Arts

Life is short but art is long’ could be a motto for the latest collection of works from local artist Hilary Herrmann, on exhibition at the Tweed Regional Gallery from this month until the end of August.  Named Keepsakes, the 28 paintings are evidence that art can conquer time, by giving new life to those who have passed away.  The…

From the sublime to the seemingly ridiculous, from Beethoven’s transcendent ‘Moonlight’ Sonata to the sight of a man making an instrument out of a carrot – and playing it – the 20th Bangalow Chamber Music Festival promises to explore a wide range of musical expression.  What is guaranteed throughout is the exceptionally high quality of the performances: Carrot Man, for…

“I got this reputation And everybody knows my name I was born to play the guitar I got the blues running through my veins.” (Buddy Guy, Born to Play the Blues) That almost sums up local legend ‘Hubcap’ Stan Ceglinski. Almost, because he also was born to make guitars. Stan produces amazing guitars from his workshop in Possum Creek, and…

For the past month and into April, Ninbella gallery on Bangalow’s main street has displayed works by Byron Shire environmental artist, John Dahlsen. Here, John talks with Christobel Munson about how he strayed into creating art from what others may regard as flotsam and jetsam.

Digby Hildreth tunes in with Josh Rippingale of Federal Strings to learn more about crafting and caring for stringed musical instruments.

The famous Byron Writers Festival is coming to Bangalow. It is to be held this year at the Bangalow Showground and A&I Hall from 11-13 August.

Tricia Shantz has lived in Byron Shire for 40 years, 33 of those in Coorabell. Here she explains the genesis of her book Neverland, a social history that documents the arrival of American surfers in the 1960s and how their creative collaboration with locals started the first ripples of alternative culture in Byron Bay.

Set in a fictional coastal town, original new musical New Blood reveals irksome details and inconvenient truths of treechange life.

James Ioannou talks to Sally Schofield about using pesky camphor wood to make works of art.

The original much-loved mobile library was destroyed in the floods but now a new library van will take its place on Saturday mornings in Bangalow writes Mary Nelson.

Deep within the beating heart of the Bangalow Music Festival lies the organisers’ commitment to young people across our region, writes Digby Hildreth. Audiences are in for a rare treat at the much loved ‘Locals Night’ when the Bangalow Music Festival returns this month after a two-year COVID-induced interlude.They will hear three quirky and engaging pieces by a young neurodiverse…

Before La Nina turned our blue skies permanently grey we were able to see the stars at night and gaze at them in wonder. And for millennia before the dismal days of 2022, First Nations peoples also studied the heavens, developing an intimate familiarity with the stellar constellations and a profound understanding of the interconnection between sky and land. Their…