Vintage Spring Fling Ball :: 10th September

It's NSW History Week and that puts us in the mood for dancing! So, dust off your vintage frocks – we’re having a ball!

You are cordially invited to the inaugural Vintage Spring Fling Ball at the classic Marrickville Town Hall on the 10th of September. It’s time to dust off your vintage frocks and shine your dancing shoes for a night of food, dancing and entertainment.

Featuring the 1950’s musical stylings of the Ellipsis Swingers, you will be transported back to a time when full skirts were in and Grace Kelly was a style icon. The night will include a delicious three-course meal and all wine, beer and soft drinks included for $100 per person.

Marrickville Town Hall has been open since 1922 and was used as a dance venue throughout the 1920s-1950s. Its high ceilings and marble staircases make it the perfect location for a vintage themed ball.

The Vintage Spring Fling Ball is an event for singles, couples and friends to come enjoy an evening purely dedicated to having a good time. We encourage you to bop till you drop and twirl your poodle skirt around the dance floor, glass of wine in hand.

Vintage Spring Fling Ball:
When: 7pm – midnight, Saturday 10th September, 2011
Where: Marrickville Town Hall
How much: $100 pp - three-course meal and all wine, beer & soft drinks
Rules: Strictly over 18s

For more information or to book your tickets, please visit Blossom Media. See you there!

NSW History Week - Dine with Tony Bilson Giveaway

Inside History magazine is a proud sponsor of the 2011 NSW History Week. We love history and one of our favourite things is food. Happily, you can combine both during History Week, with this year's EAT History theme!

To help History Week celebrate, we’re offering two tickets to dine with Tony Bilson at his famously brilliant Bilson’s Restaurant on the 9th September, at the History Week event: 'The Art of Living in Australia: A Special Event with Tony Bilson".

All you have to do is name Tony Bilson’s first Sydney restaurant and send your answer in an email to cass@insidehistory.com.au, with the subject: “Tony Bilson Giveaway” and you’ll go into the draw to win this fabulous fine dining prize, courtesy of History Week and the NSW History Council! Entries close 5pm EST Monday, 29th August 2011.

'The Art of Living in Australia: A Special Event with Tony Bilson"
At this event, Tony Bilson and Darren De Bortoli will discuss the development of Sydney’s food and wine scene with Simon Marnie from ABC 702 Sydney, while guests savour a specially created menu inspired by recipes featured in Philip E. Muskett’s book, The Art of Living in Australia.

• Friday 9 September 2011, 7:00pm to 9:30pm.
• Bilson's Restaurant, Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney, 27 O'Connell Street, Sydney.
• Free for our lucky winner, your tickets get you a gastronomic dinner and De Bortoli wines.

‘It is curious to see the inhabitants of a semi-tropical country like Australia living in wilful contradiction to their climactic necessities, and eating the same kind of food as did their fathers in the old land, with its dampness, its coldness, its ice and its snow,’ wrote Philip E. Muskett in 1893.

Muskett, a public health reformer, advocated the consumption of seafood, fresh produce and Australian wines. Eighty years later Tony Bilson transformed NSW dining with his first Sydney eatery Tony’s Bon Gout.

NSW History Week runs Saturday, 3rd September to Sunday, 11th September. Go to the NSW History Council site for more information or follow them on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Terms & Conditions:
Entries close 5pm EST on 29/08/11. The first correct entry drawn at random will win two tickets to the "event" on Friday, 09/09/11 valued at $440, courtesy of History Week 2011. The winner will be notified on Tuesday, 30/08/11. The prize is not redeemable for cash.

Experimental Gentlemen exhibition

Discover colonial Australia through the eyes of the artists that were there. Experimental Gentlemen, is an exhibition at The Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, until 25 September 2011.

The 18th century term describing wealthy young virtuosi like Joseph Banks or Charles Darwin, who travelled the world in search of adventure and novelty were ‘experimental gentlemen. Artworks, books and photographs from the Sir Russell and Lady Mab Grimwade Collection of colonial treasures displayed at The Potter help to recreate wonder and awe that inspired explorers and adventurers from over 150 years ago.

Robert Havell and Robert Dale,

‘Panoramic view of King Georges Sound, part of the colony of Swan River’ (detail),

1834; steel engraving, aquatint and watercolour on three sheets; 18 x 271.4 cm.

The University of Melbourne Art Collection 

William Strutt

born Teignmouth, Devon, England, 1825; died Wadhurst, Sussex, England, 1915

Bushrangers, Victoria, Australia 1852 1887

oil on canvas

75.7 x 156.6 cm

The University of Melbourne Art Collection. Gift of the Sir Russell and Mab Grimwade Bequest, 1973

Goodman Teale artist

born 1819; died Kyneton, Victoria, 1885

Nathaniel Whitlock engraver

active London c. 1830–1860

The city of Melbourne, Australia 1855

engraving and watercolour

29.1 x 53.4 cm

The University of Melbourne Art Collection. Gift of the Sir Russell and Mab Grimwade Bequest, 1973

From Little Things Big Things Grow

That was the story of Vincent Lingairri

But this is the story of something much more

How power and privilege can not move a people

Who know where they stand and stand in the law

From Little Things Big Things Grow Source: Paul Kelly

From Little Things Big Things Grow is about the campaign for Indigenous civil rights from 1920 to 1970 and tells the story of a group of Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who said 'That's not good enough' – and did something about it.

This travelling exhibition developed and presented by the National Museum of Australia, is now showing at the Historic Houses Trust's Museum of Sydney and reminds us all about how the first Australians, were made second-class citizens in their own country.

Gough Whitlam pours soil into hand of traditional landowner Vincent Lingiari, NT 1975 | Source: munii

Where: Museum of Sydney
When: Saturday, 19th February to Sunday, 8th May 2011
Location: Corner Phillip and Bridge Streets, Sydney, NSW 2000
Hours: Daily 9.30am — 5pm | Closed Good Friday

Do you want to read more about this? Check out 702 ABC Sydney or go to Historic Houses Trust NSW.

And in Issue # 3 of Inside History, due out at February end, we highlight Indigenous records at the Public Record Office Victoria. 

Ballets Russes :: The Art of Costume

One of the world’s richest collections of costumes from the famed Ballets Russes resides at the National Gallery of Australia and its now on display. Through 140 costumes from 34 productions from 1909 to 1939, the vivid and innovative dance design of the early 20th century will be brought to life on the 100th anniversary of the Ballets Russes.

When: 10th December '10 - 20th March '11
Times: Open 10.00 am – 5.00 pm every day | 7.00 pm viewings Saturday
Where: National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place, Canberra, Australia

Want more information? Go to National Gallery of Australia.

Ballets Russes Introduction from National Gallery of Australia