and Feel Touch Look am free Here comes the sun ... nature's arms,creatingimpact,walking pancakes withpurpose,inmother in space,abetterkindoffashion Our Paradiso is December 2019–February 2020 Issue No.12 and wesay it's alright Bancroft, MerrynJean, The CalileHotel Project, DumboFeather, Bronwyn Bobby Alu, Dayle Larter, Seabin So many muses

HELLO + WELCOME WE ARE HERE THIS IS PARADISO

Paradiso is so very proudly brought to you by: Enjoy reading– –8 Lila Theodoros, Publisher and Creative Director @ohbabushka Nat Woods, Editor @nat.woods_ Leana Rack, Partnership Manager @leanarack Pancakes Martin Pain, Studio Manager & Distribution Here comes @lightayurveda Alana Potts, Designer @alanapotts Chris Theodoros, Accountant With Purpose –8 and Crossword Magician the sun ... businessmatters.com.au Tania Theodoros, Proof Reader @enjoyreadingourbooks –18 I love this George Harrison song for so many reasons – In Mother Thank you to our wonderful contributors– its nostalgia, its joy, its hope. Issue 12 is an ode to hope Anna Hutchcroft Brooklyn Reardon and our vision for the future. Byron Writers Festival This year has been heavy – there is so much Chris Theodoros Nature’s arms –18 Dayle Larter despair and worry running thick in our collective Dumbo Feather Magazine Ming Nomchong consciousness; so many decisions being made out Abigael Whittaker of fear instead of love. Even as I sit here writing this, Phoebe Barrett Seabin Project –26 Lara Fells the mountain range in view of our studio is covered Paris Bluett Renee Rae in terrifying thick plumes of smoke – climate change, Holly McCauley –36 budget cuts, drought. So much fear. Erika Toscano Ella Noah Bancroft Dumbo Feather: But, as hard as it feels sometimes – we actively Sarah Ruhullah Sean Fennessy choose hope. We know the wave of change will be David Chatfield led by lovers choosing to be better because they are 2020 12: Here comes the sun ... / Dec 2019–Feb Issue No. Hello– Summer Read –31 From the bottom of our hearts– thank you to our an active part of the community and believe in a incredibly supportive families – we love you! xx collective consciousness with their whole hearts. Printed by Cornerstone Press, Northgate Qld. Our summer issue features incredible people Paradiso is printed on Australian made and –56 Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Walking in acting from this place of love – we continue to tell the Certification (PEFC™) paper stock. stories of activists, educated change makers, inspired Published by creatives and innovative businesses. We share their The World Needs Creatives Pty Ltd. space –36 Unit 1, 12–14 Towers Drive message of action, positivity, and hope for a bright Mullumbimby NSW 2482

future. © The World Needs Creatives Pty Ltd 2019, What better way to celebrate our second birthday all rights reserved. Muse: than with an issue full of so much creativity and hope. Disclaimer No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without the Two years has flown by! Thank you to our amazing permission of the publisher. The views expressed Paradiso team – present and past – for all of the love, in Paradiso are those of the respective Bronwyn Bancroft –48 contributors and are not necessarily shared by effort, positivity, beauty and optimism put into making the publisher. Contributions and submissions are welcome but no responsibility is taken. each issue. Thank you to our contributors whose talent Information and credits are correct when going makes Paradiso so special. Thank you to our incredible to print but may change afterwards. Paradiso is published six times a year and we are sorry for The Calile Hotel –56 partners, some of who have been with us since issue any mistakes :) one, for being the driving force behind this magazine. thisisparadiso.com.au Thank you to our families and friends for your cheer Food + Drink Wellbeing Fashion + Beauty Travel @paradiso_magazine_ leading. And thank you dear reader, for supporting us. 8 Feature: 18 Yoga in pictures: 36 Photo essay: 54 Feature: Paradiso is created on the land of the Pancakes With Purpose In Mother Nature’s arms Walking in space Bangladesh – my home Thank you for supporting independent media. Here’s to Arakwal people of the Bundjalung nation. 22 Essay: 43 Listen: away from home our beautiful collective consciousness. Here’s to hope. We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Boobs A better kind of fashion 56 Experience: traditional custodians and elders of this land. And we extend that respect to the traditional Home + Design 24 Me, my shop and I: 44 Feature: The Calile Hotel Lila Theodoros owners of wherever this magazine is read. North Coast Medical Though we travel the world 10 Where I live: Publisher and Creative Director Centre 62 Crossword Ebb and flow: Bobby Alu Team Paradiso xx 16 Feature: Arts + Events Club Paradiso In the summer time Community 46 Feature: Come for the fun, stay for the best membership when the weather is fine 26 Good people: Yeah Nice Gallery “The Sun will rise and set regardless. in town. Join the club and receive our OUT NOW Seabin Project 47 Arts Guide newsletter – you will be the first of your friends What we choose to do with the light to find out when our latest issue is hitting the 28 Feature: 48 Current Muse: while it’s here is up to us. streets; you’ll get a mid-mag-month sneak peak The movers and shakers Bronwyn Bancroft at the amazing features we are putting together 31 Dumbo Feather 52 Book Club: Journey wisely.” for your reading pleasure; AND you will be the first to be invited to all of the very exciting x Paradiso: Your own kind of girl – Alexandra Elle Paradiso events such as Breakfast Club. Sign Radical Reciprocity – Clare Bowditch up now. 53 Music: thisisparadiso.com.au/club Merryn Jean Cover image– Ming Nomchong 4 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 5 @ming_nomchong_photo HELLO + WELCOME THE WARMEST OF WARM UPS

The Good News is— December–February Top 5 to look out for:

01– Paradiso Reader’s Survey We have been proudly making Paradiso for two years, and it’s absolutely time to hear from you, our beloved reader. We want to know your hopes, dreams and big ideas for how to make our mag even better! And to say thank you for your time, we are offering the chance to win prizes! Jump on our website and tell us what you think. Thank you for supporting independent media! thisisparadiso.com.au/survey

02– Made for the sun, salt and sea Stone & Wood brewery now open in Brisbane Local lifestyle brand, Zulu & Photo by Ming Nomchong @ming_nomchong_photo Zephyr, have opened the doors Set inside a beautifully preserved on their new flagship store in heritage-listed building, Stone & Byron Bay! Made for the sun, A powerful community Wood’s new brewery brings a bit salt and sea, Zulu & Zephyr is Atmosea is an invitation to the celebration of freedom, of the coast to the city – weaving an Australian lifestyle brand inclusivity and community. We wear our armour as a message the laidback feel of Byron Bay offering swim and apparel that of power and pride in liberating ourselves from expectations into the historic streets of is effortless and vivid. Shop their and intimidations. Atmosea is more than sheathing you with Brisbane. Offering a bar, working range of resort pieces for you comfort, practicality and flair, it is a culture that allows for brewery, canteen, merch outlet and your kiddies at 11 Banksia people to harbour their differences, creating a nurturing and and community event area, Stone Drive in the Arts & Industrial accepting environment for female surfers across the globe. & Wood have created another Estate, Byron Bay from 9am We are empowered women empowering other women with beautiful space for us to enjoy. Monday to Friday, and from suits that connect us towards a more progressive and all- 99 Bridge Street, Fortitude Valley, 10am on Saturdays. encompassing surfing community. Brisbane. zuluandzephyr.com atmosea.com.au stoneandwood.com.au

03– Vicki Stavrov: Coastal Muse An expression of connection to nature, the primal energy of the coast and the ever-changing Win! Win!! Win!!! colours of the sea. On exhibition until 16 February 2020, Tweed The Bucha of Byron Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah. To celebrate our bumper summer issue artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au – and second birthday! – we have teamed up with our friends at The Bucha of Byron for an 04– incredible giveaway. For your chance to win Yeah Nice Gallery Christmas three cases of The Dirty Bucha of Byron, simply Group Show email us, in 25 words or less, your favourite Head along to the end of year place to share some responsibly consumed group art show at Yeah Nice summer beverages. Send your amazing answer Gallery on Friday, 13 December to [email protected] to be in the at Ross Industrial Complex Mill running. You must also be 18 years plus to Street, Mullumbimby. enter – we will card you! You could be the @yeahnice_gallery lucky winner of 2 x cases of Lemon Myrtle and Gin and 1 x case of Tropical and Vodka. These 05– low-sugar cocktails blend The Bucha of Byron Byron Bay Surf Festival kombucha with premium spirits from Cape Our annual celebration of Byron Distillers, all produced in partnership contemporary surf culture by Stone and Wood. Thank you The Bucha returns in 2020 with a new venue of Byron! and a new program of events thebuchaofbyron.com.au and activities. 14-16 February, multiple venues, Byron Bay. byronbaysurffestival.com.au

