Sometimes, the semblance of reality can be just as powerful as reality itself. Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich has put this idea to the test (in the prettiest way possible). He’s built an underground swimming pool that looks like it’s filled with water. Built in 2004, the pool is a permanent installation at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan — after a stint at MoMA PS1 in New York. Standing above it, watching the sunlight filter through what seems to be shimmering liquid, viewers are pretty much ready to jump in. But, stepping closer, they soon discover that, what looks like a deep pool is a 10cm-high layer of water, encased in glass, and suspended over an empty space. Visitors can actually step into this empty space and look upwards — it’s a photographer’s dream. Consequently images of fully-clothed toddlers and adults in business suits seemingly submerged have flooded the Internet. The 21st Century Museum site reads, “While undermining our everyday assumptions about what we think to be obvious, the work invites our active involvement in its spaces — once we catch on to its deception — and produces a sense of connection between people looking at each other.” Erlich was born in Buenos Aires in 1973 and still lives there. He has exhibited all over the world, from London’s Barbican to New York’s Sean Kelly Gallery. Via Fubiz. Images: Leandro Erlich.
The National Gallery of Victoria's Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei double bill is the exhibition to lock in this summer. A show dedicated to just one of these artists would be a blockbuster in its own right, but the two of them together side by side, will undoubtedly see this international exhibition reach epic proportions. Max Delany, senior curator of contemporary art at the NGV, sees the exhibition as a great opportunity to explore the work of two artists from two very different times. “It is an opportunity to present one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century — the century of modernity and what is often referred to as 'The American Century' — alongside one of the most significant artists living today, an artist from what is often said to be the 'Chinese Century' to come," Delany says. "It's actually a very interesting opportunity to consider the role of both artists and art of their time." The exhibition will draw out some of the untapped connections between these two artists. For instance, both artists have transformed the concept of the artist's studio, building highly interdisciplinary spaces. Both have radically reconsidered notions of artistic value, turning against the prevailing aesthetic trends of their time. And both are highly attuned to new modes of communication; Weiwei uses virtual networking and the internet to produce his work, while Warhol might be thought of as a social media artist working before his time. In the midst of a busy installation period, Delany took some time to speak about his five favourite works featured in the exhibition — five you should make no mistake to miss when the exhibition opens this Friday, December 11 in Melbourne. [caption id="attachment_551750" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ai WeiweiChinese 1957–Forever Bicycles, 2011, installation view at Taipei Fine Arts MuseumImage courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio© Ai Weiwei[/caption] 1. AI WEIWEI — FOREVER BICYCLES (2011) "We are going to be installing a new version of Ai Weiwei's Forever Bicycles. This will be a major installation – it's made from almost 1500 bicycles. On the one hand, the bicycle wheel engages with Marcel Duchamp and the whole idea of the readymade. On the other hand, it's quite Warholian and is engaged with repetition. There is an intensely spectacular effect from the repetition of these objects. It also has an important biographical relevance to Ai Weiwei because Forever was the brand of a very popular mass-produced bicycle in China. It's something Weiwei would have desired as a child. The nice thing about these bicycles, which are all linked together, is that the bicycle is related to the individual, but there's also a connection to the multitude. It's very much about collective energy and social progress." [caption id="attachment_551761" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Steve SchapiroAndy Warhol Blowing Up Silver Cloud Pillow, Los Angeles 1966© Steve Schapiro[/caption] 2. ANDY WARHOL — SILVER CLOUDS AND COW WALLPAPER (1966) "Upon arrival to the exhibition, you will encounter Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds from 1966, which will be presented alongside his Cow Wallpaper. This is a fascinating work, which was first shown in 1966 at Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. Basically, these silver floating pillow forms float through space and are propelled by the bodies of viewers and air currents. It's an immersive experience, very much coinciding with the idea of 'the happening' during the '60s. It also introduced participation into artistic practice. Cow Wallpaper is significant because it is the very first or several designs Warhol did in wallpaper." [caption id="attachment_551740" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ai WeiweiChinese 1957–Coloured Vases, 2006 Neolithic vases (5000-3000 BC) and industrial paintdimensions variable Image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio© Ai Weiwei[/caption] 3. AI WEIWEI — COLOURED VASES (2006) "I'm excited to be showing Ai Weiwei's Coloured Vases, which is a newer work. These are painted Neolithic pots which really do enact an uneasy confrontation between cultural heritage and tradition on the one hand, and modernity on the other. One is mapped onto the other in quite a violent or iconoclastic way, kind of obliterating history. On the other hand, it also signals new beginnings and possibilities." [caption id="attachment_551739" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Andy WarholElectric Chair, 1967 synthetic polymer paint screenprinted onto canvas137.2 x 185.1 cm National Gallery of Australia, CanberraPurchased 1977© 2015 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./ARS, New York. