【推荐1】Arthur Miller(1915--2005)is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists (剧作家) of the 20^th century. Miller’s father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by the “Great American Dream”. However, in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 the family lost everything. As a teenager, Miller delivered bread every morning before school to help the family. At college he worked several jobs to pay for his tuition (学费).

Miller’s most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with his worth. Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment (多愁善感):If he can’t do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.

When it was staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.

Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.

【推荐2】In the countries of South and Southeast Asia, the elephant has been an important part of the culture, economy and religion for centuries．And nowhere more so than in Thailand．Unlike its African cousin, the Asian elephant is easily domesticated（驯化）．The rare so-called white elephants have actually lent the power of royalty to its rulers，and until the 1920s the national flag was a white elephant on a red background．To the early Western visitors, the country's romantic name was“ Land of the White Elephant"．

Today, however, the story is very different．Out of work and out of land, the Thai elephant struggles for survival in a nation that no longer needs it．The elephant has found itself more or less deserted by previous owners who have moved on to a different economic world and a society in the western part．And while the elephant's problems began many years ago, now it has a very low national advantage．

How does the national symbol turn into ignored animals? It is a story of worse environment and the changing lives of the Thais themselves．According to Richard Lair, Thailand's expert on the Asian elephant and author of the report Gone Astray, at the turn of the last century, there may well have been as many as 100,000 national elephants in the country．

In the north of Thailand alone, it was estimated（估计）that more than 20,000 elephants were employed in transport, 1,000 of them alone on the road between the cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Saen．

This was at a time when 90 percent of Thailand was still forest---a habitat that not only supported the animals but also made them necessary to carry goods and people．Nothing ploughs through thick forest better than lots of sure-footed elephants．

By 1950 the elephant population had dropped, but still to the number of 13, 397．However, today there are probably no more than 3,800, with another l,350 wandering free in the national parks．But now, Thailand's forest covers only 20 percent of the land．This deforestation（采伐森林）is the central point of the elephant's difficult situation, for it has effectively put the animals out of work．This century, as the road network grew, the elephant's role as a beast of burden decreased．

【推荐3】Charles Blackman: Alice in Wonderland

An Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Australia

10 June —12 August 2019

Venue (地点) The Ian Potter Centre

Admission     Free entry

Charles Blackman is famous for his beautiful paintings of dreams. In 1956, he heard for the first time Lewis Carroll’s extraordinary tale of Alice in Wonderland—the story of a Victorian girl who falls down a rabbit hole, meets a lot of funny characters and experiences all kinds of things. At that time, Blackman’s wife was suffering from progressive blindness. The story of Alice moving through the strange situations, often disheartened by various events, was similar to his wife’s experiences. It also reflected so much of his own life. All this contributed to the completion of the Alice in Wonderland paintings.

Illustrator Workshop

Go straight to the experts for an introductory course in book illustration. The course includes an introduction to the process of illustration and its techniques, workshop exercises and group projects.

Dates Sunday 17 June &Sunday 5 Aug.10am—1pm

Venue Gas Works Arts Park

Wonderful World

Celebrate the exhibition and Children’s Book Week with special activities just for the day, including a special visit from Alice and the White Rabbit.

Date Sunday 24 June, 11am—4pm

Venue Exhibition Space, Level 3

Topsy-Turvy

Visit the exhibition or discover wonderful curiosities in artworks in the NGV Collection and make a magic world in a box. Alice and the White Rabbit will be with you. Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland will be screened.

Dates Sunday 8, 15, 22, 29 July, and Tuesday 24—Friday 27 July, 12 noon—3pm

Venue Theatre, NGV Australia

Drawing Workshop

Distortions of scale (比例失真) can make artworks strange but interesting. Find out how Charles Blackman distorted scale in his paintings to create a curious world, then experiment with scale in your own drawings. More information upon booking.

Date Friday 27 July, 10:30am—3pm

Venue Foyer, Level 3