While The Avalanches haven't messed with their set much, they still have a few surprises up their sleeve.

There's a curious thing about the renowned Japanese woodblock print known as The Great Wave.

Sydney-based artist Sarah Contos has won Australia's richest prize for young contemporary artists.

• EXCLUSIVE

The artist who helped get Barack Obama elected takes on the new political reality.

The eclectic interests and sweeping talents of ​a modern master are on display in a must-see survey show.

What's on in the Canberra arts scene this week

Many of the 30 Indigenous artists in this NGA exhibition address difficult issues.

• Design

Open House Melbourne 2017 celebrates New York's urban activist, Jane Jacobs.

When the indigenous actress and director, Leah Purcell, took out her mother's tattered copy of Henry Lawson's short stories, she had no idea that the script she would bang out in seven days would be named Book of the Year in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards Monday night.

Japanese photographer Q. Sakamaki shares images of private everyday moments, some of them tragic.

Angela Tiatia and Debbie Ding are an interesting choice of artists to explore wartime experiences

The work is strongly informed by the artist having grown up in the Torres Strait.

• Art review

This is a beautiful and joyous exhibition that pulsates with life and urgency, writes Sasha Grishin

An artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat has sold for a record $US110.5 million at auction in New York.

Among the endless queues and the superficial whimsy, the majority of the works at the 57th Venice Biennale explored some age-old themes.

A new play space at the National Gallery of Australia is a hand's on experience for children

What's on in the Canberra arts scene

Visitors to this year's Botanica exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden are drawn almost irresistibly to Angela Lober's remarkable depiction of a Gymea lily that faces them as they walk in the door.

A tool for drawing and painting in three dimensions is set to revolutionise art and design, writes Peter Munro.

Joanna Buckley's The Light and the Ground at Abbotsford Convent will have one of the historic site's buildings covered in gold leaf.

• Living Cities Forum

The best ideas are being canvassed here and now by the world's experts.

• Art review

Vincent van Gogh never loses the ability to thrill and disturb his audience.

Renowned photographer says he was "shocked" by the social issues confronting Australia's rural communities.

Arone Meeks is finding ways to reconnect with his past and forge his future

 A collaboration between photographer Lorna Sim and contemporary dancer Eliza Sanders has resulted in an alluring exhibition entitled Enigma. Sim's challenge was to capture a perfect moment in a spontaneous dance. Not an easy quest, given Sanders is rarely constrained by norms and takes a fearless approach to her dance.