Before the goldrush, Indigenous people told stories about how the bronzewing pigeon seeded precious minerals across the land. Europeans stole not just land, but the value deep within it.
It was once thought the Aboriginal names for the Hawkesbury had been lost forever. But after a remarkable find in the Mitchell Library, almost 100 place names will be restored to Dyarubbin Country.
A spear-thrower, a shell, a bowl, a vase, a bucket. Five very different items tell us much about the history of collecting, the role of Indigenous experts and the shadow of colonial violence.
Will the newest batch of books about the climate crisis change minds? Reading about the problem can help us understand it, but it’s political action that is needed now.
Pardalotes are quintessentially Australian birds, industrious, beautiful and strange. They have adapted to our environment but we are corroding the places in which they live.
A new book by participants in the controversial ‘Grievance Studies’ hoax critiques the rise of an ideology they call Social Justice Theory. But the authors overstate their case.
Alice Pung’s family escaped Pol Pot to settle in Australia. In suburban Melbourne, as her mum worked in the dark, back shed, she discovered books — and what the world could be.
A new Greta Thunberg biopic has drawn criticism from those who don’t see the value in the stories of young lives. But children’s voices matter — and Thunberg’s is potent.
Decades of under-funding have left many Australian art schools in a perilous state. And the present political and intellectual hostility to the creative arts is threatening their very existence.
Nick Cave’s ongoing letters to fans, begun after a period of intense mourning over the death of his son, have much to say about suffering, mercy and meaning-making.
Donald Trump’s bizarre interview with journalist Jonathan Swan went viral this week. While some regard the US president as beyond parody, satire may be starting to bite as he slides in the polls.
A crowd can exhilarate the ephemeral power within us. Whether a packed stadium or a mosh pit, crowds brought us together in ways that were more than physical.
Johann August Ludwig Preiss was the first professional botanist to systematically collect flora in the Colony of Western Australia. Yet he is little remembered today.
Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne