Puffio

Art! Art! Art! Bloody hell there's a lot of creative people about at the moment, and they all seem to be strutting their stuff towards the end of October. The diary is chockas! What a menu!

Your pre dinner drink is presented by The Ethnic Broadcasters Inc Of South Australia with its Radiothon Art Exhibition for 2008, themed 'Heritage In Diversity', to cleanse the palate after a long day on the coffee pot. It will feature a stunning array of visually pleasing artwork from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds from Fri 17 to Wed 22 Oct at the EBI Auditorium on Byron Place in the city.

The entrŽe promises to continue the cultural theme, as Art & Heritage Collections present a 'Cultural Illumination - Nevermore', an exhibition of artist's books and prints exploring a diverse range of technical processes and binding structures. On display until Sun 30 Nov in the Barr Smith Library foyer featuring local artists Alexander Arcus, Beth Evans, Dianne Longley, Andrea Przygonski, Vicki Reynolds, Sandra Starkey Simon and Mei Shong.

Following in what could be called the lightly warmed bread roll course is 'Noisy Eyes' the first of TAFE SA graduate exhibitions for the year at the Adelaide Centre For The Arts from Wed 22 Oct to Thu 6 Nov.

Greedy types may then overindulge by picking 'Multiplicity: Prints and Multiples' off the Art Gallery of SA's plate. This tasty selection of prints have been selected from the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, and will be available to sample from Fri 17 Oct until February.

Onto a meaty main course now. 'Dorinda - A Crazy Life' sees local artist Markus Hamence offer a series of 30 large portraits on canvas of Adelaide personality Dorinda Hafner as a part of an ongoing project he's calling ICONSA. This is an exclusive presentation for one night only, Thu 16 Oct at the Queens Theatre on Playhouse Lane, with the works to be auctioned and proceeds to go to Dorinda's charity Australian Sponsorship 4 African Kids.

There's also a vegetarian option to try; abstract and vibrant artworks from Melinda Brooke on show at Hill Smith Gallery on Pirie St from Wed 29 Oct to Wed 19 Nov, accompanied by PintupiART 2008; the most recent works of the Papunya Tula Artists, Australia's most successful 100% Aboriginal owned community based art centre on display at AP Bond on Unley Road from Thu 16 Oct.

By now your waistline should be bulging and you've had so much good art you'll be blocked up for days, but if you loosen a few buckles you should be able to squeeze one final course. 'NOTiCED' should satisfy even the most discerning sweet tooth, with a collection of eye-catching and eclectically themed work from a myriad of local artists on display at the Basement Gallery on Magill Road until Sat 25 Oct.

Then there's also everything else on in town at the moment. The Italian Film Festival at Palace Nova's Eastend cinemas will hopefully offer up a little more flavour than your local cafe franchise from Thu 16 to Wed 29 Oct. It all kicks off with the Adelaide premiere of Tutta La Vita Davanti (Her Whole Life Ahead) on Thu 16 Oct.

In celebrating their sixteenth birthday the proprietors of Irving Baby! on Hindley Street have announced an Opening Fashion Parade Event from 7.00pm on Sat 18 Oct. Created and nurtured by sisters Trenna Oesnik and Briar Petersen, Irving Baby! celebrates their 16th birthday in style with its 'Sweet Sixteen' exhibition showcasing 16 dresses by 16 Adelaide artists.

A unique experience awaits those keen to see internationally recognised sitar player Dr Chandrakant Sardeshmukh on Sun 19 Oct at The Promethean on Grote St. He'll be mixing some old school Indian sounds with local musicians for a performance which will bridge the two great improvisational art forms of jazz and Indian classical music as a part of Jazz SA's Series 2 Concerts for 2008.

Amy Dickson, Australia's star of classical saxophone returns to perform with the ASO. Amy will return exclusively to the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on Fri 24 and Sat 25 Oct at Adelaide Festival Theatre to perform Philip Glass's much loved Violin Concerto, arranged specifically for soprano saxophone by Glass for Dickson.

Producer Paulo Castro has brought a disturbing, irreverent (and funny) theatre experience to the stage in directing 'Tom The Loneliest' with No Strings Attached theatre group. Castro joins original collaborators Julian Crotti and Duncan Luke in developing a full-length work that is bold and unapologetic in its refusal to conform to traditional notions of what theatre is. In The Shed at Dunstone Grove, Stepney, from Tues 14 Oct.

'Locked Inside' is a new exhibition by Iraqi artist and refugee Ibtihal Samarayi, and is an initiative of Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre and Kultour, being partnered with the Adelaide Festival Centre and on display at the Artspace Gallery from 25 Oct. This exhibition on being a detainee draws from real day events.

Brink Productions' award winning 2008 Adelaide Festival premiere 'When The Rain Stops Falling' is off and running with a seven week season in Melbourne as part of the Melbourne Theatre Company's 2009 subscription season. This extraordinary work - the hit of the Festival Of Arts - was recently awarded a Ruby Award for Best Work for its production, and Andrew Bovell's script collected both the Louis Esson Prize for Drama at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, and the Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Drama Script (Stage).

'What The Bulter Saw' is a fast, furious and funny production which combines madcap farce, ribald comedy and biting social commentary, not to mention a little cross dressing, undressing and sexual innuendo! Come to think of it, what more do people want from entertainment nowadays? Grab a seat at the Little Theatre off Victoria Drive at Adelaide Uni, starting Sat 18 Oct.

'Love Forty' is another bit of theatre worth mention, opening on Thu 23 Oct at the Domain Theatre at Marion Cultural Centre. Directed by Kym Clayton, the story centres on preparations for the fortieth wedding anniversary between Marcia and Ralph.

And finally, Puffio couldn't resist dropping George Lucas into this jam-packed Adelaide cultural sandwich. No, it's not about Star Wars. In fact, 'Filmmaker: A Diary By George Lucas' looks back to his pre-Chewbacca days on the set of his earlier film 'The Rain People' when Lucas was little more that a struggling independent film maker. He talks about the pros and cons of the industry in this candid 33-minute featurette screening at the Mercury Cinema on Thu 16 Oct at 7.30pm. It's definitely one for his legions of fans.