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney.[/caption] 4. ANDY WARHOL — ELECTRIC CHAIR (1963) "Quite often people think of Warhol as quite superficial. However, if you look at some of his depictions of violence and tragedy in American society, he's really quite an epic history painter. One of the most profound and striking works in the exhibition is Warhol's Electric Chair from 1963. It's an example of his innovations in silkscreen painting from that time., but it's also a very stark and austere image. It puts the relationship between the state and the individual into sharp relief. This is also an important subject for Ai Weiwei, whose work really does address some of the critical issues of our time, such as human rights and freedom of expression." 5. AI WEIWEI — STUDIES IN PERSPECTIVE (1994) "This is a very cheeky body of work, but it is also very considered. You're probably familiar with Studies in Perspective where he raises his middle finger to various buildings representing state authority, from the White House to Tiananmen Square. On the one hand, this is a playful work about measuring the distance between the artist and his subject. On the other hand, it sets up an interesting relationship between the individual and the state. These works were made from 1994 onward and they remind me very clearly of that extraordinary image from Tiananmen Square in 1989 — that lone demonstrator standing in front of a Tank and the asymmetrical relationship between the individual and an authoritative figure." Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei will run at the National Gallery of Victoria from December 11 until April 24. For more information, visit the NGV's website.
Sydney’s most beloved southern cooking restaurant just got a little sweeter. Now you can take Hartsyard home with you — no, not a new takeaway window, a family cookbook which includes all of your favourite recipes from Enmore’s go-to eatery. The restaurant’s dynamic duo, Gregory Llewellyn and Naomi Hart, give patrons their own way to enjoy their recipes at home. The couple make a great team — Gregory the cook and Naomi the writer — and easily caught the attention of Murdoch Books. The publisher loved the idea of their neighbourhood eatery, a place where friends can gather for food that is simply home cooking at its best. Since the fried chicken is the Hartsyard claim to fame, they’ve based their cookbook around the recipe and its counterparts. For a quick preview of how you can impress your friends with your Aussie-American flare, we’re bringing you our picks for the top recipes from the cookbook (apart from the fried chicken, of course). SNACKS: PORK BELLY CRACKLING An ode to street food from San Juan, the chicharron you’ll find in the cookbook is unlike any pork crackling you’re used to. Gregory combines the crispy skin with the supple fat of the pork belly for an indulgent snack. True to the recipe’s Puerto Rican roots, it’s suggested to serve with Hartsyard’s now infamous hot sauce (pg 188) and a lemon wedge. Since this recipe will take a while, take Gregory’s advice and have a few drinks at hand. pg 41 THE FEED: OYSTER PO' BOYS A real down home, Louisiana dish, Hartsyard is known for these sliders nearly as much as for their fried chicken. Of course, the dish has an Aussie twist, served on homemade English muffins instead of the traditional baguette. The oysters soak in buttermilk for a full day, which gives them that creaminess that you love from the restaurant. Again, the homemade hot sauce really gives the dish that extra kick. pg 97 SIDES: HUSHPUPPIES The Hartsyard team loves corn done any style, but there is no better way than fried. Essentially a cornmeal fritter, the recipe is a basic version that encourages experimentation. Southern cooking is a heavy meal from entrée to mains to sides, and hushpuppies are a prime example of this classic combo of fried with fried. Recommended with the dirty chicken gravy (pg 191). pg 128 SALAD & VEG: BROAD BEANS ON THE BARBIE This dish really sticks to the motto 'keep it simple' — charred broad beans with salt, made Hartsyard-style with their lemon jam and romesco sauce (pg 198). Tender and juicy, this dish is a perfect excuse to get your hands dirty, and southern cooking really should be eaten with your hands. You’ll also get to enjoy making your guests do most of the work for you, just like Gregory does with this dish in his kitchen. pg 172 SWEET TREATS: BANANA CREAM PIE A brainchild of Hartsyard pastry chef Andrew Bowden, the key to this dish is the fresh cream. No matter how full your friends are after your decadent meal, they’ll be fighting over the last piece of this pie. Gregory’s favourite part of the dish is the combo of cocoa and banana, making this dessert one irresistible treat. pg 230 Fried Chicken & Friends: The Hartsyard Family Cookbook is out now via Murdoch Books. Order your hardcover copy for $49.99 over here. Images: Fried Chicken & Friends: The Hartsyard Family Cookbook.
