Elizabeth Tiamzon was born in the Philippines in 1978 and lived there until she was eleven before moving to Australia in 1989. She has loved drawing since the age of five, and though at the time poverty limited the materials available (she would use scraps of paper and broken pencils, and even used sticks to scratch her drawings in the dirt), it couldn’t stop her active imagination.

However, over the last two years, Elizabeth has explored, nurtured and established an unique method of drawing that is slightly more abstract. Using black felt tip pen and art paper as her medium, she contrasts the simple materials used with dark, complex designs.

A series of fine and intricate pieces originally born of a black felt tip pen, that have been reproduced and stretched onto virgin white canvases. Elizabeth Tiamzon exhibits these dark and unique designs for the first time. She explores the twisted complexity of human emotions and our internal battle of self destruction and healing.

The Acceptance Exhibition
2nd March to 28 March 2008
The Verge, ArtHouse Hotel
275 Pitt St, Sydney
T: 02 9284 1200

It comes as no surprise that creativity is set to be a major casualty of the economic woes Australia is bracing for this year. All the fun stuff seems to go first. The indigenous art market enjoyed a boom period in the last decade which has been grinding to a dreaded halt in recent weeks with gallery owners and auction houses reporting an eerie quiet all round. At a Sotherby’s sale late last year Aboriginal artifacts and paintings in Sydney fetched an underwhelming AUD$3.7 million against a pre-sale estimate of AUD$7.6-11 million.

While this is not good news for the retailers, journalist Nicolas Rothwell from The Australian warns there is an even darker side to the story. “The successful promotion of Aboriginal art-making in the bush has been almost the sole point of light for the various program managers trying to dream up a sustainable remote community economy. Many extended families depend on art.” The impact of Howard’s emergency intervention into Northern Territory communities in 2007 meant for some individual artists further pressure from extended community members who now depend on this external source of income.

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Glebe Youth Service is a non-government youth service dedicated to the recreation and support of young people who live, work, study or play in the Glebe area. Young people aged 12 to 24 are welcomed into the service to have fun, get to know our workers and get assistance with any issue that they have concerns about.

The majority of young people that attend the service are from the Glebe Housing Estate. Most are Aboriginal and many come from backgrounds that have left them with serious disadvantage. Our goal is to provide them with the skills and information they need to move forward in a positive way.

The Glebe Community Cinema Festival is on Saturday 28th February at 7:30pm. Screening on the night will be ‘The Badge’ – a film made by Young People at Glebe Youth Service and the City of Sydney, as well as a film clip to music produced by local youth.  Also, a mystery feature film will be screened.  Food and beverages will be available by gold coin donation.

For further info people can contact Keiran at Glebe Youth Service on 0410 606 940 or (02) 9552 2873.  Glebe Youth Service (GYS) website:  www.glebeyouth.org.au

Design Federation took time out to speak to George Basha about his new film The Combination, and like the film he holds no punches. George is the writer, one of the main actors & an executive producer. The Combination hits our cinemas on the 26th February 2009.

This is your first foray into film, why did you choose this story?

Look, it was a story that needed to be told. What really got to me the last few years was most of the ethnic films being made have been spoof films (comedy). This story needed to be told because we have issues, not only in the west, but all over Australia – things such as guns, drugs and the biggest issue is racism, all over the world. It’s a powerful story to show what Australia is really like, this is what it really is. Almost everything I see shown on TV (related to this) is a load of crap… This is how I see Australia.

Check out the full interview on Design Federation here.

Surprise, surprise, another get rich quick scam & people fall for it. What is wrong with people? This time it is a scam that requests Facebook users to sign up & post links under the Google banner. It then takes you to a third party site & asks for credit card details.

OK people, two things come to mind already. Firstly, if someone on the internet requests your credit card details DON’T DO IT! Secondly, if you are on a networking site such as Facebook or MySpace & it takes you to a third party website, stop & think about it.

For more details check out our previous article about web security here. And just remember one thing, if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is… Check out the full article right here.

The Marly Markets is a showcase of new up and coming designers from across Sydney and a selection of vintage collectors and artists. A wide array of clothes, jewellery and accessories are available each week with stalls changing weekly to give customers new retail experiences at each market. Designers include; Ampersander, Hallican Boodie, Andru Chrisst, Loformea, Piparela and many more.

On every Sunday: 11am-5pm
Marlborough Hotel
145 King St Newtown, NSW

It’s 2010. You log on to your email to find that an American friend has forwarded you a link to a YouTube video, which, they claim, contains many LOL’s (laugh out louds). But when you click, the video doesn’t load. In fact you can’t seem to get onto YouTube at all. Instead, all you see is a screen with a message: “You have attempted to access a website [http://youtube.com] which may contain material prohibited under Australian law. Your IP address has been logged. If you believe you have reached this site in error, please contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider).”

Oh dear. Due to the large amount of copyrighted and unrated content available on YouTube, it’s just been added to the federal government’s mandatory internet filtering blacklist. Thus, it’s no longer available in Australia. Scary? Yeah. Fiction? Only for the moment.

Right now, the ‘open & accountable’ Rudd Government is pressing ahead with its plan to throttle the internet access of every Australian citizen by introducing mandatory filtering of ‘illegal’ material. If you haven’t heard about this plan to erect the ‘Great Firewall of Australia’, you’re not alone – the offline media has raised barely a murmur on the topic until recently. And if the Minister for Broadband, Senator Stephen Conroy, has his way there could be a lot more that you don’t know in the near future. But, as you won’t have access to the blacklist of ‘illegal’ websites, you won’t even know that you don’t know it.

The government’s own tests show that a mandatory filter will significantly slow internet access for Australians by up to 80%. It could be argued, however, that there’s some merit to mandatory filtering if it actually blocks the transmission of material like child porn. But it doesn’t. Every filter tested so far lets through a certain amount of banned material, as well as blocking legitimate material – typically, information on sensitive subjects such as bulimia or euthanasia. And no filter can prevent files, illegal or otherwise, being transmitted via peer-to-peer (P2P) connections with software such as LimeWire. P2P is now thought to comprise as much as 60% of internet traffic.

In January, when confronted with the charge that this scheme would give Australia an internet censorship regime similar to China, Cuba, Iran & North Korea, Conroy said: “Labor makes no apologies to those that argue that any regulation of the internet is like going down the Chinese road.”

Words like this are chilling. Now is the time to become informed on this critical issue. While we’re still allowed.

Article written by Chris Kennett

One of the most beautiful things Sydney has to offer is often overlooked by many Sydneysiders. It is quite often unknown to the tourists & backpackers that visit our marvellous shores. Melbourne often claims the title to these little gems, and I generally agreed with the folks from the south. But in more recent times, I am finding that Sydney is a lot closer to gaining that crown.

These little gems are our little restaurants, situated throughout many suburbs of Sydney. They are almost always off the beaten track & if you blink, you could rightly miss them. The locals always support these restaurants & part of there charm is the homely spirit in each & every one.

We ventured to Lakemba last weekend to one of these little gems, “Jasmins Restaurant”. Now if you are looking for authentic Lebanese cuisine then this is the place to go. Generally, Lebanese food is regarded as one of the world’s healthiest cuisines because of the use of minimally processed vegetarian recipes, in addition to an abundance of fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and nuts. It also includes copious amounts of garlic and olive oil, often seasoned by lemon juice.

We chose the meat plate (pictured), it was outstanding with a little of everything ranging from Taboulie, Baba Gannouj, Falafel, Kebbeh Naieh, Charcoal chicken, Chawarma, bread & pickles. The meal set us back about $12.00 each. The atmosphere was laid back. The service was first class.

Jasmins is a family run restaurant & seats about 30 people. The walls are filled with Lebanese art & the colours emphasis the character of the place. Owner Abdul Ghazal & Manager Abraham Ghazal host a delicious, well run little restaurant that is certainly one of Sydney’s little gems.

Jasmins Restaurant
30B Haldon Street, Lakemba
Ph: 02 9740 3589
Email: GuzzGuzz88 {at} hotmail(.)com

Article written by Paul Hardwick

Innovative young designers from the 2008 Higher School Certificate Design and Technology course will exhibit their works in the annual DesignTECH exhibition. The 25 outstanding projects were chosen from over 3,700 works. On display is a diverse range of creations, from fashion, furniture and textiles, to recreational and musical equipment, to farming innovations and children’s education.

On now until Wednesday 18 March 2009
Powerhouse Museum
500 Harris Street Ultimo, NSW
www.powerhousemuseum.com

The Combination saw its world premiere at Parramatta’s Riverside theatre last night, after “seven years in the making”.

Although rain had been expected, it didn’t stop the celebrities from turning out in full force to what might be this year’s sleeper film. Sports stars Anthony Mundine and Hazam El Mazeri, as well as Underbelly’s Gyton Grantley, Matthew Newton and Peter Phelps mingled with the crowd on the red carpet before the screening.

(Photo by Gaye Gerard/Getty Images AsiaPac)

The atmosphere was intense with anticipation, as many people had not seen the preview screenings and had no idea what to expect. We were then ushered into the Riverside’s glorious theatre. Parramatta’s Lord Mayor Tony Issa took the stage for a “short” speech, before John Pirrie, David Field and George Basha held the audience’s attention, outlining the struggle it had been to get The Combination off the ground.

There was a rapturous applause as the final credits rolled and the actors took the stage. The acting from the first timers, especially Rahel Abdul Rahmen, was outstanding. Let’s hope the rest of the country gets behind The Combination.

Lateline Article and Video on The Combination

Article written by Klaus Kinski