6 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 8 Paradiso ~ FOOD

Dec 2019—Feb 2020 Pancakes + DRINK

~ Herecomes thesun... With Purpose PANCAKES 9 themselves. loving child inside to the pancake- certainly did listen With Purpose Wright of Pancakes and OliVinden It sounds like Ben to our inner child. we do need to listen work!’, so perhaps make pancakes for with ‘Iwant to old would answer maybe aten year up. But then again, where we would end have fathomed some of uscould real, there’s no way starter, but let’s be cute conversation grow up?’ It’s a to bewhen you ‘What do you want we often get asked When we’re young, and sisters.Every day morethanonemillion ofthese find thembeing sold inamongsttheirprettybrothers ugly banana,butgotothefarmers’ marketandyou’ll in thesupermarketthenyou’ve probablynever seenan see onsupermarketshelves. Ifyou’ve onlyever shopped resemble thestereotypicallybeautiful bananathatyou attractive guys? guys passionate about saving these not-so- Who decides who’s ugly or not, and why are you What’s upwiththiswhole idea of ‘ugly’ bananas? just notsay anything. between sixnewideas. We finallyrealisedit was bestto point andthenexttimetheyasked,we’d already moved tell peopleaboutournewideaandthenbetweenthat a dailybasis. We’d getreallyexcitedandpassionately business wewerejumpingbetweenideasonjustabout ‘these boys have gonealittlebitcrazy’. often excited,butyou couldtelltheywerealsothinking When wetoldpeoplewhat weweredoingthey placed alotofpressureonthewhole situationinitially. dropped outofunitostartourown businessdefinitely took abreakandnever wentback … both droppedout!Ormaybe it’s justbettertosay we you were going into the business of breakfast? your family and friends say when you told them You’ve bothrecently graduated from uni. What did the supermarket.Don’t askhow wegotfrom A toB. pancakes outofbananasthataretoouglytobesoldin and weendedupdecidingtostartabusinessmaking back hometoByronBay topursuethisbusinessidea. Colombian mechanics andcorruptpolice,wemoved pirates anddealingwithourfairshareofdodgy a halfyears later, afterwrangling afewPanamanian we mightwant tobeinfive orten years time.Oneand the courseofourlives andthinkingdeeplyaboutwhere both atapointwhere wewerelookingforachange in drinks. Iwas prettyskepticalatthetime,butwewere on how weweregonnatakeover theworld withcold down notesandessentiallyformulatingabusinessplan don’t wehave thisathome?!?!”. those classictravel momentswhere you’re like,“Why that momentdrinkblewourminds. We hadoneof and sweetened condensedmilk.Itsoundsweird,butin made fromamixtureofsoakedwhite rice,cinnamon Agua deHorchata which isatraditional Mexicandrink along thestreet.Oliran down andboughtahugecupof wheeling acartofhomemade aguas frescas(cold drinks) the streetbelow usandlookeddown toseeanoldlady to reggaeandsweating. We heardsomeoneyelling on degrees celsiusandweweresittingaroundlistening conversation onarooftopinMexico.Itwas about40 and then wind upstarting apancake business? So tell us,how do two friends move to Byron Bay O: Anuglybananaisany bananathatdoesn’t B: Duringthefirstsixmonthsofplanning O: Having ourfriendsandfamilyknow thatwe B: We haven’t graduated fromuni,weactually B: Somehow oneideaevolved intothenext, Oli: For thenextweekIrememberBenjotting Ben: Iguessitallstartedoutasapassing WITH PURPOSE the end. carbonated pancakemixtospray over thespectatorsat 100 pancakes,andthewinnerwould getabigbottle of Pancake Marathon. You’d have tomix,cookandeat world recordcategory–fastesttimetocompletethe ingredients, letalonemakea15metre pancake! enough moneytobeablebuyourpackages and take on some pancake world record. flips in60 seconds in Sydney in 2012. Any plans to by Australian chef Brad Jolly who completed 140 the most pancake tosses inone minute isheld deep (itweighed 3tonnes!) And the record for measuring 15.01 metres indiameter and 2.5 cm was set in1994 inManchester, UK,withapancake the Guiness World Record for largest pancake Lastly, I’ve been doing my pancake research and was actuallyrecommendedtousby aloyal customer. it becauseit’s reminiscent ofsticky datepuddingandit substance. Tahini andmaplesyrupisalsoyummy, Ilike together tocreateadangerouslymorishcrack-like Cream andonepartChow Cacaochocolate melted alongside prettymuch anything isawinner. vegan nutellawould have tobemy favourite, that there withthebreakfastgods.ButOli’s homemade Butter, andHoneyisadiehardclassicwhich sitsup suggestions? What are your top three pancake serving been ahugeblessing. wants todealwithbananas,sohave foundthemhas neighbouring farmsandturnthemintoflourthemselves. Queensland who actuallycollecttheuglybananasfrom coming from inthe first place? delicious pancakes and where are the bananas death by ugliness. How do they then become your So you rescue the bananas from being doomed to change. that foodwaste isavastly overlooked driver ofclimate more potentintheatmosphere. The unfortunatefactis harmful greenhousegas,butmethaneisalmost30times methane gas.Carbondioxideisobviously considereda ugly bananasaresenttolandfilltheyrotandemit potential income. essentially meanstheyhave toforgoonethirdoftheir generally onlysellaroundtwo thirdsoftheircrop. This Firstly, afterhoursuponofhardwork, farmerscan pretty pressingissuessurroundingthiswhole thing. when you digalittledeeperthere’s actuallysome pancakes thatnever seethelightofday. Every day. tight appearance regulationsby thebigsupermarkets. ugly (yet perfectlyedible)bananasgotowaste dueto O: Maybe we couldcreateourown new B: 15metrepancake!?!? We onlyjusthave O: The nutellaisjusttwo partsKara Coconut B: The holysaltedtrinityofBanana,Peanut B: It’s notexactlyeasytofindaflouringmillthat O: We have partneredwithafarminFar North B: There’s alsotheenvironmental issue. When O: That’s enoughtomakeanyone sad.But B: That’s morethanonemillionpotential @annahutch_photo Anna Hutchcroft @nat.woods_ Nat Woods PHOTOS– WORDS– @pancakeswithpurpose PancakesPurpose With PANCAKE LEGENDS– HOME + DESIGN WHERE THE HEART IS — IS WHERE I LIVE WORDS– MUSE– BOBBY ALU Nat Woods Bobby Alu @nat.woods_ @bobby_alu

PHOTOS– Anna Hutchcroft @annahutch_photo

Ebb and Flow

For many of us, the price we pay for living in this slice of paradise is having to travel far and wide for work. It can be an exciting, draining, and relationship-straining existence, but returning home each time is made so much sweeter by the time away. Local musician, Charles Wall AKA Bobby Alu, and environmental lawyer, Nina Lucas, are no strangers to this lifestyle, each having to regularly leave Byron Shire for music tours and legal cases. We caught them both on a rare weekend at home.

10 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 11 HOME + DESIGN WHERE THE HEART IS — IS WHERE I LIVE BOBBY ALU

WORDS TO INSPIRE– On the day we visited Bobby and Nina’s home in the Rather than follow trends, you can really tell 01. FLOW hills behind Byron Bay, the couple were celebrating that Bobby and Nina have designed exactly what they 02. GROUNDED Bobby’s third album, Flow, which had been released wanted in a home, from the amazing circle window in 03. HERITAGE the day before. They were also still in the process of the second bathroom, which was always Nina’s dream, 04. RHYTHM settling into their newly finished home – three days to the “bunk” bed in Bobby’s mezzanine music room. 05. NATURE after they got the keys to their new home, Bobby flew I comment that the double bed alcove complete with a to North America to tour as the support act for his curtain is like the bunk beds on tour buses, and he says good friend, Xavier Rudd, and Nina went to Europe “Exactly! I’ve always wanted a bunk and this is just a to visit family and friends, so they’d only been home bigger version of the bunks we sleep in when we’re together for ten days. touring on a bus.” Just like Bobby’s music and Nina’s personality, Outside on the deck overlooking the fig tree, a their home feels laidback and welcoming. With one kookaburra swoops past as Bobby points out where he large open-plan living space wrapped in rammed earth recently spotted an echidna in the gully, and where the and a large timber deck overlooking the property’s builder saw a koala walking across the block. Small majestic Moreton Bay Fig Tree, the home feels like reminders that when we buy land and build our dream the perfect gathering place for family and friends. home, we’re nestling into an already existing habitat. And as Nina explains, the home brings together the Anyone who has designed and built their influences of their heritages, “I’m half-swiss, I was born home would understand the achievement of pulling in Switzerland, so we love the homey chalet feel of everything together. With Bobby touring most the place, but then also the Aussie rammed earth walls weekends, the couple had to make decisions on the and the big deck.” Various elements of the decor also fly during the work week, Nina explains. “Because I reflects Bobby’s Samoan heritage. work full-time, I’d come home in the evening and there The fig tree was also a main focal point of the was a whole list of decisions we would have to make, design, and the couple wanted to honour the tree because he would be away on the weekend when I in the design of the home. “The tree was the whole had the headspace to think about it more.” thing that brought us here. That was the hardest thing I ask Bobby about the process of designing to figure out – how to orientate the house towards it and building a home alongside recording an album, and design something that didn’t take away from it and he said, “I think in hindsight, building a house visually,” explains Bobby. and recording an album was pretty draining, but it’s

12 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 13 HOME + DESIGN WHERE THE HEART IS — IS WHERE I LIVE

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been amazing too that they’ve both kinda finished at the same time. “I think in You know I launched the album yesterday, and then we’ve moved into the house, and it’s like ‘wow what a phase and an achievement!’ I feel CNR PROUDFOOTS LANE & BRISBANE ST so lucky that I got to create a house with Nina and an album, and that hindsight, MURWILLUMBAH The Field ARI that’s been my life for the past few years.” Curation. Books. Art building a house The new album, Flow, is about moving and being moved. Two Seas Creative @thefield.mbah Finding your flow and going about each day to the rhythm of your @two_seas_creative and recording an own making. I feel this theme coming through in my conversation twoseascreative.com.au with Bobby and Nina, about finding the balance of both of their busy album was pretty schedules. Nina, who is currently working on multiple cases regarding the misuse of water in NSW’s most drought-affected areas, reflects on Jill Dawson Studio draining, but finding the balance between thriving when she’s being challenged @cutthroatlilly intellectually and doing work that could make a difference for the it’s been pretty environment, versus putting too much in and burning out. “There’s always an ebb and flow I think, there’s times when we’re all really busy amazing too and then there are times when I can finish work early and take some timeout,” she says. Mitchell Schultz Studio @bendedkneeface that they’ve both The sun starts to dip behind the house and we leave Bobby and Nina who are heading out for dinner together to celebrate the new The Yellow Brick Studio kinda finished at album. Their dedication to music and to the environment is so inspiring, @theyellowbrickstudio but what’s just as inspiring is their commitment to finding their flow theyellowbrickstudio.com the same time.” together away from the concert halls and court rooms. They might not always get it right, none of us do, but they’ve created a peaceful home overlooking the fig tree where they can keep trying. Ellie Beck - create | connect | inspire You can listen to Bobby Alu’s third album Flow on Spotify, or @petalplum purchase online at bobbyalu.com petalplum.com.au Mill & Make - shop | create @mill_and_make @M-ARTS.COM.AU

14 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... HOME + DESIGN IN THE SUMMERTIME WHEN THE WEATHER IS FINE In the summertime —

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16 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 17 WELLBEING + MOVEMENT YOGA IN PICTURES PRACTICE AND ALL IS COMING YOGINI– PHOTOS– Brooklyn Reardon Anna Hutchcroft @brooklynreardonn @annahutch_photo

She is the ground beneath us, the sky up above. Her warm embrace is the thickness of the forest, her love, a cool ocean breeze. She holds the space for creation; she is creation. Yogini Brooklyn Reardon embraces Practice and all is coming our Mother Earth and is held in return. In Mother Nature’s arms

18 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 19 WELLBEING + MOVEMENT YOGA IN PICTURES PRACTICE AND ALL IS COMING

20 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 21 WELLBEING + HEART ESSAY WORDS– ESSAY Dayle Larter @nuni_wellness Boobs

