Shanghai Village is one of Melbourne's favourite dumpling houses. It's a cult favourite, where the styling is low-key, the pace is whirlwind and the drinks are BYO. Sample some of their prized dumplings and you'll quickly understand why its status as a local food hero is well-deserved. Brave the queues and the bustling dining room to reward yourself with a late-night banquet of cheap and cheerful Chinese fare. That should leave you and your comrades sufficiently fuelled for an evening spent belting out jams at one of Chinatown's many lively karaoke haunts. Image: loololoo8 via Instagram.
Happy hour is a well-worn tradition of bars and restaurants around the world. In Melbourne, if you walk into a bar there's likely a happy hour special at some point in the week. A new initiative running throughout January 2021, however, is one-upping all other happy hours. For the entire month of January, 30 much-loved Melbourne venues are offering 50 percent off their entire menu for one hour each day. Drink or dine at the likes of Fargo & Co, Albert Park Lake Club, State of Grace, The Duke of Wellington and The Smith from 5–6pm between Friday, January 1 and Sunday, January 31 and you'll receive 50 percent off your entire order. That means you could head to Harlow for $10 espresso martinis and $12.50 parmigianas, for $8 beef sliders and $3.25 Furphys at Middle Park Hotel, and to Trinket for $9 margherita pizzas and $11 pisco sours. All you need to do in order to get the discount is pay by mobile at the end of your meal using either the Australian Venue Co app or the Mr Yum Order at Table. There is no limit to the number of guests that can attend, meaning you can have a reasonably priced catch up with any sized group of friends. Melbourne's Happiest Hour is available from 5–6pm daily at the following 30 venues: Albert Park Lake Club Auburn Hotel Beer DeLuxe Fed Square Beer DeLuxe Hawthorn College Lawn Hotel European Bier Cafe Fargo & Co Golden Gate Hotel Harlow Hopscotch Imperial Bourke Street Imperial South Yarra Middle Park Hotel Newmarket Hotel O'Connell's Hotel Perseverance Prince Alfred Hotel State of Grace Studley Park Boathouse The Crafty Squire The Duke of Wellington The Exchange Hotel The Hawthorn Hotel The Local The Provincial The Smith The Station Hotel The Vincent The Wharf Hotel Trinket Images: Auburn Hotel
Everyone has heard about — or tried to eat their way through — KitKat's famed range of weird and wonderful Japanese flavours. A cough drop version once existed, and it really wasn't great. The sake version, a perennial favourite, is absolutely delicious. But if you're vegan, none of these varieties will have tempted your tastebuds. KitKats in general won't have either, actually. That changed back in 2021 for Aussies who follow a plant-based, dairy-free and cruelty free diet, and were also keen to sink their teeth into a KitKat. The brand launched a vegan-certified KitKat, as made with a rice-based milk alternative. The result: a KitKat covered in a smooth plant-based milk chocolate — not dark chocolate — which is then layered over the usual crisp wafers. The original run of plant-based KitKats was a limited-time deal; however, they're now back in Australian supermarkets again. This time, they've hit Coles stores — and only for a short period. That means that everyone can now have a break — and a KitKat — with KitKat Plant Based joining other plant-based alternatives among Nestle's products. So, if you'd like to crack open a few fingers while tucking into a glass of plant-based Milo, you'll be able to. The 41.5-gram bars cost $3 and, if you're super keen, they can also be ordered from the KitKat Chocolatory website. When your next sugar craving hits, add them to your list alongside vegan Natural Confectionery Co fruit lollies, vegan choc tops, and vegan Magnums, Cornettos and Weis Bars. KitKat Plant Based is available now at Coles stores around Australia — or you can them from the KitKat Chocolatory website.
Poof Doof Drag Brunch is back – and it's bigger, brighter and more glorious than ever. Starting on Sunday, April 27, the party will take over The Espy's spectacular sunroom once a week for ten action-packed weeks. Leading the star-packed program is Isis Avis Loren, who won season three of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under. Look out, too, for Cerulean, who won Miss First Nation 2023 at the Miss First Nation: Supreme Queen Competition during Sydney WorldPride. Then there's Lynduuh, current Miss Dragnation Australia. Plus, every week, there'll be appearances from surprises guests, while Nic Holland will provide the soundtrack alongside DJ Argonaut. Your ticket ($75 plus a booking fee) buys you the show, as well as two hours of bottomless house wine, beers, spritzes and rainbow mimosas with edible flowers. Also included is access to the bloody mary drama station, where you can spice up your cocktail with tomato juices, hot sauces, bacon, pickles and more. Meanwhile, you'll be snacking on a grazing spread by Menzies. Some of the delights on the menu are salmon and cream cheese mini bagels, party pies, bacon rolls, tiny franks, pink lamingtons, pop-that-cherry danishes and Golden Gaytime muffins.
UPDATE, August 21, 2022: Cyrano is now available to stream via Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Love can spring quickly, igniting sparks instantly. Or, it can build gradually and gracefully, including over a lifetime. It can be swift and bold like a lightning strike, too, or it can linger, evolve and swell like a gentle breeze. In the sumptuous confines of Cyrano, all of the above happens. The latest adaptation of Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, this time as a musical via playwright Erica Schmidt's own song-filled on-stage version, lends its attention to two men who've fallen for the plucky Roxanne (Haley Bennett, Hillbilly Elegy) in opposite ways. Charming soldier Christian de Neuvillette (Kelvin Harrison Jr, The Trial of the Chicago 7) gets the fast-and-infatuated experience, while the movie's namesake (Peter Dinklage, I Care a Lot), a poet also handy in battle, has ached for his childhood pal for as long as he can remember. Roxanne's two suitors make a chalk-and-cheese pair, with their contrasting approaches to matters of the heart — specifically, to winning her heart and helping ensure that she doesn't have to marry the rich and ruthless De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn, The Outsider) to secure her future — driving much of Cyrano's drama. Also present and accounted for, as all takes on the tale have included (see also: 80s rom-com Roxanne with Steve Martin, the Gérard Depardieu-starring Cyrano de Bergerac, 90s rom-com The Truth About Cats & Dogs with Uma Thurman and Janeane Garofalo, plus recent Netflix teen flicks Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and The Half of It): insecurities about appearance, a way with words and a ghostwriting gambit. Short in stature given Dinklage's casting, Cyrano can't even dream that Roxanne could love him. But he wants her to be happy above all else and knows that she's smitten with Christian, so he secretly lends his romantic rival his letter-penning abilities to help woo her by lyrical prose. This Cyrano may have a different reason for not believing that Roxanne could reciprocate his feelings, even as she gets giddy over the correspondence he scripts for Christian — traditionally, a large nose gets in his way — but his slow-and-steady affection is especially apt in this particular film. The latest period piece from Joe Wright, it slips into the British director's resume alongside Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and Anna Karenina, and initially seems as standard a silver-screen staging of Cyrano as a musical as he could reliably muster. But all three of those aforementioned movies are stunning in their own ways, especially the gutsy Anna Karenina. Unsurprisingly, his newest feature is as well. Doing his best work since that Tolstoy adaptation, and clearly back in his comfort zone after Pan, Darkest Hour and The Woman in the Window, Wright lets Cyrano take its time to bloom and blossom. And, when it flowers partway through, it makes viewers realise that it's been a gorgeous gem of a film all along. Like on-screen love story, like surrounding flick, basically. That said, the routine air that initially seems to float through Cyrano's first act can't have been by design. Rather, the film winds up to its full heart-wrenching powers so patiently that it appears a tad too expected while its various pieces are being put into place — a fact hardly helped by how often this exact narrative or variations of it have made it to screens — until it's just simply and unshakeably wonderful. Wright doesn't change anything in his approach, helming a handsome, detail-laden, rhythmic piece of cinema from the outset, but the emotions that truly make the movie sing strengthen minute by minute. And yes, when it all clicks in just so, it's with its three main players literally crooning, conveying so much about their huge, swirling, all-encompassing feelings that normal dialogue couldn't have done justice to. That swooning sensation — because this is a feature that it's easy to tumble head-over-heels for — helps answer the obvious question that needs asking whenever a famed tale gains songs. That query: why? Wright and screenwriter Schmidt, the latter of whom is married to Dinklage and wrote her crooning-heavy stage version for him in 2018, reply by making it rousingly plain how much yearning and desire resides in each musical number. The movie's tunes come courtesy of The National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner, fresh from their efforts scoring C'mon C'mon, and prove worlds away from big, barnstorming Broadway numbers. Emotionally sweeping, they survey the full range from longing to heartache, while also navigating an immensely tricky task: relaying what simmers inside each character that not only goes unspoken, but isn't inked in the feature's back-and-forth love letters. Thank goodness for not just Wright's finessed handling of these musical scenes, which lets those sung-about feelings echo with weight and heart-swelling resonance, but also for his clear passion for the musical genre. This marks his first entry, although both rhythm and music have been key to so much of his back catalogue — not the least of which being spy thriller Hanna with its melodic Chemical Brothers score — and he whirls properly into the fold like he was always meant to dance there. Even when no one is singing, Cyrano has the soul of a musical in its lush staging, Seamus McGarvey's (Bad Times at the El Royale) fleet-footed cinematography, the pace instilled by Valerio Bonelli's (The Woman in the Window) lithe editing and its performances. It has its own beat and vibe, and every element drums and hums along in time. Also trilling the right tune, regardless of whether they're singing (which they each do well): Dinklage, Bennett and Harrison Jr. Australia's own Mendo still gives exceptional villain, and darkly and cunningly so; however, being enamoured with Cyrano's main trio is inescapable. The decision to cast Dinklage and Bennett straight from the stage production is a winner. He imparts melancholy, wit and spark into his romantic lead, as he so consistently did in Game of Thrones, too, while she ensures that Roxanne's quest for a big and fulfilling life — and love — cuts deep. And, as much chemistry buzzes between the two, enlisting Luce and Waves' standout Harrison Jr as the man between them is another masterstroke. Indeed, Cyrano adores Roxanne and Christian's romance as much as it feels its eponymous figure's pining, loves his rhapsodic words and wants his heart's desire to come true — and sharing it all comes, gradually but still overwhelmingly, with the cost of admission.
