Blog - Dumbo Feather

Video: Kylie Kwong is a Chef

2012-05-16T00:00:00Z

To the rest of the world, Kylie Kwong is a chef. But look beyond that and you’ll find an individual whose care for food translates into life itself.

As we caught up with Kylie in Sydney for this video, we witnessed how this insatiable desire to live life to the fullest spills over to her cooking. A passionate advocate for sustainable, fresh produce with a desire to reach out to the community, everything Kylie does is laced with this optimism for life, and a deep love and compassion for humankind.

To learn more about Kylie, check out our conversation with her in Dumbo Feather No. 31.

Keep a look out for new video content here on our blog and on our Vimeo and YouTube accounts.

Historical Profile: Agatha Christie

2012-05-15T00:00:00Z

It’s important that you understand two things about Agatha Christie.

The first thing you have to understand is that Agatha Christie was fiercely sane. She spent her entire life being pragmatic, and methodical; except for the time she went mad.

She was born in 1890, in the English seaside town of Torquay, into an idyllic world. Her parents had what she described as “that rare production: a happy marriage.” On the eve of the First World War, she agreed to marry her golfing partner Reggie Lucy, who she thought seemed a sensible partner. Then she met Archie Christie at a dance, and everything changed.

Her relationship with Archie was tempestuous. They got engaged, broke it off, got back together, fought. She was miserable. She was in love. The first wind of the madness to come, winging its way towards her. “I had been so happy, so peaceful with Reggie, we had understood each other so well; we’d enjoyed and wanted the same things. What happened to me now was the opposite. I loved a stranger; mainly because he was a stranger.”

Then, the Great War came. Archie and Agatha married, and Archie was mobilised. Agatha went to work in the war hospitals as a nurse. In the wards, she watched as men died. Everywhere, senseless death. And at home, she wrote her first mystery. The Curious Affair at Styles.

It was rejected by publisher after publisher. Agatha forgot about it, in the endless grind of wartime England. She didn’t think she was a writer, anyway; it had been a bet with her sister, a distraction. Archie came back, the war ended, they had a child, Rosalind, and then, suddenly, after two years, a publishing house picked up the manuscript. Agatha signed the contract without even looking at it, despite the fact that it bound her to the house for another five books, and hardly paid her a penny. She wasn’t going to be a ‘real’ writer anyway.

That night, when she and Archie went out to celebrate at the Hammersmith Palais de Danse, “there was a third party with us, though I did not know it. Hercule Poirot, my Belgian invention, was hanging round my neck, firmly attached there like the old man of the sea.”

Everything seemed to be going so well. She wrote six more books, travelled the world with Archie, and together they bought a house, which he insisted on naming ‘Styles’. Slowly, her popularity as a writer was growing. And then, in 1926, disaster struck. Her mother died.

Packing up her childhood home, emptying rooms and cupboards, struck down with grief, Agatha turned inwards. Archie tried to persuade her away with him, on a trip to Spain, but she refused. She knew that we all end up orphans; she didn’t want to be distracted from her sorrow. She wanted to sit with it, get used to it. Agatha always thought her first, her most important job, was to be a wife. And later, she would say it had been a mistake, not going to Spain like Archie had wanted. “I see now that I was wrong. My life with Archie lay ahead of me. We were happy together… but he hated the feeling of sorrow in the house, and it left him open to other influences.”

The other influence was a dark-haired secretary in London. When Archie told her that he wanted a divorce, just months after her mother’s death, Agatha fell apart. They tried to patch it up but it only made things worse; he became more ruthless, she more retiring.

Then she disappeared.

Her abandoned car was found near a local lake, the Silent Pool, where she’d killed off one of her characters. The tabloids exploded. There was a national manhunt. Archie was accused of killing her; his phone was tapped. Men combed the nearby countryside, 300 of them, five yards apart, stalking over ten miles of ground. Other detective writers put out theories for the papers. Even Arthur Conan Doyle got involved, taking one of her discarded gloves to a psychic for guidance.

In her 542 page autobiography, Agatha makes no mention of the eleven days she was missing. In place of the explanation she would never give, she quotes Keats. What shall I do to drive away / Remembrance from mine eyes. And then she asks, “But should one drive it away? If one chooses to look back over the journey that has been one’s life, is one entitled to ignore those memories that one dislikes? Or is that cowardice? I think, perhaps, one should take one brief look, and say: ‘Yes, this is part of my life; but it’s done with. It is a strand in the tapestry of my existence. I must recognise it because it is part of me. But there is no need to dwell upon it.’

And that is all.

She was discovered in a health hotel in Yorkshire, under an assumed name, with apparently no memory of who she was, or how she came to be there. Archie told the press she’d had a brief lapse into amnesia. At the time, no one believed her. It was a publicity stunt. A way to punish her husband. A ruse. A trick.

Psychologists have since called it a fugue state, her collapse. A musical fugue has more than one voice. Each voice takes the theme, spins it, over and over, a building of sliding repetitions until the single theme is lost in something new. Maybe that was what it was like for her, watching the person she had wanted to be — the happy marriage, the reasonable world — slip away behind her.

They divorced, and Agatha left England. To travel alone for the first time in her life. “To find out what sort of person I was.”

She was a phenomenon, it turned out. In the hot sands of the Middle East, she felt she changed from an amateur into a professional writer. In Iraq, she met the young archeaologist Max Malomar, fifteen years her junior, who she was to marry and stay with until her death forty-five years later. Together, they travelled the world conducting digs, and she wrote to fund their expeditions. She went on to pen 17 plays, 150 short stories, and 66 novels, which have sold over two billion copies. After God and Shakespere, Agatha Christie is the third highest selling author in the world. And those two had a head start on her, anyway.

