Fairy tales can be brutal, violent, sexual and laden with taboo. But they are are excellent narratives with which to think through a range of human experiences: from disappointment, and fear to envy and grief.
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Muriel Heslop stole Australia’s heart when she debuted on screen in 1994. Now she gets a loving, ABBA-filled musical tribute, that is definitely not terrible.
Based on the 2004 novel, Let the Right One is a bloody staging of a vampire romance. Except in this show, the predator is a teenage girl.
Suetonius’s unforgettable tales of sex, scandal, and debauchery have ensured that his writing has played a significant role in shaping our perceptions of imperial Rome.
New research has cast doubt on the effectiveness of scientific studies monitoring industry impact on rock art in the Burrup Peninsula.
The new Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation aims to ‘revive’ liberal arts and the humanities. Yet the ‘civilisation’ model of history is now viewed as deeply flawed.
The paintings in Del Kathryn Barton’s new show at NGV Australia are visually stunning and painstakingly executed. But the women depicted are often de-personalised objects or headless cauldrons of destructive passion.
In 1921 the US imposed strict immigration quotas on Australians and detained the excess arrivals in terrible conditions. Contrast this with today’s treatment of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru.
Over the past half century, Australia has experienced a ‘time revolution’ with Indigenous history pushed back into the dizzying expanse of deep time. The latest discovery reminds us that science, like history, is an ongoing inquiry.
The makers of Justice League embed the film in a post-9/11, post-global warming, post-Brexit, post-Trump context. But it is loud and disappointing with some genuinely unimaginative action sequences.
More than 48 shipwrecks have been illicitly salvaged - and the figure may be much higher. Museums can play a key role in the protection of these wrecks, alongside strategic recovery and legislative steps.
Given that only 20 years ago Tasmania decriminalised male homosexuality, the same-sex marriage survey result represents an extraordinary change. But there is still work to be done.
Rembrandt & the Dutch Golden Age, a major new exhibition, is the first of its kind to visit Sydney. The title is something of a misnomer – the centrepiece is a stunning work by Vermeer.
In 1997 Pippilotti Rist walked down a street of cars and smashed their windows in a vivaciously feminist call to arms. You might recognise the homage to Risk’s work in Beyoncé’s Lemonade.
There are more people of Middle Eastern heritage on Australian commercial TV than ever before - in drama, cooking, and Gogglebox.
Pierre Ryckmans - also known by his nom-de-plume, Simon Leys - was an inspirational teacher, the bête-noire of sinology and an outspoken public intellectual. A new biography tells his story.
The average Australian female artist is better educated than her male counterpart but earns significantly less than him, new research shows. And artists’ incomes are declining in real terms.
The wildflowers that WWI soldiers encountered in Europe become symbols of remembrance and the fragility of life. The red poppy in particular is a powerful motif in Australian war art and photography.
The distinctive visual style of Robert Mapplethorpe’s beautiful, oversized images seems now more classical than shocking. But he can still reveal the subconscious of an era we think we have outgrown.
The Good Place is a high concept comedy about what it takes to be a good person. One of the show’s charms is the way it draws on real philosophers and philosophical dilemmas.
Armando Iannucci plays fast and loose with history in his farce The Death of Stalin. But its depiction of the cult of personality that can develop around political leaders is bitingly relevant.
Yayoi Kusama, arguably Japan’s most famous living artist, has been making art for 65 years. A new exhibition traces her output: from her dazzling mirror and polka-dot infused installations to paintings and sculptures.
Why do students still describe Australia as a ‘young’ country lacking culture? Are our universities doing enough to to teach Australian films, artwork and books?
Once typecast as ‘bad’ or ‘good’ in true crime tales, women are now more likely to be presented as complex figures in them. And many more women are writing true crime themselves.
When it comes to same-sex marriage, there’s a big gap in support between old and young gay men. Older gay men often see marriage as conservative, and fear marriage will create a “gold standard” for gay relationships.