Yes, I know its hard to believe that in my spare time I like to do some old school nerding about…read moreand this is one of the places I like to do it. Aside from being used for a range of boring university lectures, The Hawke Centre houses both the Samstag and Kerry Packer Gallery, Prime Ministerial Library and a range of "lecture series" throughout the year. If you want to feel intelligent, opinionated and internationally switched on this is the place to be. I admire the programming at the Kerry Packer Gallery with previous exhibitions including that of Hutt St Centre clients, indigenous artists and internationally renowned photographic exhibitions. It's a small gallery too so you don't suffer from art gallery fatigue by the end of the exhibition. And the Hawke Centre Public Program has to be one of my favourite series of events hosted in the main lecture theatre here. From topics like "Has South Australia given up on heritage?" to debates on the Israel Palestine conflict and discussions about newDemocracy and refugee rights - these things make me [insert The Professor from The Simpsons noise here]. You don't have to be a nerd to feel welcomed and challenged here. Some of the most complex topics are dealt with in an incredible accessible way and in lamen's terms. What is amazing is that everything held in this center is free. Just visit their website and sign up to the mailing list to find out what's on every year and get ready to nerd out!

If you enjoy outdoor markets, live music, and vegan food, the Marion Peace Markets are for you!…read moreHeld monthly on the lush grounds of the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre, it's a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. It's family and dog (leash) friendly; bring a picnic rug, buy a mug of chai, feast on the well priced food (all under $10) and enjoy the chilled tunes! When I attended on 27/10/12, reggae, roots/blues, and South American (think Mardi Gras!) style drumming was featured. Clothing and a range of arts and crafts were also for sale. A gold coin donation is gently requested by the event organisers to help them cover PA and other essential costs. Pack sunscreen and a hat on a warm day - this is an event best visited during the warmer months. Peace!

Arts SA is the South Australian Government department focused on arts funding and supporting South…read moreAustralian cultural heritage. It is basically where aspiring artists writers performers and such will go searching for some funding to mount their work, production or what have you. They are a typical government department enjoying all the benefits of being able to say they support the arts while handing out money to the same groups year after year sometimes for decades at a time, obviously this means others are missing out somewhere along the line and this is a problem with the way funding is given out. Arts SA, like most government departments also deny having ever made any mistakes, and always behave as though the money only goes where it's deserved, and of course they never have enough money to go around adequately. The great irony of arts funding is that some organisations believe they are entitled to ongoing funding year after year for doing very little or the same old stuff again and again. A prime example is the SA Writers Centre that is making moves to monopolise the whole process of funding for writers by becoming the peak organisation that attracts funding from the federal governments Arts Council as well as Arts SA and yet they have less than 1000 actual members and do very little for them. Most of the writers I know personally will do what they can to avoid the Writers Centre because of the poor reputation it has as an advocate for writers, and yet it receives the largest portion of funding for writers available in the state, and the bulk of this funding pays for office staff not actual creative writers. The office staff are also paid to appraise work by aspiring writers which seems rather odd. To cut a long story short, all you need to do is run at a loss for ten odd years and tell everyone how fabulous you are in order to secure on going funding. Younger artists and writers come along and are either ignored by the establishment who run the show by giving each other all the available work and grants, or they are put off from attending anything because despite the massive amounts of funding they receive to pay staff, the staff seem to do very little at times besides feather their own nests and the nests of their mates. It is quite a contentious area, but they wouldn't say that; they'd say they were working hard for all writers in South Australia (yawn). Another example of the irony in Adelaide is the Leigh Warren Dancers company who every couple of years, after a good decade - have their ongoing funding cut. They kick up a stink in the press, get all their mates to write to their MP and make a lot of noise about how fabulous they are and how they are entitled to ongoing funding, when they never seem to be able to generate an income to sustain them; so in the meantime over a decade a whole lot of other dancers, choreographers etc etc come and go and simply do not get a look in. Yes, it's a very tough game and the public purse gets extended way beyond what is fair or reasonable; to the extent that individuals will purchase their house with their taxpayer provided income while others actually never ever get a single grant to develop a single idea. The Arts SA system decides who gets the funding based on outcomes of peer group reviews of applications that people put in to the department. It can be a frustrating maze that gets you nowhere or it can work for you if you are connected with the right peers and have the right background. Many artists leave South Australia for work elsewhere rather than have to rely on an unpredictable little handout of money here and there while large organisations get the major benefits of triennial funding and spend it as they wish. A lot of people will suggest my opinion is negative and 'blames' Arts SA for the problem, that is not the case. My opinion is based on 40 years of working in the Australian Arts Industry in many genres and at times dealing with large amounts of money delivered to major theatre companies that I have been managing. Arts SA does plenty of good work, but overall the system is badly flawed and it drives artists away from South Australia which is extremely counter productive for all concerned.

