culture.gov.au

Connecting you with Australian culture online

ausculture newsletter March 2003

Welcome to Australia's Culture and Recreation Portal Newsletter for February/March 2003

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OZeCulture Conference 2003 - Call for Papers
The third annual OZeCulture conference of culture, new media and ebusiness, OZeCulture 2003: culture with byte!, will take place in Brisbane at the Brisbane Powerhouse from 29 - 31 July 2003.

It will feature Australian and international speakers on a broad range of topics related to the creation of art using digital media and to the use of digital media and the Internet to promote and distribute cultural products and services.

Increasingly the use of digital media and web-based technology in the cultural sector is becoming more sophisticated. To help the sector address these issues, in addition to the broad theme outlined above, the 2003 conference will focus on:
* the uses of digital media and the Internet for cultural purposes in regional and rural areas
* expanding and developing new audiences and markets, both international and domestic, for Australian cultural content through digital media and the Internet, and
* the relationship between cultural organisations and artists producing digital content and using the Internet and the 'creative digital content industries', such as interactive multimedia, digital film and television production and post-production, digital video arts production, computer and online games, design and advertising and educational content production.

There will be an associated trade fair showcasing companies with products and services suitable for cultural organisations working with the web or digital media.

The conference will provide many opportunities - structured, informal and social - to hear about the latest experiences of use of the web by cultural organisations and artists and to meet and discuss developments with colleagues working in this exciting and crucial area.

Call for papers/presentations
The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts is pleased to invite submissions of papers covering all aspects of the use of digital media and the Internet to produce, promote and distribute cultural products and services.

The closing date is Friday 14 March 2003. Enquiries and submissions should be emailed to: mailto:ozeculture@dcita.gov.au. Visit the conference website at http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/conference3/ for more details.

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We've made some changes to our What's New page. Our news items are now in categories - Events and Exhibitions, Festivals, Conferences and Competitions, Ezines and Reports, and Websites. So visit http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/ and click through to what interests you!

If you have any feedback about our What's New page or have a contribution, email the editor at mailto:editor@cultureandrecreation.gov.au. Please include the URL of your website with further information about your news item and possible images to highlight your event.

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Snippets from our What's New page for February/March 2003
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/
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Adelaide International Film Festival
The Adelaide International Film Festival (AIFF) will run from 28 February - 7 March 2003. With more than 80 feature length programs from more than 25 countries, including a prestigious line up of Australian premieres. The Festival takes in feature film, documentary, shorts, new media, music video, animation, computer gaming and a comprehensive special events and a free forum program.

In 2003, the festival celebrates the 30th anniversary of the SA Film Corporation and, additionally, embraces a partnership with its sister event WOMADelaide (7 - 9 March 2003).
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Art Museums: Sites of Communication
The Art Museums: Sites of Communication symposium will be held on 14 - 15 March 2003 at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. A collaboration between the National Gallery of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery, the symposium will investigate contemporary perspectives on interpretation, audience development, cultural prejudice, the experiential dimension, research, and the role of the imagination.
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What's on at Old Parliament House
The Playing Politics: the cartoons of Pickering & Pryor exhibition until 31 August 2003. Insightful and irreverent, this exhibition features the work of two of Australia's most successful political cartoonists, Geoff Pryor and Larry Pickering. A special night sitting - Humour in the House - is on 27 March 2003. It's a night of political satire and it will highlight the cartooning talents of Geoff Pryor and Larry Pickering. You can also view the exhibition, Playing Politics.
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International year of Freshwater 2003
2003 is the International year of Freshwater. We are all dependent on water - for good health, our food, irrigation and industry - and this year will focus on looking at ways to protect our waterways.

Following the theme of the International Year of Freshwater, there are a few environmental conferences and exhibitions around Australia. These include the Ozwater 2003 Convention & Exhibition from 6 - 10 April 2003 in Perth, Western Australia; the ISWA World Congress 2003 - Sustainability in a New World from 9 -14 November 2003 in Melbourne, Victoria; and the Australian Water Summit from 26 - 28 February 2003 in Sydney, New South Wales.
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For further details of these and other Australian cultural and recreational news items visit our regularly updated What's New page at http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/news/.

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Festivals in 2003
Festivals have become ubiquitous in Australia, with hundreds held each year. Some are as small as the community based Apollo Bay Music Festival, while others afford the opportunity to bring international performers to Australian audiences and showcase Australian works.

Wherever you are in the country, you'll have an opportunity to partake in a festival this year with a particularly frenetic schedule of festivals over the next few months http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/festivals/.

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We have another free email newsletter - the Portal contributors newsletter - produced and distributed by the Culture and Recreation Portal for the owners and managers of websites listed or indexed by our site.

The Portal contributors newsletter focuses on the online environment, website design, technical innovation, educational opportunities and provides specific information to ensure sites can be indexed successfully through our portal. If you are one of the over 2200 Australian culture and recreation websites in our directory, go and subscribe to the Portal contributors newsletter at http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/contributors/.