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Primavera

Primavera showcases a collection of figurative paintings exploring themes of isolation, physical expression, and sexuality.
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CUOROSENSA: A Reverse Archaeology

In Cuorosensa, the artist’s bold, energetic and confident mark-making coheres into recognisable Luccio-esque themes — we see his Eiffel Tower, his Trojan Horse, his meditations on the myths and figures of classical antiquity — but closer inspection reveals a canvas of interlocking postcards with tantalising glimpses of the messages they once conveyed.
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1863: The Birth of Impressionism

Songmakers Australia - soprano Merlyn Quaife AM, bass-baritone Nicholas Dinopoulos and pianist Andrea Katz - perform a program of stunning French repertoire by Debussy, Fauré, Duparc, Chausson and Poulenc.
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Artist Talk

Please join Debra and Alice for valuable insight as they share their experiences of the rehearsal rooms and creating their art.
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FLY – a chamber opera

Melbourne’s award-winning, boutique opera company, Lyric, presents this Australian work about Lawrence Hargrave: explorer, engineer, inventor and the man on the twenty dollar note.
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Découpages d’hommes by Eureka.

Découpages d’hommes

Selected from images taken in Europe and Australia, Melbourne-based queer artist Eureka (Michael James O’Hanlon) juxtaposes the male figure on found architectural backgrounds.
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Pam Bain

Living, breathing, thriving:  A visual story of pattern, shape, line and colour these paintings and works on paper redefine the City of Melbourne and its suburb boundaries as organic formations. Bain’s interest in fractal geometry and playful experimentation transform the current map of Melbourne into anthropomorphic conversations of form and effect. Presented in abstract and naturalistic stylings, these two dimensional re-interpretations are the result of the artist’s ongoing efforts to reorientate herself within a new city. Interlocking colourfully patterned shapes each maintain an individual identity while also functioning as a whole much like living organisms and cities of people do.

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Bare Witness clip

Here is a youtube clip of Bare Witness by Mari Lourey, directed by Nadja Kostich. Bare Witness ran at fortyfivedownstairs from 10 - 26 September 2010.

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Laneway Magazine: My Name is Rachel Corrie

This review of My Name is Rachel Corrie was written by Jeremy Williams for Laneway Magazine on 11 November 2010. See it in its original context here.

My Name is Rachel Corrie
fortyfivedownstairs
November 4 – 14, 2010

For those who have followed the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict the name Rachel Corrie may well ring a bell, for others the name will be as meaningless as Joe Bloggs and Paula Brown. However, this one-woman production compiled by Alan Rickman (of Harry Potter fame) and Katharine Viner (deputy editor of The Guardian) is ensuring that Corrie’s legacy is not forgotten. On January 22nd 2003, the 23 year old American student flew to Israel to work as a volunteer for International Solidarity Movement, the pacifist Palestinian protest organisation. Less than two months later, Corrie was killed in the name of her cause when an Israeli bulldozer crushed her to death as she defended a Palestinian home.

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The Age: My Name is Rachel Corrie

This review of My Name is Rachel Corrie was written by Cameron Woodhead and published in The Age on Tuesday 9 November 2010. See it in its original context here. By Rachel Corrie, edited by Katharine Viner & Alan Rickman,…

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My name is Rachel Corrie in The Age

This article about My Name is Rachel Corrie was written by Liza Power and published in The Age on Saturday 30 October 2010. See it in its original context here. An idealistic life remembered Liza Power October 30, 2010 Image:…

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Review: Carnival of Mysteries on Oz Baby Boomers

This review of Carnival of Mysteries was written by Christine Hill and published on Oz Baby Boomers on Saturday 16 October 2010. See it in its original context here.

The Carnival of Mysteries, created and directed by Moira Finucane & Jackie Smith

fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne | Until 30 October

Step right up folks. Be amazed, be surprised, be thoroughly entertained by this extraordinary spectacle, created and directed by Moira Finucane and Jackie Smith, and brought to you by the Melbourne International Arts Festival and fortyfive downstairs.

