May 2010

Creative Director News

Ms Robyn Archer AO, Centenary of Canberra Creative Director

From the Creative Director

The events that surrounded Canberra’s 97th birthday were many and varied: some tried and true such as Celebrate in the Park, some brand new such as the extremely well-attended Symphony in the Park and Flipart, and some simply with a new twist.

Lights! Canberra! Action! was superbly situated in Garema Place this year and worked extremely well as an outdoor event. The prelude and interval interventions by Erth and Dislocate from Flipart added new diversions. Everyone commented that the quality of the entries into L!C!A! has escalated dramatically and certainly all finalists were well received by the large crowd.

Flipart similarly animated the inner city precinct and it was a very positive pilot event. Throughout Saturday there were delighted audiences young and old throughout the precinct and I was especially impressed with the atmosphere after-dark. The place had people and laughter, music and applause and this was very different and extremely appealing.

Erth, Dislocate, Stalker, Chrome and Zimboyz all had excellent crowds and responses, but equally well–received were locals JAAD, Warehouse Circus, and a number of spontaneous participants such as local trampolinists, the acrobat accountants and parkour people.

Along with the activities at New Acton in The Bally, music from Mr Fibby, Casual Projects and the remarkable Los Amigos Invisibles, the huge line-up at Celebrate, the fabulous balloons which at last rose up majestically, the CSO’s mighty program, the Canberra Bells, the Canberra Cake and a huge day at the Botanic Gardens and Arboretum, along with the French Masters packing them in… this was a Canberra Festival for celebration.

It augurs so well for our build towards 2013. We now have a fresh new visual identity and a refreshed website with more grunt for more layers of information. We’re seriously on our way.

And marking the journey in 2010 is Show us Your Limits, so be part of the journey. Go forth and take photos!

Robyn Archer

Projects

Eskimo Joe performing at Celebrate in the Park

Biggest Canberra Festival wraps up in style

The biggest Canberra Festival yet took place from the 4-16 March and saw over 50 events take place over nine days.

More than 30 hot air balloons from Australia and oversees took to Canberra’s sky during the Balloon Spectacular. Celebrate in the Park was a major highlight of the festival and the 25,000 visitors to Commonwealth Park were entertained by Eskimo Joe, Cassie Davis, Dragon and Roary the Racing Car. A record crowd of 1,200 were at Lights! Canberra! Action! for its first outdoor screening in Garema Place, with the 12 finalists selected from the 42 entries. Garema Place, Civic Square and New Acton were buzzing with this year’s pilot event, Flipart. The festival wrapped up with the first Symphony in the Park which saw 6,000 people attend the concert conducted by Guy Noble.

The Centenary of Canberra unit would like to congratulate the members of Canberra’s Rotary Club who were jointly named as Canberra Citizen of the Year for the organisations ongoing commitment to the city and the 251 individuals and 24 groups who received a Canberra Gold Chief Minister’s Award for living in the ACT for 50 years or more.

You couldn’t miss Chrome’s Pink Fit in the city during Flipart.

Flipart

The circus descended on Civic from the 12-14 March with Flipart, a pilot event of the 2010 Canberra Festival, sponsored by the Centenary of Canberra, Canberra CBD Ltd, ACT Health and New Acton.

On Friday, the audience at the outdoor screening of short film competition Lights! Canberra! Action! were treated to roving performances by Dislocate’s talented street performers and Erth’s large scale roving puppets.

Throughout Saturday, city crowds were dazzled by the physical and street performances, as well as the fascinating roving acts, including a giant alien, a trio of pompadoured crooners, stilt-walking bugs and a Dinosaur that terrorised City Walk. The day closed with an open-air performance by Latin Grammy Award winners Los Amigos Invisibles.

On Sunday, families were spoilt with two packed circus shows at The Bally in New Acton, featuring clowns, juggling and acrobatics.

As Flipart was a pilot event we would love to receive feedback on the program - this can be emailed to canberra100@act.gov.au

Border Marker T54 on Mt Aggie. Photo by Ben Davies.

Would you like to win $500 - Show us your limits is now open

Show Us Your Limits, a photographic, short film and digital media competition is now open. The competition celebrates the 100th anniversary of the border survey of the Federal Capital Territory, later to be known as the Australian Capital Territory.

Entries are being sought for images – photographs and digital multimedia - that explore the gruelling work undertaken to create the ACT borders and how we interact with the border regions today.

The competition is open until 4.00pm, 31 August 2010 and there are prizes in four categories. Winners of the photography, film, and digital media categories will each win a $500 prepaid visa card. The winner of the final category, the under 18 years open media category, will win a $250 prepaid visa card.

Entry forms and further information on the competition are available from www.canberra100.com.au.

A posed shot for the historic record, taken at the surveyors' camp, February 1909. Charles Scrivener is seated at right.

2010 History Highlights – Border Survey

The Canberra region’s rich history is, in part at least, a story about surveyors and surveying.

The first surveys of the Limestone Plains area were undertaken by Robert Dixon in 1829 and Robert Hoddle in 1832. Many decades later Charles Scrivener, by all accounts the most talented surveyor of his generation, was tasked by the Commonwealth Government in late 1908 with producing a topographical investigation of the ‘Yass-Canberra’ district in order to establish the best site for the nation’s capital city. He was told to ‘bear in mind that the Federal Capital should be a beautiful city’.

