Books & Literature

Book Review: Adelaide Festival 60 Years: 1960-2020, by Catherine McKinnon

HISTORY: An astounding cacophony of images and tales that revel in the life of the Festival, remembering what it was and anticipating what it might be.

A superb production on every level.
4.5

The Adelaide Festival, or Festival of Arts as it used to be known, has been a fixture in the Adelaide calendar for 60 years now.

In celebration of one of the oldest arts festivals in Australia, Adelaide Festival has commissioned Wakefield Press to produce this beautiful book.

Rather than an archival, chronological record, editor Catherine McKinnon has put together first-person accounts and a wealth of evocative photographs. Herein are over 50 pieces by people such as current and past artistic directors, writers, artists, politicians, and Adelaide luminaries. Each speaks of their own relationship to the Festival, so that the accounts are charmingly personal. Read about Annabel Crabb driving the Frankfurt Ballet down to Maslin’s Beach; follow Jim Sharman’s journey with the Festival from 1964; see Akram Khan move from 13 year old performer in Brook’s Mahabharata to Artistic Director of one of the world’s preeminent dance companies; join in Rachel Healy’s wonder as a child watching Phillipe Genty’s puppets in 1978.

The infamous connectivity of Adelaide is here writ large. Rachel Healy and Annabel Crabb used to share a house. As did Alan John and Neil Armfield. Jo Dyer interviews Stephen Page, with whom she used to work at Bangarra Dance Theatre. He is a previous Festival Artistic Director; she is now the Director of Writers’ Week. Festival Friends Honourary Life Member Alan Brissenden has a daughter who was a Festival publicist. More than merely quaint, these interconnections are a testament to the role that the Festival has played in the life of anyone who has lived or worked in Adelaide. It has long been the central artistic fulcrum around which much of South Australia’s creativity has revolved. For many readers this will be a delightful exercise in nostalgia.

At nearly 300 pages, this book is jam-packed with value. It is superbly printed and bound, with excellent reproductions of hundreds of photos, colour and black-and-white. Most importantly, it fulfills the requirements of both the coffee-table and the riveting read. It is large enough to be impressive, but light enough to still prop up and read in bed.

This is the perfect gift for the arts lover in your circle, and surely should be compulsory in any self-respecting Adelaide household!

Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten

Distributed by: Wakefield Press
Released: February 2020
RRP: $70.00

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