Earlier in 2020, when events worldwide started cancelling, postponing and rescheduling due to COVID-19, the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)'s Dark Mofo was sadly one of many that had to pull the plug. It's also just one of the annual festivals that the venue holds but, thankfully, MONA's summer event will be forging ahead — and, if the first sneak peek at its program is anything to go by, Mona Foma's 2021 festival is returning in a big way. Come January, arts and music fans will be able to soak in the fest's eclectic sights and sounds across two weekends — and in two locations. Although Mona Foma was originally held in Hobart, where MONA is located, the event made the move to Launceston in 2019. In 2021, however, it'll split its program between both Tasmanian cities. Launceston will be up first, from January 15–17, with Hobart getting the nod the next week from January 22–24. After revealing back in September that Mona Foma would definitely return next year, MONA has now announced two parts of its 2021 lineup — one per city — which is great news for everyone who loves arts, culture, festivals, lights, lasers, gorges and warehouses. [caption id="attachment_790928" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Aqua Luma, Robin Fox. Photo Credit: Nick Roux. Image courtesy of the artist and and Mona (Museum of Old and New Art), Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] First up, in Launceston, the city's Cataract Gorge will host the latest work by audio-visual artist Robin Fox. Yes, that means the site's landscape will be taken over by an immersive installation, called Aqua Luma — which'll be making its world premiere, will run on a 20-minute cycle from 9.30am–11.30pm, and will be free to attend. Aqua Luma will feature multiple components, too, all adding to one impressive experience. First, it'll include 12 metre-high water jets that'll erupt in time with subharmonic frequencies. Also, there'll be lasers tracing geometrical patterns in the watery mist. Basically, you'll feel like you're standing beneath a canopy of light and sound — and there'll be an electronic composition sent straight to your smartphone as well. [caption id="attachment_790934" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] K&D Warehouse, Hobart, Tasmania. Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona (Museum of Old and New Art), Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] Over in Hobart, Mona Foma is turning the site of former hardware store K&D Warehouse into a gallery — with exhibition No Place Like Home filling the entire place with video installations, art and sculptures all selected by Mona curator Emma Pike. You'll be able to wander through one of the city's best-known buildings, which dates back 118 years, and see works by artists such as Tony Albert, Zanny Begg, Andy Hutson, Rachel Maclean, Nell, Ryan Presley and Phebe Schmidt. Entry will cost $10 per person. Revealing Aqua Luma and No Place Like Home, Mona Foma curator Brian Ritchie said that the festival was excited about hosting "installations in two of the state's most dramatically different but equally beloved locations". He continued: "Robin Fox has been involved in every festival program since Mona Foma's inception, so it's appropriate that he has created a new work to address a year like no other. While at K&D Warehouse, the art will take you over the rainbow after the storm that was the year 2020." If you're wondering what else the event has in store, Mona Foma's full program will be released on Monday, December 7, with tickets going on sale at 8am the next day. Of course, before you go making big plans for a weekend getaway down south, you'll want to keep an eye on Tasmania's current border restrictions — which, at the time of writing, requires 14 days in quarantine for non-Tasmanian residents entering from a location considered medium-risk, such as Victoria and South Australia. Restrictions on Victorians are due to ease on Friday, November 27, however. Mona Foma will take place from January 15–17, 2021 in Launceston, and from January 22–24, 2021 in Hobart. We'll update you when the full program is announced on Monday, December 7 — but head to the festival website in the interim for further details. Top image: Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania. Photo Credit: Rob Burnett. Image courtesy of the artist and Visit Northern Tasmania.
Life has been a cabaret for one of the world's inimitable designers since 2018, when Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show first premiered in Paris. Couture, colour, flair, excess, passion, a larger-than-life attitude: they're all channelled into this fashion show-meets-musical revue that steps through its namesake's career and promises a time at the theatre like nothing else. More than 200 original Gaultier pieces feature. His 50 years making threads are in the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, the whole thing also plays out like a party. So far, London, Tokyo, Munich, Porto, Lisbon, Milan, Barcelona and Osaka have also revelled in the Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show experience. Next, it's Brisbane's turn. The River City will welcome the Australian debut of the show — and the Aussie-exclusive season, too — during Brisbane Festival 2024. Donning attire that Gaultier would approve of isn't a prerequisite of attending the production, but you know that you want to dress the part if you're heading along. Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show will kick off with Brisbane Festival itself, starting on Friday, August 30. The Australian season runs until Sunday, September 15, taking over the South Bank Piazza — which forms part of the Festival Garden for the duration of Brisbane Festival. "I am pleased and honoured that my Fashion Freak Show will be presented in Australia, as part of the Brisbane Festival," said Gaultier about the production's trip Down Under. "I could never imagine that it would travel this far and I hope that the Australian audiences will enjoy the show as much as I enjoyed making it with the fantastic team that you will see in Brisbane. It's the story of my life told through music and dance and fashion. The story of a boy from the suburbs who dreamed of being a couturier — who lived his dream with all the highs and lows of his destiny." Of course Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show emphasises its titular figure's boundary-pushing work, his focus on individual expression, and his championing of queer aesthetics and LGBTQIA+ causes. Alongside the hefty range of outfits, it also features a suitable genre-defying soundtrack of disco, funk, pop, rock, new wave and punk tunes as actors and dancers — plus circus artists as well — take to the stage. The diverse cast of faces bringing the show to life spans even further, too, with celebrities and other special guests filming cameos that play during the production. [caption id="attachment_960525" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jean-Paul Gaultier: Freak & Chic[/caption] In another highlight of Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show's Brisbane visit, a couture piece by Queensland Indigenous designer Grace Lillian Lee has been chosen by Gaultier to feature for the season. "The coming together of Grace Lillian Lee and Jean Paul Gaultier will forever be one of my proudest moments and the epitome of Brisbane Festival as local and global," said Brisbane Festival Artistic Director Louise Bezzina. "And in an Olympic year when eyes will turn from Paris to Brisbane, the festival is perfectly placed to host this shining blockbuster event that brings together superstar talents from Europe and First Nations Australia." [caption id="attachment_960526" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Grace Lillian Lee[/caption] Lee is no stranger to Brisbane Festival thanks to 2021's First Nations Fashion: Walking In Two Worlds, and will debut her first solo exhibition The Dream Weaver: Guardians of Grace from Friday, August 30–Saturday, September 21 during this year's fest. For more of Brisbane Festival's ode to Jean Paul Gaultier, the event has also included a screening of documentary Jean-Paul Gaultier: Freak & Chic on its 2024 lineup. Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show will play the South Bank Piazza, Festival Garden, South Bank, Brisbane from Friday, August 30–Sunday, September 15 as part of Brisbane Festival 2024. Head to the festival website for tickets and more details.
Bridge Road Brewers likes to celebrate the Victorian hop harvest in a big way — that is, with an annual beer festival that gives punters the rare chance to taste true freshly hopped brews. High Country Hop will return to the Beechworth brewery for its tenth year on Sunday, March 22, bringing together booze, food and live tunes. The brewery's car park will host several other brewers from the region, including Billson's Beechworth, Bright Brewery, Crank Handle Brewery, King River Brewing, Mitta Brewing and Mountain Monk Brewers. This year, there will also be special guests from beyond the region — Kaiju Beer, Loveshack Brewing Co., Mountain Culture, Wildflower Brewing & Blending, and Range Brewing. Basically, you can expect an enormous amount of beer at the High Country Hop Festival this year. This'll be partly balanced out with the inclusion of a few local winemakers and distilleries. Apart from booze, there's also an all-day music festival going down. Live bands and DJs will amp up the party atmosphere, with Kaiit, The 5678s, Darren Hanlon, Benny & The Flybyniters, and Sky High Trio hitting the stage throughout the big day. There'll also be a heap of food trucks and plenty of family-friendly activities. First-release tickets to 2025's High Country Hop are going for $59 per person and include a $10 drinks token. Family bundles are also available for those coming with kids.
From March to September each year, Aussie Rules football is Melbourne's favourite sport. From Wednesday, April 3, 2024, via a sprawling showcase that marks the NBA's first official global touring exhibition, basketball wants to join in as well. The NBA Exhibition celebrates hoop dreams and all things b-ball, and is making its first-ever visit to the Victorian capital. After premiering in Warsaw, Poland in 2021, The NBA Exhibition bounced into Brisbane in November 2023. Now, at The District Docklands, it's Melbourne's turn, bounding through basketball history at the same time. Catnip for fans of Air and Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, this sports-focused affair is big in scope and size, surveying the culture of hopping onto the court and the lifestyle that goes with basketball, too. Visitors can traverse 1100 square metres and make their way through 20 themed sections. Created with the National Basketball Association, The NBA Exhibition aims to lure in b-ball diehards, casual followers and folks that haven't thought about the sport since their school PE lessons alike — and attendees of all ages. Looking at basketball memorabilia is part of the presentation, but so is throwing a ball around yourself and, thanks to the virtual and augmented reality aspect of the showcase, taking snaps with your favourite NBA players. So, you can get a photo with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, too — aka the coveted prize that each year's NBA Finals' winner receives — and shoot hoops, see how far you can jump and test your reflexes as well. Fancy a picture showing that you can slam dunk, even if you can't? There's a section of The NBA Exhibition for that. Eager to watch NBA highlights using VR goggles? That's also on the agenda. Keen to get surrounded by iconic NBA moments? That's what the infinity room is for. With names like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal obviously featuring — and Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as well — other elements of The NBA Exhibition include a heap of balls and shoes on display; footwear and hand prints from past and present players; art that was commissioned for a pop-up NBA Gallery exhibit in Sydney in 2022, featuring Australian and First Nations artists; and celebrating NBA players that've made the jump from Australia, which is likely to feature Patty Mills, Ben Simmons, Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze and more. Images: Muse Marketing and Entertainment.
