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Ernest Briggs (1905-1967), poet, broadcaster, and critic, was born on 24 January 1905 in Sydney. After his mother's death in 1908, Ernest was raised by his father. A small, frail child with a speech impediment (eventually cured through therapy), he spent much time on lonely bush ramblings; from his father, he gained a love of ballads and song, and of family and colonial history. In 1931 to join station 4BK, Brisbane. He was subsequently a general announcer, continuity manager, program director, feature writer, and publicity officer. Mobilized in the Militia on 6 February 1942, Briggs served as a clerk at New Guinea Force headquarters before being discharged medically unfit on 14 December in Brisbane. He published his first volume of poetry, The Merciless Beauty, in 1943: in it, he reflected on his early personal and mystical experiences which were to lead to his subsequent interest in theosophy, spiritualism, and the religions of the East. His brief term in New Guinea resulted in the powerful, concentrated emotionalism of The Death of the Hare (1949); its title was derived from Yeats. Briggs reverted to his childhood experiences when writing the meditative lyrics in The Secret Listener (1949) and published the third volume of poetry, The Timeless Flowers, in 1952. For his sequences on Yeats, The High Ascent, and Other Poems (1953), he was admitted to the Poetry Society of America. In 1961 and again in 1962 he was awarded the literature diploma of the Leonardo da Vinci Academy, Rome, for his contributions to international culture and understanding. As a music critic, Briggs wrote reviews for the Brisbane Courier-Mail, the Sunday Mail, and the music journal, Canon. He made a notable collection of historical recordings, specializing in vocal art and poetry. Of medium build, with small hands, a high forehead, and frizzy, ginger hair, Briggs had a light baritone voice. Despite a shy, other-worldly outlook, he impressed many people and was known for his spontaneous generosity. Briggs remained a bachelor. He died of myocardial infarction on 21 June 1967 in Brisbane and was cremated with Methodist forms. Source: adb.anu.edu.au/biography/briggs-ernest-9581

The I Do! Wedding Stories from Queensland exhibition at the Queensland Museum is featuring never heard before stories from Djunngaal Elders and Yarrabah community members. The exhibition features a mission style basket and commissioned wedding dress designed in partnership with Djunngaal Elders, Gunggandji descendantand Yarrabah artist Simone Arnol and Cape York Peninsula, Umpila, Djabuguy, Yirrganydji man, Bernard Singleton. With strong roots in Yarrabah and over 20 years working in Indigenous law and Native Title, Arnol has been part of the arts and fashion industry for five years. "I use strong connection to family and Country as a foundation to all my works, always keeping it grassroots while respecting the Elders, our keepers of knowledge," Arnol told NIT. She said what started out as an artistic commission of, "a perspective of Indigenous weddings for a traditional wedding ceremony" soon turned into a 12-month long process of storytelling the Yarrabah Elders narrative. "Soon into consultation with the Elders of Yarrabah we found that there was a more important story to be re-told," Arnol said. The story in question would instead shed light into the dark history of prior policies of forced protection and assimilation and how this affected cultural traditions and lore. "The girls and boys when they fell in loveâ€"they couldn't come out of the dorm in the yard to be with their boyfriend or husband ... they had to stay behind the fence," Granny Hope said. "The girls were inside the fence, [while] the boys were outside the fence." In many cases mob weren't afforded the privilege of marrying someone they loved, however this wasn't the only restriction they faced. "This impacted harshly on them as it included separate education for Aboriginal children, town curfews, alcohol bans, no social security, lower wages, State guardianship of all Aboriginal children," Arnol said. "Laws that segregated Indigenous people into separate living areas, mainly on missions, special reserves outside towns or in remote areas." That's why when first asked to do the commission, Arnol was quick to establish the true purpose. "Everything we do is a voice for our Elders ... It is not going to be a pretty dress." Source: nit.com.au/09-11-2020/1512/aboriginal-designed-wedding-dr...