Finucane and Smith’s trademark mix of provocation and entertainment starts in the theatre lobby where, on arrival, everyone is rubber stamped, issued a ‘passport’, and given 30,000 carnival dollars. A suitably sleazy spruiker (David Pidd) explains the rules to the bemused but eager audience-in-waiting before we troop down the stairs to enter the world of the Carnival.

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Openings: Russell Craig + Jo D’Hagé

Last night we held the exhibition openings for our two current exhibitions: Objects of Navigation by Russell Craig and Vestiges of Hope Unseen by Jo D’Hagé. Both exhibitions run until Saturday 9 October 2011.

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Review: Bare Witness on Trip the Light Fantastick

This review of Bare Witness was written by David Maney for Trip the Light Fantastick. See it in its original context here.

I was always susceptible to liking Mari Lourey’s new play, Bare Witness. What with an interest in areas of conflict; that I’d just re-read Hare & Brent’s Pravda and an equally scathing depiction of journalism in a friend’s new play that is the glorious bastard child of Hare, Brent, Stoppard and Beckett; I was almost certain to be provoked. But where BW differs is that its focus is the corruption of the image, not words. Whereas the latter can be nimble and conjure the trick of “truth” in front of eyes — hearing how it’s done behind the by-line would deflate anyone insistent on objectivity — an image is supposed to be bare A camera is a witness, a machine that doesn’t need to decipher right from wrong. But this is not true either.


Photo by Marg Horwell

The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own. – Susan Sontag

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Review: Bare Witness on Man About Town

This review of Bare Witness was written by Richard Watts for Man About Town. See it in its original context here.

A rare collaboration between two of Melbourne’s most important creative spaces, Mari Lourey’s Bare Witness is a joint presentation by La Mama Theatre and fortyfivedownstairs, in the latter organisation’s bunker-like venue beneath Flinders Lane. The space suits the work admirably, for Bare Witness is an expressionistic exploration of the experiences of a diverse group of photojournalists in three different war zones: Bosnia in the early 1990s, Timor Leste in the dark days before its independence from Indonesia, and contemporary Iraq.

The audience’s introduction to this blood, developing fluid and adrenaline-soaked world is Australian photographer Dani Hill (Daniela Farinacci), who in a short space of time goes from snapping hats and frocks at Flemington race course to photographing corpses and grieving widows in the Balkans. Years later, Dani looks back through her old photographs, recalling the stories behind the 11 most powerful shots; stories which are then played out for the audience, counting down slowly to the traumatic revelation behind the final, heartbreaking photograph.

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Review: Bare Witness on Oz Baby Boomers

This review of Bare Witness was written by Christine Hill for Oz Baby Boomers. See it in its original context here.

When you see pictures of the casualties of war on the television news or in the newspapers, do you ever wonder about the person who took them? This special La Mama Theatre presentation in conjunction with fortyfive downstairs is about that person.

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Review: Bare Witness on Curtain Call

This review of Bare Witness was written by Andrew Fuhrmann for Curtain Call. See it in its original context here.

Bare Witness is an amazing dramatic collage describing the exhilaration, the horror, the outrage, the anguish and the dread hopelessness of combat-zone photography, fusing a compelling life story, expressive choreography, poetic visual effects, a complex moral dilemma and the best sound design of any production seen in Melbourne this year. It’s written by Mari Lourey and directed by Nadja Kostich, and it’s showing now at Melbourne’s Fortyfivedownstairs.

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Review: Bare Witness on Theatre People

This review of Bare Witness was written by Nathan Slevin for Theatre People. See it in its original context here.

Without realising I pass into the zone of a dangerous place…
‘…to see truth, to capture it, to wing it home…landing on my doorstep wrapped in newsprint…tripping into the lounge room through the screen…No-one remembers how it works’
(Excerpt from The Aerodynamics of Death, Robyn Rowland)

Bare Witness by Mari Lourey explores this very idea by scrutinising and paying homage to the experiences of a group of photojournalists seen through the eyes of Australian correspondent Dani in the warzones of the Balkans, East Timor and Iraq. The story follows Dani from her beginnings in the field through to the aforementioned countries. She sets out to ‘capture the perfect image’ but it eventually all becomes too much for her and she realises she has to face the humanity staring at her through the lens. As Lourey states in the program notes she found herself asking why these people place themselves in such extraordinary and often dangerous situations for the sake of maybe one published image.

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Review: Bare Witness on Theatre Notes

This review of Bare Witness was written by Alison Croggon for Theatre Notes. See it in its original context here.

I’m loath to say this, for several reasons, but nevertheless: sometimes you have to point out the obvious. (In Ms TN’s case, pointing out the obvious is my raison d’etre). The City at Red Stitch and La Mama’s Bare Witness at Fortyfivedownstairs are productions which demonstrate that our indie women directors can be as ambitious, imaginative, intelligent, out-there theatrical and aesthetically tough as any man.

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Bare Witness: Review highlights

CURTAIN CALL

Andrew Fuhrmann
16.09.10

….an amazing dramatic collage describing the exhilaration, the horror, the outrage, the anguish and the dread hopelessness of combat-zone photography, fusing a compelling life story, expressive choreography, poetic visual effects, a complex moral dilemma and the best sound design of any production seen in Melbourne this year…..

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Openings: Philip Faulks and Alana Kennedy

Last night we held the exhibition openings for our two current exhibitions:  Stink by Philip Faulks and Orpheus Diningroom Project MMX by Alana Kennedy. Image: Opening of Orpheus Diningroom Project MMX by Alana Kennedy. Image: Opening of Orpheus Diningroom Project…

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Review: The Orpheus Diningroom on Not-Quite-Critics

This review of Alana Kennedy’s exhibition Orpheus Diningroom Project MMX was written by Georgina Lee for her blog Not-Quite-Critics.  See it in its original context here.

Who: Alana Kennedy
What: Orpheus Diningroom Project MMX
Where: fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000
When: Until 25 September 2010

When my friend Sarah alerted me to this exhibition opening, I just knew I had to go! Normally I wouldn’t be able to do anything on Tuesday nights as we have class at the VCA, but fortyfivedownstairs is literally a 1 minute walk from my office (not even) and it was perfectly convenient to pop into before class.

When I entered the gallery I was greeted by free flowing wine and gorgeous macarons wrapped up in mini cones using pages from the book, The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus. I gobbled mine up pretty quickly! They were absolutely delicious and were made by none other than the master chocolatier from Shocolate, which is my favourite chocolate cafe in Melbourne (conveniently located right near my house!).

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Review: Bare Witness review on Arts Hub

This review of Bare Witness was written by Smiljana Glisovic for Arts Hub. See it in its original context here.

As in a flipbook, fragments of a life are animated, moving through the war-zones of Bosnia, East Timor and Iraq. The limits of the space, of this photojournalist’s life, are constructed and dismantled, along with the ethics and moral boundaries of the situations that she is thrust into. Flashes of light explode from cameras, bombs and light-boxes. A chorus of actors bends in and out of liminal spaces, dodging and re-assembling the shrapnel, like snap-shots, telling a multiplicity of stories and possible versions/takes. The live music score (by award winning Jethro Woodward) is relentless, but beautifully so, writing in a phraseology that departs from the single elements of the narrative and deepens the echoes of metaphor.

This piece comes from writer Mari Lourey, who comes to this piece via a music career, various arts projects, critically acclaimed Dirty Angels (La Mama 2003), and award winning The Bridge (Green Room and Vic Health Award, 2003).

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Review: Bare Witness review in The Age

This review of Bare Witness was written by Martin Bell for The Age. See it in its original context here.

THE camera never lies, according to the adage, but of course neither can it tell the whole story, because what is left out of the frame is often just as important as what is left in. This paradox is central to the ethical dilemmas faced by photojournalists working in war zones, who must constantly balance their own moral commitment to the truth with the media industry’s thirst for a graphic picture.

Bare Witness is Mari Lourey’s exploration of these contradictions, the pun in the show’s title drawing attention to how photojournalists can themselves become victims of a conflict, emotionally wounded by the images they ”shoot”.

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Review: Bare Witness on Stage Whispers

This review of Bare Witness was written by Geoffrey Williams for Stage Whispers. See it in its original context here.

The cultural influence of photojournalism on the battlefield has resulted in some life-changing images. Some, like the Associated Press’s Nick Ut’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a naked little girl running along a road immediately after a napalm attack during the Vietnam War – are defining images of a generation.

Controversy, too, has challenged the reputation for authenticity of both written and photographic journalism that has emerged from places to which few of us would dare travel – especially given the life and death stakes that exist in constantly unpredictable war zones. Renowned war photographer Robert Capa’s iconic “The Falling Solider” – a photograph of a ‘soldier at the moment of death’ – has long been the subject of controversy, with a Spanish newspaper declaring it a fake in 2009. Capa, who most memorably (and miraculously) photographed World War II’s D-Day Landings in 1944, also once wrote: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” Ironically, Capa was killed by a landmine in 1954 while on assignment for Time-Life magazine covering the first Indochina War. He died, it has been reported, “with his camera in his hand”.

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Review: Bare Witness on Australian Stage Online

This review of Bare Witness was written by Liza Dezfouli for Australian Stage Online. See it in its original context here.

Bare Witness, by Mari Lourey, has been in development for many years and is a meticulously researched play. As a work of performance, it is wonderful, employing eloquent and dramatic theatrical devices, multi-media, and some terrific physicality where the actors turn themselves inside out to say the unsay-able. The play creates with authenticity and verve the fraught hyper-reality of the world of the foreign correspondent, often in peril, living an unholy and thrilling existence surrounded by horror, and all the while documenting it. The play gives us to understand how the war journalist is very nearly another sort of human being. Bravery exists in all sorts of guises but very few of us are required to demonstrate the sort of immediate courage required of a photojournalist in a war zone. It’s an extraordinary thing to bring to life in an inner-city theatre space this sort of atmosphere and tension and it is to the credit of the team involved in Bare Witness that it succeeds in this so well. The form of the play itself crosses boundaries; it is, as well as a drama, a work of choreography. The live music score adds to the frequent effect of breathlessness and numerous devices are brought into play to serve the world it is portraying. You can nearly smell tear gas, sweat and blood.

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Review: Bare Witness on ABC Arts

This review of Bare Witness was written by Prue Bentley for ABC arts. See it in its original context here.

Mari Lourey’s newest play explores the life of the self appointed “eyes and ears” of the world, the photojournalist, writes Prue Bentley.

You could argue that the media is in an ugly place at the moment. Opinion journalism has ascended under the auspices of the 24 hour news cycle. Fact-averse, deadline-hungry news agencies are increasingly enslaved to the easy headline.

So, while words can be moulded to an agenda, there’s still a perception of purity in the undoctored, still image.

Mari Lourey‘s newest play Bare Witness tours the life of the self appointed “eyes and ears” of the world, the photojournalist; curious, disconnected individuals who go from conflict to conflict, seeking truth, justice and the next front page.

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Bare Witness in The Age

An article about Bare Witness from The Age. See it in its original context here.

A photographer’s frustration and exploitation is explored on the stage, writes Robin Usher.

PHOTO-JOURNALISTS risk their lives so people can see the ravages of war from the safety of their homes. Yet the paradox is that the photographers do not decide what people see, despite their battlefield exploits, and they can be left feeling frustrated and exploited.

This is one of the themes explored in the new play Bare Witness, by Mari Lourey, about frontline photographers that she has been researching for about six years. ”There have been other projects during that time but I was always thinking about this,” she says.

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