Australian Women’s Weekly: 50 years of fashion*

On a crisp (ha! Watch the adjectives as we move through the next five months of winter) Canberra night, women descend on the National Library of Australia. These aren’t ordinary women – they’re decked out in fashion from the 1950s to the 80s to celebrate the launch of the Australian Women’s Weekly book of 50 years of fashion.

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Canberra – a review by my parents

My parents don’t live in Canberra, but they come here at least once a year. They love this city, and often remark on how much there is to do – on occasion they seem to have a better idea of events and activities going on than I do! I love hearing their ‘outsider’ perspective, and thought you’d love to, too.

Me with mum and dad when they were visiting last year (during Floriade)

First look at Enlighten Canberra 2014

Enlighten Canberra 2014 looks set to be an absolute cracker again. I loved 2013 and there looks to be a lot to love for 2014. I was in the area for another Enlighten event and took a moment to take a few snaps… get excited!

Bright and exciting!

Questacon’s projections over two sides of the building are always brilliant

My favourite institution which displayed projections last year was the National Library… I think it’s my early favourite again!

Like the National Gallery, the National Library uses its Mapping Our World theme – and wonderfully

There are plenty of events on the Friday and Saturday of the next two weeks

My favourite this year… so far

I believe this to be the Circle of Light

Gorgeous!

Old Parliament House is always a huge feat with projections stretching across the long building. The “Guys and Polls” montage is excellent.

Guys and Polls

Great to see Canberra political cartoonist Dave Pope’s popular cartoon on the ‘big screen’!

Gorgeous

PJK!

See you there?

For more info and events over the next two weeks, try here.

Terribly British Day

I’ve seen no advertising, but on our way to the Behind the Lines exhibition we notice a rather large amount of cars on the Patrick White lawns near the National Library. We’re intrigued enough to go see what all the fuss is about.

Mapping Our World, National Library*

On Thursday, a group of bloggers and other media attended a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the Mapping Our World exhibition at the National Library. It wasn’t quite Russell Crowe, but the chance to hear from the curators–Martin Woods and Susannah Helman–was a lovely opportunity.

Treasures Gallery and Bookplate

There are so many tourist places I’ve never visited in Canberra, or which I only visited properly once, when I first moved here. When I thought about it recently, it seemed odd: so many of our tourist institutions are living, working places which are always changing – or at least usually have a new exhibition on. It’s this which leads me to make a concerted effort to get to these places over the next few months: and the National Library of Australia is where I start!

Jonathan Franzen at the National Library

I’d apparently lived under a rock for the past decade, because it wasn’t until late 2010 that I noticed a significant amount of worldwide media frothing with news of Jonathan Franzen’s latest work that my intrigue began.  Curiosity securely in place, I purchased an exorbitantly priced copy of Freedom at the 2010 Christmas sales and, after falling deeply in love with each exquisite page, I’d since devoured every other piece of his work I could get my hands on, including his 2001 work The Corrections and numerous articles at The New Yorker, growing ever more adoring.   It’s fair to say Jonathan Franzen has safely secured the title of ‘T1’s favourite author’: it’s not surprising that my excitement on hearing from the Riot Act that Jonathan Franzen was coming to the National Library on 14 September was palpable for weeks.