Words on Wednesday: Recent Episodes
Eastside Radio 89.7FM
Words on Wednesday is a podcast series with the presenter of Arts Wednesday Sylvia Rosenblum.
It's brought to you by and produced in the studios of Eastside Radio located in Paddington for the Arts Wednesday show.
Jin Sun Kim came to Australia from her native Korea to become a pastry chef. Along the way she fell in love with chocolate and is now a chocolatier at her business Kakawa in Darlinghurst. Learn about where chocolate comes from, how it is made and what makes it good – and bad! [...]Read More... from Chocolate with chocolatier Jin Sun Kim
The first recorded curry meal served in the colony was at a dinner party given bt Governor Macquarie. It was the food of the upper classes and, as we have learned with other foodstuffs, it doesn’t come on to the tables of average households until it is cheap and plentiful. Commercial curry powders came to [...]Read More... from Eat Your History Part 6: Curry with Jacqui Newling
The first recorded curry meal served in the colony was at a dinner party given bt Governor Macquarie. It was the food of the upper classes and, as we have learned with other foodstuffs, it doesn't come on to the tables of average households until it is cheap and plentiful. Commercial curry powders came to the colony later in the 19th century.
Jin Sun Kim came to Australia from her native Korea to become a pastry chef. Along the way she fell in love with chocolate and is now a chocolatier at her business Kakawa in Darlinghurst. Learn about where chocolate comes from, how it is made and what makes it good - and bad!
King Henry VI inherited the English throne aged 9 months, on the death of his father, the legendary Henry V and he inherited the French throne from his grandfather, Charles VI some months later. He was crowned as a boy in November 1429. Henry was simply not meant to be a ruler and his reign, during the Wars of the Roses simply made the situation worse. His reign included imprisonment in there Tower of London and prolonged periods of madness. What a comparison to the orderly nature of the British monarchs today!
Jelly arrived in the colony long after it was fashionable on tables in England. It was very much a rich man's dish because of the time it took to make. Learn about these techniques and how jelly later becomes a staple in all Australian homes.
Jacqui Newling returns with Part 4 on oysters. In the early days, oysters were used as mortar. However, we quickly started harvesting them for eating and by the 1860s had seriously depleted this resource. Thus began oyster farming.
In this episode Jacqui looks at tea. Convicts and poor settlers had drunk tea back in England, but it was not considered a staple and was not included in convicts' rations. As more idea from China came into the colony, the poor drank cheap green tea while the wealthy drank black tea with milk and sugar. Learn how this became the ubiquitous drink for Australians.
My childhood and teenage days on Bondi Beach were regularly punctuated by shark alarms. As we all scrambled out of the water as fast as we could, there was no doubt as to who was the victim and who was the predator. A new exhibition at the Australian Museum, Sharks, aims to turn this view on its head: we are the predators and sharks the victims. This is a big ask for many of us!
So off I went to see the exhibition with Professor Bob Kearney. Bob is a fisheries management expert and I’m pleased to say, makes a welcome return to Arts Wednesday - not to mention a great partner to review this exhibition.
When the convicts and first settlers arrived, sugar was not a staple. It was still a very expensive commodity, only on the tables of the wealthy. Learn how sugar became more plentiful, cheaper and part of everyone's life.
We return to a series from 2016 with Jacqui Newling called Eat Your History. Jacqui is colonial gastronomer at Sydney Living Museums and in this series, she takes us through the history of basic food staples in the early colony. First episode is our most basic: bread.
One in ten women leave work as a result of menopause. They are aged 45-55, an age when we can least afford for them to abandon work. However, for these women, the symptoms are unbearable.
And yet, it is so easy to make life bearable for menopausal women in the workplace. Dr Ginni Mansberg and Shelley Horton devised an online course, designed for ALL workers in any given workplace, in an attempt to increase knowledege and understanding of this perfectly natural part of life.
Ginni makes a welcome return to Arts Wednesday to talk about this new venture.
In Part 4, Sue Jowell tells us about the Golden Age of musicals, starting in the 50s and in this episode, we hear about Oklahoma, Carousel and South Pacific.
Psychologist, Dr Steven Laurent, talks about anger. What is it? What makes us angry? Can it be a positive force? Can we control it? Learn the answers to these and many more questions.
Diane's latest book is set in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands occupied by the Nazis during World War II and alternates in time between those dark days and the present. Diane talks about the inspiration for the novel and her research, including her trips to Jersey.