At seventy-five, when Agatha finished the fifteen-year process of writing her autobiography, she chose to end it like she had lived, through two world wars, two marriages, and across continents, determined to make sense of a chaotic world. Making no excuses.

“I have remembered, I suppose, what I wanted to remember; many ridiculous things for no reason that makes sense. That is the way we human creatures are made. And now that I am seventy-five, it seems the right moment to stop. Because, as far as life is concerned, that is all there is to say. I live now on borrowed time, waiting in an ante-room for the summons that will inevitably come. And then – I go on to the next thing, whatever it is. One luckily doesn’t have to bother about that.” She lived for another ten years, and died, still working.

The second thing you have to understand about Agatha Christie is that there is a reason behind every unhappiness, every death, between her covers. Not like the confusing, violent place outside. Inside Agatha’s world, there is good and evil, and good will triumph, evil be punished. Every death will be chased down, not melodramatically, but matter-of-factly, methodically, because that is how it’s done. Every life accounted for. Every mystery solved.

Image: Popperfoto/Getty Images

A Weekend in Booktown

2012-05-14T00:00:00Z

Rolling into Clunes as the stalls unfurled for Booktown, it felt like we’d slipped into a parallel universe. Books! said all the signs. Yes, we too have books! shouted the rusty mechanics on the corner. Need some books? asked the Town Hall. We’ve got you covered!

This weekend past, Team Dumbo Feather, led by our superstar beekeeper, brewer and chief finance officer Simon, hauled our 1960s Airstream into the Victorian goldfields for a marvellous, fantastic, surreal weekend celebration of all things wordy. 15,000 others did the same, and it feels like we got to meet all of them.

The Editors: Patrick Pittman, Editor & Jessica Friedmann, Deputy Editor of Dumbo Feather.

Amidst all the haybales, the Narnia closet, the old-time street organ, the yabby pies, the stacks of vintage copies of Life from the 1950s, we all had a blast. We made so many new friends over the two days, welcomed many new subscribers, met heaps of fans of the mag, and we fed you all mulled wine, biscuits and coffee.

People will tell you (as they always tell me) that folks don’t have time to read these days, or don’t want to slow down and think deeply. Next time somebody tells you that, point them to Clunes. I lost count of the number of lengthy conversations I had with Booktown punters excited to discover a magazine that didn’t want to treat them like everybody else did. It’s an audacious play, to stake the future of your remote town on something so anachronistic as the printed book, but it seems like it’s working. Stick with it, Clunes — you’re giving us all faith.

Huge thanks to Cake Wines for their generous donation of wine, which kept the punters lounging on our astroturf very happy. Eagle-eyed aficionados were quick to spot the Beci Orpin-designed label on the Sauvignon Blanc.

Profits from our (phenomenal) coffee sales are going to Pigeons, the youth literacy project featured in Dumbo 28.

And, of course, thanks to everybody who chipped in to help out for the weekend – Team Dumbo were Simon, Sarah, Jessica, Mike, Michelle, Sabine, Kaj, Chloe, Josephine and myself. I don’t think any of us will forget this weekend, and we can’t wait to return next year.

Oh, and special thanks to Booktown’s Brad, Malcolm and Richard, without whom our Clunes would have been a coffeeless, trailer-destroyed literary misadventure. We owe you all more coffees than we managed to make you in the time we had.

Click here to see our fabulous Facebook photo album full of more fun, books and wine at Clunes.

Win a place at a creativity workshop

2012-05-09T00:00:00Z

Creativity. We’ve all got it. But sometimes, in amidst our busy-ness it can be easy to lose grasp of how we can engage with it in our lives. The Wine and Design Creativity Workshop are designed to help you discover (or rediscover) your creative spark. Held in the lovely il Fornaio café over two nights, the workshop will be a blend of experiences to jolt your creative pulses. The folks behind this has decided to offer our readers (that means you!) a place in the workshop. All you have to do is to like their lovely Facebook page here and answer a simple question: What do you want to create?

Entries close on Friday May 18, 2012.

And here’s a gorgeous video on what to expect in the workshop.

Chinese Herbalism Down Under

2012-05-07T00:00:00Z

If you’re like me, you might be a little sceptical of alternative medicine. I tend to put my faith in laboratory tests and coats, not herbs and life forces. But I must admit that Chinese herbal medicine intrigues me. I think it’s the emphasis within the practice on prevention rather than cure, and the idea that health goes well beyond the mere absence of disease. The practice also has a long and fascinating history, not just in China, but throughout the world.

Chinese herbal medicine is based on the idea that we all have a life force called Qi (pronounced ‘chee’), made up of two opposing energies called Yin and Yang. According to practitioners of Chinese herbalism, Qi travels around the body via invisible meridian channels but can become depleted or blocked, causing a variety of illnesses. Herbalists seek to cure these illnesses by restoring balance to the Yin and Yang and overall harmony to the Qi. Then you feel Zen… wait, scratch that, I’m mixing methodologies.

While there seems to be some debate about the exact date and origins of this ancient tradition, there is no disputing its remarkable longevity. The earliest mentions of Chinese herbal remedies appeared thousands of years ago, and the tradition has exerted a great influence over the development of medicinal theory and practice in the East. In recent centuries, Chinese herbalism has extended its influence to Western countries like Australia.

