AustLit

'women of brisbane is a book that has been produced to thank the community who contributed their stories, memories and writing to the public art project bandarra-gan chinda: strong woman track/track of strong women (2019). It is the hope of Judy Watson and her team that the information about the man women of brisbane acknowledged in this book, and the heritage of Hamilton Reach, is disseminated far and wide to allow people to understand the layers of hsitory underneath this place.'

Source: Introduction (capitals as in original).

'The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest story of 2020, causing severe and sudden changes that many people could never have imagined. Our Inside Voices is a collection of creative writing that looks beyond quick journalism or abstract statistics to offer deeper reflection on the cultural and social dimensions of the pandemic.

'Writers reflect on how the disease dramatically shaped our ways of living and dying: the abrupt, sometimes subtle, often challenging, changes brought to cultural, economic, and social aspects of everyday life during a global health emergency. Australians at home and abroad, stunned by a sudden shift in priorities as routine habits and occupations were fundamentally disrupted, faced so many changes that even time seemed inconstant.

'Pandemics are biological events with cultural and social implications. We hope (although, in mid-2020, we don’t yet know) that this virus will soon be managed by curative or preventative technologies, but the disease will have infected and killed millions before it is rendered harmless. 

'The voices gathered here are diverse and eloquent, capturing a vivid portrait of the COVID-19 pandemic as it grows towards its initial peak. They also capture various creative ways in which Australians adapt to rapidly changing realities.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In the recent Julian Schnabel film about Vincent van Gogh, At Eternity’s Gate, Vincent asserts, “I am my painting”. The lives of certain artists are often viewed popularly through the prism of biography.

'But in the contemporary art world, this perspective is not celebrated. Many art historians argue that the life of the artist should be viewed independently of the art. Indeed in Australia, suggests art historian Dr Sue Best, “This reductive [biographical] approach sheds almost no light on the art, except in some very unusual circumstances”.' (Introduction)

'In a bold and unprecedented project, acclaimed international artist Fiona Foley curated a cutting edge installation in the University of Queensland's sandstone Great Court. Universities have traditionally been elite institutions, overlooking and undervaluing the knowledge contributions of Indigenous thinkers, activists and artists. This history is etched into the walls of the Great Court, with anachronistic concepts of humanity and racial difference revealed in many of friezes and sculptural reliefs. Fiona Foley and her team of eight Aboriginal artists aimed to challenge these concepts...'

'Featuring the work of artists from Mornington Island Arts and Craft, The Heart of Everything explores the history and visual culture of the region and its wide-ranging contemporary art. This volume also includes a collection of paintings by the Kaiadilt artists of nearby Bentinck Island, including essays by Dr Paul Memmott, Dr Nicholas Evans and art writer Lousie Martin Chew. ' (Source: Online)