The Conversation
Whitlanders in the 1940s. Established in 1941 near the base of Victoria’s Mount Buffalo, this Catholic community celebrated the ‘dignity of manual labour’ and was led by a charismatic athlete and former judge’s associate, Ray Triado. Joe Pisani

Friday essay

Friday essay: the Australians who pioneered self-sufficiency, generations before Nimbin

Rachel Goldlust, La Trobe University

Long before 70s hippies and hipster artisans, Australians were seeking solace by going back to the land. They ranged from anarchists to suffragists to Catholic agrarians.
Anna McGahan as Charmian Clift in Sue Smith’s play Hydra. Long overshadowed by her husband George Johnston, recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in Clift’s life and work. Jeff Busby/Queensland Theatre

A passionate voice

‘A woman ahead of her time’: remembering the Australian writer Charmian Clift, 50 years on

Tanya Dalziell, University of Western Australia and Paul Genoni, Curtin University

Fifty years after her death, Australian writer Charmian Clift is experiencing a renaissance. With her forward-thinking columns, Clift's voice rose above the crowd during post-war Australia.
Arthur Loureiro, Study for ‘The spirit of the new Moon’ 1888, oil on canvas. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane Purchased 1995. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant with the assistance of Philip Bacon through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation. Celebrating the Queensland Art Gallery's Photograph: QAGOMA

Friday essay

Friday essay: romancing the moon – space dreaming after Apollo

Mitch Goodwin, University of Melbourne

50 years after Apollo 11, a new exhibition considers artistic responses to our celestial neighbour. As we retreat from human space exploration, our relationship to the moon has become virtual.
Susie Porter as Marie and Kate Jenkinson as Allie in Wentworth. The show’s drama revolves around a women’s prison. Fremantle Media Australia/Xinger Xanger Photograph

Screenwriting

Inside the story: writing the powerful female world of Wentworth

Craig Batty, University of Technology Sydney; Radha O'Meara, University of Melbourne; Stayci Taylor, RMIT University, and Tessa Dwyer, Monash University

In the popular Australian TV series Wentworth, the setting of a women's prison is a pressure-cooker for drama. The setting also allows for greater representation of diverse female characters.
The ‘gothic’ genre was once thought to be inapplicable to Australia. But there is a strong gothic tradition in Australian literature and film, seen in examples like Picnic at Hanging Rock. IMDB

Explainer

Australian Gothic: from Hanging Rock to Nick Cave and Kylie, this genre explores our dark side

Emma Doolan, Southern Cross University

Gothic texts are not all bloodsucking vampires and howling werewolves. An Australian Gothic tradition took root alongside colonisation, influencing writers from Marcus Clarke to Alexis Wright.
Walter Withers, ‘The Drover’, 1912, oil on canvas. A recent book reinterprets Henry Lawson’s The Drover’s Wife in 99 ways, offering new perspectives on the classic short story. Wikimedia Commons

Inside the story

Inside the story: 99 versions of the same tale in The Drover’s Wives

Dave Drayton, University of Technology Sydney

Ryan O'Neill's book reimagines a classic Australian short story. He retells The Drover's Wife 99 times in various forms, including a poem, an Amazon review, and even as a Cosmo quiz.
In the novel Coach Fitz, the narrator is seemingly unaware of his humorous voice. This device is one way that the novel subverts expectations. Shutterstock

Writing humour

Inside the story: Coach Fitz and the accidentally comic voice

Debra Adelaide, University of Technology Sydney

At the centre of the novel Coach Fitz is Tom, an anti-hero whose unintentionally humorous voice drives the narrative. Tom is an awkward everyman, a naïve Don Quixote, a digressive Tristam Shandy.
Charlotte Best in the Australian Netflix original drama Tidelands (2018). Research last year found that only around 1% of the Netflix Australia catalogue was Australian content. Hoodlum Entertainment

Streaming

Netflix is opening its first Australian HQ. What does this mean for the local screen industry?