In our recently published 31st edition, we spoke with the exuberant chef and television personality, Kylie Kwong. She evoked her great-grandfather and namesake, Kwong Sue Duk, as a great source of inspiration. A reputable herbalist and medicine man, Kwong Sue Duk moved to Australia in 1875 to make his fortune and establish his enormous family (four wives, 22 children, and a tally of well over 800 descendants… cue eye boggling).

Kwong Sue Duk was among the very earliest practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine in Australia – a field which has grown considerably in popularity since its introduction in the mid-nineteenth century. Once considered quite a niche market, herbalism has gained momentum in recent decades with increased migration from China, support from various multiculturalism policies, and wider acceptance of numerous forms of alternative medicine, such as osteopathy and homeopathy.

Since the 1990s, the Australian government has accredited Traditional Chinese Medicine degrees at a number of universities throughout the country. Kylie Kwong herself studied a degree in natural therapies, briefly following in her great-grandfather’s footsteps, before falling out of step and succumbing to the allure of cooking.

The popularity boom of Chinese herbalism slowed after the Pan Pharmaceuticals crisis in 2003, but there is no doubt that this alternative approach to wellbeing still holds a great appeal to many Australians. With the fast-paced lifestyles we lead, with one foot in consumer-driven materialism and the other in some half-real computer simulation, its no wonder natural remedies are so sought after.

While I’m not sure Qi exists, or whether I have a Yin that requires balancing with a Yang, the inner calm and wellbeing that Chinese herbalism promises is something that I’m sure we could all use a lot more of in our lives.

Video: Holi

2012-05-04T00:00:00Z

To celebrate the beginning of spring, people in India throw coloured powder and water at each other as part of the Holi Festival. And, yes. It is as fun as it sounds. Early this week, a reader directed this video of Holi produced by New York-based company Variable to us. And we’re just beside ourselves over the beauty of it. There’s really nothing more life-affirming than watching a bunch of people soaking up the sensation of being alive and having fun at the same time to us. So here it is… the video in all its polychromatic and magical glory to remind you how awesome it is to be alive on a Friday afternoon.

Open Field is a Special Project.

2012-04-30T00:00:00Z

Open Field is an annual iPad publication produced by Melbourne-based creative agency The Royals. It is also a labour of love produced by an extraordinary team headed by Kirsten Alexander.

What makes Open Field special is that it hinges upon an approach that some may dismiss as simplistic optimism.

Predicating on the radically simple idea of creating a beautiful product that can generate money to be donated, Open Field’s founding statement is bright-eyed in its ambition, and steely-eyed in its projected impact.

In its first issue, twenty-eight amazing women share their personal stories, from meeting nuns in Israel to creating Afghan Idol. Some written, some visual, these stories showcase the voices of women from across the globe. All content come from women, and all proceeds will go to women, via CARE.

The simplicity of its goal may seem impracticable to some skeptics. But in spite of its wide-eyed vision, Open Field is not looking to solve all the problems of the world. If there’s anything recent examples of social activism (case in point: Kony 2012) has taught us, it’s that the world’s ills are not simple good versus evil narratives. Open Field is specific in its agenda, which is to raise money and awareness for a charity they believe in. And we’re ready to get behind it.

Of course, what’s inside speaks for itself. Talk about fodder for the eyeballs and food for the brain!

The first issue of Open Field is now available in the iTunes store. And don’t forget to check out the Zinio app for Dumbo Feather here too!

Image: Open Field

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: The Other Iron Lady

2012-04-27T00:00:00Z

Photo: AP/Josh Reynolds, File

‘The Iron Lady’ is a title you and I might usually associate with Britain’s former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, or perhaps Meryl Streep and her umpteenth Oscar nomination. But there is another notable woman of steel often overlooked by those of us in the west. This woman is Liberia’s 24th President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

‘All the men have failed Liberia—Let’s try a woman’, read a campaign shirt for the woman affectionately known by supporters as ‘Ma Ellen’. And they had. Before Ellen was elected to presidency in 2005, Liberia had suffered fourteen years of almost continuous civil war under the leadership of Charles Taylor—a man who has since been charged with crimes against humanity. His predecessor, Samuel Doe, was no better.

Ellen led her election campaign with a firm yet nurturing maternal hand. The Liberian people seemed soothed by this approach—comforted by the thought of a motherly figure watching out for them. And they knew this mother was no softie. She had toiled throughout her life—as a student at Harvard University, as Finance Minister for the Tolbert government, as an economist for large international companies like World Bank, as a prisoner for treason and an exile from the homeland she loved so much. She had endured far too much to ever be a push-over.

But Liberians were not always so convinced. Ellen had previously campaigned against the incumbent Charles Taylor in 1997. ‘He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him’ was Taylor’s slogan. Alarmingly, in light of or in spite of this catch-cry, Taylor won by a landslide.

By the 2005 election, the political climate had changed dramatically. Charles Taylor had resigned under international pressure and voters were ready for a new, less hateful voice. Ellen’s primary opponent was former football star, George Weah, who had never finished school and lacked political experience. Conversely, Ellen had a sturdy educational background and decades of experience in politics and economics. Throughout her professional life, Ellen had demonstrated strengths in otherwise male-dominated fields. And still she had the winning card tucked up her sleeve—her womanhood.

Prior to the vote, women had played a pivotal role in the Liberian peacebuilding process. Influential organisations such as the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) and the Mano River Women’s Peace Network (MARWOPNET) had marched, demonstrated and prayed for peace throughout the country. These groups lent their endorsement to Ellen’s campaign. With the fairer sex on her side, Ellen had an undefeatable edge. She campaigned on promises to help further empower the women of Liberia and, although there is no reliable polling data, Ellen’s success is often attributed to a high percentage of Liberian women turning out to vote. And so it was that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became Africa’s first female President.

