Treats for your Thursday

Listen to some great local, national and international writers, prepare for some low brow, car culture at Devilles, view some free animation on the big screen in Northbridge, or head up high for more movie magic. If you’re feeling a bit pooped from it all then sit back and peruse some wonderful illustrations on your laptop, from Perth local James Baird!

1. Go back to uni at the Perth Writers Festival.

Oh boy, we have so many Perth Writers Festival events picked out to go to! Kicking off with a bit of a do tonight, it runs until Sunday evening, with three full days of lectures, workshops, discussions and debate. Check out the program over here, if you haven’t already. With genres as diverse as sport, crime, autobiography and Australiana covered, there’s bound to be something to suit your taste. While some events are ticketed, only some are sold out, and there are many, many freebies in the mix that you can just rock on up to. See you there!

Women of Letters is one of the exciting Perth Writers Festival events, happening this Saturday night.

2. Rev on up for the Hot Rod to Hell festivities at Devilles Pad.

If you’re a car lover, particularly of the vintage variety, then this will way up your alley. Devilles Pad are hosting their annual Hot Rods to Hell low brow kustom kulture extravaganza, by combining a bunch of hot cars, and favourites from the local rock ‘n’ roll scene, with vintage markets, yummy food, a tiki bar, tiki carving, vendors, tatts and much much more. If you’ve got a little family member or two, you can bring them along for some kiddie carnival and magician fun.

Happening on Sunday 25 March, we know it’s not for a few more weeks yet, but if you’d like to enter a car or host a market stall, then contact bookings@devillespad.com or phone 9225 6669 to get in on the action.

3. Take a squiz at the work by local artist James Baird.

If the fine lines of illustrators these days make your heart all aflutter, then the work by this talented, local artist will be all the way up your quirky, though at times dark, alley. James Baird is the creative alias of Simon Page, whose work is heavily influenced by the nomadic lifestyle he had as a child, moving from town to town due to his dad’s work as a miner. Whilst the detailed precision of his ink lines explore the relationship between humanity and the natural world, an endearing element runs throughout, with works including giant fish gobbling up divers, acorns with parachutes falling from the sky and a collection of scraggly and smooth beards. The use of his alias, James Baird, an explorer come biologist, invites the viewer to lend their own experiences when interpreting his creations, and the character behind them. If you’re as intrigued as we were, head over to his website here.

Floodrat by James Baird

4. Enjoy cult and classic cinema in an all new venue!

It’s about time Perth got a rooftop cinema, don’t you think? Well Artrage clearly thought the same thing. They’ve teamed up with the City of Perth to bring us an astro turf covered, palm tree populated, deck chair laden and plastic flamingo occupied venue atop the Roe Street car park in Northbridge. From there you can catch such titles as Dawn of the Dead, North by Northwest, Blue Velvet, Suspira, Heathers and The Fly (which is pretty much a list of Claire’s favourite films). It’s set to get underway on Wednesday 29th and you can spy the full program as well as book tickets over here. The best bi-product of a car park since the Condor Tower street art project!

5. Support local talent in animation, or get into it yourself.

If animation floats your boat then head to Northbridge Piazza for some more outdoor screening action. Animator’s Hour aims to showcase the wonderful work and extraordinary talent of local, national and international animators through 8 free screenings, happening each Thursday night over two months. We’re already a few weeks in, so roll on down on a Thursday soon if this sounds like your cup of tea.

If you reckon you’ve got a cracking idea for an animation then consider submitting your ideas to the Bunny Cakes Competition, for the chance to win a cash prize, Wacom tablet, or art books. Head here for more info, but you’ve only got a week left so do get cracking.