Sarah Field’s Centre of my Sinful Earth is a provocative installation that both fascinates and repulses. Intrigued, I spoke with Field about the work, which will soon be exhibited at the MARS Gallery, Port Melbourne. Can you tell us a little about Centre of my sinful earth? Centre of my Sinful Earth is a large…
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We have all heard the saying ‘a picture is worth 1000 words’. For Canberra-based theatre veteran Chrissie Shaw, this rang true a few years ago during a visit to a Melbourne art gallery. There Shaw was struck by a black-and-white photograph, Madame Bijou in the Bar de la Lune, Paris (1932). This image set her…
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Between the First and Second World Wars Sydney developed into the modern metropolis it is today. Nothing epitomised this transformation quite like the Sydney Harbour Bridge; the massive steel structure that took a decade to construct and, upon its opening in 1932, promised a vibrant and progressive future for Australia’s most populous city. But…
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When Georges Seurat completed A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in 1884 he could only have dreamed of the iconic status the painting would achieve. He would, no doubt, have wanted to demonstrate his artistic credentials and silence his many critics. Inspiring a Pulitzer Prize winning musical one hundred years later was…
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Impressionism is one of the most popular modern art movements. Those who confess to know little about art are often familiar with the work of French painters Claude Monet and the likes. Impressionism, it seems, is a 19th century art movement that is associated with all things French. And the appeal of French taste…
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Maria Richardson is an eclectic Geelong-based artist who makes vibrant artworks inspired by the Australian landscape, amongst others things. Recently, I had a chat with Maria to find out more about her work as she prepares for her first solo show in November. Can you tell me a little about your background? I was…
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Last week, Australia said goodbye to one of its theatrical matriarchs. Betty Burstall, the enigmatic founder of Melbourne’s La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, died peacefully aged 87. Her legacy includes the theatre she founded in the 1970s and the countless playwrights, actors, directors and other creatives she nurtured over her long career. When Burstall founded…
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A dancework that explores ‘connections to place, landscape and origins’. This is how performance maker and designer Paula van Beek describes Opal Vapour. The formidable piece combines elements of traditional Javanese arts with contemporary dance, music and design. I spoke with van Beek as she and her talented collaborators, dancer and choreographer Jade Dewi…
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‘A modern masterpiece’ is how Victorian Opera describes its new production of Nixon in China. After seeing the production, which showed at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, I can say that the description is spot on. In this exciting adaptation of John Adams’s classic 1987 opera, Victorian Opera brings to life a heroic story that…
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A dance work that captivates ‘an audience so much that they are actively engaging with the performance’ is how choreographer and performer Natalie Abbott describes Physical Fractals, her latest piece. Following on from its recent inclusion in Melbourne’s Dance Massive, where it both impressed and disorientated audiences, the piece will be performed at Sydney’s PACT Centre For Emerging Artists later…
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‘Kids and adults alike will be taken on a journey’ promises Cathy Petocz, the star of Pea. This inventive interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale The Princess and the Pea is premiering at the Street Theatre, Canberra this month. I had a chat to Petocz to find out all about the show, from…
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I have been nostalgic about the past for as long as I can remember. The clothing, technology and society of bygone eras have always seemed far more interesting to me than the present day. This interest in mind, I found myself drawn to the new exhibition at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra, which…
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The Sex Pistols meet William Shakespeare. It isn’t often that these two British cultural icons are grouped together. Yet Bell Shakespeare’s new production of Henry 4 does just this, and much more, to present a punk-inspired interpretation of the classic play. The production debuted a few weeks ago in Canberra, and will soon open…
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Prostitutes, drunkards and erotic dancers. These were amongst the favourite subjects of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), whose art is the subject of a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Toulouse-Lautrec: Paris and the Moulin Rouge is composed of more than 100 works spanning his brief yet celebrated career. This includes…
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