Ramon Lobato, RMIT University and Stuart Cunningham, Queensland University of Technology

Netflix may be inching closer to becoming a “local” media company, with an increased presence in our small but profitable national market. Will this lead to more locally-made content?
Tom Schilling as Kurt Barnert – a slightly blurred facsimile of the famous German artist Gerhard Richter – in Never Look Away. Pergamon Film, Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion, Beta Cinema

Artists on film

In Never Look Away we finally have a painter biopic offering insight into the creative process

Ted Snell, University of Western Australia

Standing out among the crowd of recent artist biopics, the new film Never Look Away peels back some unhelpful tropes that have blinkered our understanding of the artist's process.
The Indigenous flag flies above Victorian Parliament in 2017. Tracey Nearmy/AAP

An icon

Explainer: our copyright laws and the Australian Aboriginal flag

Isabella Alexander, University of Technology Sydney

As the flag's copyright owner, Luritja artist Harold Thomas has the right to grant licences to whomever he pleases. Asking the government to buy back his copyright licence could be seen as an appropriation of Aboriginal property rights.
Michelle Guthrie in 2018: the former ABC managing director made greater staff diversity a top priority. But her final Equity and Diversity annual report failed to meet several long-held targets. Joel Carrett/AAP

Friday essay

Friday essay: diversity in the media is vital - but Australia has a long way to go

Helen Vatsikopoulos, University of Technology Sydney

As we face a growing tide of unregulated hate speech, the media is crucial in normalising diversity. Yet progress here has been slow. Even the ABC has failed to meet some of its own targets for hiring a diversity of employees.
The French film School’s Out is a masterpiece. Avenue B Productions, Canal+, OCS

Film

Five films not to miss from the 2019 Sydney Film Festival

Ari Mattes, University of Notre Dame Australia

A flawless French film, a Macedonian parable and a documentary following alt-right strategist Steve Bannon are three of the stand out films from this year's festival.

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Reviews

Mella Jaarsma, The landscaper 2013, costume: wood, paint, iron and leather, single-channel video: 3:40 minutes, colour, sound. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Purchased 2018. Photo by Mie Cornoedus

Art

Indonesian art is fresh, energetic and lively. Why do we not see more of it?

Alison Carroll, University of Melbourne

The exhibition Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia has many wonderful works. But it is an exception - despite our close proximity, there are few opportunities for Australians to engage with Indonesian art.
Zahra Newman in Wake in Fright. A new adaptation of Kenneth Cook’s novel retells the story of a man’s descent into violent masculinity with a female voice, accompanied by visual and aural spectacle. Pia Johnson

Theatre

A radical new adaptation eviscerates the dominance of male voices in Wake in Fright

Denise Varney, University of Melbourne

In a new adaptation of the classic Australian novel, the story of masculinity and despair in the outback is told through a female voice.
A new book by ABC journalist Jess Hill is the result of four years’ investigation into the problem of domestic violence. Shutterstock

Book Review

See What You Made Me Do: why it’s time to focus on the perpetrator when tackling domestic violence

Camilla Nelson, University of Notre Dame Australia

A new book scrutinises the social and psychological causes of domestic abuse, its terrifying consequences, particularly the impact on children, and the failure of our legal and social institutions to adequately respond.
Artistic Director Richard Tognetti and members of the orchestra: the rock musicians whose work feature in this concert openly acknowledge the influence of the seemingly inaccessible avant-garde. Julian Kingma

Music

Cross-over cocktail: Indies & Idols mixes rock stars with modern Polish composers

David Larkin, University of Sydney

An Australian Chamber Orchestra concert features works by Jonny Greenwood, Sufjan Stevens and The Nationals' Bryce Dessner, along with those of modern Polish composers.
Aisling Franciosi in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale: perhaps the most interesting aspect of the film is the controversy surrounding the violence it depicts. BRON Studios, Causeway Films, Creative Wealth Media Finance

Film

The Nightingale - much ado about nothing

Ari Mattes, University of Notre Dame Australia

As revenge films go, Australian writer-director Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale is watchable if uninspired. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the film is the controversy surrounding the violence it depicts.
Mona Confessional 2016 – 19. The art unveiled for this year’s Dark Mofo is a disturbing journey into our future. Julie Shiels

Dark Mofo

Dark Mofo 2019: a journey through the inferno to robots and extinction

Julie Shiels, RMIT University

Mona's new subterranean extension adds a compelling dimension to the art of Dark Mofo 2019. Upstairs, a series of interactive sculptures contemplates our automated future.