Growing up, I blamed BRAC2, also called the breast cancer type 2 have been bliss. my own time, after providing nourishment to inspire, and inform women of all ages to take A double my mum’s genetics for susceptibility protein, has nothing to do with My view of the future blurred, and my babes is something I’ll be forever grateful care of their breasts. Only 10 percent of breast preventing my boobs from the size of my breasts, and everything to do my outlook was clouded by gloomy statistics. for. cancers are due to a genetic predisposition. mastectomy would growing to the ample size with scary breast cancer statistics that were BRCA2, it turns out, has a penchant for I woke up after my operation with a My mission is to have a conversation about diminish my risk I was quietly anticipating. now stacked against me. impacting other lady parts too; this particular best-case scenario: the offending tissue on the importance of breast care for all women, Dad’s side of the family I’ll never forget the feeling of dread genetic fault also causing a significantly the inside of my breasts was removed by the and particularly young women where self- of breast cancer were all so much more wash over me as I sat in the hospital on that increased risk of ovarian cancer. For a while surgeon, and the plastic surgeon stepped in awareness really is our best defence. from 80 percent well-endowed in the bosom sunny Melbourne afternoon, even before the there, it was tough to wade through the with enough time for me to be able to keep my Taking a moment to consciously look department, but I hadn’t genetic counsellor casually confirmed the dreary details of the diagnosis. Information I nipples. After a quick six hours under the knife, after our breasts is a self-care ritual in itself. to less than 5 managed to luck out on any positive test result. Of all the tests I’d ever came across proposed reconsidering life’s big I re-emerged with a couple of imposters on my Massaging our boobs is beneficial on so many percent. Those of their genetic mammary taken, this is one I hoped I’d fail. Turns out it decisions, throwing into question ideas around chest, and zero sensation. levels – it promotes lymphatic drainage and makeup. Having believed, doesn’t matter if you hold your tongue during marriage and children. Finding out that I’m not Having to reinvigorate (or establish) increases fresh blood flow into the area, helps chances sounded for a large part of my life, a genetic blood test, you can’t fudge the entitled to life insurance because I’m too much my relationship with my breasts, the idea of to decrease hormonal tenderness, and improves pretty good to that I inherited my boob outcome. of a liability was the cherry on top of the shit creating a business that motivates other women the tone and texture of our boobs. On a deeper disposition from my mother, I found out that I had the mutated sundae I felt I’d been handed. But as time went to do the same began to germinate. I had seen level, it’s a chance to pause; to connect with me. To be able to it came as quite a surprise BRCA2 gene in 2011, which was shell-shocking on, I started to feel as though this knowledge first-hand how little information there was ourselves and our hearts. Taoist and Tantric make this decision when I found out that the in the most unusual of ways. I can’t explain was powerful; that I had been given advance available in terms of breast wellness, and I felt traditions believe there’s a strong link between BRCA2 gene mutation came the feeling of testing positive for something, warning – a luxury many people aren’t as that traditional self-breast checks were very the breasts and heart centre, so taking a in my own time, from my dad. but not being diagnosed with anything … yet. fortunate to receive. fear-based in their nature. The idea of prodding moment to cultivate this connection has a I was advised to be mindful; I was now 80% Biannual MRI breast-screenings ensued, around in a search and destroy mission was beautiful flow-on effect into our daily lives after providing more susceptible to breast cancer, with the punctuated by two pregnancies, births and less than appealing to many women; I avoided (especially for those of us who tend to tuck our nourishment to my risk especially potent during my 30’s (which is breastfeeding. Life went on. And while I was them too, despite personal advice from a tatas into a bra and forget about them). It’s the when it first struck my Nan). unsettled by the idea of not having breasts, leading cancer oncologist. breast of both worlds! babes is something I grappled with the question of how becoming a mum crystallised the fact that Apart from the overwhelming lack of But in all seriousness, I urge women I’ll be forever I was meant to digest this information. Some playing an active role in the formation of my positive messaging around the things we can do to consider their boobs as they would any readily admitted that they thought I would have future far outweighed the alternative of sitting to promote breast wellness, formulating a Boob other part of their bodies; we focus on gut grateful for. been better off burying my head in the sand, and waiting for something to go wrong. Oil came after many conversations with friends health, dental health, skin health, so let’s better off not finding out about the potentiality A double mastectomy would diminish about their relationships (or lack thereof) with not ignore our breast health. Doing so can that now loomed overhead. I have to admit, in my risk of breast cancer from 80 percent to less their boobs. I realised that someone needed to create a beautiful sense of calm, empowered those times when I was deep in a BRCA-related than 5 percent. Those chances sounded pretty create a beautiful product to help women get in connection, and peace of mind. rabbit hole, I, too, felt that ignorance might good to me. To be able to make this decision in touch with their girls, and a platform to invite,

22 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 23 WELLBEING + COMMUNITY ME, MY SHOP AND I

The art of medicine, community and collaboration PUT YOUR BODY – welcome to North Coast Medical Centre. IN GOOD HANDS We speak to Dr Anthony Solomon General Practitioner MBBS, Dip, Paed, FRACGP, FARGO

24 Shirley Street Byron Bay NSW northcoastmedicalcentre.com.au North Coast Medical Centre

At North Coast Medical Centre (NCMC), When we first opened as an integrated exchange and reflection with educational you provide much more than just a medical centre we hosted six health conferences benefits as we explore challenging presentations. doctor’s appointment. Tell us a little bit as a way of meeting our peers in the profession. Tell us a little about your practitioners and about the services you provide ... Health practitioners came from far and wide what inspires them ... We are a multidisciplinary holistic and from every discipline – both mainstream As a primary healthcare service we health clinic with an open-minded team-based medical and the whole spectrum of alternative provide medical, nursing, naturopathic, approach, with a red fence and an open door and complimentary practices. These events osteopathic, exercise physiology and psychology to people struggling with their health or who highlighted the dynamic energy that can be services. We have one of the largest psychology are finding themselves at a difficult time in their found in the common ground and this continues practices on the north coast. We pride ourselves lives. I think what inspires us is the ‘human to inspire the work we do. Topics of the on the teaching we do for medical students and experience’ – physical, emotional and spiritual conferences included chronic pain, depression medical registrars. We are a centre of learning. – and finding a balance in health of all three. and happiness, and addictions and freedom, What does community mean to you? The ‘Art of Medicine’ refers to the ancient mix which are all ongoing threads of interest for us. Community is the best example I can OUR SERVICES An individualised approach to of art and science of our profession and to the Tell us a little about the synergy of holistic think of where the whole is greater than just work we do. ‘Art of Medicine’ also refers to the medicine and science ... the sum of the individual parts. It’s a house MASSAGE RESET THERAPY your health and wellbeing. works of art which hang on the walls at North On a practical level, patients can either party. It’s about young and old celebrating with Remedial, Relaxation, Relieves jaw pain Coast Medical Centre. Many of the works are by see one of our doctors, our naturopath or both. food, saying thank you to somebody who does Pregnancy and TMJ dysfunction our patients and we have some beautiful works Combined consultations with the patient, doctor something for you, remembering other people’s by local Aboriginal artists. We know most of the and naturopath together in the room can be a names, making connections with your friend’s CHAKRA PUNCTURE EAR CANDLING Holistic needling akin Includes lymphatic artists. There is a framed black and white photo productive place therapeutically, particularly for kids and acknowledging their achievements. to Acupuncture facial massage of Frida Khalo hanging in the main corridor – people experiencing chronic resistant illness. It’s about being conscious of a shared sense of be well – health & wellness centre we consider her to be our patron. The ‘human The combined consultation is a style of practice values and support for others in distress as we GUA SHA YOGA experience’ she represents continues to be one we pioneered and have refined over many age. It’s also about respecting and preserving Crystal tool massage See website for T. 0490 355 224 of our inspirations. years and is always interesting and informative. the identity of our town and dare I say – the timetable 6 Wilfred Street, Billinudgel What inspired you to create an integrated Our fortnightly multidisciplinary case review environment. It’s the stuff of health and hope. CUPPING medical space? meetings are an opportunity for professional Gliding fascia release bewellclinics.com.au

24 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ...

PM12-FP-byronbumps.indd 1 8/11/19 10:38 am THIS COMMUNITY OF OURS CELEBRATING WORDS– GOOD PEOPLE: SEABIN PROJECT Nat Woods @nat.woods_ Good People Many people care about the problems of the world, most don’t take it upon themselves to try to solve them. Pete Ceglinski is a Northern Rivers local and the CEO and CoFounder of Seabin Project, a world-changing invention to clean up marinas and waterways and stop the flow of plastics into our oceans.

What is the Seabin and how does it work? were $300 a week in 2015. We finally got ourselves It’s simply a cross between a garbage bin and a together this year and made it official with Seabin pool skimmer. It’s simple yet effective stuff, but the fluid Foundation run by COO Mahi here out of the Mullum hydraulics of it still has my head spinning. We install the office. Activities are focused on prevention, science, Seabin in the water at a marina or on a dock, it has an research and community engagement. The change we underwater pump and we pull water through the top, seek to create is pretty simple stuff, cleaner oceans. Our pump it out the bottom and filter the plastics and marine mission statement is “to not have a need for Seabins.” Seabin litter in the middle. Each unit captures an average of 1.5 What are you most excited about right now? tonnes per year and filters 600,000 litres of water per Scaling!! I’m scared but excited to take things day at a running cost of around $2.50 a day. to the next level. We’ve started the process of a series There’s often a lot of focus on either beach clean A funding round to build up the business, create new Project ups or efforts to clean up the five gyres (or plastic tech and make the most out of the momentum we have soups) in the middle of the oceans – why was created. We are tossing around the idea of opening up it important for you to create something that shares for the public to get involved, like crowdfunded We are ... cleaned up marinas and waterways closer to land? equity – since we started, our business has been the inventors of the Seabin, We simply didn’t have any cash, no seed community driven and supported, we are looking at a water-based rubbish bin funding and no working capital so essentially we were ways of how we can give back to those that support our to clean up our marinas and landlocked, which is a great thing. We didn’t want to efforts at cleaner oceans and a healthier planet. waterways. deal with ocean storms, big waves, shipping and all the We’ve just built the structure to install the Paradiso talks to... rest that Mother Nature throws at you on the ocean. world’s first fixed dock Seabin at the Brunswick Heads Pete Ceglinski, CEO & Plus we wanted to start closer to the source of pollution boat harbour. This will be the home of our product CoFounder of Seabin Project and capture it before it entered the ocean. development and testing site for all new technology, and Seabin Foundation The best thing about starting upstream in our active data monitoring program, and school and Find us ... marinas, ports and yacht clubs is that they pay for the community events. @seabin_project Seabins, and they pay their staff to look after them. We There’s been such a massive increase in global are all getting a free service and slightly better value of awareness of ocean pollution since you first life of having less plastics in our oceans at no cost to us. launched. Are you hopeful that we can turn things Since the initial video went viral, you’ve been flat around when it comes to protecting our oceans out perfecting the product and installing Seabins and waterways? all around the world – what sort of impact have Yeah for sure. It’s not all doom and gloom like you had so far? what seems to be the online marketing trend of late. With over 1.3 billion views of the crowdfunding People are becoming more aware of the issues our video we have made quite a statement – people have oceans face and things are changing for the better. You started benchmarking Seabin Project for solutions and can see indicators of positive change on a daily basis, we made a conscious decision to send out the right like when you see people bringing their own bag to Pete, you grew up in the Byron Shire and are probably one of the most message to the masses. A message that “technology the supermarket or using a reusable coffee cup. There humble people I know. Tell us how a Byron kid ends up on the other side of As of today will not save our oceans, education and accountability is a lot of magic still in our oceans, everything is going the world inventing a world-changing product to save the oceans? we have 860 for our own actions will.” Since then we have used the to be ok but it takes time. There is no magic bullet for Haha, thanks. Long story, but I split from the Byron Shire after Year 12 to Patagonia business model as inspiration and split our a perfect solution, change takes time and we all need pursue a career in industrial design. At the time (1996) there was no real online Seabins in model into “For Profit” and “Not for profit” activities. As to take accountability for our own actions to make the connectivity and if you wanted a career you had to head for the big smoke. I quit the water of today we have 860 Seabins in the water capturing 3.6 change we all want to see. halfway through my design course as I was sick of being a student and not having tonnes of marine litter per day, or 1.3 million kilograms How can we support the Seabin Project and any money. I worked as a boat builder in Mona Vale, Sydney for a few years until capturing of marine litter per year. We started with one unit Foundation? I felt it was time to exercise my brain again so I went back to industrial design 3.6 tonnes of and now thanks to incremental scaling, the impact is Tell your mates about it, tell your local council, and ended up with a job for the three years after. I quit industrial design, fed up weighing up in a good way. pick up litter on the street, refuse single use plastics, with designing plastic crap – stuff that was a want rather than a need, stuff that marine litter You also recently launched the Seabin Foundation, sign up to our newsletter for events and if you can afford I designed to be thrown away instead of being fixed. I went overseas and found per day, or tell us more about that and the change it seeks to to, Seabin Foundation needs donations to operate. We myself in the Yacht Racing industry (Americas Cup, Volvo Ocean Race) where I create. give a portion of our profits to Seabin Foundation, but met my future business partner and became friends. We both called Mallorca, a 1.3 million We simply figured we could do more than what it’s a big challenge ahead of us and it takes money to Spanish island in the Mediterranean, home for years and we simply started Seabin kilograms of was expected from us. We could use tech to clean up, make an impact on a global level. Project there as the island is surrounded by floating plastic litter. What better place and use prevention and awareness to assist in turning off to start right? marine litter the tap to plastics in the first place. It seems like a lot of www.seabinproject.com I moved back here to Byron two years ago now with my partner Sascha to per year. people focus on one thing only, due to my obsession of have our first baby boy and be close to our families. We now have two baby boys starting new projects, we felt that we could clean up the and live near the Ocean Shores Primary School with Koa (16 months), Ziggy (3 stuff in the water while campaigning for change on land. weeks) and Bruce the rabbit. Since 2015 we spent what little money we had 50/50 – Mum and Dad are across the road, my brothers and their families close by, for profit and not for profit. To give you an indication of and the Seabin Global HQ is now in Mullumbimby. what not much money was, mine and Sascha’s salaries