Liberia and the Iron Lady today

Since her election, Ellen has gained forgiveness for nearly $5bn worth of debt and raised the government’s budget from $80m to $516m per annum. She introduced a tougher rape law and compulsory free education for pupils until junior high, increasing the enrolment of girls by 40%. Unlike previous Liberian Presidents, Ellen has sought no retribution for the suffering of the past; she has concerned herself only with establishing stability and moving on. Peace has reigned in Liberia since her instatement, an achievement acknowledged when she became a Nobel Peace Prize laureate last year. That same year, she was re-elected with a remarkable 90.8% of the vote.

Like any politician, Ellen is not without critics. There are those who believe that she must be brought to justice for her early, misguided support of Charles Taylor. Liberian land rights campaigners have also criticised her handling of natural resources. Between 2006 and 2011, the Liberian government has handed over more than a third of its land to private investors for mining, logging and agro-industry. As a result, many homes, farms and sacred sites are likely to be lost. Despite the potential for huge upheaval, villagers were not consulted before the deals were made.

Most recently, Ellen returned to world headlines for defending a Liberian law criminalising ‘voluntary sodomy’—a misdemeanour carrying a prison sentence of up to one year. For someone who has fought so vehemently for equality between the sexes, it is disappointing that she seems so unperturbed by inequality between sexual orientations. But are we expecting too much? Is it unrealistic to hope that the leader of a developing country will be progressive on all social issues?

Liberia’s former solicitor general, Tiawan S. Gongloe, claims that it would be ‘political suicide’ to decriminalise sodomy in Liberia today. Homosexuality is still taboo throughout Africa, and Liberian anti-gay activists are currently pushing two bills hoping to take current legislation further. The first bill aims to criminalise any form of gay sexual activity, punishable by up to five years in prison. The second would make gay marriage a crime for which one might spend up to 10 years in prison. Thankfully, Ellen has refused to sign these bills. It is also worth noting that nobody has ever been prosecuted under the current sodomy laws. We can only hope that with time, as well as greater public education and international movements towards equal rights, Ellen might dismiss the law all together.

A letter released by Ellen’s press secretary gives us a glimmer of hope for the future, stating that “…with the unprecedented freedom of speech and expression Liberia enjoys today, our budding democracy will be strong enough to accommodate new ideas and debate both their value and Liberia’s laws with openness, respect and independence.” True to her title, the Iron Lady of Liberia remains versatile and flexible, yet strong in her commitment to Liberia’s future—one that is sure to only get brighter.

Read an interview with Nobel Peace Prize Winners Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Tawakkol Karman and Leymah Gbowee here.

Educational Giants

2012-04-27T00:00:00Z

Sir Ken Robinson, the charismatic education reformer featured in Issue 31, is standing on the shoulders of giants: Montessori, Steiner and Holt. We see Sir Ken up there, arms flailing and mouth shouting, turning eyes and ears to such alternate forms of education, but what do the shoulders on which he sits look like? And more importantly, the bodies and minds attached? We may know Montessori, Steiner and Holt as ominous shapes that occasionally appear in dinner party conversation, but can we make out their faces? Recite their philosophies? After this overview, we most certainly will!

Reader, we’d like you to meet Dr Maria Montessori. You may think it rude of Sir Ken to sit atop the shoulders of a lady, but Maria was, and continues to be, one powerful figure in the educational sphere.

Upon graduating as a doctor of medicine from an Italian University in 1896 (the first Italian woman to do so, may we add), Maria became the director of a school for intellectually disabled children. The improvement that Maria observed in her students led her to ponder whether such methods of education could be transferred to intellectually able students.

Through opening Casa dei Bambini, or Children’s House, Maria discovered that yes, indeed they could. Maria welcomed preschool children residing in the slums of Rome into her Children’s House, and observed as they, under her supervision and facilitation, taught themselves. This observation informed Maria’s philosophy, namely: placed in the right environment, and provided the right tools and materials, a child will, compliments of natural development, teach themselves.

Although this philosophy rubs up against modern day educational rigor in the precise wrong way, it certainly cannot be discounted. The emphasis on independence, respect for individual development, and encouragement of creativity and playfulness in learning certainly does seem to make for more well-rounded, curious little learners.

To discover more about the intricacies of Dr Maria Montessori’s educational system, visit http://www.montessori.org.au/

Now that you’re somewhat acquainted with Maria, we’d like to introduce you to the second set of shoulders that Sir Ken likes to ride atop, belonging to none other than Rudolf Steiner, born 1861.

Rudolf’s approach to education is based on balance. He professed that the academic, the social and the artistic—or as he said, the “head, heart and hands”—should be given equal weight throughout the entirety of one’s education.

Like Dr Maria Montessori, Rudolf’s educational philosophy deeply respects a child’s natural developmental. As such, children are nurtured according to their specific and individual needs, and educated according to their rate of development, rather than having the generalised government approach to education thrust upon them.

In his Dumbo Feather interview, Sir Ken said, “Education is what happens between teachers and learners, and if that isn’t happening, then there’s no education going on”. This directly aligns with Rudolf’s “three golden rules” for Steiner school teachers, namely: “To receive the child in gratitude from the world they come from; to educate the child with love; and to lead the child into the true freedom which belongs to man”.

To learn more about Rudolf Steiner’s educational philosophy, visit http://steinereducation.edu.au/

The third and final set of shoulders that Sir Ken rides atop belong to John Holt.

