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Tasmanian Literary Awards

Colour and Movement: the life of Claudio Alcorso by Stephenie Cahalan (Forty South Publishing)

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Colour and Movement

This is the story of a humanist, entrepreneur, patron of the arts and conservationist. Claudio Alcorso was a seminal figure who helped to alter the cultural landscape of Tasmania and shape elements of modern Australia. After fleeing fascism in Italy and enduring incarceration in Australia in World War II, Alcorso became a champion of textiles and the arts, a pioneer of Tasmania’s cool climate wine industry, and an architect of Hobart’s cultural precinct. Alcorso was at the leading edge of Australia’s twentieth century multicultural and artistic awakening. He helped redraw the cultural blueprint of Tasmania during his journey from being a member of elite Roman society to the bankrupted tenant of his beloved Moorilla Estate. He watched as the winery he created metamorphosed into Mona, the dissident private museum that has, in turn, reshaped contemporary Tasmania’s view of itself and its place in the world. Claudio Alcorso was called many things – visionary, expansive, ruthless, impulsive, sentimental, generous – and with the publication of this book, author Stephenie Cahalan, has cemented Claudio Alcorso’s place in Australian history.

Read an extract from the book

About the author

Stephenie Cahalan is a writer and cultural history researcher living in nipaluna/Hobart. Her writing explores the nexus of the arts and environment and examines Australia’s cultural history through the lives of artists, activists, visionaries and benefactors who have stoked Australia’s creative spirit. Stephenie has worked in the cultural sector, conservation, politics and philanthropy, and is currently researching a history of legacies and bequests to Australian museums and galleries.