I agree with many of the criticisms of Arts SA Dave J. has made, but I've decided to give Arts SA…read morethree stars, because they certainly support plenty of the best South Australian cultural projects out there. While there definitely are some groups who seem to be hanging on to significant amounts funding without doing much new or interesting stuff, Arts SA can't take all the blame for this. Indeed, if the state government saw fit to invest in South Australian talent instead of importing stuff for big festivals, there would be more funding for new and exciting stuff that is grown here in our own independent arts organisations. There are days when I wonder if more arts funding is spent on paperclips than art, but nonetheless Arts SA fund some great stuff - and not all of it has been running for twenty odd years. A few examples of new projects driven by young people that have been partially funded by Arts SA; Format Festival, FELTspace, Ray Harris's amazing aEaf exhibition in 2011 and Amy Joy Watson's Grant Pirrie Sydney exhibition. Arts SA also fund a huge range of excellent community programs, including Cirkidz, Mental Health Coalition and the Riverland Youth Theatre. There is much to be done in the Adelaide arts community, but not all of it can be done by Arts SA. The truth is that many artists leave South Australia, and the lack of excellent independent arts organisations here is a contributing factor. While some of Arts SA's work could be done better, this is also dependent on better policy from the State Government. Despite the issues at play, Arts SA are certainly helping some excellent stuff happen in South Australia.

Small but mighty. I love a good natural history museum that isn't all screens. The SA Museum is a…read morewonderland of exhibits - geology, history, biology etc. So much taxidermy (love it!)! An absolutely amazing room of Pacific Island and Indigenous art/artifacts! Minerals! And - it's free! We spent a few hours here and it was well worth our time.

This is an excellent spot to take your kids for enjoyment, particularly during school holidays. Our…read morefavorite activity is the scavenger hunt, where children can check off items from a list as they find them, one at a time. I personally love the collection of crystals and rocks, along with the large metallic meteorite at the entrance. My kids are interested in the room filled with bugs and bees. There's also a T-Rex skull nearby. There is no admission fee, but be ready to pay for parking and take a short walk to get there. It's truly worth it. Overall, I rate it five stars.

I only vaguely remember when this place was operation because I was only a kid, or rather a…read moreteenager, when this gaol was closed and turned into a museum. Actually, it's pretty cool, and not too pricey to go for a wander through as well. There is lots of information regarding the various walls, as well as grafitti that has been left over (if that happens to be prisoner grafitti). The thing I found most interesting, even though it was mentioned nowhere, is how the gaol was built as a panoptacon, that is with the guards in a central watchhouse where they can pretty much see all over the prison. It's quite interesting, especially seeing how gaols like this actually operated.

The Adelaide Gaol is a very eerie place, but don't worry it's pretty interesting! While I was…read morelooking into all the cells I got this feeling that I was being watched... but I didn't worry about it! You could go in the small library they had. You could go in the solitary confinement cells. Around the place was these plaques and you could read the stories of what happened. Wondering through the courtyards was cool and peeping through the cell bars was also cool. It's a massive place with a lot to offer. There's even ghost tours! Overall I would solidly recommend anyone to go there!

I was recently drawn to the Migration Museum just in time to attend the 25th Birthday celebrations…read more The Museum is FULL of information about Australia's history, from a purely Indigenous Australia right through to many cultures that make up Australia in the present day. One of the themes that reflected strongly was the sense of identity. What do Australian's associate with being Australian and how do we see ourselves in the bigger picture of Australia? I found the information within the Museum to be very respectful of the Indigenous Australian culture. The Museum sees many school groups through its doors which is fantastic. There are many interactive displays and is a great place to take children to learn about some of the wonderful cultures that now make up Australian society. This is a must see for anyone in Adelaide, whether they are permanent residents of not. Happy learning!

