"Around this time, I start getting all my panic attacks — we're in complete festival mode with four hours' sleep a night, all the craziness," says Mitu Bhowmick Lange.
Not this year. The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne had been virus-bumped from…

Indian filmmakers reach out to Aussies over pandemic divide

That old theatrical cliche 'the show must go on' has rarely been stress-tested as much as it will be in the next two years, leading performing arts companies warn.
As COVID-19 restrictions tentatively lift in some parts of the country, theatres are…

Less money, fewer actors, 'safer' shows: fears held for 2021 theatre

A sweary, tattooed, Indigenous Ned Kelly cooks meth in his backyard then holds up a 7-Eleven.
Painted-up Townsville artist Tony Albert sings Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball (out of tune) while knocking the heads off Captain Cook statues.
Sao Paulo’s Maria…

Oppression, racism, monuments and myths make for a potent show

At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, with box offices shut, actors and crews stood down and the arts and entertainment industry bleeding emergency reserves dry, leading Australian stage producer Michael Cassel gave the performance of his…

How Harry Potter helped save Australia's arts industry

A well-connected Australian tenor's text message may have helped along the federal government's $250 million arts rescue package, which was announced on Thursday.
Australia's Got Talent winner Mark Vincent, stuck at home after his tour was cancelled…

Songs of praise for arts rescue – but this is just the overture

An oil painting by one of Australia's most celebrated artists, John Brack, of his laughing, pigtailed four-year-old daughter Charlotte has smashed expectations at auction, costing its new owner nearly $1 million to take home.
Laughing Child, painted…

Laughing to the bank: Brack daughter portrait fetches $900,000

Australia's leading arts organisations have praised the federal government's $250 million rescue package but some have warned it lacks vital support for individual arts workers and smaller companies.
While the creative sector said financial…

Arts rescue package welcomed, but leaves some out in the cold

When you listen to a major Australian orchestra play, what are the chances the composer is decomposing?
Melbourne composer Ciaran Frame, 25, set to find out and discovered that last year, fewer than one in five works performed were written by living…

Dead, white, European males dominate orchestra music, survey finds

A piccolo trills with the bubbly-yet-frustrated joy of a coronavirus lockdown champagne. A trombone mourns through a grumpy tornado. A viola bursts with longing for lost connection.
Recorded separately, at various performers' homes, these pieces are…

The sound of isolation: composing an ode to weird times

"I've always been a collector," says Melbourne art scene doyen Bill Nuttall. "I collected old bottles as a kid."
It's a habit he found hard to break. At age 22 he set up Niagara Galleries in a city alleyway, and 40 years later he found himself moving…