Sue Jowell joins us for a new series entitled The Musical - More Than Entertainment. In Part 1, she introduces the background and early history of the musical from the 18th century, through vaudeville and Gilbert and Sullivan of the 19th century. We conclude with where Sue's heart belongs: the silver screen and the first ever synchronised musical on screen: The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson
In this episode, Geraint reiterates the chasm between quantum mechanics and traditional astrophysics in explaining our universe. Both sides know we need to mesh the 2 theories if we are to understand our universe. Both sides have wonderful mathematical support for their theories, but they are talking different mathematical languages. How are scientists going about solving the problem?
When Dr Ruth Wilson turned 70, she kept dreaming that she had lost her voice. In a determined effort to find it - and indeed herself - she left her Sydney life for a cottage in the Southern Highlands. To heal her ailing soul, she decided to reread the 6 novels of Jane Austen Her book, The Jane Austen Remedy, documents her 10 year literary journey.
Chris Bonnor is co-author of Waiting for Gonski. Ten years on since then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, commissioned David Gonski to review Commonwealth funding of schools. Her concern was that demography should not denote destiny. Needs based funding was needed and ten years on, we are still waiting.
In this episode, Professor Geraint Lewis projects forward trillions of years to predict what happens when the stars all run out of fuel.
Bill Lucas is not a household name in architecture circles and certainly not in comparison to the luminaries who were his contemporaries. However, perhaps he should be. Commencing practice in the 1950s, he was committed to sustainability before anyone else had even heard of the word!
In an attempt to resurrect his reputation, architect, Peter Lonergan, has curated an exhibition at the Tin Shed Galleries at Sydney University, based on his huge archive. Ed Lippmann nd I visited the exhibition together and spoke to Peter about it.
Geraint Lewis, Professor of Astrophysics, returns to talk about his new book Where Did the Universe Come From? His co author is A/Professor Chris Ferrie, Quantum physicist from UTS. In this first episode, Geraint starts with the startling proposition that physics is broken!
Dr Carolyn Hogg from Sydney University has devoted her academic life to endangered species. In this conversation, we talk about koalas and the threats they face. These are the same as other threatened or endangered species: habitat loss, urbanisation and disease. But what are we doing about it?
We started the year on Arts Wednesday talking about New Year's resolutions and top of the list for Australians is losing weight. The problem is, we don't do very well at keeping our resolution. Why do so many of us want to lose weight and why do we all want the silver bullet? Fad diets seem to fit the bill for so many of us. Dietician Dr Jo McMillan makes a welcome return to Arts Wednesday to talk us through the fads.
Ed Lippmann introduces us to Phillip Thalis, architect and former Councillor on the council of the City of Sydney. Phillip gives us a different perspective on the issue of moral rights of architects. He argues that lawyers must be brought into the list of villains in the piece: they drafted the legislation and insert the waiver clause into contracts. This is a passionate point of view!
Barbara Hill is a truffle farmer just out of Bredbo in the Southern Highlands of NSW. When she and her husband, Richard, bought the run down property, their knowledge of truffle farming was non-existent. Slowly, over the years, they have planted a successful truffle farm. Learn about the trees, the soil, the growing cycle of truffles and the dogs.
In this episode, Geraint takes us from the birth of the stars along their journey to a projected end. Our own star, the sun, remains stable and this is a condition of life for us. But what happens or could happen to stars which use up their fuel supply?
In this episode, Professor Geraint Lewis looks at the theories of how our cosmos began, starting with Einstein and moving on to other theories by Russian Alexander Friedman and the Belgian cleric, Lemaitre.
Ivan is the guru when it comes to whiskey. Learn all about this famous drink: what it is, how it's made, who makes it, where's made and how it tastes!
In this episode, Ed introduces us to Kathlyn Loseby, CEO of the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia. She explains the professional code of conduct contained within the accreditation process, which, theoretically, should preclude abuses of architects' moral rights.
This is the final episode of the series and Andy finishes with the instrumental music of the late Baroque. This is the era of all the Baroque music we love and know - Vivaldi's Four Seasons, all the Bach and Handel. However, we really don't know what it sounded like!
Eucalyptusdom is the title of a new exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum, exploring the world of our iconic trees. Agatha Gothe-Snape is the embedded artist at the Powerhouse and one of the curatorial team responsible for this wonderful exhibition. During the course of our conversation, Agatha addresses the history of the museum itself and the role its early curators played in developing industry and commodities from the gum tree. We also look at some of the commissioned artworks, each providing a unique insight into the trees.
Ed Lippmann returns with a new series of Sydney By Design, this time addressing the somewhat complicated topic of the moral rights of architects. Nobody disputes the rights of composers to their music, authors to their words or visual artists to their images. Somehow, architects are not always afforded this same right. Why and what can be done?
In this first episode, Ed introduces us to Peter Sarlos, architect, lawyer and surveyor who tells us about the rights architects have at law, both state and federal.
More than 100 works by Henri Matisse are displayed in Matisse:Life and Spirit, a new exhibition at AGNSW. The majority of works come from the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Curator, Jackie Dunn, joined Sylvia in conversation talking about Matisse the man, his passions, his life and, of course, his art.
When Natalie visited Morocco, she fell in love with Islamic architecture and it has been the source of inspiration for her needlework ever since. Hear about her inspiration, techniques and projects.
Ghorza is the Arabic word meaning "stitch." It is also the name of Natalie's book. Check it our at artweave.com.au
In this episode, Andy takes us through the changing vocal styles of the late Baroque, from operas to cantatas and oratorios!
Renowned photographer, Ella Dreyfus, has made a film: Dreyfus.Drei. about 3 generations of her family and, given their Holocaust experiences, their complex relationship with Germany. The 3 are her uncle George, herself and her much younger cousin, Jonathan, who calls Berlin home.
The film goes live in Berlin this Friday night 29 October and stays online for 72 hours. The film will be shown in December at the Goethe Institut and The Sydney Jewish Museum. Booking for both venues are now open. Below are the relevant links:
Berlin and live streaming international event: 29/30 October at the Delphi Theatre, Berlin
https://theater-im-delphi.de/en/programm/?prod=118
Sydney Event: 2 December at the Goethe-Institut, Woollahra
https://www.goethe.de/ins/au/en/ver.cfm?event_id=22429041
Sydney Event: 5 December at the Sydney Jewish Museum, Darlinghurst
https://sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au/shop/events/film/film-screening-dreyfus-drei/
Dreyfus Drei trailer https://vimeo.com/635293716
Dreyfus Drei website www.dreyfus3.com
Dr Peter Sheridan is an Art Deco guru, who has just published Sydney Art Deco and Modernist Walks in Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay and, he was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 13 October 2021. In this conversation, he talks about the era, the architects and the buildings!
Andy Bromberger returns for a brand new series of music history and this time it's the Baroque. In Part 1, however, she takes us back to the Renaissance so we can understand the changes that Baroque represented.
In this episode, Anna brings the series to a conclusion, with detailed examples of all the devices and methods both stage and screen utilise to bring history to light.
Do you find understanding economics today baffling? If so, listen to Sylvia's conversation with economist Jasmin Argyrou as she explains government and Reserve Bank policies regarding inflation, interest rates, borrowing, wage rise and more.
Dietitian, Susie Burrell, made a return to Arts Wednesday on 12 May 2021, with a plan for good eating starting from 6:00 am right through to bed time. I regret to inform you that her day starts with matcha tea, a brew that makes me retch! AND, she recommends we drink it often during the day! However, that's our only point of difference. Her dietary plan is based on what you eat being pleasurable - make it delicious or you won't eat it!
Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Australian Ballet, Nicolette Fraillon, was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 26 May 2021. The conversation reveals a myriad of pitfalls for the conductor of ballet. One critic describes it as being like Houston control for NASA! And yes, she does know every step of the ballet!
Corey Herbert is a coryphee with the Australian Ballet and is nominated for the Telstra Young Dancer of the Year Award, to be announced next week. Corey talks about her life as a dancer: the highs, the lows, but most of all, the sheer joy of it!
Austen scholar Ruth Wilson argues for a new way of teaching and learning Jane Austen in the classroom: reading out loud. It is at the heart of her Ph D thesis and she is an eloquent advocate for her beliefs!
In Part 4, Professor Geraint Lewis talks about distant but very powerful sources of energy out there - still mostly shrouded in mystery!
On Arts Wednesday 3 March 2021, Sylvia's guest was Jane Hazelwood, viola player with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She leads us through this often overlooked instrument, by demonstrating its sounds and playing music that reflects its beauty and unique sound.
