Arts and culture
Culture Buff
The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn was greatly loved by our generation and several before us. It is derived from…
Culture Buff
We’re all keen on infrastructure at the moment so it’s worth remembering what an astounding impact the Suez Canal made…
Culture buff
In her memoir Must You Go?, Antonia Fraser records an exchange between her husband Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett in…
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Nowadays we don’t often look to modern Greece for inspiration except for its physical beauty and the charm of its…
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So familiar, Miriam Margolyes seems like one of us. Well, she is actually, because she took out Oz citizenship and…
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Adelaide is the perfect festival city and its once biennial, now annual, Festival has been the pace setter for others…
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He gave himself the name ‘Tennessee’; a creative and public relations masterstroke for a still unknown 28 year-old writer. Born…
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Readers already know from this column something of the forthcoming Perth International Festival (13 Feb-7 Mar) with its huge Journey…
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Possibly in the most beautiful setting of any theatre in the world, Sydney’s Wharf Theatre saw its first performances 30…
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This is a great time of the year to make progress with that stack of unread books. One of my…
Australia’s film awards – put your money on the pulpy stuff
If I were asked to name my favourite job over the past 15 years, since I took leave of my…
Culture buff
Wanting to love it was not enough; Mr Turner just didn’t quite do it for me. Mike Leigh’s new film…
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Not many people would still argue that fashion, as in garments, has no place in an art museum. After all,…
Culture buff
I’m a bit perplexed about a current Christmas (perhaps I should say Xmas) craze. This is not a moan from…
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The arts are alive and well heading into 2015
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We’ve established that capital city festivals are for other people. Their principal purpose is to bring people into the city,…
Culture Buff
John Hearder was a society photographer whose studio and display window were on Castlereagh Street between Rowe Street and the…
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Andy Warhol is the star but Roy Lichtenstein is the master. That’s the quick take out of POP TO POPISM…
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Jane Turner is to play a mother with a difficult daughter. No, it’s not a stage version of Kath &…
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I’m oversensitive to criticism of Australia by famous authors. Richard Flanagan, elated at winning the Man Booker Prize for The…
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A highly successful tour of European festivals is a great boost to an orchestra. Not just to morale but to…
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Happy is the theatre company that can enjoy the regular services of a genuine international star, as admired on stage…
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I’ve never entirely understood why big cities have arts festivals. Melbourne and Sydney are both big cities by any international…
Culture Buff
He was born into Australian ballet aristocracy but now lives in Houston. Stanton Welch is the son of Marilyn Jones…
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It all began in the mid-1960s for the Brilliant Creatures: Germaine, Clive, Barry & Bob, now given de luxe treatment…
