In Conversation with Friends of Felix Borsari

In Conversation with Friends of Felix Borsari
When: 2-3pm | Saturday 18 October
Where: Eltham Library Community Gallery, Panther Place, Eltham
Free | Registrations required

Join Tracey Naughton and Fabrizio Calafuri in conversation with Jacqueline Felstead about the life and times of seminal local artist Felix Borsari.

Swiss born Felix Borsari (1945-2000) migrated to Australia in 1967 and moved to the Nillumbik region in 1975. Felix saw his new surroundings through fresh eyes and captured his ‘First Impressions’ in art works that displayed a sense of immediacy and precise visual acuity.

His discovery and artistic impressions of a treasure trove of wildflowers near Panton Hill resulted in Nillumbik Shire’s ‘Felix Borsari Wildflower Walk’ nature reserve, where threatened native orchids remain protected.

Marking 25 years since his tragic death in 2000, ‘First Impressions’ shows Borsari drawing on forms, colours, contrasts and lines of his surrounds, capturing their essence with stark economy of line and a sense of emotion and authenticity.

Fabrizio Calafuri coordinated Christmas Hills Festivals between 1974 and 1984, campaigning against inundation of the Watson’s Creek catchment area for Melbourne’s water supply. Living on the Montsalvat owned festival site, he also produced arts events at Montsalvat in Eltham.  From 1985 he shared a home with Felix Borsari in Smiths Gully. Following cancellation of the dam he served on the Watson’s Creek Consultative Committee, advocating for protection of bushland areas from subdivision, and worked as a Diamond Valley News journalist.

Appointed to Eltham Arts Council, he organised Eltham Masked Balls and the launch of the Eltham Performing Arts Centre. He was a Co-ordinator of 1990 and 1991 Eltham Community Festivals and the 1991 Whittlesea Community Festival.

From 1992 Fabrizio directed the Festival of Darwin. In 2003 he was awarded an Australia Council residency in Paris. Returning to join Artback NT he developed programs with remote NT communities. He later worked with the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne.

Fabrizio currently lives in northern NSW, where he continues his involvement with community arts events.

Tracey Naughton's career in arts, community development and communication spans electronic, textile and other media across cultures and continents. She grew up in Eltham and began her working life there when in 1985 she was appointed the Shire’s first Community Arts Officer.

Based in southern Africa for 25 years Tracey developed radio stations in post-Apartheid South Africa and in numerous African countries, where she managed media freedom and advocacy programs for legal reforms and public interest broadcasting. She has led civil society processes at the United Nations, setting early global principles for the Internet.

Tracey has consulted globally on the use of information and communication technology in developing countries. Her last posting before retiring due to worsening multiple sclerosis was in Mongolia between 2006 and 2011, where she was Country Director for the USAID funded Washington based, international development NGO, Pact.

She now lives in Castlemaine with numerous other former Shire of Eltham residents.This talk is held in conjunction with the exhibition ' First Impressions" curated by the Friends of Felix Borsari Incorporated at the Eltham Library Community Gallery from 25 September - 2 November 2025.

For more information visit nillumbik.vic.gov.au/ELCG