Everybody has a story about sleep - good or bad. But what is sleep? Why do we need it? How much should we have? What happens if we don't have enough? And what are circadian rhythms and what do they have to do with sleep? Dr Yu Sun Bin is an epidemiologist, who's special research interests are sleep and circadian rhythms. She was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 3 February 2021.
Astrophysicist Professor Geraint Lewis is back for a new series for 2021 and once again he turns his attention to our universe. In Part 1 we explore where our universe comes from How do we measure how old it is? What was there before our universe?
In this final episode, instead of looking back, Ed looks forward: what sort of world will inhabit in the future? How will we live, work and play?
Angus Barnes, Executive Officer with NSW Wine Industry Association, was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 6 January 2020. The truly awful year that has been 2020, was the topic of conversation, starting with bushfires, then floods, then COVID-19 and ending with a 200% tariff slapped on Australian wines by the Chinese government. Learn how NSW has coped.
Gone are the bad old days when zoos were simply tourist attractions so we could go and gawk at wild animals. But what have they become in the modern era? Pretty marvellous places, actually! Nick Boyle, Director Welfare, Conservation and Science at Taronga Zoo, was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 9 December 2020 telling us more.
Design For Life is a new exhibition at the Powerhouse, looking at the development of medical technology, by displaying old and new side by side. Curator Nina Earl was Sylvia's guest in the studio, talking about the range of objects in the exhibition and the extraordinary role Australia has played in the invention of so many medical appliances.
How long since you saw a Christmas beetle? What about cicadas or bogong moths? The fact is, we are seeing a decline in insect numbers, all over the world. David Bock from the Australian Museum was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 11 November 2o20 and talked about this decline, its impact and what we can do about it.
Art consultant, Anna Groden, once again accompanied me to the Archibald at AGNSW and recorded this conversation. Archibald 2020 comes in the wake of last summer's bushfires, COVID 19, Black Lives Matter and Me Too. We expected to see these issues selected in the judging and of course, they were. But is it necessarily a bad thing?
In this episode, award-winning architect, Ed Lippmann, talks about population growth. This is something he has been advocating, but COVID-19 seems to have achieved these limits!
Stephen Todd is Creative Director of Sydney Design Week, which, as usual, is under the auspices of the Powerhouse Museum. Stephen talks about the truly wonderful new exhibition: Hybrid. This sees 9 commissioned designers, working together with professionals in other disciplines to create home objects for 2030.
Resilience. It’s a word we hear a lot at the moment. But what is it? How do we get it and why is it important? Dr Sue Morris, psychologist and academic at UNSW joined Sylvia in the studio in conversation. Sue also recommended the following reading list for those who want tp know more:
https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-secret-formula-for-resilience https://www.happify.com/hd/6-ways-to-be-resilient/ https://www.happify.com/hd/how-to-build-resilience-one-day-at-a-time/ https://www.happify.com/hd/how-to-build-resilience-infographic/
American Psychological Association - Road to Resilience
https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience https://www.uis.edu/counselingcenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/87/2013/04/the_road_to_resilience.pdf https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/human-resilience-covid-19
Chapter on Resilience
https://www.nobascholar.com/chapters/4/download.pdf
In terms of building resilience, prevailing wisdom is to develop a set of skills and practices to develop wellbeing and buffer against adversity. When bad things happen (and they invariably will), you then have a repertoire from which to select the tools most likely to produce the best response in that situation. My book, The Rubber Brain, is replete with such tools to self-optimise and deal with adversity, particularly targeted at university students, but helpful to ANYONE. See: https://www.australianacademicpress.com.au/books/details/314/The_Rubber_Brain_A_toolkit_for_optimising_your_study_work_and_life
Jessie Tu was a professional violinist for 15 years, studied law, did a stint teaching and is now a full-time writer, with prize-winning poetry under her belt and a debut novel - A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing. She is a journalist with Women’s Agenda and has just been appointed one of two new literary critics for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Frankly, she's awesome!
It's sobering to think that the mushrooms you eat are a close relative of the mould you clean off your shower cubicle! Fungi: a weird and wonderful species. Dr Brett Summerrell, Chief Botanist and Director of Research at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 19 August 2020.
Andy's back!!! This is Part 1 of a new series from music historian, Andy Bromberger, entitled Symphony's Selected Sections and in Part 1, Andy talks about the string section: violin, viola, cello and double bass.