Exploring art galleries can at times be a sterile and overwhelming experience. Sprawling layouts, visitors' lack of knowledge, sleep-inducing audio guides, and a dearth of viewer interactivity with the world of the artworks and artists can quickly turn a cultural adventure into more of a cultural chore. Yet arts organisations across the globe are transforming how tech-savvy visitors can experience their works, with the help of innovative, entertaining, and interactive apps. Using multimedia, geolocation, augmented reality, and dozens of other features of mobile technology, these apps have the capacity to transform even the most unengaged of armchair critics into bona fide art aficionados. Take a closer look at these 10 of the best current arts apps, from online exhibitions to DIY art and pocket-sized glossaries. 1. Magic Tate Ball It seemed to be a match made in pun-lovers heaven: combining London's beloved Tate galleries with the concept of the Magic 8-Ball to create perhaps the most entertaining art gallery app available. The process is simple: once you have opened the app, give your iDevice a good shake and the Magic Tate Ball will take the date, time-of-day, your GPS location, live weather data, and ambient noise levels and spurt out the piece of artwork from the Tate collection that most closely matches your surroundings. So a hot day may have the Tate Ball tempting you into a pool with Australian David Hockney's A Bigger Splash or a loud, bustling pub may give you Georg Baselitz's sculpture carved from a chainsaw, all of which comes with a smattering of interesting details about why your particular surroundings produced that artwork. The brilliance of this app lies in its ability to utilise a fun gimmick to draw in people who only have a passing or casual interest in art, providing a refreshingly unique way to discover some of the highlights of the Tate's massive collection. 2. MCA Publications The Museum of Contemporary Art has become renowned for pushing artistic boundaries and embracing new technology. It therefore should come as no surprise that their newly launched e-publication provides a fascinating and highly interactive insight into the breathtaking exhibition of the legendary Gangnam-styling British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor. The iPad app takes the user on a virtual tour of the exhibition complete with photographs, in-depth descriptions of the various works, videos from the curator and Kapoor himself, and even a behind-the-scenes look into the immense task of engineering and installing the immense artworks. Add to this the intuitive nature of the app and you have yourself a brilliant tool for getting under the skin of the artist and understanding the awe-inspiring collection now on show at the MCA. 3. Watercolours of Namatjira For those of us whose brushwork leaves a lot to be desired, this app provides an interactive insight into how iconic Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira is able to create his vibrant watercolour paintings of the Australian landscape. Developed by Big hART, it allows you to create virtual replicas and redesigns by filling in stencils of the artist's work with your own choice of colours and brush sizes, with the paint then soaking into the screen just like it would have on Namatjira's own canvas paper. The end results are both realistic and often surprisingly spectacular, allowing users to gain a firsthand understanding of the watercolour process and tempting them into a more detailed exploration of the Namatjira community development project, theatrical show, and vast array of beautiful landscapes. 4. Art Gallery of NSW: Contemporary and Australian Produced in association with The Nest, the Art Gallery of NSW's two companion apps for iPad do a couple of things really well: they provide richly detailed vision of the gallery's most celebrated works, and they do it in a really interesting interface that encourages browsing by feel and intuition. Once you focus on a work you like, you can also take in additional material, such as sketches, photos, and curator insights. 5. Frank Lloyd Wright - Fallingwater History's most celebrated architect and his most celebrated work have been given the app treatment to awesome effect. Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, described by the American Institute of Architecture as the "best all-time piece of American architecture", can now be explored in three-dimensional glory from the comfort of your iPad. By combining photographs, archival drawings, floor plans, and videos in a sumptuous multimedia feast, this app allows budding architects the ability to explore Fallingwater in a unique and comprehensive way that is not possible on any other media platform. With more than 275 photographs, 360-degrees panoramas, and 25 minutes of video footage, this app is possibly the most perfect marriage of content and form yet imagined for tablet technology. 6. Art Authority Art Authority seems so simple in its concept yet quite unbelievable in its execution: collect the most famous and beloved works of art from across history and put them all together in a single, virtual gallery. This remarkable app includes a database of nearly 60,000 artworks from over 1000 different artists, taken from Ancient times all the way up until the present day. Perhaps even more impressive is the way Art Authority displays and organises the 10GB worth of art. Paintings are presented in beautiful, intricate frames on textured wallpapers resembling a real gallery and can be viewed in almost any thematic form you desire from time period to artist to subject matter. You can even take your virtual art tourism into the real world with the Art Near Me function, which allows you to locate nearby galleries and artworks. 7. Muybridgizer The technological pioneers at the Tate galleries in London have done it again, this time creating an interactive app that allows iPhone users to step into the shoes of the experimental motion capture artist Eadweard Muybridge. Created to accompany the Tate Britain's Muybridge exhibition, this app allows you to take filtered photographs and then piece them together to create a frame-by-frame animation that you can speed up, slow down, or reverse simply by swiping your finger across the screen, cleverly and playfully pastiching Muybridge's iconic videos of flying horses, waltzing couples, and cantering bison. Add to this the fact that they have managed to turn Muybridge's quite unpronounceable name into a verb and you can see why the Tate can almost undoubtedly stake claim to the title of most linguistically canny and technologically savvy gallery in the world. 8. MoMA - Art Lab Emphatically disproving the myth that iPads can only function as a medium for media consumption, the Museum of Modern Art - Art Lab app allows users to create some truly awesome pieces of virtual artwork. By playing with shapes, lines, and colours, you can make everything from collages to sound compositions and shape poems. What separates this app from your regular Etch A Sketch, however, is the way it combines simple drawing functions with the techniques and artworks on display at MoMA. You can trace a Matisse or read how Van Gogh created his starry, starry night or, if your creative flair dries up, check out the ideas section for a bit of inspiration from the world's premiere modern art gallery. In this way the MoMA app brilliantly combines the user's individual creativity with an interactive tour of the MoMA's world-beating collection. 9. Pocket Art Gallery If you've ever dreamed of becoming an art curator — selecting and hanging some of the world's most incredible artworks in your own home — then who else but the Tate could make that dream a virtual reality. The Pocket Art Gallery app allows users to select from a hundred famous artworks and then position them wherever they may desire while looking through the phone's camera. Augmented reality enables you to 'hang' a Picasso above your fireplace, a Turner in your workplace, or a Jackson Pollock in your bathroom. With the app linked into Facebook and Twitter, you can impress your socially networked friends with all the awesome and ingenious images you produce. 10. Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms Thanks in equal part to the complexities of the artist's technique and to the linguistic pretentiousness of the art world, keeping abreast of the terminology used by artists can be a mystifying and mind-boggling exercise. The Tate (again) is hoping to make the beguiling vernacular of artists more accessible and understandable with their Guide to Modern Art Terms. The app includes over 300 art terms covering everything from styles to schools to movements, allowing the user to search via category or through the app's image gallery. So if you're struggling to get your head around fauvism or want to find the word for sculpting concrete, then check out this super-handy app.
The Lincoln Hotel is taking a stand against food wastage and giving leftovers a makeover for this special 'Rescued' charity dinner. On both Wednesday 11 and 25 of November, they'll be serving up a clever four-course meal crafted from imperfect produce, along with mystery wines, and beers made from leftover ingredients. With proceeds going to FareShare, each $75 ticket will feed 110 Victorians in need and you might just start to change the way you look at food.
If you want to release your inner wild child, head to Speakeasy Theatre on Flinders Street. With burlesque artists, comics and musicians taking their place in the spotlight from Thursday through Sunday, you're all set to be mesmerised by talent — and will probably leave feeling a little cheeky. All this fun is housed inside an historic building with maritime origins just back from the banks of the Yarra. There are limited-time performances (like The Vaudeville Revue, pictured above) and one-off fundraisers, as well as regular shows like Comedy Untamed — the high-energy night dedicated to laughs and improv, with a weekly-changing roster of comedians. So, check out what's on, grab your friends and enjoy a truly entertaining night out. Image: The Vaudeville Revue.
