Namatjira Rankin's Namatjira paints a portrait of artist's life and times » WITH the help of Namatjira's descendants, writer/director Scott Rankin has painted a whole-hearted tribute to the Arrernte artist whose beautiful watercolors introduced the lounge rooms of Australia suburbia to the exquisite beauty of our central desert heartland. Namatjira was a man who at the height of his fame sold out his shows within minutes, supported more than 600 members of his community, lost two of his 10 children to malnutrition, was forbidden to own land, imprisoned for having a drink with his friends and died a broken man... (more)

Chocolate Cake on the festival, club route My Friend the Chocolate Cake » POP noir band My Friend the Chocolate Cake tours Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in March. Performing at the Famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne on March 2 and 3, My Friend the Chocolate Cake then moves to Adelaide during the Adelaide Fringe and then back to Victoria for the Port Fairy Folk Music Festival. In New South Wales, they will be at the Blue Mountains Folk Festival on March 16 and 17 and at The Basement in Sydney on March 23.

Who will win the inaugural AACTAs? » WHEN the Australian Film Institute launched the Australian Acadamy of Cinema and Television Arts in August, it also marked the transition of the annual AFI Awards, which started in 1958, into the AACTA Awards. The inaugural AACTA Awards for outstanding film and television work in 2011 are to be held on January 31 at the Sydney Opera House and broadcast on Channel 9. Six films — The Eye of the Storm, The Hunter, Mad Bastards, Oranges and Sunshine, Red Dog and Snowtown — are on the short list of nominations for best feature film. In contention for best feature film director are Fred Schepisi (The Eye of the Storm), Daniel Nettheim (The Hunter), Kriv Stenders (Red Dog) and Justin Kurzel (Snowtown)... (more)

Pablo Picasso Deux femmes courant sur la plage (La course)(Two women running on the beach (The race)) 1922, gouache on plywood 32.5 × 41.1 cm, Pablo Picasso Bequest, 1979, MP78 Sydney features Picasso collection » MORE than 150 paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings by Pablo Picasso have arrived in Sydney and are on exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until March 25. Picasso: masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris, jointly organised by Musée National Picasso, the Art Gallery of NSW and Art Exhibitions Australia (AEA), was conceived, curated and mounted by Musée National Picasso general commissioner and president Anne Baldassari... (more)

Beachtime! » SUMMER'S here and, of course, it's beachtime in Sydney. There's a great number of beaches to go to — from Palm Beach in the north to the Cronulla beaches in the south. Take your pick, some are more crowded than others, and dive in.... (more)

» FOR current and coming Sydney theatre productions, the Sydney
Theatre Guide is the place to visit for up-to-date listings and booking
information. Also see What's On in Melbourne.

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Larry Rivera, Editor

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