Kate Hennessy

is a Walkley Award-winning journalist specialising in arts and travel.

By this author

Life June 05, 2021

Ben Boyd National Park

In an area only recently devastated by the Black Summer bushfires, forests are regenerating and welcoming visitors back to explore a region rich in Indigenous history.

Life July 25, 2020

Scents and sensibilities

After realising the perfume industry was dominated by just six major players, Saskia Wilson-Brown set about creating a non-profit enterprise that would empower everyday people with the ability to learn and create. Welcome to LA’s Institute for Art and Olfaction.

Life January 23, 2021

The Brewarrina Aboriginal fish traps

An engineering marvel and a site of astonishing antiquity, the Aboriginal fish traps at Brewarrina bear witness to the survival of an ancient culture.

Travel February 22, 2020

Vienna’s Museum of Art Fakes

A Viennese museum devoted to forgeries leads the author to question the very nature of art appreciation.

Culture March 23, 2019

Indigenous activist Thomas Mayor’s clear statement

For months, Indigenous activist Thomas Mayor carried the Uluru Statement from the Heart around Australia, rolling out the canvas as he told its story. With Labor and mining companies now on board, the push continues for a First Nations voice. “We have bipartisanship on the influences of the Australian public, left, right or centre. That’s the mindset we’re transferring to – fighting for the referendum to win.”

Travel February 02, 2019

Singapore International Festival of Arts

A visit to Singapore to see a theatrical version of Orwell’s 1984 leads to deeper insight beign found in an esteemed Indian couple’s poetic relationship.

Culture February 24, 2018

Tamara Dean’s dusk photography

For photographer Tamara Dean, nature functions as a watermark in her work, immersing the viewer in both the personal and universal. Now she takes her melancholic and mysterious pictures to the Adelaide Biennial. “I started delving into allegory and more universal, personal stories. I learnt a different type of patience. I went from spending all my time shooting to all my time planning. I’d wait months or years for images to take shape.”

Travel January 27, 2018

Norway’s Future Library

Outside Oslo, a forest has been planted that in a hundred years will provide the paper for an anthology of renowned writers’ work, which will remain unread until then.

Travel February 25, 2017

Nights out in Glasgow, Scotland

Glasgow’s live music venues – from a pub built in 1792 to King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut – are testament to the unbridled passion of the locals.