Puffio

There are moves afoot at the Media Resource Centre (MRC) and Mercury Cinema and Puffio, quite frankly, doesn't know what to make of it. The happy ship has developed a list recently with the news that Director Imogen Selley is leaving her position after two years, to pursue fun in Argentina. There is no news of her replacement as yet: Exhibition Manager Mark Pogorelec is looking better dressed and more coiffed as each and every day passes, yet claims he is not running for the top job. Also missing from the MRC is Services Coordinator Lisa Mortimore, off on maternity leave, whose replacement is the wonderful Louise Vlach. Long term readers of dB Magazine will recall the name: Louise wrote for dB Magazine for something over 5 years before heading off to live and work in Sydney sometime in the 90s. It's good to see her back. The entire MRC, by the way, is united in their scorn for the report in one of Adelaide's weekly newspapers recently that the Mercury was to be torn down and replaced by student housing. Not only had they become badly confused about which building was which, the offending report had also located them on Hindley St.

Former Adelaide Fringe General Manager Gail Carnes has accepted a position as Acting General Manager of Carclew, the big ole house on the hill which overlooks the city at North Adelaide.

At central YHA in Waymouth St, 'The Lime & The Coconut' is a collaborative work by five recent Visual Arts Graduates from TAFE - Adelaide Centre for the Arts. Featuring the works of five painters and one ceramicist, the exhibition shows work they've conceived independently of one another, with no discussion or collaboration. 'The Lime & The Coconut' is on display from Wed 7 March.

'Timely Encounters' seems, on the face of it, to be an exhibition by four women who have each- in their own way - considered the grouping to be timely. Isn't it funny how that happens? Anyway, 'Timely Encounters' is an exhibition of recent works from Maria Bray, Deborah Miller, Annette Vincent and Diana Rennison, which opens on Sun 18 March at the Dridan Gallery in McLaren Vale. The image is a detail from Maria Bray's Lost In Bilby Country.

In other visual arts news, 'Rich, Relevant & Ribald' takes a look at the interests of four of South Australia's arts identities - Douglas Gautier, Jane Doyle, Adam Cook and Peter Goers. Each of the four were each asked to select their favourite objects from the extensive archive of the Performing Arts Collection, and to explain why these items are significant to them personally. The exhibition is on display now in the Festival Theatre foyer.

Check out a programme to see the many many things on at the Festival Centre whilst the Fringe is in full swing - there's plenty to choose from. But don't be trying to get tickets for your nipper to attend the BabyRave at the centre on Sat 10 March, because it's completely sold out! That's right, toddlers and preschoolers have voted with the pitter-patter of tiny feet and borrowed the folks' credit cards, grabbed the keys to the 4WD, picked up a surfin' babe on the way, and headed into the FringeTix office to book their errrr, seat.

Sian Bates' uses 35mm photography to examine the state of the world. Digitally untouched, the macro nature shots thus produced contrast with documentary-style images of Indian village children. Her exhibition 'A Forest Lies Within' opens on Wed 7 March at the Elysium Lounge in Hindley St.

Something you can see at the Centre, however, is part of this years InSpace programme, the fanciful and confronting play by Antonin Artaud, 'Jet Of Blood'. The play is the story of everyman's journey of self-realisation, but one which is only glimpsed in the world of our dreams. A very difficult play to stage, and one which challenges it''s audiences head on, 'Jet Of Blood' runs from Tues 6 to Sun 11 March, and can be found in the Space, at the Festival Centre.

For 2007 The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's Malaysia Airlines Master Series will open with one of the rising stars of violin, Russian born Natalia Lomeiko. Performing Dvorak's Violin Concerto, Rachmaninov's Symphony No.2 and Wagner's Die Meistersinger Prelude all in the one concert program, Lomeiko appears onstage with the ASO at the Festival Theatre on Fri 9 and Sat 10 March. Performances begin at 8.00pm on the first night and 6.30pm on the Sat.



The Visual Arts program for the Fringe is huge and brilliant, thanks to the not so huge but brilliant Mimi Kelly, so -

Get Out Of the House !