26 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 27 THIS COMMUNITY OF OURS CELEBRATING WORDS– THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS Nat Woods @nat.woods_ The Movers and Shakers You don’t need to switch careers to become a climate scientist, or quit your day job to fight environmental destruction – you can change the world in whatever industry you find yourself in right now. From down-to-earth facials to renegade bankers, we take a look at the good folks shaking things up in industries which, traditionally, may not have been so good. Each of these companies could have easily chosen to stick to the status quo of their industries, and undoubtedly they would have still had plenty of consumers happily seek their services – from a business point of view, sure, they could have still been successful following the suit of others, but they chose to be different. They “Clean money chose to dig deep and question how they wanted to do business on this precious planet. And while some may (quite justifiably) say that sustainability, impact and purpose are just new marketing is really about buzzwords, the fact is, that what is a point of difference today, may very well soon just be the norm. securing a So best start shaking things up before your industry is all shook up without you. sustainable long- term future for all of us. As individuals, 1. Living Skin we all need a Little Company is a skin and wellness studio in Byron healthy planet Bay and Melbourne who have created their salons and treatments to not only honour the skin we’re in, but the that can feed and planet we’re on. shelter us and we all benefit from a In 2015, American non-profit, Environmental Working Group, more peaceful, equal released a study that found that women put an average of 168 chemicals on their skin every day. While men typically society.” use less products, on average they still put 85 chemicals on their skin daily. And when we consider our skin as our largest Fiona Nixon (pictured), organ – a living and breathing layer of protection for our Head of Corporate Affairs bodies – what we put on it is vitally important. Bank Australia Little Company’s “living skin” philosophy guides their salon practices, ensuring they only use and stock products made from locally-sourced, cruelty-free and entirely plant- based ingredients that can be traced back to their source. Incredibly, you can also request for your skin regime to be curated to not only suit your skin needs, but to also align with your environmental values through sustainably-focused regimes based on environmental impact. This philosophy also extends beyond the products to the sustainable and non-toxic design of the Byron Bay salon which was created using reclaimed timber and stone, low VOC paints and natural rubber tiles, right down to the low- flow taps and recycled toilet paper. Because when you create 2. operates. For example, when Bank Australia a business guided by a deeply entrenched philosophy, you Clean Money customers said they wanted to see action INDUSTRY STANDARD: can’t just pick and choose where it applies. Bank Australia is putting their money taken on human rights issues affecting groups Unethical and dirty Treat your skin to a Little Company sustainable facial where their mouth is, shifting completely like Indigenous Australians and asylum investments with minimal at 1/26 Brigantine Street, Byron Bay. away from dirty investments to 100% seekers and refugees, Bank Australia chose community focus. @_littlecompany clean money. to support Human Rights Watch to conduct THEIR APPROACH: their independent refugee research program. Ethically screening all They were also the first bank in Australia to investments, supporting Perhaps you’ve never given it much thought, have a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and people and planet through INDUSTRY STANDARD: but when you’re not spending it, the money in have publicly stated their support of the Uluru fairer investments and grants. Toxic ingredients from your savings account is used by your bank for Statement from the Heart. DRIVEN BY: unethical sources. personal and commercial loans. This means If your concerns are mainly climate- A commitment to listening THEIR APPROACH: that if your bank doesn’t share your values, related, Bank Australia is the first bank in to the world their customers All natural, cruelty-free your account balance could be inadvertently Australia to run entirely on renewable energy and shareholders want to live ingredients that can be traced supporting projects you don’t agree with – like and have been carbon neutral since 2011. in, and using the business of back to the source, with fossil fuel projects, live export, or weapons. They even carbon offset the carbon emissions banking to help create that treatments provided in a When you open a bank account, you’re associated with every customer car loan! world. natural and non-toxic space. essentially going into business with them, and In a world that feels like politicians DRIVEN BY: you need to choose your bank as carefully as and corporations call the shots, regardless A desire to show the you choose your business or life partner. of what the people want, Bank Australia is industry that skincare can be As a cooperative, Bank Australia is listening to what their customers say, and acting sustainable and healthy for us owned by customers, who get to have their accordingly. Find out if Bank Australia is the and for the planet. say on what matters to them – it is then this bank for you at bankaust.com.au feedback that guides how Bank Australia @bankaust

28 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 29 THIS COMMUNITY OF OURS CELEBRATING

The Movers and Shakers

3. Natural Wine Sustainability is serious business when we think about the current climate of our planet, but as Supernatural Cellars proves, you can be serious about natural wines, while still having a lot of fun.

As with any food production system, the less get up and start Byron’s tiniest dancefloor. It’s INDUSTRY STANDARD: chemicals the better – for you and for the land. all welcomed and very much appreciated. Wine lists with an emphasis Supporters of natural wines will also tell you While the state of the world and our on heritage, rather than that you won’t get a hangover from natural race to find solutions might feel incredibly sustainable practice. wines (the jury’s still out on this one, but hey, serious, Supernatural proves that embracing THEIR APPROACH: I’ll give it a shot!) But if we put in efforts to fill sustainability can also be raucous, fun, and a Providing only natural wines our plates with organic and naturally-grown little bit tipsy. in a fun and welcoming food, then we might as well wash it down with Gather around the wine glasses at environment. something kind to the planet too. 9 Bay Lane, Byron Bay DRIVEN BY: Supernatural is dark, sexy and loud. @supernaturalcellars A love of raucous wine Their wine list has over 50 biodynamic, organic swilling, without fear of or sustainable wines, which they encourage staining perfect white table slurping down with cheer – no pompous glass cloths. swirling or wine swishing here, just the pure enjoyment of gathering around the table with good friends and good food. Eat with your fingers, throw your dirty napkin on the floor,

30 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... SUMMER + READ RADICAL RECIPROCITY PARTNER– Dumbo Feather @dumbofeather

Dumbo Feather x Paradiso A Summer Read Special

Paradiso is proud to present a very special collaboration with the all inspiring Dumbo Feather magazine. We have been long time fans of this publication (since it began!) and admire the new wave of positive media that Dumbo Feather inspired. We are proud to be among this wave and are forever grateful for the change for good that Dumbo Feather brought to our industry. In their pages you find inspiring interviews with changemakers, leaders, artists, writers, lawyers, activists, philosophers, teachers, builders, and scientists, who use their craft to make the world a better place. By telling their story, Dumbo Feather motivates others to do the same. Please enjoy this special summer read pull out, a proud media partnership between Paradiso and Dumbo Feather. Happy reading!