As if the furore generated by the Vivid Sydney lineup announcement wasn't enough to stir your loins, Fuzzy Events has announced a banging lineup for its 2018 instalment of Curve Ball. Taking over Carriageworks on Saturday, June 16, the live electronic music event will a tight little lineup with a hefty side of visual arts. The lineup is fronted by Sydney's own Alison Wonderland and Vera Blue, whose own Vivid show has already sold out. They'll be joined by Crooked Colours, Haiku Hands, Poloshirt, FlexMami and more. It's basically a who's who of Sydney up-and-coming electronic artists. Carriageworks is bringing the fire with an immersive audio and visual experience to accompany the tunes as well as large scale art installations. Image: Carriageworks.
We're heading steadily towards the end of the year now, and when we get there, Barangaroo will have another new restaurant for us. It's the most anticipated one of the lot, too: Matt Moran's three-storey bowl-shaped restaurant. Barangaroo House, as it's now been named, has been three years in the making (we wrote about it all the way back in 2014), and now it's set to open in December this year. Designed by architects Collins and Turner, the venue will be constructed of three levels that represent three shallow bowls, all of which have been designed to feature greenery. The ground level will be a bar (with a bar food offering), the first floor the more-formal restaurant, and the top level a snazzy rooftop terrace, capitalising on the right-there views of Darling Harbour. It's not Moran's first rodeo, by any means; along with his hospitality group Solotel he's also got a veritable buffet of venues throughout the country to his name such as Aria, Chiswick, Opera Bar and a slew of pubs. This latest venture, like many of his others, will showcase contemporary Australian cuisine — helmed by chef Cory Campbell, who has a resume that includes Noma and Vue de Monde. "We share the same philosophy of a strong sense of place and he brings a wealth of experience from cooking in some of the world's best kitchens," says Moran of Campbell. The colossal Barangaroo House will join the also-huge restaurant and dessert bar 12-Micron, as well as a whole heap of eateries that have set up at the Streets of Barangaroo over the last year or so. Stay tuned for details of the opening — we'll keep you updated with an opening date and what to expect. Barangaroo House is set to open in December 2017. We'll keep you updated on developments, and you can check out barangaroohouse.com.au.
As if the furore generated by the Vivid Sydney 2019 announcement wasn't enough to stir your loins, Fuzzy Events has announced a banging lineup for its 2019 instalment of Curve Ball. Taking over Carriageworks on Saturday, June 8, the live electronic music event will a tight little lineup with a hefty side of visual arts. The lineup is fronted by Sydney's own Hayden James and Touch Sensitive. They'll be joined by Brissie's Mallrat, DJ duo Set Mo, FlexMami and more. It's basically a who's who of Australia's up-and-coming artists. Carriageworks is bringing the fire with an immersive audio and visual experience to accompany the tunes as well as large scale art installations. First release tickets have already sold out, so make sure you snap up some final ones soon.
