004 as one of the top 1000 contemporary buildings in the world, hosts the Wood Design Collection - Australia's only museum collection of contemporary wood design.

Snippets

Design and architecture

culture.gov.au/news/design.htm

John Goulder, 11.12 Furniture - Perth

5 February – 28 March 2010

11.12 Furniture is the culmination of an intensive working relationship for the designer and for FORM. The exhibition features 11 new works made over 12 months in Midland Atelier, alongside key iconic pieces. More...

Digital media and film

culture.gov.au/news/digitalmedia.htm

Elastic Reality: Australian Animation in the 21st Century - Canberra

December 2009 – May 2010

Celebrating Australian's successes in the field of animation, Elastic Reality is a collection of images taken from the films of Australia's most prominent creators of animation. More...

Festivals and conferences

culture.gov.au/news/festivalsandconferences.htm

Creative3 - Brisbane

14 April – 16 April 2010

Creative3 is an international forum which aims to empower individuals and organisations to harness the power of creativity, investment and enterprise to build a successful creative business through practical learning and application. More...

History and identity

culture.gov.au/news/historyandidentity.htm

Frock stars: inside Australian Fashion Week - Sydney

22 April – 29 August 2010

Frock stars: inside Australian Fashion Week unveils the history, highlights, controversies and achievements of an event that has challenged and changed perceptions of the Australian fashion industry. More...

Indigenous arts and culture

culture.gov.au/news/indigenousarts.htm

Jimmy Pike, Desert Psychedelic - Brisbane

22 February – 28 March 2010

Jimmy Pike's designs are vivid, dynamic and groundbreaking in their use of non-traditional colours. In collaboration with the company Desert Designs, they exploded onto an international stage via high-fashion garments, textiles and furnishings. More...

Language and literature

culture.gov.au/news/languageandliterature.htm

Norman Lindsay Festival of Children's Literature - Faulconbridge, New South Wales

20 – 21 March 2010

Proving that the magic of children's books is still alive, the 10th annual Norman Lindsay Festival of Children’s Literature is set to excite kids and the young at heart as they get the chance to meet their favourite authors and illustrators. More...

Performance

culture.gov.au/news/performance.htm

Stories from the 428 - Sydney

24 March – 3 April 2010

Stories from the 428 is a community based Sydney writers project. Sixteen writers rode the Sydney 428 bus route searching for the extraordinary within the very ordinary. More...

Resources and funding - culture sector

culture.gov.au/news/resourcesandfunding.htm

NSW Empty Spaces

March 2010

Various groups are working together to develop the NSW Empty Spaces website and toolkit. The project is based on Renew Newcastle and aims to support local leaders who are organising for short-term creative and community uses for vacant, disused or soon-to-be-redeveloped buildings. More...

Visual arts and crafts

culture.gov.au/news/visualarts.htm

Sari Harris, Imagining Darwin - Darwin

26 March - 1 May 2010

Inspired by the unique land and seascape of Australia and the Galapagos Islands, Melbourne artist Sari Harris creates small objects using skin-like silicone, smooth porcelain, silver and timber to encourage human compulsion to touch and create order. More...

Websites - new

culture.gov.au/news/websites.htm

Gallery of Australian Design - Canberra

March 2010

The Gallery of Australian Design aims to promote Australian Design in all its forms. It is a unique partnership between the University of Canberra, the Australian Institute of Architects, the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and the National Museum of Australia. More...

Portal news

The Culture Portal at www.culture.gov.au will close from 1 July 2010. The Culture Portal closure is part of the Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2009-10 announced on 2 November 2009. Enquiries regarding this closure process should be addressed through the Comments and Feedback page, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.