31 SUMMER + READ DUMBO FEATHER X PARADISO RADICAL RECIPROCITY

For the past ten years, I have cultivated a community that supports my veggies and staples from the land, and a newsletter that shares stories most essential human needs (ie. food, shelter, education) with limited of farming that week, with endearing photos of heart-shaped carrots. In exchange of money. Sometimes called the barter and gift economy, exchange, I help the farm deepen their expression of values and grow sometimes called family, I call it “radical reciprocity.” their impact. To be above-board we need to disclose the services we I came to this lifestyle not long after college, when I moved back receive on our tax returns, but we save the dollars we would have spent to my hometown of Petaluma, California to take up a residential farm to pay for these services outright. internship. In exchange for agricultural training, I laboured. The trade I am also inspired by other people’s stories of leaning into the felt equitable and mutualistic and I became hooked on bartering for the gift economy. A friend traded his labour to learn to build an Aleutian basics. I saw viscerally how, when practiced with care and consideration, kayak. And Arrow, the business manager of Owinza, a worker-owned non-monetary exchange could yield more than the sum of its parts. quilting cooperative on Pine Ridge, South Dakota, describes how her These days, I rarely go to the grocery store. Instead I meet my father built dozens of houses in compensation for a home of his own, all caloric needs in other ways, including work-trade at the place that I live materials included. Each instance of trade is one less dollar circulating – a grass-fed beef and land restoration operation. Here, I not only receive and one more heart engulfed in treasuring handcrafted skills and critical the gift of housing, but my housemate and I feed ourselves directly from knowledge for survival. the herd we manage on the land. Of course, bartering doesn’t come easy to a lot of people. The fear There is seaweed, too. I climb down steep cliffs at low tide, lies in the negotiation, which requires being honest about personal needs. stepping out carefully into tidepools to pick nori, wakame, kombu (all But the rewards for this act of courage are greater: deep connection, regularly sold seaweeds) off the wave-crashed rocks, and then sun-dry exponential growth in our level of care for one another, and an increased it back at home to eat and share throughout the year. Seaweed is a gift ability to withstand and respond to crisis. Researchers are learning brimming with essential nutrients long lost in many other foods due that our fundamental human need for belonging actually gives us an Radical to years of extractive agricultural practices. We harvest it to promote evolutionary edge, keeping us in communities working towards shared regrowth and mindfully tip-toe through tidepools to avoid causing aims. It is a freedom to walk in the world knowing that you will be cared unnecessary harm. for no matter how big or small your bank account. I encourage you to Harvesting in this way becomes a ceremony of checking in, pursue this freedom. Barter, trade and gift in my life has offered a daily tending and expressing gratitude. It’s the same ceremony I experience opportunity to affirm my sense of belonging, whereas cash and credit has when seeking out wild mushrooms, bay nuts (a local substitute for coffee felt divisive and isolating by comparison. and chocolate), elderberries (syrup for health and immunity), and kaffir I am a living commitment to regenerating California soils, water limes from a tree I helped plant 10 years ago. Participating in harvest and community. I arrived at this purpose statement during coaching reciprocity requires giving back; I regularly plant trees to build habitat and to harvest sessions with a mentor, and in exchange, I helped him with garden from in future years. Foraging for food provides boundless strategies for design and labour. Sometimes I struggle with whether that was enough of meeting our nutritional needs “for free,” but in a way that redefines our a payment. In some ways it’s much harder to barter than to simply write a place as stewards of our home. cheque (which cleanly and neatly excuses me of further accountability). In 2013, I felt called to move from the nonprofit space where I The truth is, there will never be a way to pay him back, and tying had been working, into business. Whereas the conventional pathway myself in a state of eternal debt is actually a beautiful thing: it holds us exalted higher degree education, every bone in my body felt a dissonance accountable to one another as extended family, and puts us in a state of at pursuing an MBA. I wasn’t convinced that it would teach me what I perpetual service. was yearning to learn: radical new strategies to remake our world based If everyone practiced these ways of transacting business, they on economic principles of abundance, reciprocity and enoughness. might feel more indebted – not financially, but to each others’ humanity. Instead, I pursued a relationship with the co-founders of LIFT How much more thoughtfulness, care and concern would we express to Economy, impact consultants and entrepreneurs, who were willing to one another on a daily basis? It is fascinating how comfortable the West gift their knowledge of next economy business principles. I spent the first is with financial debt, and yet how starkly averse we are to accumulating two years receiving exquisite training in an “apprenticeship” program this “emotional indebtedness.” What would our world look like if this that ultimately led to my becoming co-owner of the company. They saw were flipped? Imagine if people hesitated when they swiped their credit my lack of an MBA as an asset, because it meant that firstly, I was not in card, but freely accumulated a “community balance,” a debt ledger debt – and by extension of that I was in accord with values of thrift and reflecting items bought and sold on the basis of transacting kindness, trust economy that defines our work – and secondly, I was not indoctrinated and a commitment in return. by the norms of current economics. What surprised me was the amount Yet, I do still earn money and engage in the financial realm. So of trust that we experienced in those first years: trust I would ultimately the question is, what do I do with the money I earn now? Where can I give back to others. invest financial wealth to accelerate the creation of a world that I know Today, I am a partner/worker-owner at LIFT Economy with equal is possible, one in which needs are met for everyone (non-human species decision-making power in the company. My day-to-day work is dedicated included), with equal abundance? How can we cultivate increased to creating, modelling and sharing a locally self-reliant economy that resilience from global markets and independence from our reliance on works for the benefit of all life. We counsel local businesses on ways to fossil fuel use? Through my own investments I am learning strategies for allocate funds to redistribute wealth, improve profitability and create answering these questions. My company has channeled more than $1M Words by Erin Axelrod ecological resilience. USD to women and person-of-colour owned businesses via our Force for I also offer these skills in exchange for the land bases that feed Good Fund we launched in 2016. me. For example, a local farm, Singing Frogs Farm, trades me my services I am learning the levers for using barter, gift (and money too) to Originally published in Issue 55 of Dumbo Feather for a membership in their No-Till Community Supported Agriculture farm move us closer towards an abundance economy. I can only imagine what – “Creating the next economy.” just a few miles down the road. Each week, I pick up a box of herbs, gifts radical reciprocity will bring to you, and to your neighbours too.

32 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 33 SUMMER + READ DUMBO FEATHER X PARADISO

“Each instance of trade is one less dollar circulating and one more heart engulfed in treasuring handcrafted We create digital media inspired by your story. skills and critical Yaga produces honest & thoughtful videos, photographs & podcasts. knowledge for survival.”

yaga.com.au @yaga_media [email protected]

34 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ...

YAGA_Print Ad_Paradiso 12_RHYS.indd 1 13/11/19 10:13 am FASHION + BEAUTY THE GOOD LIFE WALKING IN SPACE

walking in space

Photography Ming Nomchong Styling Abigael Whittaker H&M Phoebe Barrett

When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars Then peace will guide the planets And love will steer the stars

36 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 37 FASHION + BEAUTY THE GOOD LIFE WALKING IN SPACE

Good morning starshine The earth says hello You twinkle above us We twinkle below Good morning starshine You lead us along My love and me as we singing Our early morning singing song

38 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 39 FASHION + BEAUTY THE GOOD LIFE WALKING IN SPACE

On a rocket to The Fourth Dimension Total self awareness The intention

My mind is as clear as country air I feel my flesh, all colors mesh

40 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 41 FASHION + BEAUTY THE GOOD LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY– FILM DEVELOPED MODELS– LISTEN WORDS– Ming Nomchong AND SCANNED BY Luke Robson Nat Woods mingnomchong.com Bayou Film from Priscillas @nat.woods_ @ming_nomchong_photo @bayou_film @luke.robson

STYLING– Katya Abigael Whittaker WORDS– from Que Models @abrac_dabra Hair (1967) @chachakatya

H&M– Phoebe Barrett @phoebefever Fashion: A better kind of fashion

Sometimes it Tell us about your brand and how it goes Buy a Guppy Friend and chuck it in the wash with may feel like we against the grain in the world of fashion. your synthetic garments to reduce microplastic are living in dire Danny: Salt Gypsy began as my blog while I worked shedding. And choose to support locally-made as times, but with on a surf charter boat in the Maldives – not as a much as you can. every crisis comes brand launching for the sake of “starting a brand.” I R: First and foremost is a change of mindset – a an opportunity to had surf leggings made for myself in 2012 as there shift is needed around what people pay for clothing realise our mistakes was nothing in the marketplace. I want to see better and the frequency they purchase new items. We and make amends. style in the lineup for female surfers – from what encourage consumers to do their research and if you Every day I see we wear to how we surf. And I want women to feel can’t find the answer, ask. Something I have adapted fashion brands, more confident and equitable in the ocean, not in my own wardrobe, is Eco Age’s ‘30 wears’ rule. both new and worrying about how their butt looks or boobs falling When considering an item, I always ask myself existing, adopting out of tops. Also, no-one ever talks about the skin “Will I wear this at least 30 times?”. If the answer is better practices and damage and melanoma rates – our gear is designed no, best not to purchase. better fabrics. We specifically for women who want to feel awesome Often we’ll hear business owners say that it’s spoke to two local covering up. too expensive to change to more sustainable women using their Rebecca: Olga Joan is a low-impact apparel practice–what’s your take on this? brands to create label designed with purpose, offering pieces that D: Erm, yeah it is more expensive. Because that pieces that are revel in the beauty of minimalism and the design reflects actual costs involved in fair living wages worthy of a space in of simplicity. I have always loved the notion of and sustainable materials. As an example, my your wardrobe. stepping back into past values where items are production costs alone have quadrupled – I’m not produced with the intent to last, basically pieces exaggerating. What once cost me $10 to produce in Danny Clayton is the that are forever and a day. To do this, OJ works Bali is now $40 to produce in Australia. Sustainable creator of surfwear brand with durable fibres with traceability – enabling practices in the business of fashion is the new norm. Salt Gypsy, and also the consumers to know the journey their piece has If your favourite brand isn’t making changes within co-owner of women’s surf endeavoured. I find that when a piece has an their business, shame on them. concept store, Seabones. intent to last, this also renounces the idea of over- R: Of course it is more expensive, but it’s investing @saltgypsy consumption which is an overwhelming issue we all in better materials, products and supporting @seabonesbyronbay tend to neglect. companies that are making positive change. Some How did your life journey bring you on to the business owners might not want to move away Rebecca Pastro is the path to sustainable fashion? from the industry’s margins, which are traditionally creator of Olga Joan, a D: I actually have a degree in Sculpture and 3D overinflated. low-impact apparel label Design so that, combined with my work experience What are some other ethical and sustainable which evolved out of her as a sales rep for Billabong NZ, has formed the brands that you admire? vintage clothing store. backbone of Salt Gypsy. Four years ago I made D: Mara Hoffman and Back Beat Co in the US, @olga.joan the switch to stretch fabrics made from ECONYL® Lonely Label in NZ and locally, Lottie Hall. 100% regenerated nylon yarn and haven’t looked R: International brands such as Patagonia, Stella back. McCartney and Nudie Denim are really at the R: I have always had a deep appreciation of vintage forefront of radical change within the industry. clothing. A pre-loved piece is more than just an item Previous generations bought less and took found in an opportunity shop, it is ultimately an better care of their clothes. Do you have an untold story from the past, a piece of history if you item of clothing or an accessory that you have will. From sourcing vintage pieces, the one thing treasured for years? I always noticed was the preservation of a piece D: Yup, pretty much the handful of pieces I have – how we previously cared for our possessions, invested in from Lonely Label and Lottie Hall over without the mindset of an item being easily the last seven years (before that I was living on a surf replaceable. charter boat and living in lycra!). As an example, What can consumers do to lessen the impact knowing how hard I’ve worked to spend X amount Singing my space songs on a spiderweb star of their wardrobes? on my Lonely check maxi dress or dusty pink velvet “Life is around you and in you” D: Buy less and buy better. We can do this through pants means each time I wear that garment I feel Answer for Timothy Leary, deary increasing the amount of quality vintage/upcycled super rad in my own style and will continue to wear Let the sun shine garments in our wardrobes, buying classic styles it for years to come. Let The sunshine in in classic colours that “won’t go out of fashion” R: Yes I have several, one of my most treasured is my anytime soon, and investing in well-made garments collection of vintage towels most of which belonged you absolutely love and know suits your personal to my great grandmother. style so you can get the maximum cost per wear.