On Arts Wednesday 5 August 2020, Sylvia's guest was Nick Russoniello, a very rare breed of musician: a classical saxophonist. Nick talks about the history of the instrument and demonstrates each of the 4 saxophones he brought to the studio.
Developing Sydney is new series with Laila Ellmoos, historian with the City of Sydney and is the title of an exhibition Laila was curating at Customs House opening late March 2020. This did not go ahead. However, the exhibition is now online at: https://www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au/visit/exhibitions-events
The exhibition and the series examines Sydney 1900 - 1920 through the archives of photographs in council's collection. It also marks a new and easier way for us to access the archives. This is the link: https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
On Arts Wednesday 22 July 2020, Sylvia Played Part 5 of Developing Sydney and this episode talks about the resumption of Devonshire Street to make way for the new Central railway station.
On Arts Wednesday 22 July 2020, Sylvia's guest was Helena Ameisen and her extraordinary love story. She was a Jewish girl from Sydney, he was an Egyptian Muslim, 17 years her senior and just separated from his wife. It shouldn't have worked, but it it did. Overcoming the many obstacles - religion, age, culture - they enjoyed a wonderful 18-year marriage in Alexandria, until his untimely death.
What are conspiracy theories? Why are they so prevalent? Can they be dangerous? How do we know what to believe?
Dr Keith Suter was Sylvia's guest on 8 July 2020, making a welcome return to Arts Wednesday to discuss this topical subject matter.
The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, from 1768 to 1771. One of the aims of this first expedition was to observe the 1769 Transit of Venus across the Sun on 3–4 of June that year. This event was the catalyst for Under the Stars, a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Cara Pinchbeck was one of the two curators and she joined Sylvia to tell us more.
On Arts Wednesday 27 May 2020, sculptor Phlyssa Koshland was Sylvia's guest, taking us through the long, laborious and highly skilled process of making a bronze sculpture, from maquette all the way to the foundry.
Developing Sydney is new series with Laila Ellmoos, historian with the City of Sydney and is the title of an exhibition Laila was curating at Customs House opening late March 2020. This did not go ahead. However, the exhibition is now online at: https://www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au/visit/exhibitions-events
The exhibition and the series examines Sydney 1900 - 1920 through the archives of photographs in council's collection. It also marks a new and easier way for us to access the archives. This is the link: https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
In Part 3, Laila Ellmoos talks some more about council's powers of demolition of buildings and the rise of the Royal Australian Historical Society, concerned with remembering what the city was losing.
Heritage consultant, Jonathan Bryant, was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 11 March 2020, talking about the splendid State Theatre. This jewel of a theatre was built in 1929 and, miraculously, remains largely in tact. Learn about those early days of theatre, the very special features of the State and the ongoing restoration projects, particularly the newly restored Wurlitzer organ.
Tours of the State Theatre are available.For further information, please visit www.statetheatre.com.au/guided-tours/
On Arts Wednesday 26 February 2020, Sylvia's guests were Rhianna Walcott and Alex Seton, both board members of Art Month. Why is there such a disconnect between much contemporary art and the general public? Need there be? Can you do something about it? How do you collect with a small budget? How can Art Month help?
On Arts Wednesday 19 February 2020, Sylvia's guest was Jenny Eriksson, founders rof the Marais Project and viola da Gamba player with the group. They are performing in a concert at Elizabeth Bay House to mark 250 since Swedish naturalist, Daniel Solander, arrived on our shores with Captain Cook. Music is mostly Swedish from the same period and featured on their lates CD, Smorgasbord.
Further concert information: https://slm.is/solander’.
Developing Sydney is new series with Laila Ellmoos, historian with the City of Sydney and is the title of an exhibition Laila was curating at Customs House opening late March 2020. This did not go ahead. However, the exhibition is now online at: https://www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au/visit/exhibitions-events
The exhibition and the series examines Sydney 1900 - 1920 through the archives of photographs in council's collection. It also marks a new and easier way for us to access the archives. This is the link: https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
In this episode of Developing Sydney, historian, Laila Ellmoos, tells us about the role of photography in documenting urban Sydney 1900 - 1920. What were the Condemnation and Demolition books? Why did council engage professional potogpraphers and who were they? Learn the story of how the original glass plate negatives survived.
Developing Sydney is new series with Laila Ellmoos, historian with the City of Sydney and is the title of an exhibition Laila was curating at Customs House opening late March 2020. This did not go ahead. However, the exhibition is now online at: https://www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au/visit/exhibitions-events
The exhibition and the series examines Sydney 1900 - 1920 through the archives of photographs in council's collection. It also marks a new and easier way for us to access the archives. This is the link: https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
In Episode 1, Laila gives us an overview of the series.