John coined the term ‘Unschooling’ in the 1970s, and thus started the ‘Unschooling Movement’, in which children learn from home on their own accord, unbounded by the regiment of institutionalism.

Unschoolers differ from Home-schoolers in that they do not endeavour to replicate conventional schools: textbooks, deadlines, examinations, set curricula, class times, school bells and suchlike are non-existent. Rather, unschoolers investigate what they feel compelled to investigate, consume whatever form of literature and media they wish to consume, construct and/or express what they envisage in their minds, and spend as much or little time on each activity as they feel fit.

The Unschooling Movement relies on a child’s innate curiosity to work as a formidable educational system. Holt believes it to be one of the basic human capacities, and as such, trusts that it is enough to drive an individual’s education. He posits, “The human animal is a learning animal; we don’t need to be shown how or made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it.”

Do you know of any more alternate and effective means of education? We’d love to hear about it in the comments section below!

Dumbo Feather is Taking Flight.

2012-04-27T00:00:00Z

It’s one of the big dreams of ambitious indie publishing: to be featured at the counter of leading newsagents in populous spaces.

Well, we’ve finally gotten ours. For this, our release week (and only this), Dumbo Feather (and our cover boy, Chid Liberty) is handsomely gracing the front counter of Newslink newsagents in major Australian airports, nationally.

We couldn’t be more excited to be taking flight in such salubrious, jet-setting style. We’re tickled such a deep shade of rose pink in fact, that we’re running a special giveaway to celebrate.

If you happen to be passing through one of the Australian airports that are home to Newslink newsagents, stop in and take a photo of yourself with Issue 31 at our counter display, post it to Instagram (tagging us at @dumbofeather), tweet it to us at @dumbofeather or post your photo on our Facebook timeline, and we’ll send you a classic issue of Dumbo Feather from our gorgeous archives.

The Airport Newslinks in which we are featured at the counter during this week:

Newslink Canberra Domestic Terminal
NLK-CBR BUS INTERCHANGE CBR801
Newslink Int Air Cairns
Newslink Int Land Cairns
TSV101 Newslink Townsville Airport
SYD301 Newslink Qantas T3 Sydney
NLK-SYD INT AIRPORT SYD103
Newslink Qantas Bookshop T3 Sydney
Newslink Country Terminal Sydney Rail
Newslink Country Platform Sydney Rail
Newslink Devonshire St Sydney Rail
Newslink Int Landside Sydney
Newslink T3 Gold Coast
Newslink Qantas Satellite Melbourne
Newslink Qantas West Pier Melbourne
Newslink Int Link Melbourne
NLK-MEL DOM QANTAS MEL101
Newslink Qantas Perth
NLK-PER INT'L TERMINAL PER102
Newslink Qantas Kiosk Brisbane
Newslink/Virgin Virgin Blue Brisbane
Newslink/Kaboom Qantas Domestic Adelaide
Newslink International Gold Coast

Zoom!

Video: Dumbo Feather presents Bic Runga

2012-04-27T00:00:00Z

Depending on who you ask, Bic Runga is a musician or the national treasure of New Zealand.

After taking a five-year break from her successful music career, Bic drops by Melbourne and chats with us about the changes in her life. Musing on the wisdom motherhood has brought to her, she also shares her creative struggle with sleep deprivation. An individual who lives vivaciously through her music, Bic also treats us to a preview of her latest album Belle.

Hello Hello

Everything is Beautiful and New

Watch more Dumbo Feather videos on our YouTube channel, or on Vimeo.

Sir Ken Robinson: A face to the voice

2012-04-26T00:00:00Z

As Sir Ken Robinson playfully professed in his profile in issue 31 of Dumbo Feather, “I am of course devastatingly attractive”. Brew a cup of tea, pull on your comfy pants, and revel in Ken’s looks, wit, and, of course, intellect, in the videos below. And if you’re still not feeling wholly satisfied at the end of the experience, jump onto his website, or grab a copy of his latest book, ‘The Element’. Enjoy!

Changing Education Paradigms

Bring on the Learning Revolution!

Schools Kill Creativity

Clunes is a Book Town (and we'll be there).

2012-04-23T00:00:00Z

Books, books, books!

It will come as no great surprise to you I’m sure, to learn that here at Dumbo Feather we’re more than a little book-crazy.

So, when we cottoned onto the wee Victorian town of Clunes' official designation as an international “book town” and its rapidly growing Booktown Festival in May, there was no chance of our staying away.

We’re saddling up our utterly gorgeous Airstream (yes, that’s right – we said Airstream) and Dumbo Feather will be setting up shop for the Clunes Booktown Festival on Saturday and Sunday the 5th and 6th of May, in one of Australia’s most well-preserved historic mining towns.

We’ll be amongst great literary and lit-loving friends, a traditional Punch and Judy show, as well as locally organised delights such as a children’s Narnian forest in the Clunes library.

Come and join us. We’ll be serving great coffee, very spunky wine from Cake, Dumbo Feathers, great conversation and other suitably bookish treats. A goodly portion of our proceeds from our time at the festival will be going to support Pigeons – a non-profit organisation dedicated to encouraging literacy and a love of reading and writing in children.

Click here for more information about the 2012 Clunes Booktown Festival.

Andrew Bassat works for himself.

2012-04-20T00:00:00Z

Paul Seymour is jobbing. A lot. Not sure what he wants to do, and not content just taking “any job” he’s on the search for the occupation that inspires the most passion in him.