This imaginative little gathering brings together two of Concrete Playground's favourite things: food and words. Forming part of the Bondi Feast programme, Eat Our Words will see a bunch of food lovers get together to tell you stories about the tasty morsels that have changed their lives. While they're talking, you'll get to eat samples of their subject matter. The speakers are a mix of chefs, brewers, writers and artists. You'll be hearing from Lucien Alperstein, who brews, pickles and photographs; Nicholas Jordan, who writes, blogs and researches (including for CP about delicious things like jerky and juice pairing); David Matthews, who chefs, writes and edits; and Georgia Hutchison, who creates art from a range of materials, food included. Bondi Feast is a fringe-style festival run by the Rock Surfers Theatre Co, combining local theatre, music, comedy, art and food. Since starting up in 2012, the event has double in size. This year, it runs for 11 nights between July 11 and 25, and features more than 100 artists across more than 50 performances.
What's better than spending your Sunday session at a block party at The Vic Enmore hosted by hip hop collective One Day? A Christmas Edition of that very same block party that gets into the festive spirit by raising money for charity, that's what. The inner west's favourite monthly hip hop party, One Day Sundays, is using its Christmas edition to help out disadvantaged youth during the festive season by sending funds to Youth Off the Streets. So if the chance for an afternoon of shooting hoops, devouring spit roast and soaking up great local hip hop long after sunset wasn't enough to get you out the back of the Vic, then donating to a good cause like you're a character in It's a Wonderful Life should pretty much do it for you. Featuring DJs Joyride, Lazer Gunne Funke and Finehouse, it's one great way to keep your festive spirit alive between Christmas and New Year's.
Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information is as elusive a play as its central question; what is consciousness? The collection of small scenes answers this question with the notion that love draws us together and information extends our reach outwards, symbolised by a tree planted on set by Glenn Hazeldine towards the end of the show. But there are many more questions than answers: does God have a God, and does that God have a God? Does mathematics relate to reality or is it a human construct? Is there such a thing as free will or is it down to genetics? And, most importantly, does God speak English? Churchill’s work can be recognised by one-word play titles, truncated sentences and loaded pauses. In Kip Williams' production of Love and Information, the pauses are thankfully meaningful and there are only one or two moments when a performer stops their sentence mid-way through without cause. Churchill’s script is like a choose-your-own-adventure play, with flexibility as to which scenes are included, which characters play which scenes and also allows for the addition of new improvisations — which Williams and the cast have devised with expert skill. The group has retained the spirit of improvisation and ensemble in the finished product. The constant scene changes (the shortest scene is two words long) demands a lot from the cast and they manage it with ease and good humour. Anita Hegh opens with a comic dating scene in which she explains her job as a research scientist to her prospective date, failing gloriously to describe slicing open mice brains in a palatable manner. Glenn Hazeldine makes a compelling hysterical author trying to avoid the press; a minor exchange with a journalist sends him into a spiral of existential angst. These two stand out as masters of comedy, and the rest of the cast (Marco Chiappi, Harry Greenwood, Zahra Newman, Anthony Taufa, Alison Whyte and Ursula Yovich) all thrive on the playfulness of the production. That’s not to say it doesn’t have gravity. Alison Whyte’s performance as the bereaved at a funeral under falling snow is moving indeed. Designer David Fleischer’s plain white set with moveable white cubes is brought to life by Paul Jackson’s evocative lighting, and music by Melbourne composer The Sweats (Pete Goodwin) helps to effectively integrate the scene changes into the dramatic action. The creative team under Williams’ direction has elevated what could be an unruly string of scenes into a cohesive, warm 90 minutes of damn good, thought-provoking theatre.