42 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 43 FASHION + BEAUTY TRAVEL CREATIVE DIRECTOR– MODEL– ST. AGNI Lara Fells Holly McCauley ART DIRECTOR– DESIGNER– Paris Bluett Erika Toscano PHOTOGRAPHY– STOCKIST– Renee Rae st-agni.com @stagnistudio

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

From top left, Lordes Mocassin, Vivi Woven Sling–Back, Como Espadrille. On the opposite page, Vivi Woven Sling–Back. All from ST. AGNI.

44 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 45 ARTS + CULTURE ARTS GUIDE WORDS– MUSE– TO INSPIRE Nat Woods Yeah Nice Gallery @nat.woods_ @yeahnice_galery

PHOTO– Holly McCauley Thrills Co @hollymccauley @thrillsco Jordana Henry Get inspired— @jordi_pordi December to February is a great time for ...

PHOTO When Paul McNeil spoke at Breakfast Club 03 he told the audience The Annual Exhibition and to just get their art out there, whatever it takes, even if that just Launch Studio Tropico, Bayou means hosting an art show in your bedroom. His point was that Film and Good Publishings are you don’t need all the swank of a fancy art gallery, all you need to coming together to end the Yeah Nice do is share your works. Yeah Nice Gallery in Mullumbimby might year on a bang! Head along not be your bedroom, but it embodies this idea of stripping back for the launch of The Annual, art to just the enjoyment of creativity. Their casual approach to a journal compilation of the art exhibitions has created a place where local and visiting artists finest local film photography. can share their work with the community. Saturday, 14 December, Studio Tropico, Unit 1A, 81 Centennial Circuit, Byron Bay Gallery We love everything about Yeah Nice Gallery – who is behind the studio and what do you @studio_tropico do when you’re not running a cool art gallery? @bayou_film That’s so lovely of you! Behind the gallery is Holly and Jordi. Holly is a graphic designer and @goodpublishings mum to Della, and Jordi is an artist and mum to Minty. When we aren’t planning shows, you’ll find Jordi painting in her studio and Holly at her desk. We’ve both been living in the Byron region for ART about 10 years. Six Lone Goats on Cezanne’s Where did the idea for Yeah Nice come from? Mountain (group show) Over We had been toying with the idea of doing something as a fun project together for a while 100 year since Cezanne’s and with our shared love of art and getting people together, a gallery was always the dream. The death one generation of young perfect little space came up and we thought we could manage just being able to cover the rent, artists after another try to even if we made no sales, so we took the plunge and opened with a group show featuring artists understand and solve the and friends in December 2018. We still pinch ourselves daily that we have started something that is enigma of his visual thinking getting such a great response in the community, it’s obvious now that people were really wanting a and reinterpretation of reality. space like this to pop up. 24 January to 18 February, Starting a gallery must be quite an adventure – how was the process of getting Lone Goat Gallery, Byron Bay. everything up and running? lonegoatgallery.com/exhibitions Our first show was a bit of a learning curve, and everything happened quite last minute, but all in all, it went really smoothly and we have nailed our own kind of systems when it comes to Hiromi Tango: Healing hosting a show. We’ve worked out that if we work with like-minded people, and they get where we Circle – Home An exhibition are coming from and what we what to achieve – it’s smooth sailing. That said, running things is still of recent work generating a wild ride! healing conversation through I know you’re not meant to have favourites ... but what have been some of the highlight engagement with art. Free exhibitions since you opened? program of creative and Yes, no favourites here! But a stand out show was Jesse Dolman. He’s a great mate of both meditative activities. On of us and to host a show for him really was a blast. His work is incredible and the response to the exhibition until 15 March 2020, show, both locally and far-reaching was a proud moment for us both as a gallery and as friends Tweed Regional Gallery. and supporters of Jesse. We are hoping to host him again soon! Another great show was Bastard artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au Lantana, by Darcy McCrae. We were drawn to his work as soon as we saw it, his show was (almost) a sell out, with our biggest crowd so far. Darcy is a true talent and we are so stoked to have his FILM works grace our walls. The Longevity Film Filmmaker The Northern Rivers seems to encourage creativity in not only artists, but in everyone Kale Brock travels to – as creatives yourselves, do you find this community a supportive place to create and Okinawa (Japan) Loma Linda work from? (California) and Ikaria (Greece) From our experience, everything seems a little more doable here. We haven’t encountered where people longer, are any negativity, whereas in a bigger city, you might get some critics or push back from bigger fish healthier, and enjoy life well questioning why two chicks are opening a gallery and serving tinnies and hotdogs. There’s definitely into their later years. 6.30pm, a give-it-a-go-attitude here and people are just curious to see what’s going on. The people who are 10 December, Byron Theatre. coming to our openings are the faces we want to see and chat to, locals and people from out of byroncentre.com.au town. We are so happy to have created something that seems to resonate. Who are you creatively inspired by right now? LISTEN We are still buzzing from Darcy’s show that we held in August, his work is timeless but also One Wild Ride Podcast Local so relatable. We are also always inspired by people just giving it a crack, in whatever field that business mentor, Pru Chapman, might be. explores the adventurous Finally, any grand plans for Yeah Nice that you can share with us? journeys of people living their Our summer group show on Friday, 13 December, keep an eye out for more details and passions and chasing purpose. artist announcements soon! We are so excited to celebrate our one year anniversary with you all. Listen to Seasons 1 and 2 wherever you stream podcasts. Head along to the Yeah Nice Christmas Group Show on Friday 13 December at Ross pruchapman.com Industrial Complex Mill Street, Mullumbimby. From January, you’ll find Yeah Nice Gallery in their new digs at 4 Acacia Street, Byron Bay.

46 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 47 ARTS + CULTURE CURRENT MUSE WORDS– PHOTOS– BRONWYN BANCROFT Ella Noah Bancroft p.48 @ellanoahbancroft_ @thebonfirelife

MUSE– p.49 Bronwyn Bancroft @drishti_studio @bronwynbancroft p.50 bronwynbancroft.com Courtesy of Bronwyn Bancroft Bronwyn Bancroft

For this issue of Paradiso, we bring you a beautiful conversation between local writer and mentor, Ella Noah Bancroft, and her mother, Dr Bronwyn Bancroft – one of this country’s most talented Indigenous artists. Both Ella and Bronwyn are inspiring and strong Bundjalung women and we are so grateful to have them both in the Northern Rivers community.

I wanted to talk about your story of resilience and determination And Designer Aboriginals, which is your company, what were the to succeed as a single mother, an Aboriginal woman, and an foundations of it and can you explain what it is? artist. I’d like to ask you first a little bit about your story with art, Well, in 1985 I had a shop, which I set up with $3,000 and a starting from whatever age you feel appropriate. bank card. And I started that in Rozelle in Sydney. I would make hand Well, I think I was about six when I started drawing on the walls painted garments, silkscreen and hand painted jewellery and employed of the house in Tenterfield with a lead pencil. And then I went to Sunday Aboriginal women. Young Elsa Dixon, who was my Aboriginal mate in school, which in itself is a curious expedition in religion. My mother was employment, she managed to get me some subsidised funding for the very strong on us going to church, I think ostensibly because it gave her girls to do training. So I think ‘85 to ‘91 it endured, but there was a lot of Sunday morning off. And during that time I had a flair for art, which was ... I mean people think about it now, but like people were saying, “Who noticed by a few people. I had a Sunday school teacher who really took does she think she is? The Aboriginal Jenny Kee?” and we just got no a fascination with me, so every Sunday she’d just let me draw. So from oxygen on our fashion. We went to Paris, I had my stuff collected in the there I think my passion was ignited and it was just a really good way Victoria and Albert Museum, the Powerhouse Museum, all over Australia, for me to explore myself because art is a very big journey in learning – and internationally, but it was just not good enough for the Australian you’re undoing the layers of your life and painting about that through an fashion market. emotional, physical and spiritual context. So yes, I think I was always So just on that point with Paris, what happened? destined to be an artist. There were three designers. Euphemia Bostock, myself and Mini Your style has definitely changed in the last 35 years, but it’s very Heath. And the focus was largely on the models because it was a self- strongly tied to your Indigenous heritage. When did you start to esteem program that was put together by the Aboriginal Medical Service tell those stories and and be in that space? in Sydney. And it was amazing. Like they just thought everyone was Um roundabout 16. At 17 I was finishing high school and I fantastic, the fashion was fantastic. And I subsequently got my component went to art school at 18 and married your dad. And I was painting of the collection acquired by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. ‘binging’, which is what we call turtles in Bundjalung language. And But there was a resistance in Australia, overall to anything doing cityscapes. And so I was painting that, but I had a pretty, well, a Aboriginal. I remember going to David Jones and showing them my confronting moment with a very dominating woman who basically told range and the lady who was the buyer said “Oh, darling, we’re just not me what I was doing at art school was shit and I should just stop doing doing primitive this year”. And I was like, ‘Oh my goodness’. I mean, it’s it. She said, “We don’t do stuff like that here”, but of course they don’t, I appalling, but at the end of the day, you can’t fight the whole, you can’t was the only Aboriginal student in the entire school! struggle against it. You’ve got to deviate. And so I basically stopped the