Inspired by a similar undertaking in Canada, Paul has embarked upon a project called “One Week Job”. His mission is fifty-two jobs in fifty-two weeks (with all his wages being donated to charity). In Week ten, we were treated to his infectious presence at Dumbo Feather. As part of his work with us, we sent him out to talk jobs with the CEO and co-founder of Seek, Andrew Bassat.

Here’s his interview.

-DF

Back in 1997, there were three minds at play in Melbourne, working on a business plan which would become Seek, the number one way that Australians would seek out new jobs and opportunities.

Andrew Bassat wasn’t an internet user. He had no real background in employment, or even in business. But this idea felt right from the start; he and his brother Paul couldn’t let it go.

Much like myself, Andrew wasn’t sure what he wanted to be when he grew up. But around the time he hit his thirties, it clicked. He wasn’t drifting anymore. It’s been fifteen years since Seek’s inception, but you won’t find Andrew at work on a Monday trawling through his own creation in search of a new job. He has found passion in the job that he does.

In the high school yearbook, were you always going to be the one who was pegged to be successful or do great things after finishing school?

No, I mucked around at school. I did okay, but nothing outstanding. If we even had a yearbook, I doubt I would have been written up around the top end or bottom end. More like, ‘Ill-disciplined and poorly-behaved, but not completely stupid.’ Somewhere in the middle.

After finishing school you then went on to become a lawyer. What sent you in that direction?

Oh, stupidity. I don’t know why I did law really; I did science first and I had much more of a science background. To be honest, when I finished science I wasn’t really ready to work. I was way too immature, so a further few years of further study made sense to me at the time.

University was fun, and I’d only had three years of it. I chose Law as it seemed as good as anything. Once I finished my law degree, I realised then that it probably wasn’t for me as I hadn’t enjoyed the the study side of law so much. But I ended up doing working in law for two-and-a-half years, and that was plenty. Soon after, I began to do my MBA and went on to be a strategy consultant. I enjoyed that work more but that wasn’t for me for long term either.

So does this job suit you now?

Oh yeah look, it’s alright, it’s been pretty good… [Laughs] I think part of me realised that I would end up working for myself one way or another—it’s just more my personality. I wasn’t a really good employee; I didn’t like being told what to do, which I guess was a bit of a fatal flaw. I had thought to myself that if a good idea came along, I’d love to have a crack at doing my own thing, so when my brother Paul had the idea for Seek back in 1997, we both thought that it was worth having a crack at.

The Seek office has an amazing culture and I imagine is a fun environment to work in. How do you protect that culture?

Right at the start, we said that people were important—we value people and we want good people. When you look at the competitive advantages people like Fairfax and News had over us, they had all the money, they had all the advertisers and they had all the jobseekers. So initially we thought, how are we going to beat these guys? We realized that the only way we were going to beat them was if we had better people who were more passionate and more committed than our competitors. We genuinely believe in our people and want them to enjoy their time at work and reward them for success. From the fact that people here enjoy themselves and we have had a measure of helps you to attract more good people. It becomes self-reinforcing, provided we keep things in place that don’t change that culture.

What would you say to someone who doesn’t know what they want to do in life?

It’s a hard question. To be frank, I drifted until I was in my thirties, both in terms of the jobs I did and the study. I’d try semi-hard and semi-enjoy what I was doing, but I never really loved anything.

I think it comes down to the way you perform; how you feel about turning up to work everyday is really driven by loving what you do. If you are going through the motions and turning up and looking at your watch towards the end of the day, you are probably in either the wrong organisation or the wrong job. Spending 8 or 9 hours miserable or just borderline miserable can flow over into the rest of your life. If you’re finding yourself not loving it, but just tolerating it, you probably need to look elsewhere. It’s all about being passionate and doing what you enjoy.

Seek are now Paul’s official sponsor of the One Week Job project. You can find out more about the project at Paul’s website (and also hire him to work in your business for a week!).

Win a double pass to 'Café de Flore'

2012-04-19T00:00:00Z

Two characters separated by several decades on two continents are connected with a song that borrow its name from the movie. Café de Flore opens with two narratives: one is set in present-day Montreal where a club DJ is torn between his ex-wife and current partner, while the other is set in 1960s Paris where a single mother is raising her son who has Down’s Syndrome. As these two seemingly unrelated stories converge, the film throws up some thought-provoking points on the big question of what comes after death.

Dumbo Feather has five complimentary double passes to give away to this latest offering from Jean-Marc Vallée. Enter now by tweeting to us at @dumbofeather or commenting on our Facebook timeline telling us why you want to win in, no more than 25 words or 140 characters.

Entries close on Wednesday April 25, 2012.

Image: Icon Movies

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you all for the lovely entries!

Tanja Liedtke's Life in Movement.

2012-04-16T00:00:00Z

A significant part of the practice of any art form is to experience work across a broad spectrum of creative disciplines. As a theatre practitioner, I have studied contemporary and classical dance both theoretically and to a lesser degree practically.

But strangely and equally as frustratingly, it’s rare that a dance work has arrested me with the same unutterably blinding depth of emotion I often feel in encounters with theatre, music or visual art. Until only a few years ago, the little bits I’d seen of Pina Bausch’s work on grainy videotape at drama school had shown me a glimpse of the potential to be so moved, but only fleeting moments of live work had ever truly taken me there.

In 2006, I was in the voracious throes of development as a young artist. Drinking up work left, right and centre, each new experience was leaving me parched and desperate for another.