All round musical genius Michael Atherton makes a welcome's return to Its Wednesday with yet another wierd and wonderful instrument, the Jew's Harp. It has nothing to do with Jew and nothing to do with harps. So what is it? Where does it come from and how does it work?
Long-time champion of Muslim women, Dr Ida Lichter, makes a welcome's return to Arts Wednesday. The conversation looks back at the 1979 revolution in Iran, its impact on the society and particularly on women. The conversation moves on to the recent street protests and the role women play.
In Part 4 of Multiples, Anna Groden talks about photographs, going back to their origins in the early 19th century through the various processes that see the photograph become an art form. Digital photography has seen this art form dramatically change in recent times.
Shivanjani Lal was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 22 January 2020, talking about her participation in Wansolwara: one salt water, the latest exhibition at the UNSW galleries. Shivanjabi's works explore history and identity: her personal history and identity as an Australian, Fijian whose ancestral home is in India, that of her family, her community of Indians who came to Fiji as indentured labour to work the sugar plantations and that of her country of birth, Fiji.
Menopause is the M word and the subject of the latest book by Dr Ginni Mansberg, who made a welcome return to Arts Wednesday on 29 January 2020. Ginni is a GP specialising in women's health and is best known as the GP on Sunrise on Channel 7 and more recently, host of Medicine or Myth on SBS. Hear about the horror story that is HRT and why it is still the best treatment for most menopausal women. The conversation also includes the last taboo - the vagina!
Apparently we are very good at making New Year's Resolutions and spectacularly bad at keeping them. Why do we make them, what do we make them about and how can we do better at keeping them? This was the topic of conversation with Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 15 January 2020, psychologist, Professor Alex Blaszczynski.
On 8 January 2020, art consultant, Anna Groden, made a welcome return to Arts Wednesday with Part 1 of a new 6-part series on multiples: etching, lithographs, linocuts, woodblocks and more. In this episode, Part 1, Anna answers the question: what are prints?
In our continuing series on multiples, this week art consultant Anna Groden starts with print making techniques, talking about relief printing: woodcuts or woodblocks and linocuts. Learn how they are made and who made them: European artists, greatly influenced by the Japanese woodblocks through to our own Margaret Prescott.
In this episode, art consultant, Anna Groden, continues with printing techniques, once again revealing history, techniques and famous artists who use these methods.
On Arts Wednesday 11 December 2019, Sylvia's guest was Dr Keith Suter, who reviewed 2019 and presaged events in 2020. Topics covered include the rise in street protests, particularly in Hong Kong, the increasing influence of China in Australia and elsewhere and the impeachment of Donald Trump.
Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 4 December 2019 was Melanie Eastburn, curator at the Art Gallery of NSW, talking about Japan Supernatural, the current exhibition at the gallery. Her knowledge and expertise unlock this very complex topic. Starting with the history of the genre, Melanie moves on to talk about the fantastical characters of the supernatural and the artists who depict them.
Corinne Estrada is the organiser of an art talks event inspired by Le Louvre’s blockbuster Da Vinci exhibition opening in Paris this month and the artist’s 500th anniversary. She was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 13 November 2019. Their conversation explores the subject matter of the three lectures:Leonardo da Vinci, Notre Dame de Paris and the impact of the fires this year and finally, Renaissance men and timeless genius - Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael.
London-based Australian violinist, Emily Sun was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 6 November 2019. Emily was the star of the 2011 documentary, Mrs Carey's Concert and has gone on to fulfill the promise she showed as schoolgirl in that film. The conversation ranged from her family to her education, moving to London and the sort of music she loves to play.
Under 27 is the third exhibition in this series of photographic portraits of the same 14 boys who played on the same soccer team aged 11-12. Now adults, the exhibition shows 3 pictures of each - the child, the adolescent and the man. Portrait artist and renowned photographer, Ella Dreyfus, was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 23 October 2019, talking about this exhibition and the entire series.
On Arts Wednesday 16 October 2019, Sylvia's guest was Elizabeth Day, artist and curator of the Boom Gate Gallery at Long Bay prison. The conversation looked at art made in the prison and its benefits and then focused on the current exhibition ... In Trouble. This exhibition is part of the Big Anxiety Festival and the works display the artists' feelings about their mental health.