Festivals, much to our loudly vocal approval, have lately been inundated with epic foodie collaborations, bringing about a new wave of bespoke, one-off edible creations that float in and out of our grasp on the festival tide. And now, this special edition trend is taking over events that aren't traditionally known for their food or drink offerings — more for their cosplay dress code and Xena-starring headliners. Proving there's a beer for every occasion, the boys from Sydney's Young Henrys have announced they've crafted a limited release lager just for this year's Oz Comic Con. It's a one-off collaboration with legendary Melbourne artist Doug Holgate (Regular Show, Red Sonja), who's created the anti-hero personality you never even knew you wanted in a beer. Meet Dr. Röt Fifer. Yep. Terrifying. Apparently Young Henrys were asked to create a hero, and they came up with this sinister character. He's been magicked up by Holgate as known for two things: his bloody pied piper melodies and the keg of Vienna Lager strapped to his back. We're not entirely sure if this bloke is an anti-hero or an actual, no-holds-barred villain, but the beer he represents is the real star. Young Henry's Dr. Röt Fifer Vienna Lager is brewed with Hallertau Blanc hops and stone fruit flavours and is available at the Melbourne 2016 convention, alongside appearances by Lucy Lawless ((ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧), John Barrowman of Torchwood, Doctor Who and Arrow and Robert Patrick of Terminator 2: Judgement Day. You can also grab longnecks from various bottle shops around the city (keep an eye on the website for a distribution list). Sydney and Brisbane, keep 'em crossed. Oz Comic-Con kicks off in Melbourne on June 11-12, Sydney on September 10-11 and Brisbane on September 17-18. The official (and free) launch party for Dr Röt Fifer is happening on June 10 (RSVP here) so start planning your cosplay now. *looks dramatically at night sky* Friends, Dr Röt Fifer is the anti-hero beer Melbourne deserves but also the one it needs right now.
One of New York's initially best and eventually worst kept secrets is coming to Melbourne for one of the most squealworthy pop-ups we've seen in an age. East Village's Please Don't Tell (or PDT) is locked in to take over Fitzroy's Black Pearl this August, with legendary PDT bar team Jim Meehan and Jeff Bell at the helm. Ever found your way to PDT? Hidden behind a secret wall in a vintage phone booth, inside Crif Dogs hotdog joint on St Marks Place in the East Village, PDT is one of NYC's most beloved speakeasies — and the cocktails are seriously next level. Bell, who was crowned 2013 Diageo World Class US Bartender of the Year, is one of the best in the game, with marvels like the Bulleit Bourbon Sweet Tea Smash. But you won't just be sampling Bell's world-famous cocktails, Bell and Meehan will join forces with Bluebonnet Barbecue chef Chris Terlikar for an Australian version of PDT's menu — featuring two hot-dog variations: 'The Spicy Redneck' (house dog, bacon wrapped, with chilli, coleslaw and jalapenos) and a yet to be announced local adaptation. Locked in for August 6 to 9 in The Attic at Black Pearl, PDT's trailblazing cocktail aficionados will have three sittings available at Black Pearl: 6-8pm, 8-10pm and the last at 10pm-12am — and it goes without saying, you're strongly advised to make reservations to avoid disappointment. PDT pops up at Black Pearl (304 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy) Thursday 6 – Sunday August 9. Sittings are 6-8pm, 8-10pm or 10pm-12am, Reservations through Eventbrite. Image: PDT.
The crispy, greasy food of the gods and the cornerstone of any self-respecting carnivorous diet, bacon nabbed itself an entire dedicated festival last year at Cuckoo Callay. Now, Sydney's bacon worship is taking over a bigger warehouse-sized venue, with Sydney's best culinary minds at the helm. Brace yourselves, Sydney's biggest ever bacon party is coming. Bacon, Brunch & Bubbles is the creation of Luke Mangan and his team at MOJO. After the success of their SENSASIAN event a few months ago, the team are taking things to the next level with Sydney's biggest bacon party to date. This one-off brunch extravaganza will bring together Sydney's foodie elite: cake queen Katherine Sabbath, pastry commander-in-chief Andy Bowden, the makers of Australia's most 'grammed cake Black Star Pastry, ice cream wizards N2 Gelato, tea artisans Tippity Tea and the guys from Cuckoo Callay, who brought you Sydney's original Bacon Festival. "It's amazing to bring together such a diverse yet talented group from all around Sydney," says Mangan. Prepare to descend (or ascend depending on how you look at it) into a euphoric haze of porky goodness. Feast on dishes like bacon and egg brioches with chorizo jam, bacon empanadas and bacon and egg cupcakes (really). The best part? A pig on a spit, rotating slowly enough for you to become mesmerised (and reason to strongly dissuade your vegetarian friends from even trying to come). Chase it all with smokey bacon Bloody Marys and bacon bellini mimosas. If cocktails aren't your thing, Tippity Tea will have a selection of sparkling teas for you to choose from. For all the bacon in Sydney, it's not technically a warehouse party without some tunes. Sydney DJ Duncan Bell will be perched on top MOJO's industrial fridge and providing the backbeat to your bacon dreams. Bacon, Brunch & Bubbles runs from 10.30am – 3.30pm. Food is $10-15 and drinks are $10. Doors open 10.30am. Bacon images: Cuckoo Callay.