Somewhere, someone (or perhaps many people) pointed me in the direction of Tanja Liedtke’s Twelfth Floor. It was dance, but I’d heard it was extraordinary. I knew one of the performers. I was at an uncharacteristically loose end for the evening and on a whim, I rocked up at the theatre door hoping someone had handed back their ticket. I was fortunate. Very fortunate.

Suffice it to say, Twelfth Floor was one of those rare experiences of artwork that seeped deeply into my organs, and slowly turned them inside out. If it’s possible to walk away from a work feeling both gutted and uplifted simultaneously, this was such a one. It wasn’t merely that Twelfth Floor could strictly speaking, be called “dance theatre” therefore giving me stylistically familiar points of access – there was something inherently profound in the emotional exactitude of the work that had nothing to do with genre or formal classification. Fragile, meticulous, savage and strangely spectral – it was a rare, seminal dance work that for me had astonishing sticking power.

Tanja Liedtke was a much loved and genuinely iconoclastic artist. An award-winning choreographer, she had danced as a member of Lloyd Newson’s DV8 Physical Theatre ensemble. Despite her relative youth, she was recognised in the contemporary dance industry as a formalistic leader, and it was a momentous day when in 2007, she was named Graeme Murphy’s successor as Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company – the first new AD to be appointed to the company in 30 years.

Only three months had passed after the announcement when Liedtke was struck down by a truck in the 2am darkness. She died hours later in the hospital from the injuries she had sustained.

The dance and wider arts world was plunged into shock and incredible grief. Tanja Liedtke had not yet turned 30. Her position as the artistic director of SDC had not formally commenced. She had been verging on the cusp of so much.

Following her death, her artistic collaborators began a world tour of her work – moving the grief and lack of comprehension suffered in the wake of her death through the body of Liedtke’s own oeuvre.

Life in Movement is a new documentary film made by Bryan Mason and Sophie Hyde – who were close friends of Liedtke – that captures this journey, and recounts the dancer/choreographer’s life and work leading up to the tragic early August morning of her passing.

According to the creators, it is “a film about moving creatively through life and loss” – a description that reminds me in no small way of Wim Wender’s recent filmic homage to legendary choreographer, Pina Bausch, Pina. Tanja Liedtke’s work, while never having the chance to see the expansive duration of Bausch’s practice was representative of the wild promise of such a rich body of work.

Life in Movement, is however, not a meditation on this unrealised potential often referenced in discussion of her work and tragically young death. The film, featuring a lot of footage of Liedtke herself in artistic development, is an exploration and celebration of the life she did live, and the phenomenal work she gave to the world before she left.

Life in Movement is currently screening in very limited seasons across Australia. Click here to visit the website for the full screening and links to session times.

Your first look at Dumbo Feather Issue 31

2012-04-13T00:00:00Z

We dance around these topics every quarter, but this time, we’re just going to say it: this issue is about how to change the world. It’s about building peace in the aftermath of war. It’s about building a new form of capitalism in the shadow of collapse. It’s about fixing education when everybody tells you the systems can’t be shifted. It’s about creating new modes of sustainable production in industries they said couldn’t change. And, at the end, it’s about sitting down to a beautiful meal, made with mindfulness and heart. Amidst all of that, it’s also about pirate supply stores, cardboard boxes, mechanised windwalkers and printers from which we might manifest anything we dream.

Dumbo Feather 31, out April 25. Order it now!

Chid Liberty is a Mad Capitalist

“I haven’t even finished my bachelor’s degree yet and I’m 32, but what I can add is this entrepreneurial… something, I don’t know. Madness! Maniacal garbage!”

Chid Liberty is a third culture kid on a mission. Born in Liberia and raised in Germany and the U.S., this global nomad has formed a vision of a world where all trade is ‘fair trade’. Chid began pursuing this goal by founding Liberty and Justice and Made In: Liberia – projects that aim to establish fair trade and alleviate extreme poverty in Liberia by providing work and vocational skills for Liberian women. His ideology is one based on respect between employees, employer and product; it is one that hopes to meet a triptych of bottom lines – economical, environmental and social. These aspirations may seem ambitious, or indeed mad, but with Chid, a little madness can go a long way.

We also learn about: Worker-controlled factories, third culture kids, and the Liberian Women’s Mass Action for Peace

Photo: Peretz Partensky

Kylie Kwong is a Chef

“You gotta fall over, you’ve gotta go down all these paths in order to know that you don’t want to go down that path.”

Ever since she was a young girl, Kylie Kwong has possessed a passion for good food and creativity. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until she began working as a caterer’s assistant at the age of 23 that these passions finally merged. Since then, Kylie has become one of Australia’s most prominent television chefs and restaurateurs. The joy she finds in all aspects of food production, preparation and consumption resonates throughout both her professional and personal life. It is a joy that she can’t help but share.

We also learn about: Agrarian Kitchen and Outback Pride

Photo: Toby Burrows

Sir Ken Robinson is an Education Reformer

“…teaching is not a delivery system, it’s an artform.”

Imagine, if you will, a room full of depressed teachers, long since broken by the system, suddenly compelled to jump on their desks and shout ‘O Captain! My Captain!’, and you’ll have some idea of the energy and direction Sir Ken Robinson brings to any conversation on education reform. Sir Ken firmly believes that current education systems dislocate people from their natural talents. Sir Ken has been promoting change to help foster these innate abilities throughout his entire career. Recently, as a result of his incredibly popular TED presentations, people all over the world have really started to sit up and pay attention, much like the very pupils he works so hard to benefit.

