Sergei Rachmaninoff fled the Russian revolution 100 years ago. Spending the remainder of his life in the US, he composed what is perhaps his greatest work in 1940, the Symphonic Dances.
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George Hamilton published An Appeal for the Horse in 1866, a defence of animal welfare well ahead of its time. However, his compassion for Aboriginal people was conspicuously lacking.
From 30,000-year-old cave paintings to The Man From Snowy River, wild horses have always been part of human culture. As Australia debates what to do with ‘brumbies’ in mountain environments, it’s time to reconsider their place.
The shipwreck of the Batavia and subsequent murders of 115 men, women and children have inspired many retellings. A new exhibition combines art and science to find new angles on an old tale.
Beauty brand Dove caused controversy with an ad seemingly showing a black woman turning white after using its body lotion. While Dove removed the ad, it played into the racist history of skin whitening.
British dancer Aakash Odedra performed four solo works, drawing on classical Indian dance, in a fitting close to the OzAsia festival.
An Aboriginal man shoots a white landowner in self-defence, triggering a tragic tale of racism in 1920s Northern Territory.
Caravan tells the tale of a mother and daughter who live in a caravan. Staged in the Malthouse Theatre’s forecourt, it is a sweet look at class and gender.
Archaeologists have a long tradition of taking artists along on their expeditions. A new exhibition in Cyprus aims to revive the practice.
Australian rapper Joelistics and producer James Mangohig bring their family histories to the stage through a breathtaking display of beats, raps and storytelling.
Taylor Mac’s 90-minute version of a 24-hour history of pop music is a hit, determined to forge a renewed sense community with the audience.
Cuneiform was used for over 3,000 years in the Ancient Near East, but was only decoded in the 19th century. The writing form is still revealing amazing stories, from literature to mathematics.
Kuro Tanino’s Dark Inn is a contemporary take on traditional Japanese theatre, contemplating the darkness of desire.
The first recorded performance of the theatre company that Shakespeare co-founded was at a playhouse south of the Thames, but was lost to historians for centuries. Now we know where it lies.
While many people may see the term “fag hag” a slur, women have long been allies of gay men, and it now might be time to reclaim the word.
Around 1970 Playboy magazine received an unexpected proposition from the radical German philosopher Herbert Marcuse - he would do an interview, if he could pose for the magazine’s centrefold.
The history of fisheries exploitation in Australia reveals a staggering natural bounty, which has been alarmingly fragile without proper management.
David Williamson and Jack Hibberd tower over Australian drama. Williamson’s The Department and Hibberd’s A Stretch of the Imagination both showcase the strange yet compelling detachment of these playwrights’ visions.
The gates to hell in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy tell us to “abandon all hope, yet who enter here”. Despite its unfunny premise, ‘La Commedia’ ends well, with its protagonist Dante reaching heaven.
Dr Joe Gumbula was a master-singer of Manikay, the exquisite Yolŋu tradition of public ceremonial song. While the songs contain incredible knowledge, scholars have rarely treated them as an intellectual tradition.
Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine, has died age 91. While many have pointed to Playboy’s problematic relationship with women, when it first appeared in 1953 the magazine was a challenge to Cold War men.
Football has changed dramatically in the 35 years since Richmond last had a chance at the Grand Final. But while footy is now ‘an industry’, the arrival of the first women’s league is to be celebrated.
Fly-bys by RAAF Super Hornets and army helicopters are a noisy finale to the Brisbane Festival. While many find this sound awe-inspiring, what of those with lived experience of war?
For centuries, in Western societies, ‘euthanasia’ referred to a pious death, blessed by God. The pain that could accompany dying was seen as ultimately redemptive.
The Ecstasy of St Teresa is the point of departure for a new exhibition examining ecstasy in all its guises, from the sexual to the spiritual to the banal.