Two months, five new Wes Anderson films: that's the maths Down Under in 2023. Asteroid City reached cinemas in August, and September will bring not one, two or three but four brand-new shorts directed by the symmetry-adoring director. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar had already been announced, and it now has fellow Roald Dahl-based company. Netflix is bringing the 39-minute The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar to streaming on Wednesday, September 27, following its recent world-premiere slot out of competition at the Venice Film Festival. So, viewers at home get to see the flick in mere weeks after its big-screen debut. The day after it arrives, The Swan will also drop on Netflix on Thursday, September 28. Next comes The Ratcatcher on Friday, September 29. And, Poison will wrap up this Anderson-meets-Dahl frenzy on Saturday, September 30. All four shorts not only stem from Dahl's pen originally, but cycle through a few core cast members — all of which play multiple roles. Stepping in front of the camera for Anderson: Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Dev Patel (The Green Knight), Ben Kingsley (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Richard Ayoade (The Souvenir: Part II) and Rupert Friend (Asteroid City). In glorious news for The Grand Budapest Hotel fans, Ralph Fiennes (The Menu) also reteams with the director. Fingers crossed for more line readings that are so completely perfect that they're unforgettable. Now, the stories. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar comes from one of the seven tales in Dahl's 1977 book The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, telling of a wealthy man who is so fond of wagering that he comes up with a crafty plan. After discovering a guru who can see without using his eyes, he decides to learn to the same to cheat while having a bet. Running for 17 minutes, The Swan also takes inspiration from a tale in the same book, this time about a small and smart boy being bullied. Clocking in at 17 minutes as well, The Ratcatcher adapts a lesser-known story of the same name — not from the same text this time — which is unsurprisingly about a rodent exterminator. And, running for the same duration, Poison dates back to 1950, focusing on a man finding a venomous snake. In 1958, the same tale was adapted for TV by none other than Alfred Hitchcock, in an episode of anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. All up, that's 90 minutes of new Anderson work that'll be ready to stream by the time that September is out. If you watch them all together rather than day by day, it's basically an anthology feature. There's no trailer yet for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, The Swan, The Ratcatcher or Poison, but you can enjoy the Asteroid City and The Grand Budapest Hotel clips instead in the interim: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar will be available to stream via Netflix from Wednesday, September 27. The Swan arrives on Thursday, September 28, then The Ratcatcher on Friday, September 29 and Poison on Saturday, September 30. Images: courtesy of Netflix.
In the film that brought her global acclaim, Australian filmmaker Jennifer Peedom climbed up in the world — and she hasn't looked back. Sherpa explored tense times on Mount Everest, while her next documentary Mountain pondered the world's highest peaks, their beauty and their allure. With River after that, Peedom didn't stare at towering land masses. But she does peer from great heights at waterways that snake across continents. And, she once again teamed up with none other than Willem Dafoe (Poor Things), who narrates this poetic musing on just how rivers shape the planet. Watching River itself is a meditative experience, because looking at absolutely stunning sights shot in 39 countries, listening to lyrical narration, and hearing a stirring score featuring Bach, Ravel, Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead and more has that effect. Making the movie even better is River Live in Concert with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, which returns for another nationwide tour in 2024, this time with Indigenous Australian didgeridoo player and vocalist William Barton joining in. The ACO and Barton will play the film's soundtrack right there in front of you as you watch. Melburnians can get in on the action on Saturday, February 3 and Monday, February 5 at Melbourne Recital Centre — and on Sunday, February 4 at Hamer Hall. Event images: Nick Walker.
In 1994, when Daniel Johns was just 15 years old, he became one of the biggest music stars in the country. Silverchair's 'Tomorrow' hasn't just a hit — it was a song that turned a group of Aussie teenagers into instant legends, soundtracked the mid-90s and helped define growing up in Australia at the time. Saying it was huge really isn't quite saying enough. But what if things hadn't turned out that way? That feels almost unthinkable, but Daniel Johns himself has been thinking it. And, he's made it the premise of a new featurette — not a full-length movie, not exactly a short either, and not really a music video — called What If The Future Never Happened?. In the film, it's 1994 again. Daniel isn't a teenage rockstar yet, but that's only months off. Then, on a normal day in regional Australia — whether or not it'll actually be Newcastle, that's what we'll all be thinking — Daniel's future changes while he's trying to escape three local bullies, all thanks to a mysterious figure. You wait till tomorrow indeed. What If The Future Never Happened? has just dropped a trailer, and it looks as moody, as stepped in all things 90s, and as eager to play around with sci-fi and fantasy as as you'd expect — and the casting of surfer, actor and musician Rasmus King (Barons, Bosch & Rockit) as Johns is downright uncanny. He could've stepped right out of the 'Tomorrow' music video and into the featurette. Perhaps that'll be the concept behind a future movie? Hailed as "from the mind of Daniel Johns" — and clearly based on his life — What If The Future Never Happened? is written and directed by James Medlam (who boasts helming Dune Rats' 'No Plans' music video on his resume). It's also co-penned by producer Heath George and based on a story by Heath Johns, aka Daniel's brother. While exactly when and where it'll drop hasn't been revealed, Daniel Johns' latest solo studio album FutureNever released back in April — and yes, he has a theme at the moment. Check out the trailer for What If The Future Never Happened? below: What If The Future Never Happened? doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you when it does.
Here in Australia, we're just about to enter what will no doubt be a gruelling winter. Well, our version of gruelling (socks and thongs weather). What makes it worse is that the Northern Hemisphere is enjoying summer, taunting us with pictures of beaches, lilos and rooftop cocktails while we huddle around an on-fire garbage bin and feel our seasonal affective disorder turn up a notch. The smartest of us, the ones not shackled to our desks and chairs, will defect to the north and torture us even more with Instagram stories from the Amalfi Coast, photos that could be compiled into an overpriced coffee-table book and sold in a snooty art shop. But you know what they say: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And if you don't have enough annual leave to join 'em, eat so much pizza that your cheese dreams transport you to warmer places. And then start referring to your tummy as Little Italy. And then despondently look for flights for Euro-summer next year. To help you achieve this goal, we've teamed up with American Express to find the best Italian-style pizza to counteract Euro-summer FOMO. So, grab your American Express® Card and let's head out for some of the city's best cheesy rounds, slices and rectangles. Got yourself in another dining situation and need some guidance? Whatever it is, we know a place. Visit The Shortlist and we'll sort you out.
Your art and culture fix has likely looked a little different than usual the past few months, as Aussies sank deep into #stayathome mode, and institutions like galleries and museums shut their doors to the public in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines. With crowds and gatherings off the menu, a slew of large-scale art events and exhibitions were forced to cancel, postpone or switch to the digital realm. But as of June 1, the Victorian Government has given the green light for museums and galleries to reopen to a limited number of visitors. Yep — along with regional road-trips and restaurant dinners, real-life gallery-hopping is back on the cards. From this month, you can catch a much-anticipated solo show dedicated to modernist icon Joy Hester, check out a pandemic-inspired group exhibition and delight in decades of trailblazing threads by Japanese fashion label Comme des Garçons at the NGV. Here are our top picks of Melbourne art exhibitions you can visit IRL this winter. From 11.59pm on Wednesday, July 1, until at least Wednesday, July 29, stay-at-home orders have been reintroduced in ten Melbourne postcodes, which means their residents can only leave for one of four reasons: work or school, care or care giving, daily exercise or food and other essentials. For more information, head to the DHHS website.
Musicals don't get much bigger than Les Misérables. That's been evident on the stage for more than four decades. When the production has been adapted for the screen, too, it's also been clear. In Australia, next comes Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular, which is putting on a show set in 19th-century France from May 2025 in the Victorian capital. Do you hear the people sing? Audiences in Melbourne will when the production gets the music of the people, plus the songs of angry men, echoing. From Wednesday, May 14–Sunday, May 25, a stacked cast and a 65-plus-piece orchestra is bringing Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular to life at Rod Laver Arena, with the format heading Down Under after playing the UK and across Europe. What makes this an arena spectacular, other than the venues that it's playing (including in Sydney and Brisbane, too)? The production isn't just taking the stage iteration of Les Misérables as is to sizeable sites — as a concert, it has been specifically created and designed for such locations. Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular was born to celebrate a hefty milestone for the song-filled theatre take on Victor Hugo's famous 1862 novel: the London production of Les Misérables reaching its 40th year in 2025. Yes, it's West End's longest-running musical. But the arena spectacular's origins hail back earlier, to not long after Les Mis debuted on the stage in 1980 — and also have ties to Australia. In Australia, Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular stars Tony-winner Alfie Boe and British talent Killian Donnelly sharing the role of Jean Valjean, with Michael Ball — who featured in the original London 1985 production — plus Bradley Jaden doing the same with Javert. Marina Prior plays Madame Thénardier, as part of an international cast that also includes Little Britain's Matt Lucas as Thénardier, Rachelle Ann Go as Fantine, Jac Yarrow as Marius and Beatrice Penny-Touré as Cosette. Images: Danny Kaan.
Three hours west of Melbourne, the Grampians is one of the country's finest cool-climate wine regions. But rather than leaping in the car to get a taste, it's possible to take a much shorter trip to Bobbie Peels in North Melbourne to sample a glass, thanks to the pub's latest event — Grampians in a Glass. Held across three Wednesday evenings in August from 5–8pm, this fresh take on a traditional wine tasting features interactive cellar door experiences, new releases, exclusive back vintages and premium drops. Plus, the makers themselves will be in the house to answer all your questions. Delving into the lineup, Wednesday, August 6, features wines from Miners Ridge Wines, Best's Wines and SubRosa. The following week, Black & Ginger, Seppelt Wines, Clayfield Wines and Mount Langi Ghiran showcase their wares for your drinking pleasure. Finally, Grampians in a Glass rounds out on Wednesday, August 27, with top-quality vino from Pomonal Estate, Grampians Estate and Mountainside Wines. Spanning household names and family-run favourites, expect non-stop sips complemented by delicious grazing platters. General admission tickets are $35.
