Old meets new this month in the art world

NO PUSHOVER

Photo: Istockphoto / Troy
KennedyThey’re big and they mean business – we’re talking sumo wrestlers, of course. A sport that began 1,500 years ago in Japan, it’s now an integral part of Japanese culture and sumo wrestlers are regarded as role models. On June 9 and 10, the Grand Sumo Tournament returns to Hawaii after an absence of 14 years! Get dohyo-side (ring-side) for a clash of the titans, when the world’s best meet head-on. Over in Japan, the July Sumo Wrestling Basho – the biggest of six important tournaments – is taking place in Nagoya between July 8 and July 22. We’re ready to be shaken and stirred. Are you? Grand Sumo Tournament Neal S Blaisdell Arena, 777 Ward Ave, Honolulu, tel: +1 (808) 591 2211.

July Basho Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya, tel: +81 (52) 971 2516. (Japanese-speakers only)

MUMMIES AND MODERNS

Guggenheim Collection:
1940s to Now GILBERT &
GEORGE Dream 1984
© Gilbert & George, courtesy
of Jay Jopling and White
Cube (London)Centuries-old mummies or modern masterpieces? Whichever you like best, you’ve got a fantastic opportunity to catch them this month without having to take a 13-hour flight, as two exhibitions from the other side of the world come to Australia – Egyptian Antiquities from the Louvre and Guggenheim Collection:1940s to Now. Ra and Osiris versus Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jackson Pollock… it’s a real cultural feast. This is the first Louvre exhibition in Australia in 20 years; and this particular Guggenheim collection is
Egyptian Antiquities from
the Louvre
© Christian Décamps,
Musée du Louvre only showing in Melbourne!

Egyptian Antiquities from the Louvre Art Gallery of South Australia, until 1 July, tel: +61 (8) 8207 7000 Art Gallery of Western Australia, 21 July – 28 October, tel: +61 (8) 9492 6622 Guggenheim Collection: 1940s to Now National Gallery of Victoria, 30 June – 7 October, tel: +61 (3) 8620 2222

GHOULS AND GRUB

Get your feet stomping and your fingers tapping to Australia’s largest Celtic festival happening in Portarlington over the long weekend (8-11 June). Immerse yourself in the music, dance, poetry of more than 200 performers, and sample food from the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Breton and even Galician people. Don’t miss the adults-only ghost story session where storyteller Andrew Mckenna will ply the audience with Australian ghost stories accompanied by guitarist Steve Hansen. Shiver! Tickets available at Geelong Performing Arts Centre or tel: +61 (3) 5225 1200.

DIDJA WANNA?

Dust off your didgeridoo for a slew of festivals up north and in the Top End. In June and July, three different indigenous communities in the Northern Territory –
Merrepen, Barunga and Beswick Falls – will open their doors to visitors interested in learning more about their culture. Get stuck into The Masters of the Didj – a Didgeridoo Orchestra at Barunga for a whole new music experience.

Meanwhile, over in Woodford, an hour north-west of Brisbane, contemporary indigenous groups will be taking centre-stage with Jamaican dance, modern Maori sounds and even stand-up comedy at The Dreaming, Australia’s International Indigenous Festival, between June 8 and 11.

Merrepen Arts Festival (1–3 June), Barunga Festival (8–10 June), Walking with Spirits at Beswick Falls (2–30 July), www.topendarts.com.au The Dreaming (9–12 June), for more info tel: +61 (7) 5496 1066.

WIRELESS THEN, WIRELESS NOW

Those who grew up listening to the radio, instead of being glued to the TV, will definitely want to pick up a copy of 3AW is Melbourne: 75 Years of Radio to get the goss on well-known radio personalities, past and present. 3AW has been shaping Melbourne society since it started broadcasting from Her Majesty’s Theatre in Exhibition Street in 1932 – the year the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened to traffic. For those of us too young to remember that, the book is a good way to travel back to a time when radio was cutting-edge technology! AU$75 for the hardcover limited edition; the paperback is AU$29.95, available at all good bookstores.