Scrivener produced exactly what was required, but the ‘City Beautiful’ and Federal Capital Territory in prospect soon needed exact borders for political, legal and administrative purposes.

Thus, between 1910 and 1915, three surveyors and their teams completed the exhausting task of creating that border, exposed to the forbidding weather and terrain: Percy Sheaffe moved east from Mt Coree, beginning in chilly late May 1910; ‘Happy’ Harry Mouat headed south from Coree in October 1913; and ‘Fast’ Freddie Johnston took over from a fatiguing Sheaffe in February 1915 with the end almost literally in sight. Mouat and Johnston met up in late April 1915.

In this Centenary year of the beginning of the ACT’s epic border survey, we have been acknowledging the courage and commitment of those responsible for that milestone chapter in the Canberra story. More details in the next e-newsletter.

The Hampton Family at the Centenary of Canberra Community Tree Planting. Photo by Ben Davies.

Centenary of Canberra Community Tree Planting Day

The Centenary of Canberra hosted a Community Tree Planting Day on 2 May at the Lower Cotter Catchment.

More than 200 volunteers planted over 3,000 native trees at the Centenary of Canberra and Greening Australia Community Planting Day in the Lower Cotter with views to Mt Coree, where the new capital’s border survey commenced in June 1910.

An area of 12 hectares was planted, significantly contributing to the goal to plant more than 300,000 native plants in the Cotter by Canberra’s centenary in 2013.

Local Canberra band The Cashews entertained the volunteers with songs such as ‘Cotter River’ and ‘Come to the Mountains’ adding to the community celebration.

The walnut, apple, carrot and honey cake chosen as the Canberra Cake.

Canberra Cake

Creative Director Robyn Archer used Canberra’s 97th anniversary to release the recipe for a special Canberra Cake.

Birthdays and cake go hand in hand and with three years to go until Canberra’s 100th anniversary we are delighted to share this delicious new recipe with all Canberrans.

This healthy recipe was designed by Ms Janet Jeffs of Ginger Catering according to the 100 mile principle – that is, all ingredients are sourced from within a 100 mile radius of Canberra. Some of the ingredients the Canberra Cake features include carrots from Cowra, Pialligo apples, Murrumbateman honey and baker’s flour from Gunnedah.

The recipe is available at www.canberra100.com.au

Senator for the Australian Capital Territory, Ms Kate Lundy, the Hon Peter Garrett, Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts and Centenary of Canberra Creative Director Ms Robyn Archer planting Canberra Bells at the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Canberra Bells for Correa

On 12 March, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope revealed Canberra Bells as the name of the correa cultivar selected as the official Centenary native plant.

The name was chosen from over 250 suggestions received by the public. The panel included representatives from the ACT branch of the Australian Native Plant Society, the Yarralumla Nursery, the Australian National Botanic Gardens, experienced native plant breeder Mr Peter Ollerenshaw and local media personality and native plant evangelist, Mr Ian Warden.

On 21 April, Ms Robyn Archer planted the first Canberra Bells plants at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, with the Hon Peter Garrett, Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts and Senator for the Australian Capital Territory, Ms Kate Lundy. Canberra Bells have also been planted in the new West Row Park in the city.

The attractive, hardy shrub, which features two-tone, red and cream bell-like flowers, is currently being cultivated. Canberra’s many keen gardeners will be able to purchase this special plant in 2012.

The eleven young designers who worked on ideas for the new logo - on the viewing platform of Mount Ainslie.

New Centenary Logo

Creative Director Robyn Archer used Canberra’s 97th anniversary to reveal the refreshed Centenary of Canberra logo.

The logo – visible on the top of this newsletter – was developed from ideas produced by the design students from across Australia at a visual identity workshop held in Canberra in November 2009, under the mentorship of His Excellency Mr Michael Bryce and Robyn Archer.

The simple and subtle final design is modern and understated. The triangle and the circles play a major role in the logo – just as they do in Burley Griffin’s plans for Canberra and interestingly the typeface used in the logo was commissioned in 1913.

The Canberra 100 website has undergone a refresh too. Visit our new site at www.canberra100.com.au

Canberra Gold Exhibition

Last Chance - Canberra Gold Exhibition

The inaugural Canberra Gold exhibition at Canberra Museum and Gallery concludes on 20 June. The exhibition provides a glimpse into the rich and interesting tale of our community’s past. On display are fascinating personal artefacts and digital stories of six individuals and one community group, all of whom have received the Canberra Gold award.

For more information please visit www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/cmag/exhibitions.html

Dates for the Diary

Stateline

Throughout 2010, Centenary Adviser Dr David Headon will continue to present a number of ABC TV Stateline segments celebrating memorable slices of centenary history. An episode on King O’Malley and another on the Official Ceremony on the Foundation Stones have already aired. Keep an eye out for further episodes.

More information is available at www.abc.net.au/stateline.

Hikers on the border at Mt Franklin. Photo by Ben Davies.

Border Walks

Following high demand for the first Show Us Your Limits Walk and Talk event at Mt Franklin on 2 May, John Evans from the Canberra Bushwalking Club has announced another hike on 3 July at Mulligans Flat, near Gungahlin. Stay tuned to the Canberra100 website for more details closer to the event.