Melbourne's weather might be starting to cool off, but hump day is only about to get hotter. That's thanks to The Espy's new series of blink-and-you'll-miss-it Wednesday night offers, which promise to inject a bit more midweek fun into your life. Running Wednesdays from March 30–April 27, Change Your Plans will dish up a different range of specials and events each week, announced only via the venue's newsletter at 10am each Wednesday morning. Stay tuned and you'll have some pretty sweet hump day fun to look forward to, starting with this week's blisteringly budget-friendly offer: $1 dumplings from the Mya Tiger kitchen. The tasty morsels are available today only (March 30) across the entire venue, with a choice of both pork and chive dumplings, or the mushroom and choy sum number. Future weeks' offers won't be unveiled until the morning of each launch, though there's the whisper of some very good stuff to come. We're talking $10 lobster rolls, $5 spritzes and maybe even some cheeky free beers. [caption id="attachment_699782" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Drewniak[/caption]
When Dexter wrapped up its blood-splattered run back in 2013, it left plenty of fans wanting more. By now, the fact that almost every beloved TV show arises from the dead at some point is hardly new news — see also: Gossip Girl, Saved By the Bell, Twin Peaks and the upcoming Sex and the City small-screen sequel series, just to name a few — but resurrecting television's mild-mannered forensics expert by day, serial killer by night feels particularly fitting. So, get ready to watch your way through Dexter: New Blood, which sees Michael C Hall (Shadowplay) return as Dexter Morgan. The series wouldn't be worth it without him, obviously. He leads a ten-episode limited series that's due to hit the US on Sunday, November 7 and then arrive Down Under via new streaming platform Paramount+, although exactly when it'll start streaming locally hasn't yet been revealed. Hall isn't the only familiar face making a comeback, either, with Jennifer Carpenter (Dragged Across Concrete) set to return as Dexter's sister Debra. If you're wondering how that works because you remember how the original series ended, the just-dropped full sneak peek for the Dexter revival gives a few more details. John Lithgow (Perry Mason) is also coming back as the Trinity Killer — presumably in flashbacks, given the character's fate the first time around. As both the show's first teaser trailer and this new glimpse demonstrate, eight years have passed when Dexter: New Blood kicks off, just as they have for audiences. Accordingly, the series finds its namesake living a quiet life in the small town of Iron Lake, New York, and trying to forgo his murderous urges. He's going by the name Jim Lindsay, which nods to author Jeff Lindsay, who penned the series of novels the show was initially based on — and he seems happy in his new life. But then Dexter's new hometown is rocked by unexpected events, and his old ways start calling again. As fans saw over and over in Dexter's original eight-season run, resisting picking up a knife isn't all that easy for the program's protagonist. Both trailers feature plenty of blades, all within its namesake's vicinity. And if you're wondering what else to expect, the cast also includes Julia Jones (The Mandalorian), Alano Miller (Sylvie's Love), Johnny Sequoyah (Believe), Jack Alcott (The Good Lord Bird) and Clancy Brown (Promising Young Woman). And, this new trailer comes with a big surprise at the end as well. Check out the latest Dexter: New Blood trailer below: Dexter: New Blood is set to stream in Australia via Paramount+. The new series will start airing in the US from Sunday, November 7; however, an exact streaming date Down Under hasn't been announced as yet — we'll update you when it is.
Slip from this realm into the unsettling world of director David Lynch, at a one-night-only Twin Peaks pop-up at Howler. To mark the long awaited return of the game-changing series, which will air new episodes on Stan starting May 22, the beloved Brunswick bar and performance venue will be transformed into the iconic Black Lodge, in what organisers promise will be an experience like no other. Co-presented by The Idea Cult and Tastemaker, the transformation will take place on the evening of Wednesday, May 17. There'll be damn good coffee and live piano music, before a screening of the divisive prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Laura Palmer's plastic-wrapped body is also rumoured to make an appearance. Bit morbid, although you can't fault their commitment to authenticity. Doors open at 6.30pm, with the movie due to kick off at 8pm.
Melbourne Central's famed giant cone top looks pretty impressive from below... but just imagine the view from above. Well, soon enough, that might not be such a stretch of the imagination, as the centre reveals plans for a huge transformation, including the addition of a sprawling rooftop garden and cultural hub. Following the announcement of Melbourne Central's new ten-storey office tower Frame and the opening of its boutique food and drink precinct Ella, comes news the centre is planning a total reinvention by 2021. If it gets the go-ahead from council, it'll be the site's biggest transformation in twenty years. Under the most recent proposal, the crowning glory of the new-look Melbourne Central will be a 2000-square-metre open-air rooftop complete with large-scale art installation, hawker-style food stalls and a series of 'experiential spaces'. The vision for the rooftop shows plenty of greenery, along with sweeping views of the city skyline. Two new retail levels would be also added, while the existing Drewery Place will be revived with a new cafe and tower access. It's all set to be imagined by ARM Architecture, the same studio behind the original build. If you're getting deja vu, that's probably because this is just the latest in a string of new public rooftop spaces currently in the works. A 2000-square-metre rooftop urban farm is being built at the Burwood Brickworks site, Melbourne Skyfarm is set to grace the rooftop of a carpark within the Seafarers Place precinct, and a smaller urban farm helmed by Pastuso chef-owner Alejandro Saravia will also be featured atop the new 80 Collins development. If the proposed Melbourne Central designs get the tick of approval from Melbourne City Council, construction would kick off early next year, with completion slated for 2021.
Summer has well and truly arrived — and with it comes the reopening of stacks of Melbourne rooftop bars following extensive renovations. Joining the likes of Skinny Dog Hotel, Johnny's Greenroom and QT Melbourne, the latest rooftop bar to hit Melbourne is Mirror Mirror, set to open on Saturday, December 9. Mirror Mirror cocktail bar has been plonked atop South Melbourne's Clarendon Hotel, boasting some pretty damn good views across the city's skyline. The makeover comes from the crew behind Goldilocks Rooftop Bar, House of Correction and Lost Boys Bar and is loosely inspired by the classic tale of Snow White. Signature cocktails are named after some of the story's characters, with the Evil Witch Spritz sounding devilishly good. It comes with crème de violette, Campari, lemon juice, Four Pillars gin and a few good splashes of prosecco. A tidy list of mostly Aussie wines is also available for those not wanting to spend a whole day in the sun drinking cocktails. Unlike the drinks at this new rooftop cocktail bar, the food menu is not themed. Expect Asian-fusion eats that span small plates like sesame prawn toast, veggie dumplings and satay skewers, as well as larger dishes like the wagyu steak and a pan-grilled barramundi covered in a Thai-style chilli dressing. Mirror Mirror is definitely slanted towards the luxury end of Melbourne's rooftop bar scene, with beer and parmas nowhere to be seen on the menu. But if that's the vibe you're after, you can always check out nearby haunts like The Montague, Golden Gate Hotel and Westside Aleworks after a few spritzes up at Mirror Mirror. Mirror Mirror will open on Saturday, December 9 at 209 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne. It will be open from Wednesday–Sunday, 12pm–late. For more information, check out the venue's website.
Russian photographer and world traveller Murad Osmann is asking his Twitter fans to #followmeto all the incredible, exotic places he and his girlfriend have been exploring across the globe. And his followers, plus millions of other people across the internet, are certainly having no trouble doing that: Osmann's photographic journey takes viewers on a trip of their own, which is stunning in more ways than one. Osmann's series depicts backgrounds of beautiful scenery from the most distinct and glorious cities, mountains, buildings, and even shopping centres around the world. The feature that sets his photographs apart from other scenic pictures, however, is the subject within each and every image: Osmann's girlfriend appears with her back to the lens in the centre of each frame, clasping her lover's hand and leading him to these various attractions — however, often due to her limited clothing, she herself may easily become the main attraction of the shot. The idea for the image series first began in Barcelona in 2011 when the photographer's girlfriend got fed up with him snapping every sight they saw and consequently tried to pull him away from the lens. Instead, this gave birth to the vast photo series that the loved-up couple have been working together on practically ever since. From his hometown Moscow to his study-town London, holiday spots such as San Sebastian and Disneyland, and even more mundane scenes such as riding an escalator or being pushed in a shopping trolley, take a look at these original and dazzling images that will be sure to make you want to travel the world with your loved one. Via Daily Mail. Rooftop Pool, Singapore Entering the Gates of Disneyland, California The Meadows of Austria The Rice Fields in Bali The Big Ben and House of Parliament, London The Lovebirds Fly High in a Hot Air Balloon San Sebastian, Spain The Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow The Back Streets of Venice Strolling through the Aisles of Ikea 10,000 Buddhas Monastery, Hong Kong Brandenburg Gate, Berlin
Next time you swing past your local petrol station, you might be able to pick up more than just questionable coffee and Cadbury chocolate bars. In fact, you may be able to leave with a full tank, a rotisserie chicken and some luxe mac 'n' cheese. David Jones and BP have teamed up to open 31 super-fancy convenience stores across Sydney and Melbourne by the end of 2020. The duo has already opened ten trial stores across the two cities, with the first opening in Melbourne's Bayside back in November 2019. The new stores are set to open in Merrifield, Clyde, Epping, Caroline Springs, Eltham, Greenvale and Kingsway in Victoria, as well as in NSW's Kellyville, Marsden Park, Seven Hills, Willoughby, Caringbah, Mosman, Sydenham, Penrith, Thornleigh, Asquith, Engadine, Peninsula, West Ryde and Ourimbah. And they'll each be selling more than 350 different products. As well as top-shelf groceries, such as meats, fancy olive oil and peanut butter, they'll be home to a heap of ready-to-eat and heat-at-home meals. Pick from the likes of salads, sandwich and pastries — all David Jones quality, of course — and meals like green curry chicken, butter chicken, lasagne, mac 'n' cheese and free-range rotisserie chook, which are prepared on site each day. Because we live in pandemic times, each store will also offer a range of items for delivery via UberEats. Called Everyday by BP X David Jones, the delivery service is already available from Sydney's Artarmon, Ashfield, Kingsford and Rozelle, and Bayside, Brighton, Clarendon, Greensborough, Ringwood and Tally Ho in Melbourne. On the menu: pulled pork empanadas, haloumi fritters, bolognese and passionfruit cheesecake mousse. For more information about BP X David Jones stores, head to the BP website.