Set against the rolling hills of Nashdale and only a short drive from Orange, Rowlee Wines is renowned for its cool-climate wines. This family-owned estate has expanded its offering with Rowlee Dining and Bar and a luxury guesthouse, providing the ultimate food and wine escape in one of Australia's premier wine regions of Orange. Due to its elevation and situation in the cool-climate region, Rowlee makes stunning examples of riesling, pinot noir but also bigger reds like shiraz. At the cellar door, you can partake in a tasting and level it up with a cheese pairing, snack pairing and more as the talented cellar door staff brings you through the range of wines on offer. After your tasting, head out to the Garden Bar (open during the warmer months, from Friday to Sunday, from 12 noon until sunset) and sip on your vino as you take in the breathtaking views across the vines — sure to be at budburst in spring or lush with new grapes in summer. If you're after something more substantial, make your way to Rowlee's 100-seat restaurant and bar which takes the estate's stunning natural backdrop. Sip on a glass of Rowlee's award-winning pinot noir or riesling, or explore their cocktail menu crafted for every occasion. Whether you're here for casual afternoon drinks or a full-blown degustation dinner, the options are endless. Here, you can expect a share-style, seasonal menu designed by Head Chef Simon Furley (formerly of Homage and Beechmont Estate), where sustainable, hyper-local produce is the star. Furley, originally from England, before he settled in Australia, honed his craft across Europe from Grecian resorts, Michelin-starred eateries and even ski chalets and luxe yachts. Expect influences from his European background balanced with local produce and sensibilities on your plate. He is passionate about heroing local produce with a "leave no waste" philosophy. Try the leek dish where the leek is used in five different ways to ensure the entire vegetable is used. The restaurant boasts distinct dining spaces — think cosy lounges, an elegant dining room, and a verandah with sweeping vineyard views — making it the perfect spot for a long, sunlit lunch or a candle-lit evening affair. Furley's share-style dishes pair perfectly with Rowlee's wines, making this venue a go-to for serious food and wine lovers. For those looking to extend their visit, Rowlee's on-site Guesthouse offers a secluded and elegant escape. Surrounded by vines and a traditional English garden, this charming accommodation lets you soak in the vineyard's serene atmosphere. The historic abode has everything you need to get away from it all: abundant snacks, a bottle of wine on arrival, a comfy king-sized bed and a beautifully fitted-out bathroom with a free-standing bath so you can sip, soak and relax. Rowlee Wines offers the "Ultimate Wine Escape" package, which includes a stay at the guesthouse, a private cellar door tasting, lunch with matched wines, a picnic hamper to enjoy at your leisure and a half-dozen bottles of Rowlee's best to take home. It's the dream weekend for those keen to explore Orange's cool-climate wine scene in style. Whether you're after a day trip with lunch and wine or a full weekend escape, Rowlee Wines delivers a premier Orange experience. Top Image: Destination NSW
Whenever the Biennale of Sydney hits town, it always makes a splash. Returning for its 23rd event in 2022, the Biennale's next huge celebration of art won't be any different. On the bill this year: portraits made out of grass, mirrored pavilions, a 600-square-metre bamboo structure and the sounds of 15,000 animals. The 23rd Biennale of Sydney unveiled its full lineup at the beginning of February. And as proves the case every two years, it's about to be a great time to be an art-lover in Sydney. Running from Saturday, March 12–Monday, June 13, the complete Biennale program will present more than 330 artworks by 89 participants, plus 400 events, all linked to its central concept — which means 'stream' in Latin. In terms of what you'll be able to check out at venues such as The Cutaway at Barangaroo Reserve, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Circular Quay, Information + Cultural Exchange, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, National Art School in partnership with Artspace, The Rocks and Walsh Bay Arts Precinct including Pier 2/3 across the city, it's a varied bunch. A huge inclusion on the program comes from multidisciplinary studio Cave Urban, with the Sydney locals creating a work called Flow — which happens to be one of the largest bamboo structures ever produced in Australia. It's the studio's biggest-ever project, and will span 600 square metres through The Cutaway at Barangaroo. If all things shiny