48 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 49 ARTS + CULTURE CURRENT MUSE BRONWYN BANCROFT

through life, you meet amazing people. Euphemia Bostock’s been an So you moved to Byron how long ago and what’s that journey been amazing mentor for me. She’s one of my closest friends. She’s 83 and like for you? You’ve come home to Bundjalung country. she’s a Bundjalung-Munajali woman and she’s an incredible woman. She Yeah. I’ve come back to Bundjalung country. Well, our family lights up my life. So she’s been a person that has, you know, really lit my comes from Western Bundjalung so that’s over near Grafton. But I think path. And so many other fantastic women, like Sally Morgan. And you! it was incredible. Moving here. I mean the transformative journey of You have done a lot of things that I brought into my life. actually feeling as if you can breathe, and that co-joined with you being The majority of women that I’ve ever met in my life that I’ve here obviously, and also Ruby loves it here and so does Jack. So I think collaborated with have always left me with something amazing, and I the breath of life, especially when you’re in your end of life story, you don’t dislike men, but I realised that often I’m just not tolerating any of know, like you’ve had two thirds of it, you hope to get another third, so their arguments or the way that they speak to me because it’s like, this coming to a place like this has invigorated me. And I live up in the bush is my life. What you’ve got to talk about is really different to the way I too. So when I go up, drive up into the bush, it’s like you’re uplifted. Your perceive things. And I feel that we’re just so different and we were never spirits are just soaring because you’re on the top of a mountain and you really meant to be thinking like each other because the apex of who can look at the world and go, ‘Wow, this is extremely special’. And I’m you are as a woman is embedded in the fact that you give birth to them so grateful. and you are the creation story in their life. Women should be revered What do you think is the future for a healthy relationship constantly, and given respect as these life givers that go through the life between Indigenous and non-indigenous people? How can we best threatening journey to give life to another human being. take the action of really coming together as one unified peoples? I wanted to just touch briefly on some of the successes in Well, I’m not promoting homogeneity, what I’m promoting is that your life ... people need to open the filters and basically learn. It’s on to the individual Uh, well it’s really hard isn’t it? Because the journey is so long. to actually go and learn something about Aboriginal Australia. Anything You know, ‘cause I started at 18 and I’m 61. I think going on Play School like, you know, open your mind, speak to an Aboriginal person – instead of and being part of initiating a new art creation element for children as part walking past somebody in the street, you might say, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ of Play School. And I’ve taught a lot of art workshops because I think art Simple as that. And then before you know it, if you do it often enough, is a pathway to healing. you can end up being friends with that person. I think the filters that we’ve Going to Paris with the fashion was a key component, because got, which are historic filters where non-Aboriginal people feel threatened I always believed that you’ve got to go international to get the respect by Aboriginal people. A lot of misinformation has been given to everyday that you should just get automatically in this country – Tall Poppy Australians and I believe that with the expansion of education and Syndrome does exist and it sucks. And then I think running the shop was resources – and this is why I think we should be teaching young people an extraordinary moment. It was well before its time, but it was a great because I think it’ll be a generational shift – I’m pretty sure it’s not going to harnessing and a focal point for Aboriginal people. Mum Shirley used to happen automatically in the next year, but I do believe that the age group come and have a cup of tea, Kevin Gilbert, Gary Foley, Chicka Dixon … from say 9 to 25 at this particular point could be that generational impetus these amazing Aboriginal people would just drop in and have a cuppa. that we need to make change in this country. And I think that was a key moment. Growing up with you as my mother, there was quite a strong I think just everything. I’ve had over 220 exhibitions, group and emphasis on us going to school and staying in school. Why is it so shop and decided to become a full-time painter looking after Jack and what I look like to people – their resistance to the continued evolution of solo. Illustrating books, traveling all over the world, going to Argentina to important to you as an Aboriginal woman that your children are you. So that was a brave leap off the diving platform. Aboriginal people is guarded. I’ve had non Aboriginal males say to me, exhibit with Banduk Marika. Having my work acquired by the National educated and that they take that opportunity? I know you’re quite a mentor for a lot of Aboriginal women, young “You want to be as black-as...” and they’ll indicate the colour black. And Gallery, moving to Byron Bay. Oh, and that’s a pinnacle moment – being I think the story happens with Dad, because that was a big and old, and Designer Aboriginals and the shop is obviously I go, no, I don’t. I actually want to be who I am, which is who I am. able to afford to have a studio that’s a permanent, because in Sydney I impetus for me. Watching him get his takeaway beers from the Tabulam a clear instigator of that. What do you feel like your role has And I think undoing the complexity of race, racism and hatred was paying a lot of money for a studio and then they’d kick you out. So pub, he was only allowed to have one bottle. He was an engineer on the developed into now in terms of being an Indigenous elder in the in this country when Aboriginal people identify with their family. And I think that’s absolutely got to be a highlight for any practicing artist is to barges in the war and was responsible for getting thousands of Australian community and what do you hope to be passing on to young for me, the inheritance of my family is all connected to the history, the have a studio where you can actually leave your stuff and there’s no fear soldiers out of Madang and Rabaul. He did all of this with no education. Aboriginal women who look up to you? massacres, the resolution of the family to continue, the marriages which of being turfed. And I think the sadness that I felt for him as his life journey unfolded – he I think ultimately the really key elements in the development were upheld in pride, the absolute tenacity of my family to overcome And prior to having a studio, where did you normally paint in your always felt that he was inadequate and dumb, because he didn’t have an of my own specific sort of life journey has been patience, agility, being being denied education, then going to protect the country in war. I said early stages of life? education. He was a beautiful man, a really intelligent man. But because able to move, not standing in somebody else’s story – stand in your own that to Dad, “Why did you go to the war? You weren’t a citizen?” He Well I couldn’t afford a studio and so people were always quite he wasn’t offered the same as everybody else, it was like he felt depleted story, be proud, be strong and you know, basically use the history, the said, “It’s my country too, Bronwyn.” So the complexity and complexities amazed and they’d go, “Oh, where do you paint?” And I’m like, “In my in himself, that he wasn’t quite whole. He wasn’t smart enough ever, rich history that we’ve got from all of our family to embed in your life the of our stories need to be in the curriculum across the nation and tiny little house in Balmain.” I worked on the kitchen table and so there which I thought was really crazy ‘cause he was an extraordinary man. So opportunity. internationally. Largely I find Australia is an incredibly racist country and was not a lot of formal eating at the table ever, which is probably why I think that embedded in me this absolute desire for education – that that There are plenty of opportunities for us if we just gather the it’s a terrible thing to have to say, because we should be proud of each we’re just so informal and it works for us. There would be times when I was one way to get some equity. momentum that we really need and take pride in each other. I mean, other. would be producing up to 20 to 22 works for exhibition and they’d just Your success is obviously embedded in your resilience. I know one of the things I find is that often women can be quite competitive. When I spoke at the Byron Writers Festival, I asked why be all around the walls and in the door jambs. So all of you were really how incredibly difficult some moments in your life were, but what I’ve always competed against myself and in that way, I’ve never had can’t we just be proud of each other? Why can’t we be nice and say, careful and saying, “Don’t touch Mum’s paintings”, “Let her move them”. actually pushed you past those moments? What advice would a competition against someone. I just think if we just go on our own “Congratulations, you did a great job”. But instead they deny the And so a very unconventional upbringing for all of us, I think, including you give to people who are chasing that dream? journey on our path and be true to ourselves, we can actually be fantastic Aboriginal voice or they elevate the Aboriginal voice that they are me! I think one of the things that I think for young people in this world for everyone. But the competition I find is really debilitating and we comfortable hearing – the palatable – and I find that quite disturbing I think it’s been good for my hips – now that I’m a Yogi, I seem is to find your own fibre, your courage, your guts, the thing that makes often feel as if our self-esteem suffers and then we think we’re not good because I think there’s such a diversity in voice across the country that to have quite open hips and I think it was all that sitting on the you who you are and you will never fail. I don’t feel like I’ve failed at enough. Well who aren’t we good enough for? You only have to be good we really need to embrace that. Every non-Aboriginal person isn’t the ground rather than sitting at a table for dinner. all. I believe the fiber that I found inside of my own self became the enough for yourself and then you will flourish. same as every other non-Aboriginal person, so why would they assume Well things don’t have to be like other peoples’ families. I mean courage that allowed me to succeed. And it is allowing me to lead this I know that you have an artwork that’s called, ‘You don’t even look that we’re a completely cohesive group of people? We all have different we didn’t have any money, so I had to work really hard to give us money. extraordinary life and it will be full of pain and it will be full of angst, but Aboriginal’. What kind of roadblocks or obstacles have you faced minds, different experiences and different upbringings. I felt like it was great. It was so fun for me growing up with a it’ll also be full of love and joy. with either people criticising you for the way you look or present Where do you think that you get your determination and bunch of canvases of psychedelic contemporary Indigenous in your indigeneity? inspiration? artwork on the walls and always having a tray of paints for This conversation was recorded for The Palmcast, a podcast Well, it’s always there. I mean, you know, at the end of the day, I think my Auntie Dulcey was an important person – she died me to dip my fingers into. I would never have wanted any other co-hosted by Ella Noah Bancroft. You can listen to the full conversation I think my Auntie said it really well, and she just said, “She may be the young. She was a really amazing woman. And I think my Dad, just upbringing. on itunes (The Palmcast) or on soundcloud – soundcloud.com/yaga- whitest one here, but she’s got the blackest heart.” So it’s not a matter of watching the way he worked as a sleeper cutter in the bush. As you go That’s beautiful. podcasts

50 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 51 ARTS + CULTURE BI-MONTHLY BOOK CLUB OUR READERS– VISIT– MUSIC WORDS– MUSE– Byron Writers Festival byronwritersfestival.com Nat Woods Merryn Jeann @nat.woods_ @merryn_jeann @byronwritersfestival to subscribe to their newsletter for updates on year-round events, Clare Bowditch was a workshops and the The Book— guest of Byron Writers annual 3-Day Festival Festival in November. in August.

We all have an inner critic. That voice that tells you you’re too ‘this’, or not enough ‘that’. Clare Bowditch’s beautifully honest memoir shares a Merryn journey which so many people can easily relate to. Here’s what our friends at Byron Writers Festival thought of the read. Jeann

Your own kind I’m listening to your music debut album – tell us about while writing these questions the creative process of from Seattle, with the rain bringing the visuals and music of girl trickling down on the glass together. roof of the library above me – I love the relationship your soft whimsical vocals are between music and film. Both the perfect soundtrack to this can exist alone but if they exist – Clare Bowditch peaceful setting. Do you ever at the right time at the right imagine who’s listening to your place simultaneously they can music and where? explode and create the most To be honest, not really but beautiful star. I would highly it’s so great to hear from people recommend watching the end saying they’ve heard my music scene of Zabriskie Point (directed somewhere far away ... it feels by Antonioni, with music by Pink surreal and I hope that never goes Floyd ... WOW). away. You also collaborate with Jane Bec Gabby Where are you while you’re other homegrown Byron writing your answers to these Shire musicians, like Tora and Suffolk Park Newrybar Broken Head questions and what are you Parcels, did you all grow up listening to? honing your musical talents Tell us the plot in one sentence ... In Clare’s Tell us the plot in one sentence ... A heart Tell us the plot in one sentence ... Your Own I’m sitting on platform 2 together? What’s it like to now own words “this is the story I promised myself wrenching memoir of the singer songwriter and Kind of Girl is the story of the stories we tell at Biarritz train station waiting collaborate from all over the – aged twenty-one – that I would one day be now writer, Clare Bowditch. ourselves and what happens when we believe for a night train to take me back world? brave enough, well enough, and alive enough, Who was your hero? Clare is most definitely the them. to Paris. Not currently listening Yes, we (Parcels and I) to write.” hero of the book! Although readers will also fall Who was your hero? Clare’s mum. She lost to anything except for a distant grew up together from the age Who was your hero? The undeniable hero of in love with her bestie, her mum, her sisters and a child, a husband, and resiliently held her ocean rumble and the clickety of about 14/15. We were in a this story is Clare Bowditch! She generously more than one of her boyfriends along the way. family together (5 kids!). When Clare returns roll of plastic suitcase wheels band together, then once we shares her story with such honesty and bravery. Favourite part of the story? The best part of to Australia thin but broken her mum provides lazily wandering past the bench were moving our separate ways I Favourite part of the story? Being a BIG fan of this read is how much of it I could relate to. a holding space where she can heal before I’m perched upon. The last music started collaborating as a singer Clare’s beautiful voice and songwriting I loved Being of similar age and having had similar life heading back out into the world. I listened to was ‘You want it / songwriter with bands and the snippets of lyrics included at the start of experiences, the book had me swinging from Favourite part of the story? The love story darker’ by Mr Cohen. producers. Tora was the first group each chapter. elation to panic to laughter and then tears within between Clare and Marty. You say that you attempt to I did this with and I’m still making What did you love/not love about the book? pages of the book. The phrase “omg that was ME What did you love/not love about the book? “practice honesty” in a world music with Toby (an ex member, I loved her honest storytelling and the way TOO” seemed to be on repeat in my head. Growing up in suburban Melbourne I could so often filled with dishonesty now in Alfalfa) six years later. Out she dealt with her inner voice (Frank). I wept What did you love/not love about the book? relate to Clare’s childhood memories. Reading – how does this practice of of everyone I’ve collaborated with through a lot of this book. Clare’s honest account of her experiences with this book took me right back including listening honesty manifest through your he’s the number 1 musician, mind What did you learn? Obviously reading this acute mental health made it at times extremely to the ABC in the car with Dad on road trips. Merryn Jeann’s music is full of whimsy, music? and collaborator I’ve had the great memoir I learnt a lot about Clare, the other hard to read. I both loved this and hated this. Also while hanging around bands in Fitzroy I romance, wit, and joy – it feels like poetry Music seems to reveal the joy to create with. It’s been sweet wonderful part is being taken along for the ride What did you learn? So often, humans with remember seeing some of the characters in the dancing through your ears. If you were truth if you find that moment of to have music to connect with as Clare learns to observe herself and manage high emotional intelligence such as Clare, who book at parties and gigs. It was all very familiar. lucky enough to catch her recent show at surrender with it. It’s free therapy people over here, it’s the easiest her health and ultimately “breakthrough”. have the gift of extreme creativity, whether it be What did you learn? I have also told myself the Byron Theatre, then you’ll know exactly – it just requires you to show up language to speak and intimacy is Who should read this story? Lovers of Clare, through storytelling using written word or song, same story based on the opinions of others “too what I mean. Having just released her unclothed and egoless (sometimes felt before the day is up after being lovers of life (in all its glory!) have experienced and grown from experiences big, too loud, too much” and hey that’s ok! debut self-titled album, produced locally in hard). in the studio with someone who such as these in their life. For her to share her Oh and reinforced that you don’t always know Byron Bay by Museagency Studios, Merryn’s Your music has such a was originally merely a stranger story so beautifully is a gift to the reader. what’s going on for people from the outside creative journey has just begun. I think we’ll cinematic feel to it, and at on the internet! Who should read this story? Possibly more looking in. all see so much more of Merryn over the your recent Byron show you What is next on your horizon? directed at the over 35’s female reader, although Who should read this story? Anyone who years to come. showcased a short film you An album; a movie; more younger readers would also enjoy. struggles with self-doubt. made to accompany your shows.

