Ben Apfelbaum

BANGARRA DANCE THEATRE TO PERFORM FREE @ BOTANICAL GARDENS IN SEPTEMBER

 

Jonathan Jones, choreographer Stephen Page, philanthropist John Kaldor
left to right – Director of Dry Skin and Bones Jonathan-Jones, Choreographer Stephen-Page, and philanthropist John-Kaldor. Image by Ben Apfelbaum.
Bangarra Dancers (1)
Bangarra Dancers. Image by Ben Apfelbaum.
Arts philanthropist John Kaldor
Arts philanthropist John Kaldor. Image by Ben Apfelbaum

Kaldor Public Art Projects recently announced Bangarra Dance Theatre will develop a site-specific performance for Jonathan Jones’ barrangal dyara (skin and bones), the 32nd Kaldor Public Art Project to be held in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden from 17 September until 3 October 2016. Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones and Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, Stephen Page, will collaborate to present a performance reflecting on the loss of Sydney’s 19th century Garden Palace Building – along with countless Aboriginal cultural objects – to fire in 1882.

The performance will take place within the footprint of the original Garden Palace building along Macquarie Street in the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, demarcated by a new major sculptural and sound installation created by Jones. The project connects with many Aboriginal communities and cultural practitioners, and Munaldjali/Nunukul man, Page will respond to the themes of the work, collaborating to shed light on Australian History.

This special collaboration with Bangarra Dance Theatre will be performed free of charge on the evening of the anniversary of the Garden Palace Fire, 22 September 2016. The performance will be part of the wider barrangal dyara (skin and bones) project program, presented free to the public from 17 September – 3 October 2016 in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden.

The project is Jones’ response to the immense loss felt throughout Australia due to the destruction of these culturally significant items. It represents an effort to commence a healing process and a celebration of the survival of the world’s oldest living culture despite this traumatic event.

 

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.