This brilliant jacket certainly fits the story of its former owner the country musician Tex Morton (1916-1983), born in 1916 as Robert William Lane. Robert or ‘Bobby’ began busking at 14 before recording several albums in Wellington, New Zealand. These are believed to be the first country music recordings made outside of America. In the […]
When lecturing on the advancements made in electric light technology to 1882, Rookes Crompton (1845-1940), the inventor and maker of the current indicator shown here, told his electrical engineering colleagues that with ‘more light’ darkness could be determined at will, rather than controlled by the cycle of night and day. From early childhood Crompton was […]
When a young shepherdess named Bridget Coleman (1856-1873) was murdered at Moonbi near Tamworth in 1873, David Wiley (1815-1876), a stranger to her, penned a poem about this crime. In the simply titled poem ‘Bridget Coleman’, Wiley expressed deep dissatisfaction that authorities did not find and bring to justice Bridget’s brutal killer. But why did […]
We take pictures to remember, freezing a moment forever, afraid a memory will be lost. Our smartphones have made the act of taking a photo something we do almost without thinking. It is now so easy to snap a portrait of a friend, that around the world some 54,400 images are snapped every second. It […]
When is a guitar more than just a guitar? The guitar pictured here is a Gibson J200VS – a classic acoustic flat top, much loved by musicians all over the world. Its design has barely changed since its release in 1937, making it a true icon. But this Gibson is more than just an iconic […]
Crown Bugalaa was created in response to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections held without consent at the University of New England (UNE), on Anaiwan Country. The work was informed by First Nations oral histories and my own PhD research on Gomeroi weaving at the UNE, in Armidale NSW. My People provided me the […]
In 1873, when shepherding in a lonely valley at Mulla Creek on Kamilaroi Country near Tamworth, 17-year-old Bridget Coleman (1856-1873) was assaulted and strangled. The lock of hair shown here is Bridget’s. Bridget’s brother Thomas, who was minding the sheep with her, discovered Bridget’s bloodied body lying face-down. Alarmed at the sight of her lifeless […]
By the age of ten Rocky Cameron (1944-2016) was already an experienced performer. He had ‘cut his teeth’ on the greater-Sydney radio circuit – 2UW, 2KY, 2GB & 2KA – but even with those successes he still felt his nerves swell. Following the introduction of television to Australia, Rocky made it to the stage of […]
A multi-instrumentalist, clown and busker, Rodney Walker is a retired Australian country music artist. His home-made eccentric musical contraptions combine as many as thirteen instruments, secured together with steel brackets. Carried on his head and shoulders, his instrument ensemble allowed Rodney to play guitar, sing, and use his feet to sound the percussion, all at […]
Described as a ‘painters painter’, Lucy Culliton has been a finalist in several Archibald, Wynne and Sulman art prizes, marking her as one of Australia’s leading representational contemporary painters. Known for her depictions of found object assemblages, landscapes, and portraits of people and animals, art critic John McDonald described her work as being a ‘perfect […]
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