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NLA News - homeJune 2005 Volume XV Number 9

CALENDAR

OF EVENTS

The Nature of Tsunamis
Lunchtime talk by Dr Phil Cummins

Date: Wednesday
29 June, 12:30 pm
Venue: Ferguson Room
Cost: free
Bookings essential:
(02) 6262 1698

 

Joint Friends Event
Screening of Frank Hurley—The Man Who Made History

Followed by question-and-answer session with director Simon Nasht

Date: Wednesday
29 June, 5:30 pm
Venue: Foyer and Theatre
Cost: $8 Friends $12 members’ guests
Bookings Essential:
(02) 6262 1698

 

For bookings, details of membership and subscriptions, contact:
Friends of the NLA
National Library of Australia
Parkes Place
CANBERRA  ACT  2600
Tel: (02) 6262 1698
Fax: (02) 6273 4493
Email: friends@nla.gov.au
Web site: www.nla.gov.au/friends

JUNE FRIENDS

Brindabella Station, Friends’ day trip, March 2005. Photo courtesy of Roger Dobb

Brindabella Station, Friends’ day trip,
March 2005
Photo courtesy of Roger Dobb

In late March, three bus loads of eager Friends took day trips into the Brindabellas where Stella (‘Miles’) Franklin spent her early childhood. Remote as the region felt (with no mobile network coverage and a 30-minute descent to the valley on a steep and treacherous dirt road), we could only imagine the isolation experienced by Stella and her family in the late 1800s. And ‘imagine’ is what we did. Brian and Guillermina Barlin, the current owners of Brindabella Station, welcomed us with delicious homemade soup, and read excerpts from the journals and letters of people who have lived in the region. Barbeque lunch in their gorgeous garden was followed by a visit to the site of the original Franklin homestead; the landscape still recognisable as that which forms the backdrop in the 1898 painting of the homestead by Charles Blyth.

The day trips, which were steeped in autumn sun and stillness, were enjoyed by all and were the perfect precursor to the opening of the National Library’s current exhibition, Miles Franklin: A Brilliant Career?. The exhibition, which was curated by Paul Brunton, Senior Curator of the Mitchell Library at the State Library of New South Wales, will run until 17 July 2005. On 29 June we will host the first of a series of joint events with the Friends of the National Gallery and National Museum. The evening will feature a screening of the Mitra Films documentary Frank Hurley—The Man Who Made History (2004), followed by a question-and-answer session with the film’s director, Simon Nasht. One of the last great imperial adventurers, Frank Hurley captured images of the world’s most remote places. His pictures are amongst the most valuable ever taken, but it now appears some of them were elaborate fakes. Taking both photographs and moving pictures, Hurley’s images of Antarctic heroes, the two world wars, phenomenal landscapes and mysterious natives thrilled audiences around the world. But just how real were they? The evening will begin at 5:30 pm on Wednesday 29 June, with refreshments courtesy of Southcorp Wines in the National Library foyer. $8 Friends, $12 members’ guests. Seats strictly limited. For bookings, please ring Hayley in the Friends Office, on tel: (02) 6262 1698.

JILLIAN EDWARDS
Acting Executive Officer
Friends of the National Library of Australia

 

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