and mirrored appeal to you, Irish artist John Gerrard will be displaying a six-by-six metre LED wall on a polished mirrored pavilion, also at Barangaroo. AGNSW will also play host to a wallpaper work in its entrance by Barkandji elder Badger Bates, which'll be based on one of his linocuts of the drying Lake Menindee; and to Naziha Mestaoui's One Beat, One Tree, which made its debut during the United Nations Climate Conference in 2015, and encourages folks engaging with the interactive piece to plant a virtual tree. At the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, there'll be large-scale tapestries from American artist Kiki Smith and the display of a 365-million-year-old fish fossil from Canowindra for the first time, while Pier 2/3 will feature 100 3D-printed replicas of Tasmanian stone tools thanks to Trawlwoolway artist Julie Gough. Entry to the Biennale is free — and the event also includes a program of talks and experiences, called The Waterhouse, at The Cutaway at Barangaroo.
One of Australia's most redeeming qualities is its ability to give good afternoon sun. There's something about its familiar glow that almost demands casual drinks. To help you out as summer comes rolling around, we've got a couple of fun (sometimes sweaty) suggestions for afternoon activities you can enjoy with your friends. They'll be all the more fun when coupled with a cold Heineken 3 in one hand. [caption id="attachment_593565" align="alignnone" width="1280"] The Greens in North Sydney.[/caption] LAWN BOWLS Ah, lawn bowls, the classic non-taxing "sport" – it harks back to the 12th century, and remains an A+ summer jaunt. It's just like bowling except you're shoeless and it's good for people with little hands and not many arm muscles. Feel the fake grass between your toes and let your hair down as you try to aim the black balls for the little white ball and then forget about all that and just throw balls around willy nilly while drinking a cold beer. There are a bunch of places to play around Sydney, but The Greens in North Sydney is a classic. [caption id="attachment_546737" align="alignnone" width="1280"] The Royal Croquet Club.[/caption] CROQUET Not just for fancy people, or old people, the low-key sport of croquet has gone through a resurgence of late. You can grab a croquet kit from K-Mart, set yourself up anywhere where there's grass and hit balls through pegs with a mallet and a beer in hand. It's quite a time, and strangely it makes you feel very sophisticated. The perfect place to play is at the Royal Croquet Club, which started in Adelaide but now tours its way through Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. From the November 24 until December 4, The Royal Croquet Club will take place somewhere in Bondi. Details are to be confirmed, but you can definitely eat some food, drink some beer, and play some croquet out in the afternoon sun. BACKYARD CRICKET Backyard cricket is a bit of a great Australian summer pastime: play with your family, friends, or dogs before someone inevitably hits your last ball over the fence. All you need is an expanse of grass (it doesn't even need to be in your backyard), a couple of bats, a tennis ball, and some large object you can turn into a wicket. Don't forget to bring an esky outside for a potential boundary, and so you can easily access a drink (a Heineken 3) to replenish lost electrolytes after you've had a bit of a jog around in the sun. BADMINTON Have you ever played Badminton with a beer? It's fun. Badminton has hands down the best named playing vessel – the "shuttlecock" – so embrace the 'cock and go and hit it around a net with some other friends. Played in either singles or doubles, you can play on a court on ground or on the beach, or anywhere you can set up your the net you bought from K-Mart. It was developed in British India and has taken off especially in Asia, and it's a game of extreme agility and precision. The longer your summer afternoon kicks on if you're having a beery one, the worse you'll get at hitting the cock, but it'll still be fun. KUBB Kubb! What a time. The basic principle is throwing things (wooden batons) at other things (wooden blocks) to knock them over, and when a game is that simple you know you'll be able to cope no matter what state you're in. Rumoured to be born in the Viking times, it's a game much as old as time. It's perhaps one we haven't fully embraced yet, which means you might have to venture to your local sports store for a set. We think it should be an Olympic sport – the only way to achieve this is for as many sun-seeking revelers to partake as possible, so get kubbed this summer. Enjoy your summer afternoons with the new low-carb Heineken 3 – we're helping you make the most of them.
