Today on SmartArts

On today's program, I spoke with:

• Damien Hodgkinson, the General Manager of Melbourne Fringe, who filled us in about changes that are afoot at the festival, which will now be known as The Age 2006 Melbourne Fringe Festival. Look for a souvenir poster promoting the festival in The Age on Thursday 7th September. This year's festival runs from 27 September - 15 October.
  
• Roderick Poole, the Manager of Northcote Town Hall, which this year is the hub of the Darebin Music Feast. The Feast kicks off this Saturday night, August 26th, and runs climaxes with the now-legendary High Vibes on Sunday 24th September.
• Artist Julie Millowick, whose exhibition Traces of Memory runs from 25th August - 10th November at the Monash Gallery of Art. That's a sample of her work pictured above.
  
• David Whitely, Artistic Director of Red Stitch Actors Theatre, and director Denis Moore, who came in to discuss the latest Red Stitch production: Richard Bean's epic comedy Harvest, which opens this Friday August 25th and runs til Saturday September 23rd.
  
• Cerise Howard from Senses of Cinema (recently voted the number one film journal by UK newspaper The Times) who joined us for her fortnightly screen culture segment.
  

Opportunities for artists:-

Earthcore is looking for budding installations artists, street performers and other keen bodies to weave their magic at the Global Carnival, 24 - 26 November 2006 in Undera, Victoria. Earthcore has featured some spectacular performances and installations in past years including circus performers, roving space men, giant water spraying pink elephants, bouncing castles and much more. Email admin@earthcore.com.au for more info, or send proposals to Earthcore Office ASAP, PO Box 362, Balaclava, Victoria, 3183.

Melbourne International Arts Festival and The Ringtone Society seek original Australian-composed ringtones

• Help liberate the world of digitally-dull ringtones: Get mobilised!

• The Melbourne International Arts Festival and Dutch collective The Ringtone Society are calling for original ringtone compositions; from amateur, emerging and professional Australian composers and music makers. The Ringtone Society is an international platform that exists to free the world of digitally-dull, aurally repetitive, copy-cat mobile phone ringtones and reclaim the space for innovative global art and sound.

  The on-line Ringtone Society creates ringtones from original compositions. The Melbourne International Arts Festival and The Ringtone Society need your creative input to build a catalogue from Australian composers as part of a larger, worldwide, online library. From jazz to heavy metal; country to classical, ringtone submissions can be from any musical genre. Not limited to music, ringtones could incorporate poetry or spoken word, Fido howling at the moon, slumber-induced snores or neighbourhood sounds! Your composition could be chosen by someone, somewhere in the world as their personal mobile phone ringtone!

  The Ringtone Society will be launched at the 2006 Melbourne International Arts Festival in October at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). Festival-goers can attend a series of ringtone ‘concerts’ and experience live recordings of original ringtones by Australian and Festival guest composers. Between now and October 12, The Ringtone Society will grow as the novel creations of Australian musicians are added to the ringtone catalogue. At last, Australian composers have the opportunity to have their ringtone creations available for worldwide access and downloading via The Ringtone Society website www.ringtonesociety.com

  Help create a more enjoyable tram ride home, stop corporate noise pollution and win back your public audio space - get involved in The Ringtone Society!

  
  

  Email your ringtone as an MP3 (polyphonic) to Lauren
  at the Melbourne International Arts Festival:
  l.snelling@melbournefestival.com.au by 5pm Monday 11 September

  IMPORTANT INFORMATION

  - Deadline for ringtone submissions: 5pm, Monday 11 September, 2006

  - Ringtones can be up to 30 secs maximum. All musical genres accepted

  - Compositions must be original and created specifically for this purpose (ie not a sample from a previously recorded original song/piece of music)

  - Compositions will be created into ringtones by The Ringtone Society, then downloadable by the general public for a small price (of which the composer receives royalties via APRA)

  PLEASE PROVIDE

  - First & surname, contact phone number including area code, email address, suburb and state

  - 20 word biographical information about composer/s and an image to accompany the ringtone on the website (300 dpi. Landscape or horizontal)

  - 20 word description of ringtone, including genre of music/sound, to be included on the website