Culture
latest
Visual Art December 2, 2023
Nadine Christensen: Around at Buxton Contemporary
Nadine Christensen’s first retrospective exhibition surveys 25 years of a diverse practice.
Film December 2, 2023
Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon isn’t as bad as his worst films, nor is it as good as his best.
Games December 2, 2023
Northway Games’ I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a sci-fi visual novel without peer, which powerfully evokes the emotions of adolescence.
The Influence December 2, 2023
Imara Savage on the artworks of Ana Mendieta
Director Imara Savage finds herself constantly drawn to the ‘body–earth’ artworks of Cuban–American artist Ana Mendieta.
Visual Art December 2, 2023
Artist and sculptor Diana Al-Hadid
Diana Al-Hadid’s work – on show for NGV Triennial 2023 – layers history and memory in works of paradoxical delicacy.
Fiction December 2, 2023
Pour the contents of any cleaning product down the sink and you’ll realise it’s all the same. Hardwood floor and surface cleaner. Streak-free glass and window wipe. Lemon-scented multipurpose spray. They’re all just clear liquid that a round table …
The Influence November 25, 2023
Conductor Benjamin Northey on Thus Spake Zarathustra
Benjamin Northey – now celebrating two decades with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – says Richard Strauss’s Thus Spake Zarathustra is an exemplar of musical storytelling.
Festival November 25, 2023
Performa Biennial takes an open view of performance art, showcasing work that might as easily be dance or theatre for a visual art audience.
Music November 25, 2023
Frost Children and the ‘indie sleaze’ revival
Siblings Lulu and Angel Prost, recording as Frost Children, are among the few who make the historically vague revival ‘indie sleaze’ a real thing.
Television November 25, 2023
Nathan Fielder’s new comedy drama, The Curse, takes his work into wilder territory.
Music November 25, 2023
Avant-pop artist Caroline Polachek is bringing her myth-making performance of desire to Australia for the first time.
books
Books December 2, 2023
Quentin Beresford
Rogue Corporations
In 1984, Geoffrey Edelsten opened his first “super clinic” in Western Sydney. The facility replaced the subdued atmosphere of the traditional doctor’s consulting room with unabashed tack: pink faux-mink couches, luridly dressed hostesses and a musician …
Books December 2, 2023
Adam Sisman
The Secret Life of John le Carré
Adam Sisman’s 2015 work, John le Carré: The Biography, did a great job of narrating the writer’s life. The man who created Smiley and Leamas in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was born David Cornwell, the son of an astonishing …
Books December 2, 2023
Stuart Lloyd
Started Out Just Drinking Beer: The Mental As Anything Story
While iconic Australian rock band Mental As Anything always presented as not taking themselves too seriously, the exact opposite can be said about their approach to music-making. As Stuart Lloyd chronicles in his engaging new book, Started Out Just …