Wine tasting just turned fierce with Into The Vines' upcoming event 'Taste of Origin' — a cheeky nod to State of Origin. This Aussie winetasting showdown features six nationwide emerging producers. In the courtyard, spectators sip top-tier exciting (and elusive) small-batch releases while they chat to the people who made them. But the second floor is where things really heat up. Upstairs, grab a front-row seat to the tasting ring. Sommelier and founder of Carlton Wine Room, Jay Bessell, will go up against wine writer and judge, Jane Faulkner. The two will taste, assess, and argue over their pick of the six wines. The audience tastes along while munching on pub snacks from The Rochey, and the winner is decided through a People's Choice vote. Tickets for the masterclass cost slightly more, but you get to see how the experts do it. The list of winemakers includes: Werkstatt Wines (Victoria), a practice run by Young Gun of Wine Best New Act winner Bridget Mac; Knucklehead Wines (QLD), where Young Gun of Wine finalist Kyle Goodwin produces adventurous minimal-intervention wine; Intrepidus Wines (NSW), Chrissie Smith's one-acre vineyard in Canberra, specialising in small-scale production; Forage Supply Co (SA), a socially-conscious vineyard from former AFL player Justin Westhoff and his best mate Scotty Rogasch; YEAH Wines (WA), a family-owned winery in Margaret River that focuses on single-vineyard wines and Tasmania's Peco Wines, specialising in wild-fermented from the Tamar Valley.
Patricia Piccinini's otherworldly pieces have popped up all across Australia, and now it's the TarraWarra Museum of Art's turn to host. The not-for-profit public art gallery has announced an almost four-month-long showcase of the artist's efforts from November this year — including the return of her unmissable installation work The Skywhale. The 34-metre-long, animal-shaped hot air balloon will float through the sky in the lead up to the exhibition's opening, so keep an eye out. Called Patricia Piccinini and Joy Hester: Through love…, the exhibition will display from November 24, 2018 to March 11, 2019. It'll not only focus on the woman with an incredibly distinctive view on all things weird and wonderful — and on the thin line between humanity and animal kind that's engrained in her creative portfolio — but on fellow Australian artist Joy Hester. If the latter's name doesn't sound familiar, she was a Melbourne artist who passed away in 1960, favoured brushwork and ink on paper, and is considered one of Piccinini's key influences. This'll be the first time anywhere in the world that a gallery has explored the connection between the pair, with more than 50 pieces on display. With the showcase broadly focused around the theme of love and intimacy as well, visitors will get to see the evolution of Aussie art through the output of the two inimitable figures, with Hester's ink and paper works considered touchstones for Piccinini's sculptures, photographs, videos and drawings. In both camps, attendees will be treated to something either rare or brand new. Much of Hester's work is rarely seen, though her famous couple-focused series Love 1949 and Lovers 1955–56 will be on display. As for Piccinini, she'll be represented by both new and existing large-scale pieces. Piccinini will also unveil a major new work, Sanctuary, at this exhibition. The work is comprised of a wall print, a graphite on paper drawing and, the focal point, a sculpture of two figures embracing. The elderly couple depict characteristics of both humans and bonobos — an endangered ape species known for its intimate relationships. Through this work, Piccinini is exploring human relationships with animals, environment and technology. Images: Rick Liston, Installation view of Patricia Piccinini, Kindred, 2018; Rick Liston, Installation view of Patricia Piccinini, The Lovers, 2011; Rick Liston, Installation view of Patricia Piccinini, The Young Family, 2002; Rick Liston, Installation view of Patricia Piccinini, Sanctuary, 2018; Rick Liston, View of artwork flying in Yarra Valley on November 24, 2018, Patricia Piccinini, Skywhale, 2013; Rick Liston, Installation view of Patricia Piccinini, The Young Family, 2002. All images courtesy of the artist, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney For more spring places, spaces and events to discover in regional Victoria visit Your Happy Space.
This is what cheese dreams are made of: Flinders Street favourite Arbory Bar is hosting daily three-cheese fondue until the end of August. Running throughout winter, indulge in a hot, buttery combination of Swiss Gruyere, San Rocco La Fontella and Truffle Pecorino at one of Melbourne's best bars. The hot cheese will set you back $20 per person and is available for pairs to up to groups of four. "Alongside the molten fondue, you'll find sliced French baguette, truffle potato rosti, pretzels and pickles, for all your dipping pleasures. There's something for everyone," Executive Chef James Gibson says. If you're really looking to ward off Melbourne's dipping temperatures, you can add a selection of cured meats to the table for an additional $20. The Arbory team has promised a rotating selection along the lines of capocollo, bresaola and prosciutto, so you'll have an excuse to visit a couple of times this winter. Images: supplied.
For more than a century, watching a movie has involved staring at either a rectangle or a square. They're the shapes the silver screen is known for, and the small screen as well. But catch a film at the planetarium and everything becomes circular — which makes fulldome flicks, as they're called, something particularly special. Melbourne Planetarium plays movies on its dome via regular programs — films specifically made to take advantage of the different screening format — and the Melbourne International Film Festival includes a fulldome showcase in its annual lineup. But Australia only boasts one film fest that's solely all about hemispherical views. That event: the Dome Under Film Festival, which debuted in 2020 before the pandemic, and will return to the Victorian capital in February 2023. Running across Saturday, February 4–Sunday, February 5, Dome Under Festival's latest outing will once again see the best new fulldome releases from around the world head to Scienceworks. With sessions dedicated to family-friendly titles, children's movies, animation, experimental flicks, astronomy, science and world stories, the program features plenty of highlights — covering everything from dinosaurs, black holes and icy worlds through to visits to Akihabara in Tokyo, Indigenous songs and dances, and the Aurora Borealis. In total, 25 films from 14 countries will grace the dome, as handpicked by the Dome Under team. Each one will fill every inch of the planetarium's 16-metre domed ceiling — and play with 5.1 surround sound. Fulldome screenings might sound like a fad — cinema has seen more than its fair share of gimmicks come and go in its time — but once you've seen a movie made for the format, those notions quickly slip away. Indeed, there's a reason that Australia keeps embracing the medium, with the Brisbane International Film Festival also enjoying a foray into the same space more than a decade back, and Sydney playing host to Wonderdome across the summer of 2021–22. Something else that makes the dome screening experience extra special: you definitely can't just wait to see these flicks at home a month or so down the track. Dome Under Film Festival 2023 screens at the Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks, 2 Booker Street, Spotswood, from Saturday, February 4–Sunday, February 5. Head to the venue's website for tickets and further details.
Dating apps can be fun — especially when you score discounts on food and drink along the way — but they can also be exhausting. So, Rocco's Bologna Discoteca in Fitzroy has joined forces with dating event organiser Crush Club to give you a break. All you have to do is climb the stairs up to Discoteca's ballroom, and you'll find yourself at a massive Italian dinner party. Even better, you'll be surrounded by singles. On the menu is a four-course Italian feast, including subs, pasta and soft serve. Between dishes, you'll have time to grab drinks at Vince's Bar and change chairs, giving you the chance to meet as many people as possible. Flirt 'n' Feast for straight attendees is happening on Wednesday, June 18, while the queer edition is on Wednesday, July 2. Tickets, which include food but not drinks, are $80 each.
That most wonderful of foodstuffs is getting a night to call its own, as the Melbourne Dumpling Festival returns for another year. Taking over the ground level at 206 Bourke Street, this dumpling dine-in will feature dumplings from some of Melbourne's best Chinese chefs, from Tim Ho Wan, China Red, China Chilli and Dragon Boat, plus pop-up bars, freebies and more. It all kicks off at 5pm on Friday, October 20 – meaning you'll have the whole weekend to lounge around in a food coma. In addition to the more than 50 varieties of dumplings on offer, punters can grab beverages from the Brooklyn Brewery pop-up beer garden and Double Happiness Bubble Tea pop-up cocktail bar, before scoffing down free green tea ice cream for dessert. Entry into the event is free, while you can also score free drinks with any takeaway dumpling purchase. There'll also be a fortune cookie giveaway with more than $3,000 worth of prizes and the chance to win free dumplings for a year.
On just about any given day, taking a stroll down Chapel Street is bound to reveal some pretty chic looking people. But if it's the stylish gents that are catching your eye, there's a good chance they've paid a visit to Jay Dillon. Presenting a selection of classic designs for fashion-conscious men, this long-standing store is ideal for those who look to make a statement with what they wear. Jay Dillon stocks statement menswear from high-end brands such as Cutler & Co, Bugatti, David Smith and Pearly King, as well as a range of shirts from the namesake designer himself, all complete with his signature bold patterns and colours.
