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Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. Memorabilia is displayed in museums like the Chinese Museum, Melbourne, and the Golden Dragon Museum, Bendigo. Bendigo Chinese Association Golden Dragon Museum....

Nicola Finetti, Dress of silk georgette, silk chiffon and metallic embroidery on silk organza. Fashion can be defined by colour, cut, cloth, garment type, garment styles and interpretation of looks. Chinese silk embroidered shawls and Chinese surcoats b...

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...

The gold rushes of the nineteenth century and the lives of those who worked the goldfields - the 'diggers' - are etched into our national folklore. There is no doubt that the gold rushes had a huge effect on the Australian economy and our development as a...

A wide variety of Australian fashion textiles - hand-coloured, printed and painted silks, woven wool, dyed discharge and devore prints, ground velvets, and ochred designs based on traditional Aboriginal body paintings have all contributed to the definitio...

Bardi people, Cape Leveque, Kimberley region, Western Australia Pearl shell, red pigment. Australia's pearling industry began long before European settlement. Northern Australian coastal dwelling Aborigines harvested the abundant pearl shell from the shal...

Hoopdive, The Flying Fruit Fly Circus. Troupes like the Flying Fruit Fly Circus and Circus Oz have spearheaded a new style of circus performance that features highly physical activities and no animal tricks. Nicole Brackertz, teacher of circus history at...

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...

Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. The myth of the digger and the larrikin hero is an important part of the Australian experience of pastoralism, the goldfields, bushranging, shearing and droving. The slang term 'digger' re-surfaced during th...

Protestant and Roman Catholic churches hold Christmas Day services on 25 December. The Eastern churches - the Ethiopian Orthodox church, Russian Orthodox church and the Armenian church - celebrate Christmas on 6 or 7 January. Christmas is the celebratio...

In 1788, the eleven ships of the First Fleet landed their 'cargo' of around 780 British convicts at Botany Bay in New South Wales. From 1788 to 1823, the Colony of New South Wales was officially a penal colony comprised mainly of convicts, marines and th...

Easter commemorates the resurrection (return to life) of Jesus Christ following his death by crucifixion. Easter eggs are traditionally eaten on Easter Sunday, however stores start stocking Easter treats well before the Easter holiday period. Early on Ea...

Image courtesy of the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery and Australian Museums & Galleries Online. The Eureka rebellion, which is often referred to as the 'Eureka Stockade' is a key event in the development of Australian democracy and Australian identity, with so...

The Federation Kiosk, Centennial Park, Sydney at the Proclamation of Federation, 1 January 1901. Image courtesy of the National Archives of Australia. Commonwealth Arch, Park Street, Sydney. ...

Before white settlement, Aboriginal people survived off the native plants and animals of the Australian environment for thousands of years. Bush foods such as berries, roots and nectars were a vital part of the aboriginal diet in many areas. In the late...

Russell Drysdale, Picture of Donald Friend, 1948. Hill End, a gold-rush town, 85km north of Bathurst in central New South Wales (NSW) is a sacred site in both NSW and also Australian art history. These artists include: John Olsen, Margaret Olley, Jeffre...

Humour is seen in the Australian use of slang, and across media from cartoons in print, as sketches on radio, as comedy series on television, in films and with witty observations of life in Australian literature. Mocking the wowser is another common elem...

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...

World Heritage-listed Fraser Island. However, Australia is actually made up of more than 8,000 islands, including the island state of Tasmania. Norfolk Island is located far off the east coast of Australia. ...

Margaret Preston was an Australian painter and printmaker who was a leading example of early Australian modernism. Her essays and articles were published in Australian journals including Art in Australia , Undergrowth, Jindyworobak Review and Australia N...