COTTON ON TO KITEBOARDING

The Kiteboarding Australia Freestyle Nationals kicked off at Cotton Tree on the Sunshine Coast yesterday and will be running until Monday.

With consistent wind in summer and a picturesque backdrop, Cotton Tree has developed a reputation as one of Australia’s premier flat-water spots for kiteboarding, and this is the first time the event has been held there.

The event boasts a huge prize pool and there will be live commentary and music all weekend, as well as photographers and videographers on-site to capture all the action.

Categories (male and female) for the event include: Juniors (Under-14), Juniors (Uner-18), Opens, Masters (35+), and Expression Session.

For more information, head to the Visit Sunshine Coast website. 

DIVE INTO TOWNSVILLE ART EXHIBITION

After wrapping up its season at Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns earlier this month, north Queensland artist Roland Nancarrow’s Maldives Artworks exhibition has now opened at Townsville’s Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.

The free exhibition kicks off a year-long showcase of north Queensland artists at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, which is celebrating its 40th birthday in 2021.

Maldives Artworks showcases Nancarrow’s versatility across a range mediums, including a selection of watercolour works on paper, acrylics on canvas and hand-painted sculptural wall works inspired by recent trips to the Maldives.

The Maldives is a tropical nation in the Indian Ocean composed of 26 ring-shaped atolls, made up of more than 1000 coral islands. A popular tourist destination known for its beaches, blue lagoons and extensive reefs. The greatest challenge for the nation is the impact of climate change and rising sea levels.

Nancarrow travelled to the Maldives in 2016 and has since spent time on three islands – Reethi Rah, Niyama Private Islands and Kanifushi – as artist-in-residence, conducting painting classes with holidaying guests and spending time compiling his own visual exploration of the islands.

This exhibition captures the essence of the picturesque Maldives seen through the eyes of an artist renowned for his visual expression of the gardens, forests and wildlife of tropical Australia.

Nancarrow, who is based in Cairns, has been exhibiting nationally and internationally for more than 40 years and has built a reputation for his graphic style, which is a direct response to the natural forms found in north Queensland.

Maldives Artworks is showing at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery until March 28.

For more information, visit the Townsville City Council website.

SOMETHING IN THE AIR

Head to Ipswich Art Gallery to check out Wind Tubes, an interactive exhibition running until February 7.

Wind Tubes is a hands-on exhibition that challenges visitors to make a flying creation out of everyday materials and launch it into large, clear vertical tubes of moving air.

It’s designed to be a playful way to explore the effect that moving air has on objects. The challenge is to harness the power of the moving air and discover the design that will keep your creation air-born for the longest time. There’s ample opportunity to experiment and modify your design, and possibly set the record for the longest flight time. Can your design overcome turbulence, drag, air resistance and gravity?

A variety of materials from paper cups to polystyrene balls, streamers, and pipe cleaners provided. Wind Tubes is a fun, interactive exhibition for the whole family.

Design and build your very own flying creation to test in the Wind Tubes. See your creation take flight and soar to the ceiling, and defy gravity by hovering high overhead … or fall to the floor. It’s all about air and invention, with a little bit of mid-air mayhem.

The exhibition is free and there are four sessions daily –  9:30am-11am; 11:30am-1pm; 1:30pm-3pm; and| 3:30pm-5pm – but bookings are essential.

Visit Ipswich Art Gallery’s website for more information

SHOW ON THE ROAD

Central Queenslanders in need of a laugh are in luck, with touring stand-up comedy show The Road Trippers heading north this for performances at Agnes Water tomorrow night and Gladstone on Sunday.

Presented by stand-up comedy workshop The Jester Guild, Road Trippers will be headlined by Matt Ford (pictured above), who has been performing since his teens after winning the 2010 National Class Clown Competition.

Ford has since appeared at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Brisbane Comedy Festival and Adelaide Fringe and toured with the Aboriginal Comedy Allstars, performing sold-out shows nationwide.

Host Anna Brennan – whose comedic style has been described as “charming, dirty and a little bit gross” – has produced and performed at more the 50 comedy shows in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne. She is also an award-winning comedic playwright and runs the Jester Guild stand-up comedy course.

Brennan and Ford will be joined by special guests Ryan Anderson and Brendon Beltame, who are both graduates of The Jester Guild’s course.

Attendees are advised the shows come with adult language and content warnings and are only suitable for people aged 18 and over.

For more information, visit the Gladstone Regions website.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

Fanny Lumsden with her Golden Guitar haul.

After winning five Golden Guitar awards last weekend, country music singer-songwriter Fanny Lumsden is kicking off a six-date Queensland tour at Pomona’s Majestic Theatre tonight.

Lumsden will showcase songs from her latest album, Fallow, which debuted in the top 10 and scored the ARIA Award for best country album.

Lumsden will also perform at Brisbane’s Old Museum on Saturday night and the tour also includes dates in Toowoomba, Childers, Gladstone and Rockhampton.

The Golden Guitar wins and return to touring have capped off a year of soaring highs and frustrating lows for the self-managed, independent artist.

Lumsden’s 2020 began with bushfires cutting off power to the property she shares with her husband (and bassist) Dan Stanley Freeman and the pair’s young daughter at Tooma, on the southern side of the Snowy Mountains.

Lumsden released Fallow on Friday, March 13 last year – the day everything came to a standstill when COVID-19 restrictions came into effect, and has had to reschedule her east coast tour three times, but she’s now back on the road and can’t wait to play some Queensland shows.

“Ppeople are really hungry to be out there and enjoying live music,” she told InQueensland yesterday. and they’re double as loud, so if there’s half the crowd for a show [because of social distancing measures] they’re twice as loud, so it feels great anyway.”

For more details, visit Fanny Lumsden’s website.