The Sun Bookshop is what boutique bookstore dreams are made of. Tucked into the gorgeous art deco Sun Theatre building, the shop sells everything from a curated selection of fiction, biography, history, travel and crime to art, design and photography books — plus a fun selection of artistic cards. And if you well up at thoughtful, heartwarming kid-puns, then grab a tissue — the Sun's business-child The Young Sun is only 60 steps away on Murray Street. It features a collection of beautiful children's books in a homely, cosy space. Both bookstores also host events, which you can keep up to date with here and here.
Standard Issue is one of many hidden boutiques in the Yarraville area. Stocking a constantly updated range of fashion from an eclectic mix of Australian and international brands, the store is bursting with flashy garments and knick knacks that'll make for the perfect gift. Located on the corner of Anderson and Bunyiyong streets, Standard Issue sells east-meets-west designer fashion from Rabens Saloner, Assembly Label's beloved basics, distinctive and whimsical jewellery by Sydney-based Kirstin Ash, longstanding Australian cult label One Teaspoon, Suncoo Paris' chic French designs, and ethical clothing from Kowtow.
Duck inside the South Melbourne Market, where you'll find pastry chef and Parisian expatriate Agathe Kerr, baking fresh, French delicacies in an exposed pastry kitchen behind the market counter of Agathé Pâtisserie. Kerr has been delighting market-goers with authentic, homemade French pastries since 2015. Highlights of the stall include croissants fused with matcha, pandan or cafe au lait; Nutella, salted caramel and peanut caramel custard-filled cruffins; delicately layered millefeuilles and extravagant cheesecakes. Don't be dismayed if you find a line stretching through the markets — the wait is worth it and gives you time to pick from the wide selection of treats on offer. Images: Tracey Ahkee.
For almost 30 years, December 21 Down Under has been known as Gravy Day. The reason: Paul Kelly's 'How to Make Gravy', which released in 1996. The best way to mark the occasion, of course, has always included making gravy and listening to the song. But in 2024, there'll be another way to celebrate: watching the movie adapted from Kelly's tune. News that the flick was coming initially dropped in 2022, with musician Meg Washington and writer/director Nick Waterman announcing that they'd locked in the rights to make the song into a film. Then, Australian streaming platform Binge revealed that it's behind the movie, marking its first-ever original feature — and that it'd hit this year. Now, the movie version of How to Make Gravy has a release date, arriving on streaming on Sunday, December 1. How to Make Gravy, the film, also now boasts a trailer. So, if you've been wondering how a tune becomes a movie, here's a glimpse. The Royal Hotel co-stars Daniel Henshall (RFDS) and Hugo Weaving (Slow Horses) feature as Joe and Noel. The first hails from the song — he's the prisoner who writes to his brother Dan to kick things off — while Noel is a new addition. Also starring: Brenton Thwaites (Titans) as Dan, Kate Mulvany (The Clearing) as Joe's sister Stella and Damon Herriman (now that he's no longer playing Charles Manson in both Mindhunter and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as her husband Roger. French actor Agathe Rousselle from Titane, who is making her first English-language film, also features as Joe's wife Rita. And yes, there's a Frank and a Dolly, aka Joe's twin daughters (newcomer Rose Statham and Christmas on the Farm's Izzy Westlake) — and an Angus, Joe's son (Jonah Wren Phillips, Sweet Tooth). Still on names from the music, Eloise Rothfield (Boy Swallows Universe) is Dan's daughter Mary, while Eugene Gilfedder (Babyteeth) and Kym Gyngell (The Artful Dodger) are brothers Gary and Murray. Kieran Darcy-Smith (Mr Inbetween) is also among the cast as new character Red — and with Washington one of the picture's driving forces, Adam Briggs, Brendan Maclean, Dallas Woods, Patience Hodgson and Zaachariaha Fielding are among the musicians with cameo roles. There's no word yet if Kelly pops up as the film tells of Joe's family's preparations to spend their first Christmas without him. Check out the trailer for How to Make Gravy below — and, because you've likely now got it stuck in your head, the music video for the song as well: How to Make Gravy will stream via Binge from Sunday, December 1, 2024. Images: Jasin Boland.
He's responsible not just for a big Australian movie franchise, but for the big Australian movie franchise. He's also followed a pig in the city, made penguins dance, gotten witchy and granted wishes, too. He's Australian filmmaking icon George Miller, and he has just joined the Sydney Film Festival lineup for 2024 to talk about his career, and of course Mad Max and Furiosa. Mere weeks after Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga hit cinemas — starring Anya Taylor-Joy (The Super Mario Bros Movie) as Furiosa and Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Love and Thunder) as wasteland warlord Dementus — Miller now has a date with Sydney's annual cinema showcase to chat about on-screen storytelling. For company, he'll have someone else who knows a thing or two about action cinema, and just filmmaking in general: stuntman and filmmaker Nash Edgerton, brother of Joel (Dark Matter), and director of episodes of Bodkin, plus Mr Inbetween, Gringo and The Square. The Road to Furiosa — George Miller with Nash Edgerton will take place at 3pm on Saturday, June 15 in the Sydney Film Festival Hub at Town Hall, on the second-last day of the fest. SFF's full dates: Wednesday, June 5–Sunday, June 16. Miller won't just be stepping through his work in a general sense, either. The director that started the Mad Max franchise 45 years ago and has helmed four more films in the saga — and has Babe: Pig in the City, The Witches of Eastwick, the two Happy Feet movies, Lorenzo's Oil and Three Thousand Years of Longing on his resume as well — will dig into a specific action sequence, if you want to find out how it was executed. After also adding a visit from Elvis star Austin Butler for his new picture The Bikeriders and straight-from-Cannes body-horror flick The Substance as closing night's flick since announcing its 2024 program, Sydney Film Festival has now popped something for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon fans on the bill, too. Ahead of season two's arrival, the Iron Throne spend time at Martin Place from Wednesday, June 5–Friday, June 7. Yes, you can sit in it. Other talks and events on the program also include a queer cinema night, going all in on the 80s to tie in with opening night's Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line, K-pop fun as part of a Korean cinema celebration and a session on the impact of AI. [caption id="attachment_959668" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Belinda Rolland © 2023/SFF[/caption] Sydney Film Festival 2024 takes place from Wednesday, June 5–Sunday, June 16 at various cinemas and venues around Sydney. For more information and tickets, head to the festival's website. Read our interview with George Miller, Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth about Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and our review of the film. Top image: Sonna Studios.
If you could plan your ideal summer day, here's how we're guessing it'd pan out. Drinks? Obviously. Snacks? Ditto. Live tunes? Of course. Courtyard hangs? Yes please. Eager for a cruisy Sunday session that promises all of the above? Don't want to do the organising yourself? Don't worry, you're in luck thanks to Wax'o Paradiso x Soulfor Wine's latest natural wine party on December 3. Mosey on down to the Collingwood Arts Precinct with a hankering for tasting tipples of the organic and additive-free variety, all as part of the $45 ticket price; a hunger for buying and munching on delicious dishes whipped up by a team of guest chefs; and a need to make shapes to Ben Fester, Edd Fisher, DJ Simon TK, BIG RIG and Chico Gat the Wax'o Paradiso discotheque. Doors open at midday, which is when the tunes kick off and the two-onsite bars will start serving — and if you're not so keen on the tasting part of proceedings, you can nab a party ticket for $25 (rather than $45 for added vino sipping). Image via Wax'o Paradiso.
Get in the spirit of things this autumn with a feast for the eyes at the Tesselaar KaBloom Festival of Flowers. Held in Silvan – just beyond Melbourne's fringe in the Dandenong Ranges – five acres of colourful sunflowers, salvias, marigolds, dahlias and much more have been arranged in captivating patterns for your wandering pleasure. Running from Saturday, March 29 to Sunday, April 27, the festival has a new element for the first time in 2025, with the KaBloom Ferris Wheel offering the ideal vantage point to admire the vibrant designs below. Whether you're keen for a laidback stroll with nan or somewhere that inspires the kids to get in touch with nature, this verdant event is just what you need. Besides the blooms, there's also a stacked entertainment lineup for all ages. Daring performers from Circus Oz Now for Wow bring acrobatics, juggling and hoop diving to the party, while the whimsical Becky Bubble Show delights onlookers with dreamy rainbow-coloured bubbles. Meanwhile, fairy storytellers weave enchanting tales for little ones in the magical Fairy Garden. You can also score handcrafted goods at the Market Faire, dine on tantalising flavours from local food trucks, or take part in garden games, obstacle courses, scenic tractor rides and even drumming workshops. Plus, with easter on the horizon, KaBloom will get in the mood with a fun-loving hunt where finding mischievous rabbits equals more sweet treats.
