CURATORS

Elizabeth Farrelly Elizabeth is a Sydney-based opinion columnist and author who trained in architecture and philosophy, has practiced in Auckland and London, and holds a PhD in urbanism from the University of Sydney. She is a keen intellectual who has recently spoken out against the Australian government’s treatment of Julian Assange. Elizabeth has been a Sydney City Councilor and chaired the first Australia Award for Urban Design. A lively and provocative writer, Elizabeth is the recipient of several international critical writing awards. Her latest books include Glen Murcutt: Three Houses, and Blubberland: The Dangers of Happiness.

Wendy Whiteley Wendy Whiteley may be best known as the former wife and muse of acclaimed Australian artist, Brett Whiteley. However, in her current - and tireless - roles of supportive arts patron and urban landscape designer, Wendy has achieved notoriety as a dedicated and creative figure within Australia’s artistic life. Known as the ‘grand dame of the Sydney art scene’, Wendy established the Brett Whiteley Arts Studio, which is now managed by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her personal project of transforming a swath of derelict land into lush, flowering public gardens on the grounds next to her Lavender Bay home.

Dare Jennings  Dare is a self-described ‘intuitive entrepreneur’. Previously the founder of surf culture giant, Mambo clothing, Dare created Deus Ex Machina in 2005, a business that designs and details custom motorcycles. With a cult following and Deus operations in Sydney, Los Angeles, and Bali, Dare has succeeded in creating a brand that rolls music, art, surfing, clothing and motorcycles into one. More importantly, he’s created a “wind in your hair, thunder in your guts” credo that resonates with everyone from bike enthusiasts to design geeks.

John Morse John Morse has enjoyed a long and notable career promoting international tourism to Australia.  As former Managing Director of the Australian Tourist Commission, his work using the 2000 Olympic Games to build Australia’s tourism industry has become a model for hosting countries.  Currently Chairman of the Mutitjulu Foundation, and a director of the National Museum of Australia, he is also working extensively with Aboriginal communities across Australia. This important work includes a project with Yolngu Aboriginal, creating a new tourism economy for the region, and assisting Yolgnu people to stay connected to their country and their culture.

 

featured LOCALS

Mike Archer Paleontologists are typically depicted as preoccupied with the distant, dusty past. Not so Michael Archer, a professor at the University of New South Wales in the fields of biology and geology, whose lauded research often focuses keenly on the earth’s future. Archer has helmed paleontological inquiry at the Riversleigh fossil deposits in Queensland, a World Heritage Register site, and is fascinated by the possibility of revitalizing extinct species.

Monica Barone  As CEO of the City of Sydney, Monica Barone’s progressive vision of urban life has nourished everything from Sydney’s arts and culture sector to its housing initiatives to its waste management programs. In 2008, Barone announced that the City of Sydney had become Australia’s first carbon-neutral government, an accomplishment thanks in large part to her leadership. She has lived in Sydney for 14 years and held key management positions in both Sydney and surrounding city councils.

Richard Brooks  Richard Brooks is the general manager of Dinosaur Designs, a creative studio in Sydney whose eclectic output has included designing chess sets for Louis Vuitton, glasses for Bombay Sapphire Gin, and tutus for the Australian Ballet. Formed in 1985, Brooks steers the sustainably-focused company – Dinosaur Designs became carbon-neutral in 2006 – in its distribution of handcrafted jewelry and fine housewares worldwide.

Charles Carlow Charlie Carlow is the CEO of Wild Bush Luxury, a tour company that is as much a concept as it is an adventure travel outfitter. Each of Carlow’s four premium properties, located in South and West Australia and the Northern Territory, reflects his personal devotion to preserving the Australian continent’s extraordinary ecology and environment.

Mark Carnegie Mark Carnegie helms a venture capital and private equity firm currently investing in some of Australia and Asia’s most exciting and ambitious ideas. As a home for his team of thought leaders, Carnegie has chosen Underwood: described as “a little bit of Palo Alto in Paddington,” the space hums with an energy more commonly associated with musicians than investors. That energy has animated Carnegie’s entire portfolio, which spans thirty years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor and advisor and includes advising Westfield on its $22 billion merger and counseling Qantas on its JetStarAsia start-up in Singapore.

Henry Dawson Damer Henry Dawson Damer’s career in winemaking began literally with a bang, following a covert experiment in fermentation in his mother’s linen cupboard at age 15. Despite his mother’s displeasure, Henry followed his passion for winemaking to Edinburgh University, where he completed his thesis on the Australian wine industry. He now advises some of the world’s finest brands as a wine industry specialist and educator at Vintnerlink.

Margaret Fink  Margaret Fink’s career as an accomplished film producer is inextricably connected to the revival of Australian cinema in the 1970s. Before films such as “My Brilliant Career” and “Candy” helped propel the acting careers of countrymen Sam Neill, Judy Davis, Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish, Fink ranked among the left-wing intellectuals that populated the city’s pubs during the Sydney Push subculture of the 1950s and 60s. Her creative repertoire also includes producing film adaptations of Australian works such as “The Removalists” and “For Love Alone.”