52 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 53 TRAVEL + ADVENTURE I WANT TO GO TO THERE WORDS & PHOTOS– BANGLADESH: MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME Sarah Ruhullah @sshadmani

Bangladesh: my home

Often times when I tell people I am originally comfort zone into new places, slow down to observe people and moments from Bangladesh, they ask “is that somewhere normally overlooked by others because they are so accustomed to it, meet in India?”. Sure, that may be partly because and converse with strangers and through it all, connect with my origin on of their lack of geographical knowledge but a deeper level. away from also Bangladesh is a very small country, On each new visit, I am able to not only notice but fully appreciate approximately 22 times smaller than the size of the things which make Bangladesh as unique as it is – common sights India. It is rarely spoken about in the media and include crowds of men standing atop trains which are moving at 80 km/ it is seldom promoted as a tourist destination, hour, an entire five-person family seated on one motorbike, the tireless so I really don’t blame them. However, its hard working nature of the people working under a scorching forty-degree limited geographical size and location is not sun despite having little or nothing to eat. What I have come to realise, representative of the diverse range of beauty the time and time again is that the people of my country are incredibly hard country has to offer – whether it’s the plethora workers and do whatever they can to make ends meet. It may be a chaotic home place, especially in the main cities, there may be an immense amount of of lush greenery seen just about everywhere, the bright confetti-like colours of people’s clothing, traffic, a shocking display of poverty on the streets, but the people are one the smiles on the faces of those you would not of the main reasons Bangladesh is truly beautiful in its own way. expect to smile, the intricate architecture of The contrast between life in Dhaka, Bangladesh – the messy, aged buildings still standing from a bygone era chaotic, hardworking and poverty stricken concrete jungle with an and so much more. abundance of colour and smiling faces – and the calm and orderly life here in Australia never fails to refresh my perspective on each return from I was born in Bangladesh, in the capital city Dhaka and moved to Australia my visits. I have realised that happiness needs not to be associated with in 2001 at the age of 8 with my family. Having spent most of my life material possessions but rather the small yet enjoyable moments of life – growing up here in Australia, I do consider it to be my home but knowing such as a poor man’s son playing so happily with something as simple as that my roots have emerged from Bangladesh makes it just as much my mud and sticks. Looking at my own photographs of Bangladesh and its home. It’s a strange in-between two places kind of dissonance I feel at people, I remind myself that although I have frozen just a small moment times where I don’t fully identify as either Australian or Bangladeshi but of their life within a 35mm frame, their life is full of struggle and hardship only as an amalgamation of both. yet they continue to push forward and make the most of it on a daily basis. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to visit Bangladesh Bangladesh and its people inspire me to work hard and make the most out at least once or twice a year but it wasn’t until three years ago when I of every situation. visited Bangladesh with my camera in hand that I truly started to form a I hope through reading my words, you can begin to see that deep connection with my country. I started to see the little things I failed Bangladesh is not just another little third world country next to India but in to notice before. My camera and more importantly the photographs I fact is a place unlike any other, full of colours, beautiful humans and one created during my last few visits have pushed me to step outside of my big cultural cocktail worth experiencing.

54 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 55 TRAVEL + EXPERIENCE THE CALILE HOTEL WORDS– PLACE– THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL Nat Woods The Calile Hotel @nat.woods_ @thecalilehotel

PHOTOS– thecalilehotel.com Sean Fennessy @seanfennessy

David Chatfield @davidchatfield.studio The way you

A quiet corner in a guest room offering the chance to slow down. On the opposite page, the room made for introverted readers looking for a make peaceful retreat – The Library. Both photos by Sean Fennessy. me feel

Without a doubt you’re probably already well-acquainted with the visual appeal of The Calile Hotel – the most stylish new hotel to grace Brisbane city. With its cork-tiled walls, pastel rooms, and custom terracotta breeze blocks, The Calile is an aesthetic delight. But step inside the hotel, and instantaneously, you’ll realise that this building isn’t just a pretty face.

56 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 57 TRAVEL + EXPERIENCE THE CALILE HOTEL THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL

“The elements of architecture are not visual units or gestalt; they are encounters, confrontations that interact with memory.”

– Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses

Finnish Architect, Juhani Pallasmaa, writes about the interaction between architecture and our senses, about how our bodies interact with cities. How buildings create encounters that spark memories. In the same way that our bodies can be confronted by cold and unwelcoming places, they can also be welcomed and embraced by warm and inviting places. Pallasmaa speaks of door handles being the “handshake of a building” – that we can get a feel for a building as we enter a doorway, just as we would get a feel for a person when we shake their hand. Every sight, sound, touch and smell of The Calile Hotel gives you a sense of the type of person the building is. As you step inside your hotel room, immediately the sound of upbeat lounge music greets your ears – like your own personal “Welcome to your holiday!” anthem. Your eyes encounter the sights of your pastel room all at once – the curves, the plants, the brass fixtures, and your luggage in the wardrobe (which has somehow made its way to your room before you!) You fling the door to your balcony wide open and are greeted with the scent of the fresh warm air outside. You slip on your soft linen bathrobe and dive onto the marshmallow-soft bed. Beyond the walls of your cosy room lie more sumptuous spaces to explore – the iconic pool where you can bask in the sun with a cocktail in hand, the lobby bar where you can watch the world go by, or (my favourite) the library tucked away and filled with a beautifully curated selection of books. Most hotels keep the introverts confined to the privacy of their rooms, but at The Calile, the quieter folks among us can choose to sneak away into the library and spend a few hours immersed within the pages of the latest Monocle Magazine or a photographic coffee book. This is thoughtful design at its finest.

Enjoy the archiectural splendour of The Calile Hotel. Photo by Sean Fennessy.

58 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 59 TRAVEL + EXPERIENCE THE CALILE HOTEL THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL

Back in your room, the thoughtfulness continues if you consider the care taken to design with the planet in mind. The cork tiles, a famous feature of the hotel, are sustainably produced from the tree bark, meaning no trees were felled to wrap your room in soft cork. Your room also comes with a glass water carafe, which you can fill with tap water, or take a stroll down the hallway to fill at the filtered water station on each floor. If we consider that most hotels would supply at least two complimentary plastic bottles of water per room, at The Calile, they’re avoiding 350 plastic bottles every single day – just by providing beautiful carafes and water stations instead. The simplest of swaps, for a huge impact. And at night, after a night on the town, a dinner at the From top right, enjoy a refreshing dip in the photo ready hotel’s restaurant, Hellinka, or a night in with room service, pool; a quiet corner found; inviting bedrooms convincing your body relaxes into bed, cocooned from the city by blackout you to stay in and order room service – photos by David blinds. You could be miles away in a tropical resort, but instead Chatfield. On the opposite page, from top left, room design features an intoxicating mix of textures, shades and you’re nestled within the buzz of the Brisbane city. Whether shapes – photo by Sean Fennessy; outdoor spaces are for a weekend in the city, a staycation, or a one night stopover waiting to be discovered – photo by David Chatfield. between the airport and home, The Calile Hotel feels good.

thecalilehotel.com @thecalilehotel

60 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... 61 THIS COMMUNITY OF OURS SMARTY PANTS

Partner up or go solo with this puzzling puzzle.

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ACROSS DOWN 1 University grounds 20 A social class 2 Highly excited by 12 Completely filling or 5 Persuasive speech 23 Aromatic bulb used as eagerness covering something 9 American state seasoning 3 Field hand 15 Advantage 10 A thin fragment or slice 24 Forbidden zone 4 Race on skis around 16 Marine crustaceans 11 Group of advanced 25 Ocular prosthesis obstacles 19 A permissible difference industrialised nations 26 Under 5 Light emitted by a 21 Slays 13 Imparting or maintaining substance without 22 Dry or withered heat combustion or perceptible 14 Revisions or adjustments heat Hiromi Tango Bleached Genes (Mikan) — Open my vulnerability (detail) 2018, pigment print on paper and mirrored Perspex, 174.5 x 124.5cm, ed of 3 +2 AP, Image courtesy the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf to 6 Free freight 17 Lengthen 7 Excuse 18 Grows old 8 Punish or reprimand severely 6 December 2019 Hiromi Tango – Healing Circle – Home 15 March 2020 62 Paradiso ~ Dec 2019—Feb 2020 ~ Here comes the sun ... Give Dumbo Feather this festive season

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