A few years ago, facial recognition technology seemed like the stuff of the future, some nifty application you'd see only on the big screen. Now, we're using it in real life, to unlock our phones, to hustle through the passport queue at the airport and even to order our morning latte. That's right — cafes across the country are getting high-tech, implementing facial recognition systems in an effort to improve customer service. And the one system that's being used by most was developed right here in our own backyard. Geoff Cropley, owner of Sydney's Bahista Cafe, told the Sydney Morning Herald he spent two years working with developer John MacLean to create his own system prototype, NoahFace, which he first started using on customers in July 2016. "I searched the world for a low-cost face recognition [system] and there was nothing out there, all the solutions were multimillion-dollar ones," he explained. "So I went about creating what we have today." Willing customers simply have their face scanned by an iPad as they approach the front counter, with information, including their name and go-to coffee order, then instantly relayed to the barista. NoahFace is now in use across the country, having raised more than $1 million in seed funding, not to mention the backing of big names like Toby's Estate founder Toby Smith. Currently, you'll spy it operating at venues like Sydney's Bar Bellaccino, Adelaide's Hotel Richmond and a whole swag of Toby's Estate cafes — and, it'll spy you too. Via smh.com.au
Remember when your mum told you that it's what's on the inside that counts? At the Australian Interior Design Awards, that's definitely the case. Returning for 2021, the country's premier interior design gongs reward excellence in hospitality, installation, residential, workplace, retail and public design, as well as residential decoration — and it has just revealed its lengthy (and obviously eye-catching) 2021 shortlist. A word of warning for those who like their interiors swish, plush, luxurious and stylish all round: you're going to want to live in or visit all of the places vying for this year's awards. Thankfully, with plenty of bars and restaurants in the running, the latter is definitely possible. In Sydney, in the hospitality field, the likes of Harbord Hotel, Ciccia Bella, Sydney Tower and Atomic Beer Project are among the spots vying for glory. Well, for a shiny prize and plenty of recognition to go with their shiny interiors, to be exact. Melbourne's Farmer's Daughters, Poodle Bar and Bistro, First Love Coffee, Hero at ACMI, Byrdi, Citizen Snack Bar and Next Hotel also rank among the places in the running, while Brisbane's Industry Beans and Ping Pong Thai Restaurant also made the cut. In South Australia, Never Never Distillery and Hotel Indigo join the places in contention. [caption id="attachment_803565" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] First Love, Rebecca Newman[/caption] The list goes on — both for bars, cafes, restaurants and hotels, with 33 places in contention in total, and throughout the awards' other categories. A whopping 190 places have made it through to this stage across all fields, which means that there is no shortage of strikingly deigned new, revamped and refurbished places demanding your attention around around the country. After the event went virtual in 2020 — handing out its gongs via a virtual broadcast — this year's winners will be announced in-person at a dinner the Hyatt Regency Sydney on Friday, September 3. For the full Australian Interior Design Awards 2021 shortlist, head to the AIDA website. Top image: Sydney Tower, Robert Walsh.
Did you know that over 1300 native plants are threatened or at risk of extinction? 1800 Tequila is highlighting this trend at The Greenhouse Bar by 1800 Tequila – The Bar Devoted to Biodiversity. The part bar, greenhouse and art installation is popping up in Melbourne for one weekend only — from Friday, October 27, until Sunday, October 29. Guests will enjoy bespoke cocktails made with Aussie botanicals, a cheese platter and a small gift. This is a celebration of Australian botanicals — their diversity and fragility, as well as their place in cocktails. It is the latest conservation-focused event from the tequila brand after The Bar Saved From Landfill in 2022. Botanicals are integral to crafting distinctive flavours and aromas. Without them, many of the cocktails we know and love would not exist. We are fortunate to have access to some of the world's most unique botanicals in our native plants. Research from 1800 Tequila says that three in five Aussies are unaware Australia is facing a significant biodiversity decline. It's up to us to educate ourselves on how to conserve these precious native plants. Guests will receive four cocktails made with native botanicals for punters — sip on a margarita spritz with lemon myrtle, garnished with saltbush air (sounds mysterious!). There's also an iced vovo punch with strawberry gum, an 1800 negroni with wattleseed bitter and lilly pilly vermouth, garnished with yellow kangaroo paw, and smoked bee pollen old fashioned, smoked with paper bark. Tickets to each session cost $25. 1800 Tequila will donate 100% of bar ticket sales to its charity partner, Botanic Gardens of Sydney and its Rainforest Seed Conservation Project. The Greenhouse Bar is taking place from 27–29 October, with pre-booked sessions from 2.30pm until the last sitting of the day at 7pm. Tickets are available to book now via the website. Image credit: Guy Wilkinson Photography. Images of Sydney installation of The Greenhouse Bar.
If there's one thing that Melbourne knows how to do well, it's serving up good food-based experiences — especially in a pop-up setting. So to keep us all warm through the colder months, the city is welcoming a range of winter-inspired culinary pop-ups and events taking place across the city, all to keep bellies full and warm. From a night noodle market delivering tasty eats to your door to wintery igloos featuring warm eats and mulled wine in beer gardens, there's a lot to keep the foodie in you satisfied this cold one. Here's seven events that'll keep your tummy and your tastebuds satisfied this winter.
Cult favourite Aussie basics label Bassike is hosting a big online warehouse sale this month, selling its items from both its past season collections and its archive at significant discounts off the regular price — with pieces starting at $30. Both men's and women's fashion will be up for grabs for five days from 8am on Thursday, July 9 till midnight on Monday, July 13. Expect to find everything from swimwear and footwear to accessories, denim, cotton jersey pieces and lots of quality basics. If you're struggling with the winter cold, you'll (thankfully) be able to find warm clothing here, too. While exact prices have not yet been announced, previously physical warehouse sales have seen denim from $90, tees from $30 and jackets for $120 — no, these aren't basement bargains, but they are reasonable prices for these fine organic pieces. Spend more than $100, and you'll score free shipping, too. Bassike's online warehouse sale will run from 8am on Thursday, July 9 till midnight on Monday, July 13.
The season for openair dance floors is almost upon us — and Melbourne's Boiler Room x Sugar Mountain fest has just unveiled a bumper lineup for its impending 2023 instalment to get you in the mood for all the balmy shape-throwing sessions to come. The party is set to return to the Seaworks Maritime Precinct on Saturday, January 21, with its legendary 360-degree stage in tow, as always. And gracing it this time around will be a roll-call of dance music legends from both near and far, with the bill headlined by Detroit's underground vinyl star DJ Bone and Catalan DJ John Talabot. Of course, with the likes of Boiler Room and Sugar Mountain in charge, you know the fun's not ending there. Also heading along to soundtrack the day's moves: Canadian DJ Darwin (aka Fallon MacWilliams), along with Melbourne's own Roza Terenzi and Colette, Gunai/Kurnai & Yorta Yorta artist DJ PGZ, and envelope-pushing Egyptian-Australian producer Moktar. The one-stage event promises to have you moving from early afternoon until the wee hours, making the most of its spacious waterfront home in Williamstown. You can nab early bird tickets to the festival from 2pm on Thursday, November 17. But be warned — if this month's sold-out November party Boiler Room: Melbourne (Naarm) is anything to go by, those tickets won't be sticking around for long. [caption id="attachment_878333" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mushroom Creative House[/caption] BOILER ROOM x SUGAR MOUNTAIN 2023 LINEUP: Colette Darwin DJ Bone DJ PGZ John Talabot Moktar Roza Terenzi [caption id="attachment_878339" align="alignnone" width="1920"] DJ Bone[/caption] [caption id="attachment_878340" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Colette[/caption] Boiler Room x Sugar Mountain is happening at Seaworks Maritime Precinct on Saturday, January 22, 2023. Tickets go on sale online at 2pm AEDT on Thursday, November 17. Top Images: Ryan Achilles and Mushroom Creative House
Melbourne's enormous Dandenong Market is a multicultural feast for the senses at the best of times, but come Sunday, March 28, it's taking things to the next level. Get those taste buds ready to experience the market's annual World Fare: a celebration of street food and culture, starring over 20 international vendors and a swag of the world's most exciting eats. Punters will have the chance to sink their teeth into a diverse menu of exclusive creations, from vegetarian manoushe served up by Why Not? Wooden Bakery, to Si Kat Pinoy Eatscetera's warm ube cheese pandesal — a purple yam-flavoured bread roll with a cheesy centre. And, of course, don't miss the globe-trotting array of dreamy dumpling varieties, including Kabul Kitchen's Afghan-style ashak and plump 'treasure pockets' a la San San's Dumpling House. From 10am–3pm, all those culinary delights will be matched by a program of live entertainment and cultural performances, journeying through most corners of the globe. Past outings have featured West African drumming, martial arts demonstrations, Bollywood shows, Maori Haka and plenty more. Dandenong World Fare runs from 10am–4pm.
Leave it to the Europeans to design something this good looking. Parisian electronics artisans Withings may have just cracked the code to creating appealing wearable tech devices this week. The secret? More wearable, less tech. This recently announced smartwatch is one of the first offerings that doesn't overshoot its target. Not endeavouring to become an iPhone strapped to your wrist or a creepy maligned face computer, the Withings Activité is a beautiful Swiss-made watch that happens to also track your exercise activity. "We tried to really turn the equation upside down," said Withings CEO Cedric Hutchings. "[We wanted] to stop trying to make a piece of technology with a screen, a piece of rubber, something you need to charge every day. We tried to start with a watch." This minimalist-as-blazes watch, which is set to be released in a few months, comes with a large analogue face and two shades of leather strap. It boasts a regular watch battery with a guaranteed life of one year, and is actually waterproof up to five metres. Its only difference from the analogue standard is a small second dial to the right of the clock's centre. This one measures either your steps or your sleep, then syncs the information to your iPhone via Bluetooth. In another cute feature, the Activité can also act as an alarm clock, gently vibrating to wake you at the lightest point in your sleep cycle. While it may not sound all that revolutionary, it certainly is refreshing in a tech market flooded with unrelentingly hideous gadgetry. Like any burgeoning technological field, there are some design issues that need to get ironed out in the smartwatch market and we need to burn our way through a few Nokia 3315s before we get to the iPhones, if you know what I mean. This is probably one of the first worthwhile products of the bunch. Of course, nerdier types are still holding out for the much-hyped Google smartwatch next month — a nifty little piece of tech that even we got excited about. But for those who are more about simplicity and style, the Activité is the way to go. It's maybe the first thing that can be useful without completely resembling a Tamagotchi. Maybe for that we can forgive its cheesy promo clip. Via The Verge.
