Michael Shirrefs
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There’s an old tradition in parts of rural Australia of the ‘Twig’ or ‘Twiggy’—suddenly deciding, on a whim, to stop by the side of the road, light a camp-fire with some friends and sit around for a chat, or to play music. Now the idea’s being revived, as a series of artist-in-residence events on farms along the Victorian/NSW border.
There’s an idea that’s been percolating for a while in the minds of many people in India. What’s the price of change? Will Indians still recognise their country as it hurtles into a larger arena of influence and economic power? For many Indians, the country’s myriad crafts and artistic traditions are the very things that will help India survive the future with its Indian-ness intact.
Over the past few months, Australia’s been the fortunate beneficiary of an exhibition, driven by some quite original scholarship from local curators, and by the deep knowledge and finest treasures from the Bodleian Library in Oxford. And the result has been a rare glimpse into some of the earliest and most beautiful Persian manuscripts—lush works of art and literature.
The story of colonial Australia is as much a story of dispossession as it is of settlement, and dispossession often went hand in hand with terrible brutality. Today we’re looking at a violent incident that occurred in Western Australia 178 years ago, in which 21 Nyoongar people were killed in a raid by mounted troops.
