Australian Embassy and Mission to the European Communities
Belgium-Luxembourg
Embassy address: Rue Guimardstraat 6-8, 1040 Brussels - Telephone: +32 (0) 2 286 0500 - Fax: +32 (0) 2 231 07 88

EVENTS

► Dark Shades of Blue: Australian singer touring Belgium

The Australian singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd will be in Belgium as part of a European tour on Friday 1 August at the Festival Esperanzah in Floreffe and on Saturday 2 August at the Dranouter Festival, with his new album ‘Dark Shades of Blue’.

Xavier Rudd is well known for his virtuoso ability to play aboriginal instruments as well as lap guitar, foot boxes and harmonica. With his unique blend of folk, reggae, rock and world music, he incorporates not only instruments native to Australia, but also indigenous voices, giving expression to Aboriginal singers.

Though his latest and seventh album, ‘Dark Shades of Blue’, is to be released on 18 August, Belgian festival aficionados in Floreffe and Dranouter will have a chance to discover it. Produced and mixed by Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age), that new album, though it keeps Rudd’s signature, is dusky and with a sound less of ‘world music’, maintaining the presence of the didgeridoo. In Europe, the album will be released on Anti Records, label home of artist such as Tom Waits, Michael Franti, Mavis Staples and Daniel Lanois.

In Australia, since his debut with ‘To Let’ in 2002, Xavier Rudd has collected a string of gold and platinum sales awards for his albums and DVDs.

The Australian performer has earned a reputation as a great Australian activist, advocating for indigenous rights and environmental responsibility.


For more information on Xavier Rudd performing at:

- Festival Esperanzah, Floreffe: http://www.esperanzah.be/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=27


- Dranouter Festival, Dranouter: http://www.folkdranouter.be/overzicht.aspx

 


► World Youth Day in Australia – July 2008

Time to register and to request a visa
The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has called on prospective World Youth Day (WYD08) pilgrims from overseas to immediately lodge their visa applications. DIAC has already issued more than 30 000 visas to World Youth Day participants from around the world with the number of visas issued for pilgrims tripling in the past six weeks.

However, tens of thousands of applications are still expected. Strong recommendation is for pilgrims who haven’t yet applied for their visas to act. Although the department will do its best to finalise late applications in time, it would be disappointing for pilgrims to miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity because they left their visa application too late.

World Youth Day pilgrims who are eligible for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) may choose to apply for their visa at the same time as registering to attend World Youth Day.

Overseas pilgrims also need to register for the event and, in addition, will need to complete a paper application form to be sent to their nearest Australian Immigration office (Please note that the Australian Embassy in Brussels does not have an Immigration office; information can be found on: http://www.eu.mission.gov.au/bsls/VisMigPerVis.html)
More details on how to apply for a visa are available through the WYD08 registration system or on the department’s website: www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/wyd_08/index.htm


Some tourist information
Tourism Australia has set up a facebook site on Australia for WYD08 pilgrims at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Australia/11071120908 .The page is updated daily and contains useful information such as event listings, images from around the country and a list of top travel locations to help pilgrims make the most of their time in Australia for WYD08. More information is available on: www.australia.com/wyd08


For the media
Please direct all enquires from international media about the media facilities provided by WYD08 during the event to the media room on their website:
http://www.wyd2008.org/index.php/en/media__1 .This website provide also access to a regular WYD08 media newsletter
Email: media@wyd2008.org
Visa for the media: www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/wyd_08/media-wyd-08.htm

 

► Australian artists at the KunstenFestivaldesArts - May 2008

For three weeks in May (9-31mai), the Kunstenfestivaldesarts brings together some thirty works of art – theatrical and visual - created by artists from all over the world.  New works, many of which will be born during the festival. Remarkable works intended for an inquiring audience.

As part of the festival, there will be performance by two Australian artists:

William Yang – "China"
Somewhere between a travelogue and a lecture/performance, William Yang draws from his archive of photographs to produce, in his unique way, an intimate narrative. In his latest creation, China, the Australian is returning to a motherland he has never known.

Dates: 28, 29, 30, 31May at 20.30
Location: Théâtre 140

Meet the artist after the performance on 29 May.

