Culture
Art & design
Legendary Sydney ‘mermaid’ resurfaces in all her glory
The subject of a production being staged in a Sydney pool, Annette Kellerman was a champion swimmer, star of stage and screen, remorseless self-publicist and gleeful breaker of rules.
- by Lenny Ann Low
Latest
A rare collection of Sidney Nolan’s earliest works are going under the hammer
An exhibition of works from the ’30s and ’40s will travel to Sydney and Melbourne – and includes one with a secret message inscribed on the back.
- by Elizabeth Flux
Why Darwin Festival could emerge as the country’s best winter festival
It’s sunny and warm, the program is stacked with First Nations talent and there are no muddy mosh pits in sight. Could this small festival be the next big thing?
- by Meg Watson
‘Shows you won’t see anywhere else’: Sydney Fringe Festival returns
The city’s biggest festival for independent artists and performers is returning after two years, and it’s preparing to make people feel again.
- by Anthony Segaert and Helen Pitt
Underused for years, giant cave under Barangaroo finally has a future
The state government is being urged to turn the Cutaway into a national Indigenous cultural centre as it prepares to announce fit-out works to revitalise the massive city space.
- by Linda Morris
This artist started selling paintings on Instagram for $200. One just went for $400,000
Australian artist Jordy Kerwick is one of the hottest new talents on the international scene. But he’s not entirely happy about it.
- by Najma Sambul
An intricate tribute to love and learning wins Australia’s richest Indigenous art award
The NATSIAAs in Darwin showcase of some of the country’s best Indigenous art: contemporary, traditional and everything in between.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
‘Galleries without walls, venues without stages’: The crisis facing Lismore’s artists
Four months after the flood, Lismore’s creatives remain traumatised and struggling to recover their sense of hope.
- by Linda Morris
Why Richard Dawkins doesn’t fear the ‘great nothing’ that awaits at the end
The often controversial evolutionary biologist and author on hate mail, J.K. Rowling and death.
- by Richard Jiman
Say hello to the new CBD ‘creature’ that can be controlled by anyone in the world
The enormous sculpture is the new work from controversial artist Stelarc, who’s best known for flesh-hook suspensions and having a third ear grown in his arm.
- by Kylie Northover
Opinion
Visual art
Inflatable animals and plastic poo? Our verdict on the MCA’s futuristic reboot
I’m not sure I could recommend the museum’s provocative new show to curmudgeons who don’t play video games or hang out in nightclubs.
- by John McDonald