No longer a smoke-and-mirrors spectacle enjoyed on a grand scale, entertainment is now indivisible from our daily life. From cricket matches to blockbuster shows, amusement is the name of the game.
There was once a sense of excitement about creating a genuinely Australian culture and making our own way in the world. What’s happened to that optimism?
A changing of the guard…will it make a difference?
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The organisation Senator George Brandis described as having an “iron wall” around it, is refreshing its sentinels. This week’s announcement of four new appointments to the Australia Council Board represents…
Richard Ffarington painted idealised versions of Aboriginal people, as in King George Sound, 1840s.
State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia
The first Europeans to arrive in Western Australia were baffled by the strange land they saw. A new exhibition explores the Arcadia artists tried to transpose over native plants and people.
Many artists become teachers because they struggle to sustain a profession as an artist.
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In the hierarchy of subjects, art is usually ranked at the bottom. Would teachers who have an artistic background help raise the status of the subject in schools?
Singapore and Australia have a lot in common.
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You can drive across Singapore (population 5.5 million) in 45 minutes – roughly the same time it takes to reach Gawler from the Adelaide CBD. As an equatorial island, the climate is warm all the year round…
The Mexican artist Diego Rivera was an early contributor to the Pago en Especie program, which allows artists to pay tax with art.
Detail of the Rivera mural El hombre en cruce de caminos (1934). Wikimedia Commons
Many Australian artists eke out a living, yet government funding is generally heading backwards. Can we learn from Mexico, where artists are allowed to pay tax in paintings or sculptures in lieu of cash?
Testing and treatment is important in tackling HIV. But stigma and access need to be addressed too.
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Taking antiretrovirals is key to reducing HIV infection rates, but the challenge lies in making sure people who know they are infected actually take the drugs.
This human T cell (blue) is under attack by HIV (yellow), the virus that causes AIDS. T cells play a critical role in the body’s immune response.
Seth Pincus, Elizabeth Fischer and Austin Athman, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Sharon Lewin, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity e Thomas Aagaard Rasmussen, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
HIV research continues to search for a cure. The focus is on developing therapies to cure HIV infection or allow people with HIV to safely stop antiretroviral therapy and keep the virus under control.
Deep funding cuts will affect Australia’s entire arts ecology.
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A ‘mortal blow’ to the South Australian theatre scene. ‘Inexplicable’ cuts to centres for photography in two states. The Australia Council’s latest funding decisions have left the arts sector reeling and are evidence of a government indifferent to culture.
In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was “innovation” – at least, it was this time round. In 2015, the Word was “excellence”. And in the antediluvian era of the 1980s and 1990s, the Word was, variously…
Are you a rigid librarian or an eccentric poet? How you see yourself may enhance your creative performance.
Artist-run initiatives are a major creative driver in Australia’s art environment.
Lesley Giovanelli 'Continental Drift' Articulate project space 2015/Silversalt photography
Small arts organisations are facing savage cuts in May. These vibrant collectives are a vital part of the Australian art ecology, and deserve better than slow strangulation.
Sydney Biennale has recovered from the missteps of 2014.
Lee Mingwei, Guernica in Sand. Image courtesy of JUT Museum and Sydney Biennale.
Art education is an important vehicle for all sorts of learning and knowledge acquisition. Teachers must be taught not to view it as a “second class” subject.
Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne