Connecting you with Australian culture online
Australian weather and the seasons European discovery and the colonisation of Australia Great Barrier Reef The Australian Gold Rush Australian Indigenous cultural heritage Melbourne Cup Convicts and the British colonies in Australia Australian food and drink Sydney Opera House The Great Depression
Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM is known as the founder of modern Australian dance. Elizabeth Cameron Dalman's foundation of the Australian Dance Theatre led to a flourishing of public programs and workshops in modern dance techniques and improvisation. The...
Dance is a very dynamic part of Australian performing arts culture. In turn, Australian dance ventures such as Chunky Move, Buzz Dance Theatre and Australian Dance Theatre are bringing their work to the world through international tours. The mix include...
For example, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders these ceremonies bring together all aspects of their culture - song, dance, body decoration, sculpture and painting. Anny Nungarrayi (centre) with other Warlpiri women perform a traditional dance dur...
Don McMurdo, Fireworks over the Sydney Opera House, Japan Week, 1988, slide. William Lyster set up his own opera company in 1861, giving audiences their first full scale productions of European opera. Opera Australia was created through the merger of Th...
Like other art forms, Australian theatre has built on previous traditions and developed over time, shaped by local and international artistic movements, events and trends. Australian theatre history incorporates the stories of many actors, entrepreneurs,...
The Australian Institute of Music has been preparing young Australians for music careers since 1968. This is a portal to other Australian music websites of various genres, including jazz, blues, pop, rock and classical. Australian country and folk music...
Originally called Armistice Day, this day commemorated the end of the hostilities for the Great War (World War I), the signing of the armistice, which occurred on 11 November 1918 - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Armistice Day was obser...
Each year the Sydney Festival offers a rich and diverse program spanning all art forms including dance, theatre, music, visual arts, film, forums and large scale free outdoor events. The National Multicultural Festival is held over two weeks and features...
Australian folklore, its traditions, customs and beliefs are based on both Indigenous and also non-Indigenous people's knowledge and experience of history in Australia. Some of Australia's folklore remembers the relationship between Europeans and Aborigi...
Traditional Indigenous architecture was domestic - across a range of well crafted and technologically designed shelters and residential camps. Courtesy of Queensland Museum and Aboriginal Environments Research Centre. Annual base camp structures, whether...
Bark Painting, Evans Collection, Northern Territory Library. Image courtesy of the Northern Territory Library and the National Library of Australia. Australian Indigenous art is the oldest ongoing tradition of art in the world. ...
Aboriginal dancers telling Dreamtime stories at the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony. The Dreaming for Australian Indigenous people (sometimes referred to as the Dreamtime or Dreamtimes) is when the Ancestral Beings moved across the land and created life...
Indigenous film either portrays Indigenous people, issues and stories or is film made by Indigenous Australians. The portrayal of Indigenous issues and people in film provides a unique insight into Australia's relationship with its Indigenous peoples and...
NAIDOC originally stood for 'National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee' after a Day of Mourning was held on Australia Day, 1938. In 1991 NADOC became NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) to recognise Torres...
UNESCO states that Indigenous populations number some 350 million individuals in more than 70 countries in the world, and that this represents more than 5000 languages and cultures. Today, many Indigenous peoples live on the fringes of society and are de...
Reconciliation is about unity and respect between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Indigenous Australians. It is about respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and valuing justice and equity for all Australians. National R...
The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998 - one year after the tabling of the report Bringing them Home, May 1997. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission into the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their fami...
While tools varied by group and location, Aboriginal people all had implements such as knives, scrapers, axe-heads, spears, various vessels for eating and drinking, and digging sticks. Aboriginal people achieved two world firsts with stone technology. T...
It also contains links to sites that may use images of Aboriginal and Islander people now deceased. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are complex and diverse. In Australia, Indigenous communities keep their cultural heritage alive by passin...
Australian independent (indie) music fills a space left by rock and pop music. With the punk movement came a formation of a new style of music, new bands, and independent music labels generally ran from backyard operations. One of the pioneering bands fo...
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