41st World Wide Sketchcrawl In Sydney - Saturday 19 Oct

if you are in Sydney on Saturday - join us for the 41st World Wide Sketchcrawl!

If you are elsewhere in Australia - what are your sketching plans for the day?
Check out the forum to see if there are any other sketchers wanting to meetupand Melbourne's details are just below here

Lunchtime Sketch – South Melbourne Town Hall

I drove around to find the cafe that would give me a view of the South Melbourne Town Hall. I was lucky – the sun was out and I found a seat outside the cafe. With lunch ordered, I settled down to draw. When the food arrived, I had to stop to eat because I was starving. Time was passing quickly so I drew while I ate. I drew a little, coloured…. looked at the watch, and decided that I had time to extend the drawing. Drew some more, coloured some more. People stopped to comment… smiled, said thank you but I was conscious of the time passing, so I tried to limit conversations. Coffee ordered, plate empty (now what did I eat?), so now I can focus a little bit more. Stopped to enjoy my coffee, and finally a few more brush strokes, paid the bill. Looked at my watch, rushed back to the car as fast as I could, hoped I could beat the meter man… I did.

Parramasala Indian Festival & Multiculturalism

Hi, Friends, did you have any event? We enjoyed a Labour Day long weekend and summer time started! I joined Parramasala 2013, the annual Australian Festival of South Asian Arts that celebrates cultural diversity. Many events were free. Family and kids enjoyed Indian food, music, dance and film. 

Bollywood super star and world most popular actor, "Shahrukh Khan" did a close concert tonight in Sydney Olympic Park. Actually, this year, camels joined the event! They became super stars among kids...and me!! 

Wonderful to feel embraced multiculturalism. Multicultural Australia Council claims that since WWII, over seven million migrants have settled in Australia. Today, Australians speak more than 260 languages and identify over 270 ancestries. We, Australians are flourish in a wide range of linguistic and cultural diversity.

I walked around the Masala markets, a stage and "Chai temple" set up for a rest, free music and family programs such as "storytelling time" like a library.  

It was lovely to see children and adults in ethnic costume proudly and naturally. Very colourful. But any child behaves same! Whilst this girl's family were enjoying music on a stage, she really got bored. Oh, so cute and beautiful like a bloom outed flower!

Although the girl above did not like noises, we, adults danced and sang along to the music played on a stage. Hey, we got excited with  music and lights in the evening. Also, I became a friend with a guy who was in charge of stage lights. A very kind man! I always thank for backstage players and love them all. 

Different cultures and languages enrich our lives and society, while our universal language such as music and art always unites us. Oh, yes, kids were enjoying putting "paints" on boards to create a big drawing in a park. Nice, joyful and so peaceful! 
What about your countries, Friends? 

May Australia will maintain this rich cultural and linguistic diversity forever! 

Friends, Happy Painting!

 

                                 Bibliography

A Multicultural Council (2012), "A Multicultural Australia," online.

Dept Immigration and Border Protection (2012), "What is multiculturalism?" in National Agenda for a Multiculral Australia, online, media release.