This museum is a must. It is a great look at migration into South Australia, and Australia as a…read morewhole, and it is very educational. There are three areas in this museum, well four if you include settlement square. When you come into the grounds of this museum, you are greeted by Settlement Square, this square is full of bricks with peoples names on them and where they emigrated from. They have been put their either by families who emigrated, or want a way to remember their families who emigrated. A few years ago, my Dad arranged to have a brick put into Settlement Square for his parents, and the family who emigrated from Sheffield. The interior of the museum is split into three areas, one of which pretty much stays the same all the time, it talks about Australia's migration history, from the first fleet through to our current (in my opinion, APPALLING) treatment of refugees. The other two areas of the museum are an ever changing array of exhibitions. This means that I quite often have a reason to visit the museum. On the weekend I went there with my Dad :) to visit the brick for his parents, but while we were there we had a look through the museum. The current exhibition in the front room was about the explorers, and therefore not really to my interest, so we decided to take a walk through the rest of the museum, which has not really changed that much. My Dad was on his mobility scooter, and at the end of the main exhibition there is a large step down into the courtyard, so we had to go back through the exhibition in order to get out. On the way back, we ran into a woman and her daughter who were in the area that talks about the White Australia Policy. This sparked up a conversation :) We got talking about all sorts of things. This is one of the reasons I love this museum, it is thought and conversation provoking. This museum is only the cost of a gold coin, and for that it is well worth the visit! If you are looking for something to do for an afternoon - I would suggest the Migration Museum :)

The Samstag is considered to be one of, if not the leading University Galleries in the country…read morebecause of the excellent facility and the amazing work it manages to find and exhibit. Through the year there are a range of exciting exhibitions that challenge just about all the notions of art you can imagine. This is the very purpose of contemporary work as well as pushing the boundaries of fine art and arts practise. The drive behind the gallery is so forceful it tends to gain a greater reputation each year and it is always worth visiting to see what extraordinary events are taking place. In recent times the works exhibited have included photographs by Bill Henson, and artist and photographer who has created a whole new controversy with his photographs of children, begging the question where is the line between pornography and art drawn in today's world? Giant chess boards with fantasy chess pieces feature in the photographs I've taken to go with my review, and other amazing work I've seen in the gallery has included incredible new Chinese art that looks like a giant has dropped her knickers and is shamelessly walking the streets somewhere bare arsed for all to see; so there is a healthy sense of humour in the work that has been brought in here. Adelaide is remarkably lucky to have such a dynamic space dedicated to contemporary art in exhibit.

A friend of mine is an art and graphic design student. He studies at Uni SA and has had to visit…read morethis place a few times. I was wandering aimlessly around the city, a meanderthal, when I ran into him on his way there. I've never quite gotten the hang of visual art appreciation. I know the concept of learning how appreciate art is a silly one, but to me (and to the postmodernist, I guess), there's no different of worth between a Monet and a city-street cartoonist. My friend too me around the rooms and levels and told me what he thought about the visual art present. It really helped me to enjoy and admire everything. I particularly like this one dark room displaying what appeared to be a still image, but what revealed itself to be a film if you watched it for a long enough duration. It depicted deserted city streets, which my friend and I ended up identifying as Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Now I return to the Samstag every few months to see what's new. It's a great place. Hell, if you want a place to take a date, take him/her here. It'll make you look cultured and sophisticated.

If you enjoy the way buildings look and you like to see blueprints, if you are fascinated with the…read moreephemera surrounding the interior design world or the area of architecture; maybe you want to do some research into who lived in what building in historic Adelaide? Possibly you are interested in engravings, photographs, diaries and notebooks all concerning architecture. If you are that way inclined then call the Collections manager Dr Julie Collins and make a date to visit this most delightful museum. If you have time on your hands and are looking for something to do that is truly fascinating this is a very interesting way to spend some time. I become quite enthralled with the drawings and pictures and I'm not an architect nor have I ever had any ambition to become one, but I do like looking at interesting things. Take yourself for a day out and I suspect you will want to make a return visit just to continue looking at the greater part of the iceberg you will have observed the tip of. It is a free service based in the school of design and architecture as part of the University of South Australia, but it is also a public museum and a total treat for anyone with interests in history, research and obviously buildings; town planning and social development students even set design students will also find this really interesting and if you are one of the rare breed who want to etch, mark metal as an artistic pursuit and print etchings that you can ask people to come up and see... as in "come up and see my etchings..." this is an unmissable cache of treasures you will take great delight in. Costs nothing but the phone call to warn Dr Julie you are on your way; and she will be pleased as a punch drunk bricklayer believe me. Oh and don't worry, Dr Julie will not hang over you as if you shouldn't be there - she loves visitors to her pride and joy. Best collection of materials on architecture you could hope for in the state.