We also learn about: 826 Valencia’s Pirate Supply Store

Photo: Michal Czerwonka

Pamela Hartigan is an Unreasonable Person

“Being unreasonable means that you simply refuse to accept the status quo; you’re always trying to find a better way.”

Pamela Hartigan is a builder of bridges. Over the course of a long and varied career – from her work for community-based grassroots organisations to her role as Managing Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship – Pamela has sought to connect people and ideas. She is also a great advocate for being unreasonable. Not illogical or petulant – that will get you nowhere. But, according to Pamela, being unreasonable and a little bit stubborn is at the root of making a difference, of kickstarting the change you wish to see in the world. Quite a reasonable proposition, really.

We also learn about: The Basics of Social Enterprise

Photo: Jackson Eaton

Isobel Davies is an Ethical Entrepreneur

“I never felt daunted by anything I had no experience in..”

All cheekbones and eyelashes, Isobel Davies has that just-fell-out-of-bed glamour so typical of French film stars and anyone who dated a Rolling Stone in the 1960s. She has an unassuming air, a quiet elegance, and a slight whiff of intrigue, but don’t be fooled. Beneath that unstructured mystique lies a fierce passion for animals that’s driven Isobel, directly against the odds, to launch three successful businesses, all shaped by her concern for the nonhuman world. A pioneering ethical entrepreneur, she now runs two vegetarian brands and an award-winning fashion label. Chances are you’re not a cow, a sheep, or a hen, but if you’re a politically-motivated vegan, you’d be fully forgiven for praising the day she was born.

We also learn about: Slow Fashion and the Social Studio

Photo: Siddharth Khajuria

Titanic Hats, Hackers, Agatha Christie and so much more

Robogals – Marita Cheng has a Small Robot Army
Strandbeest – Theo Jansen has a Plastic Menagerie
Makerbot – Bre Pettis is Lost in the Thingiverse
Makedo – Paul Justin has Connections
Reader’s story: Nicole Lenord moved to Bali
Our new community pinboard!

Photo: Lauren Bamford

These articles can be read in full in Dumbo Feather issue 31, available April 25.

Kate Miller-Heidke is a Songwriter

2012-04-13T00:00:00Z

Kate Miller-Heidke has one of those voices that can instantly transport you to another place.

Here, she treats us to a pared-back performance of her newest material with her musical collaborator and husband Keir Nuttall. She also chats about the rare and deeply personal inspiration for her upcoming album Nightflight, and the intimate experience of being in a band with her husband.

This is a sweet glimpse of Heidke and Nuttall’s exquisite work in two closing tracks from Nightflight.

Fire and Iron

The Devil Wears A Suit

Graphic design to the rescue

2012-04-12T00:00:00Z

Graphic design is art that communicates. It permeates every facet of our lives, and will continue to do so — whether we like it or not. Designers and design collectives have banded together to harness this undeniable power; from uprooting a dominant culture to spreading awareness about neglected issues, the overarching philosophy seems to be ‘things can do good and look good’.

At Dumbo Feather, we want to draw attention to this marriage of design and social impact. We have selected a couple of people around the world who have used design as a means to communicate a message. It is a message that aims to bring about social change, one impeccably designed typography poster at a time.

Positive Posters

In this Australian-based non-profit organisation, important issues are rendered in beautifully designed posters by designers from across the globe. The aim is to increase awareness of social issues that demand the attention of the global citizen and to ultimately create impact and spark revolutions.

The Vacuum Cleaner

This UK design collective exemplifies the belief that while graphic design is not intrinsically political, it can be political. From taking the piss of its political figures through some cleverly placed posters, to selective vandalism of public spaces, civil disobedience has never been more creative.

Everything is OK

What started off as a side project by a design studio in San Francisco has taken on a life of its own. Printed on the cautionary medium of barricade tape, this incongruous message rings loud and clear. It is, at once, an affirmative phrase and a line that sweeps across mediocrity and passivity. Once deployed in areas from neighbourhoods to the US election grounds, this caption becomes interactive as it jolts the consumer to critically examine the status quo.

Image: Everything is OK

Do you know of a graphic designer or a graphic design collective that’s doing amazing things for the world? We’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!

Through the looking glass of Instagram

2012-04-05T00:00:00Z

It’s finally happening! One of the first curated books of Australian mobile photography, Instaburb, is being launched. And what’s more, it’s being launched in the grand ballroom of Dumbo Feather’s humble abode!

It seems that the world is currently rollicking in the depths of Instagram fever, and Team DF is no exception. Obsessive searching — being the only known cure to said fever — led us to the discovery of these extraordinary mobile photographers. Revel in our favourites, if it would so delight you. x

@thepanicroom

We were particularly interested in those who use Instagram as a means to capture – and a platform to share – their extraordinary stories. Through uploading poignant shots of his son, who lives with a rare disorder called Smith Magenis Sydrone, this user aims to increase awareness of the condition.

@halno

It’s nothing new for Instagram users to capture random moments in their daily lives, but this user takes the cake by adding an element of the absurd.

@adamsenatori

Capturing the bird’s eye view of the places he has visited, this user certainly stays true to his profile blurb: “The world’s most expensive Instagrams”.

@ThisWildIdea

The backstory sounds like the introduction to a joke (“A man goes on a road trip with his dog…”), but this user is anything but facetious. This dog’s uncanny ability to balance atop unlikely items is nothing short of incredible.

Be sure to check out the Instagram accounts of the two men behind the Instaburb book, @mishobaranovic and @oggsie. For more details on the Instaburb book launch, which is taking place on the 13th of April, click here.

Image: Instaburb