Caroline Mackaness was responsible for the delivery, on behalf of the Trustees, for the Centenary of Anzac legacy project to complete the original 1930s design vision for the State’s Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park - along with significant new community and education facilities. She was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 2 October 2019, filling us in on the history of this truly beautiful memorial.
We all know that drought is a given in the Australian landscape. But are we managing our water the best way possible? Where are we getting it right and where could we do better? Sylvia Rosenblum's guest on Arts Wednesday 25 September 2019, was Professor Greg Leslie, the Director of the UNSW Global Water Institute, and the Director of the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology.
On Arts Wednesday 18 September 2019, Sylvia's guests were Chrissie Kirkwood and Fergus Barker, landscape architecture students from UTS. As a student exercise, they were required to reimagine Rushcutters Creek, once a meandering stream rising in Darlinghurst and emptying into Rushcutters Bay. What is left is a mainly concrete stormwater channel through an area that was once a popular picnic and recreation site in the early nineteenth century. Their proposals are imaginative and exciting and are being considered by the 2 councils, through whose land the creek flows.
BAD Sydney 2019 is a crime writers' festival, being held this weekend. Artistic Director, Catherine du Peloux Menage, joined Sylvia in conversation on Arts Wednesday 4 September 2019.
If you were running an Arts Festival, wouldn't you like to call it Sedition? That's exactly what Toby Creswell has done and it looks at the 70s: music, theatre, film, art and more.
Toby was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 28 August 2019.
Our patience has been rewarded! After a long wait, acclaimed author, Diane Armstrong has published a new novel: The Collaborator. Based on an historical event in the darkest days of the Holocaust, Diane has woven a gripping story. She was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 21 August 2019.
Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 14 August 2019 was Dr Matthew Stephens, curator of Songs of Home, the latest exhibition at the Museum of Sydney.
The conversation took an idiosyncratic walk through the exhibition, via 8 of the 60 music tracks you can hear when you visit. The tracks were selected by Matthew and range from the song Bennelong and Yammerawanne sang in London in1793 to a contemporary approach to the theme of Songs of Home by an Anglo-Australian folk group.
On Arts Wednesday 7 August 2019, Sylvia's guest was Dr Stephen Gapps, curator at the Australian National Maritime Museum, talking about the latest exhibition Bligh: Hero or Villain. You probably know most about the man from either primary school history or Hollywood, where Bligh is always the villain, undone by the loveable rogue, Fletcher Christian. The exhibition challenges this view and asks the visitor to do the same.
During the course of July/August 2019, Sylvia's guest was Dr Jacqueline Nguyen, ornithologist and palaeontologist at the Australian Museum. In a six-part series, entitles Birds and Bones, Jacqueline took us through a unique view of birds, via fossil bones. The six episodes are: 1. What does an ornithologist do? 2. Australia: the birth place of song birds 3. Bristlebirds 4. What fossils can tell us about Australia's birds 5. Mihirungs: Demon Ducks of Doom 6. Bird names
On Arts Wednesday, Sylvia's guest was Elise Edmonds, Senior Curator at the State Library of NSW, talking about Dead Central. The old Devonshire Cemetery was pulled down to make way for Central Railway in 1901 and the exhibition traces the history of the cemetery, established by Governor Macquarie to the building of the new station. In many ways, this story mirrors the development of the small convict settlement at Sydney Cove to the thriving metropolis it would become.
On Arts Wednesday 10 July 2019, Sylvia's guest was philosopher Dr Simon Longstaff, Director of the Ethics Centre. In the light of recent headline news - Israel Folau, John Setka, AFP raids on journalists - what is free speech in Australia and what should it be in a fair society?
On Arts Wednesday 19 June 2019, Sylvia's guest was curator, Nicholas Chapman, from the Art Gallery of NSW talking about The Essential Duchamp. This exhibition, comprising more than 100 works from the Philadelphia Art Museum, is a comprehensive review of the work of this undoubtedly brilliant but enigmatic man and artist. If you only know his name through Fountain, the urinal he submitted for exhibition, be surprised at how much more there is to Marcel Duchamp!
On Arts Wednesday 12 June 2019, Sylvia played an interview she recorded with curator, Tansy Curtin, in the Bendigo Art Gallery about its truly monumental exhibition, Tudors to Windsors. It showcases not only the changing nature of portraiture, but the changing nature of beauty, might and power.