Four days of events, seminars, concerts, films and exhibitions, all inspired by Patrick White's iconic novel VOSS (1956).
Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 May 2009
THURSDAY 14 MAY
Opening Performance
'Dr Ludwig Leichhardt – Renaming The Land’
performed by developing artists from NAISDA Dance College
AIATSIS Forecourt, Lawson Crescent on the Acton Peninsula
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12.30-1.30pm Free admission |
THE VOSS JOURNEY begins with a dynamic performance of Leichhardt’s journey from the perspective of the First Australians. Choreographed by Graeme Watson and performed by developing artists from NAISDA
Dance College, ‘Renaming the Land’ brings to life Leichhardt’s journals
of his monumental expedition from Moreton Bay to Point Essington.
Photo: Amanda JonesNot unique to Leichhardt was the renaming of the rivers, the creeks, flora and fauna as well as prominent features
of the landscape contrary to the names given by the Aboriginal peoples. The dance presentation, supported by music and narration, will represent some of Leichhardt’s observations and encounters with the Aboriginal occupants of the lands through which he journeyed. Earth, Air, Fire and Water will be the chapters of observation and encounters in the dance realisation.
The dance concludes with Leichhardt’s Dreaming sequence – a performance of traditional dances from Elcho Island of NE Arnhem land.
Seminar 1:
Ludwig Leichardt, His Life, Explorations and Legacy
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2.00-3.15pm Free admission |
Patrick White modelled VOSS on the German explorer Ludwig
Leichhardt (1813-1848?). Rod Home, Emeritus Professor of History
and the Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne gives
an introduction to the man who was inspired, not by some romantic
dream, but by well reasoned scientific objectives. Presented with the
assistance of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Seminar 2:
Patrick White's Myth-Making
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4.00-5.30pm Free admission |
A distinguished panel of speakers discuss the recent resurgence of
critical and popular interest in Patrick White’s life and work. Topics to
be addressed include White’s concept of the sacred and his attempt to
create a national myth in VOSS, his controversial public persona, and
the enduring legacy and influence of his artistic vision.
Film 1:
Overlord
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Dir: Stuart Cooper, UK, 1975, 95 |
Seemlessly interweaving archival footage and a fictional narrative
based partly on VOSS, Cooper’s film is both a document of war
and a dream-like meditation on man’s smallness within a large,
incomprehensible machine.
From 7pm, in the NFSA Courtyard, the RMC Band perform the
Quadrilles of Frederic Ellard which figure in Act 1 of the VOSS Opera.
THURSDAY 14 MAY |
