Arts and culture
Culture buff
This is a great time of the year to make progress with that stack of unread books. One of my…
Australia’s film awards – put your money on the pulpy stuff
If I were asked to name my favourite job over the past 15 years, since I took leave of my…
Culture buff
Wanting to love it was not enough; Mr Turner just didn’t quite do it for me. Mike Leigh’s new film…
Culture buff
Not many people would still argue that fashion, as in garments, has no place in an art museum. After all,…
Culture buff
I’m a bit perplexed about a current Christmas (perhaps I should say Xmas) craze. This is not a moan from…
Culture buff
The arts are alive and well heading into 2015
Culture buff
We’ve established that capital city festivals are for other people. Their principal purpose is to bring people into the city,…
Culture Buff
John Hearder was a society photographer whose studio and display window were on Castlereagh Street between Rowe Street and the…
Culture Buff
Andy Warhol is the star but Roy Lichtenstein is the master. That’s the quick take out of POP TO POPISM…
Culture buff
Jane Turner is to play a mother with a difficult daughter. No, it’s not a stage version of Kath &…
Culture buff
I’m oversensitive to criticism of Australia by famous authors. Richard Flanagan, elated at winning the Man Booker Prize for The…
Culture buff
A highly successful tour of European festivals is a great boost to an orchestra. Not just to morale but to…
Culture buff
Happy is the theatre company that can enjoy the regular services of a genuine international star, as admired on stage…
Culture Buff
I’ve never entirely understood why big cities have arts festivals. Melbourne and Sydney are both big cities by any international…
Culture Buff
He was born into Australian ballet aristocracy but now lives in Houston. Stanton Welch is the son of Marilyn Jones…
Culture Buff
It all began in the mid-1960s for the Brilliant Creatures: Germaine, Clive, Barry & Bob, now given de luxe treatment…
Culture Buff
It’s chamber orchestras at 20 paces. Both the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra have recently announced their…
Culture Buff
The village of Bibbenluke sits at the point where the Monaro Highway crosses the Bombala River. It’s beautiful, remote, and…
Culture Buff
After a red-carpeted fanfare the Emmy Awards were announced last week in LA. There is no hope for me; my…
Culture Buff
Oh dear, the Helpmann Awards have come round again. The winners were announced in Sydney’s Capitol Theatre, a most appropriate…
Culture buff
I was hung once, in the Archibald, that is. Paul Newton, having been commissioned to paint me by the ABC,…
Culture buff
Popes come and popes go but generally not after only 33 days; which is what happened to Albino Luciani, elected…
