AlburyCity Libraries' Podcast

Recorded at the opening talk at the Albury Art Gallery, 18 March 2011.

Between 1993 and 2009, Australian photographer, Stephen Dupont travelled to and from the landlocked and conflict-ridden country of Afghanistan, documenting the rise and fall of several regimes and gaining unparalleled access to political leaders.

Afghanistan: The Perils of Freedom 1993 - 2009, is a retrospective selection of images of the country where Dupont has covered everything from civil war and the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, to the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom and the ongoing war on terrorism.

His extended focus on the country has resulted in a series of images that vividly depict how life continues during perpetual war (particularly among the people of the Northern Alliance) as well as single images that have helped to define and change the nature of that war.

His images of American soldiers burning the bodies of dead Taliban in Afghanistan not only earned him a rare Robert Capa Gold Medal Award citation from the Overseas Press Club of Amer­ica in 2005, but also led to policy changes and cultural-awareness training for U.S. troops.

Stephen Dupont is an award-winning photojournalist, documentary filmmaker, and war correspondent. He is internationally recognized for his work in some of the world's most dangerous areas, including Afghanistan, Burma, Cambodia, Iraq, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Somalia, and Zaire.

Photographer Christina Simons opens her exhibition of photographs highlighting the plight of Haiti's children prior to the devastating earthquake in January 2010.

The tragedy hit close to home for the Australian-based photographer who had visited the island in 2007 and been moved by the number of children who had been sold, kidnapped or given into a life of slavery.

Photographs in the exhibition are for sale and all proceeds will go to orphanages and Haiti Earthquake Relief. Given that so many children were orphaned because of the earthquake, the child slavery situation has worsened. This is why this work is so important.

The Haiti Project can be seen at the LibraryMuseum until the 17th April 2011 or visit http://www.christinasimons.com/thehaitiproject/ to learn more about how you can make a difference.

Monash Gallery of Art Director Shaun Lakin in conversation with Albury Art Gallery's Jules Boag.

Award winning author, artist and illustrator Narelle Oliver has won numerous awards for her illustrations. Inspired by the environment and Australian fauna and flora, Narelle creates her images with pastels, watercolour, lino cuts and etchings.

Narelle Oliver was a guest author/illustrator at the 2010 Write Around the Murray Festival at Albury LibraryMuseum.

Here she discusses her work processes and some of the stories that inpired her books.

Ever since her debut novel, Looking for Alibrandi, burst onto the scene in 1992, the character of Josephine Alibrandi has had a huge following among teenage and adult readers alike.
Winner of the CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers in 1993, Melina Marchetta's novel has remained on the bestseller lists ever since.

Here, she talks to high school students about how her novels and characters evolve.

The Glass Percussion Project is collaboration between glass artist Elaine Miles and Melbourne-based percussionist and composer Eugene Ughetti. Exploring the sonic elements of glass and merging the worlds of visual art installation and music performance, these two artists have created a spectacle of sights and sounds, creating music inspired by air, wind, thunder and water, with individually hand-blown glass objects.

The Glass Percussion Project merges glass installation with live performance and sound installation in exploration of a common language. This interplay between sight, sound, light and movement will be a meditative experience for visitors.

Eugene Ughetti has toured throughout Europe, Asia, North America and Australia and his professional experience is diverse but his particular focus is new music and hybrid-arts collaboration. Elaine Miles is a glass installation artist whose works include several solo and collaborative exhibitions and performances that have received widespread critical acclaim nationally and internationally.