Rebekah Rousi  - The longest lecture marathon
The Longest Lecture Marathon is one of the elements in this protean work: a 27-hour lecture-performance during which she endlessly breaks down language, giving a sense of straying into an inexhaustible flow of explanations.

Dates:
23 May at 19.00 - 22.00
24 May at 10.00 – 22.00
25 May at 10.00 - 22.00
Location: Erasmus Hogeschool

Free entrance. During the performance the audience can wander in and out of the classroom.

More info on the program: www.kfda.be

 

►Australian Choir performing in Belgium, 24–25 April 2008

The St Andrew’s Cathedral School Choir based in Sydney, Australia, will perform in Belgium as part of a European tour.

On Thursday 24 April the choir will perform at the Holy Trinity Church (29 rue Capitaine Crespel, 1050 Brussels) at 20.00.

On 25 April, on the occasion of ceremonies marking ANZAC* Day, St Andrew’s musicians will perform at Tyne Cot cemetery (Passchendaele) and Menin Gate (Ypres), in West Flanders. In the evening they will open the Amateur Arts Week in Kortrijk with a concert at the Church of Our Lady (Onze Lieve Vrouwe Straat).

St Andrew’s music tour to Europe in April 2008, where they will visit particularly Prague, Leipzig, Berlin and Brussels, follows a series of highly successful international music tours.

For more information on Saint Andrew’s Cathedral School Choir: http://www.sacs.nsw.edu.au/academic/music/overview.

For more information on the 2008 Music Tour by the Saint Andrew’s Cathedral School Choir, including Belgium: http://www.sacs.nsw.edu.au/academic/music/international_music_tours/2008_music_tour

* ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.

 


►Australian circus in Belgium, 15-19 April 2008

Circa, one of Australia’s most exciting circus companies, is touring Belgium with its latest show “The Space Between” from Monday 15 April to Saturday 19 April. On 19 April Circa will perform in Brussels at the Cultural Centre of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, at 20.30 hrs. Tickets are 15 €, families of three pay 30 €. Other locations in Belgium are Arlon (15-16 April), La Louvière (17 April) and Ath (18 April). For more details on the company, their work and performances, check out their website: www.circa.org.au.

Win ticket for two, for Circa's performance in Brussels. In order to win, you must provide by Friday 18 April on pubaffs.brussels@dfat.gov.au, the correct answer to the following question: Which Belgian artist's music is used in "Space Between"?


►The Australia Day Charity Gala 2008
On 26 January 2008, on the occasion of Australia Day, the Australian Embassy Brussels, the Australia Society and Australian Business in Europe (ABIE - Belgium) organised the first Australia Day Charity Gala. The event, held at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Brussels, brought together eminent Australian and international guests and was an opportunity to showcase a sophisticated Australia with a high-tech industry and a unique gastronomy and lifestyle.

As a charity gala, all profits of the evening went to two Belgian charity organisations: Centre Comprendre et Parler (www.ccpasbl.be) and VLOK-CI (www.vlok-ci.be), whose objective is to ingrate hearing-impaired children in the society and make them as autonomous as possible. Both organisations have a close relationship with Cochlear Technology Centre Europe and Cochlear Benelux NV, subsidiaries of Australian hearing-technology company Cochlear Limited, which we were proud to count as our partners for this gala.

Our artistic partner, Brenart Art Gallery, presented on the night a preview of the Australian aboriginal artwork exhibition “Great Masters of Australian Desert”, currently shown at the Brenart Gallery in Brussels (www.brenart.com), until 8 March 2008.

Entertainment for the evening included a mix of Australian and international music brought by the PDM Big Band and a raffle for which prizes included a Qantas Airways ticket to Australia, a Wallabies jersey signed by the whole Wallabies team, a special Radisson SAS Royal Hotel pack, and Australian wines. All proceeds from the raffle went to the charities.

The event would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors: Kreglinger, Meat and Livestock Australia, Clean Seas Tuna Ltd, Crush Wine, Mig’s World Wines and Antipodes.


► ANZAC Day 2008
25 April 2008 - ANZAC Day. For more details, please check this website closer to the date.


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