Jane Jose  If cities were bodies, Jane Jose would be a surgeon: few understand what makes an urban heart beat as she does. Past posts have included deputy lord mayor of Adelaide and senior strategist for the City of Sydney, and she has spearheaded projects ranging from urban heritage preservation to sustainability management. Her scientific knowledge of urban planning, combined with her artistic appreciation for Sydney’s nooks and crannies, make her the final word on why, exactly, Sydney is among the world’s most livable cities.

Russel Koskela and Sasha Titchkosky  Beautiful, functional, and durable: these are the qualities that drive Koskela, the furniture design firm founded by power couple Russel Koskela and Sasha Titchkosky in 2000. Sasha’s strictly corporate background included training as a lawyer and accountant, but she swapped the stuffiness of the Australian Stock Exchange for the serenity of Koskela’s showroom. There, Russel’s designs reveal an attention to environmentally sensitive and uniquely Australian techniques and practices.

Janet Laurence Like many fine artists, Janet Laurence is fascinated by cerebral ideas. Unlike many fine artists, her large-scale installations force the viewer to confront radical notions of art, science, memory, and interconnectedness. She is one of Sydney’s most important public artists, but her work has graced galleries, public spaces, and homes in Hong Kong, London, and beyond. Laurence has collaborated on the Australian War Memorial in London and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Canberra, and has exhibited at the Venice Architecture and Sydney Biennales.

Eoghan Lewis Eoghan Lewis is a cityist, bringing a dose of warmth and humanity to the otherwise blueprint-focused occupations of architect and designer. He seeks out the varied narratives held within the glass-and-sandstone facades of Sydney’s built environment, both as the director of Eoghan Lewis Architects and as the founder of Sydney Architecture Walks. These tours function as a public research project, using contemporary architecture to examine Sydney on a granular and human level. As Lewis himself promises, you’ll never think about architecture the same way again.

Rebecca MacCallion Accomplished coloratura soprano Rebecca MacCallion is devoted to the works of her Australian musical contemporaries. She sang a leading role in the world premiere of Australian composer Joshua McHugh’s Grim and the Blue Crown Owl, a production that the Canberra Area Theatre Awards recognized as the “Best New Opera” in 2009. Since then, she has lent her voice to the Melbourne Opera and the Australian National University’s first Musica Antica festival as a soloist.

Mike McEnearney Mike McEnearney has cooked for more than 20 years in some of the world’s finest kitchens. Now, he lends his name and his culinary prowess to Kitchen by Mike, a restaurant and dining collaboration with Australian furniture design firm Koskela. In February 2012, the team opened a creative workspace that not only includes Koskela’s showroom, but a canteen, garden, and pantry boutique selling preserves, honey, and sauces: a place to eat, relax, and be inspired.

Michael Mobbs What began as a simple renovation ended with the completion of one of Sydney’s most extraordinary homes. Michael Mobbs, a former environmental lawyer, refitted his family’s Sydney home to produce its own power and reuse its own sewage, and then actually wrote the book on building eco-friendly homes when he published “Sustainable House.” Mobbs has since followed up with a companion volume on gardening, “Sustainable Food,” and works as a consultant specializing in green food, water, and energy initiatives for residential and commercial markets.

Adrian Newstead Adrian Newstead’s passion for, and knowledge of, Aboriginal art is his own oeuvre. He established Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery in Sydney in 1981 to reflect his fascination with Australian art; by 1985, Aboriginal work had become the gallery’s primary focus. Throughout his thirty years’ involvement in the world of Aboriginal art, Newstead has served as president of the Indigenous Art Trade Association, director of Aboriginal Tourism Australia, and head of Aboriginal art for Lawson-Menzies art auctioneers.

Andrew Pratley Communicating the message behind a structure is no easy task, but engineer Andrew Pratley has spent the last decade doing exactly that. With a doctorate in statistics and a position as an associate lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Pratley is a true polymath; when he is not consulting on the design of manufacturing and warehouse spaces, he works closely with high school outreach programs designed to engage young engineers. He knows a thing or two about that as well: in 2005, Pratley himself was recognized by Engineers Australia as one of the country’s 30 most inspiring young engineers.

Tetsuya Wakuda Chef Tetsuya Wakuda arrived in Sydney at the age of 22 with a suitcase, a rudimentary knowledge of English, and a love of food. Since that day in 1982, the culinary entrepreneur has become one of Sydney’s most celebrated chefs. The cuisine at his eponymous restaurant merges a Japanese commitment to seasonal flavors with a French affinity for detail; a new dining venture, Waku Ghin, opened in Singapore in 2010 to great acclaim.

Jess Scully Jess Scully is a quintessential creative spirit: she defies the boundaries of just one occupation. At one time a writer, editor, event director and consultant, she is also the driving force behind Vivid Ideas : Vivid Sydney, an annual festival that makes a two-handed grab for the city’s most imaginative and creative concepts and people. In her capacity as the festival’s director and as a curator at TEDxSydney, Scully pops the cork on Sydney’s bubbling energy and pours its ideas to the rest of the world.

Brian Zulaikha Brian Zulaikha is a founding partner of Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, the architectural firm responsible for some of Australia’s most recognizable public spaces – among them the Carriageworks Performing Arts Centre, the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, and Sydney’s “Portico” Scots Church redevelopment project. Zulaikha recently concluded a term as the national president of the Australian Institute of Architects, and represents antipodean art as the chairman of the Biennale Committee for Australia’s pavilion in the Venice Architecture Biennale.