Culture Buff
Vox Clamantis
For many of us it probably qualifies as ‘a distant country of which we know little’. Estonia, after decades of…
The Enigmatic Mr Deakin
Judith Brett has written extensively about liberalism in Australia. The emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University, her output…
“The Wider Earth”
It’s predecessor was the quaintly titled Waratah Festival which ran for a few days in October. In 1977 Stephen Hall,…
Xu Zhen Eternity-Buddha in Nirvana
When state governments put money into cultural events they like them to be large and ‘exclusive’. Well, the Victorian Government…
Bronwyn Oliver in her studio 1995
Her life may have ended eleven years ago at the age of only 47, but sculptor Bronwyn Oliver remains a…
Elizabeth Harrower returning to Sydney in 1959
It is a wonderful story in itself. After a self-imposed ‘exile’ of four decades, Elizabeth Harrower became an internationally acclaimed…
Helen Sherman
This year sees the 450th anniversary of the birth of Claudio Monteverdi, a pioneer of opera and a crucial transitional…
Jan de Bray “The governors of the Guild of St Luke, Haarlem” 1675
The Dutch Republic in the 17th century was surprisingly exciting and is now known as the Dutch Golden Age. Newly…
Michelle de Kretser
A multi-award winner, Michelle de Kretser has just published her fifth novel, The Life to Come. Born in Sri Lanka,…
Rachel Podger
The Enlightenment saw orthodoxies challenged and the emergence of radical ideas throughout the latter half of the 18th century. That…
Cressida Campbell Still life with dragonfly 2016-17
Emerging from a gifted family, Cressida Campbell is now one of Australia’s most celebrated artists. She chose an unusual medium…
Xavier de Maistre
Gracie Fields used to sing: ‘I took my harp to a party but nobody asked me to play’. I can’t…
The Merry Widow
Not everyone celebrates a 55th anniversary, but if you are a national ballet company at the peak of its form,…
Terracotta bust of Edmund Barton by Nelson Illingworth (c.1901)
Although they are not especially grand, these houses are arguably the most significant in the country. The four official residences…
Thomas Hampson
Sir Andrew Davis became Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2013 and, happily, will continue until the end…
Vivica Genaux
Founded in 2002, Pinchgut Opera has presented 19 rarely performed works with such distinction that its audience has grown along…
Anne-Sophie Mutter
These are good times for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Chief Conductor Davis Robertson announced a glamorous 2018 Season. The Board…
Marion Hall Best in Marimekko, 1968
Her shop was one of the glories of Rowe Street, itself one of the glories of old Sydney, before it…
Hamlet Glyndebourne Festival
Shakespeare’s plays have frequently been the source of operas. Almost as frequently the operas have been only modest successes. Notable…
Sir Andrew Davis
Operas are subject to changes in fashion, suffering long periods of neglect. One such opera is Thaïs by Jules Massenet.…
Marble relief of a Roman trireme
Readers of Robert Harris’ thriller Pompeii might think they know a great deal about the devastating eruption of Mt Vesuvius…
Simone Young
She’s a local girl who made good — really good. Simone Young was born, educated and trained in Sydney. She…
The Father
A co-production by MTC and STC of a new play which has been acclaimed in Paris, London and New York…
Grace Cossington Smith, The bridge in building 1929
The viewer could treat this exhibition as an exercise in ‘compare and contrast’, or follow my preference and simply enjoy…
Nadine Garner
Three women who shared a flat as university freshers in 1983 and have maintained their friendship through the years are…