A fashion designer activist, a Wagga Wagga community leader, an Oscar-winning documentary maker. They're the faces Australia's gasbagging about with the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s annual portraiture competition, the Archibald Prize, drawing crowds for another year. The AGNSW handed out the blue ribbon (and a cheeky $100,000) to Newcastle artist Nigel Milsom, who nabbed the Archibald Prize for his haunting, Edgar Allan Poe-like portrait of barrister Charles Waterstreet. After 832 entries, this year, these 47 Archibald finalists are the top tier of artists trying to make us wake up and pay attention (whether for great or WTF reasons) to Australia’s big ol’ faces. But there’s a few standout favourites for us this year, which you can see at the AGNSW’s exhibition until September 27. There’s Carla Fletcher’s striking portrait of Australian fashion designer Jenny Kee, Paul Ryan's Noah Taylorfest, Adam Alcorn’s sharply figurative portrait of Sydney comedian Alice Fraser, Peter Churcher's saddeningly beautiful portrait of his mother Betty, and Stewart MacFarlane’s strange portrait of Cory Bernardi holding some kind of whip. It's hard to pick a handful, but we can't stop staring at these Archibald finalists. SALLY ROSS — EVA This gorgeous portrait of Academy and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Eva Orner (Taxi to the Dark Side) wouldn’t be out of place on the cover of Frankie. But there’s nothing twee about this kickass human rights crusader, whose upcoming Australian-focused doco Asylum is sure to ruffle a few feathers. “In our image-saturated world I would love to see less selfies, gourmet meals, renovations and lingerie models blowing kisses, and more pictures of women, humans like Eva Orner," says Ross. ADAM HILL (AKA BLAK DOUGLAS) — SMOKE AND MIRRORS (UNCLE MAX EULO) When Adam Hill, or as he's better known, Blak Douglas, first saw Aboriginal cultural entertainer Uncle Max Eulo at an Ashfield launch, he'd never forget it. "His introductory catch phrase was: 'My name’s Uncle Max Eulo and I’m from Bourke, where the crows fly backwards'." Uncle Max can be seen at most Indigenous events, cleansing the setting with his coolamon and smoking gum leaves — "Where there’s smoke, there’s Uncle Max." A largely self-taught artist from Dharug Country (Blacktown), Hill is the first identified Dhungatti Aboriginal artist to have been selected as a finalist in the Archibald Prize with his pop art-inspired portrait of Uncle Max. Kudos. CARLA FLETCHER — JENNY KEE A pioneer of Australian fashion and an internationally-acclaimed artist in her own right, Jenny Kee is officially one of the most kickass humans on the planet. Fatefully heading along to the launch of Kee’s A new beginning 2015 knitwear collection, Carla Fletcher was struck by the designer's bold, in-face use of colour — something she's obviously brought into this Archibald portrait. For the sitting, Fletcher stayed with Kee in her Blue Mountains studio, going on bushwalks, collecting ochre for the portrait and meditating at the base of waterfalls — how all artistic connections should start. MITCH CAIRNS — PETER POWDITCH Mitch Cairns' genuinely stunning portrait of renowned painter Peter Powditch almost took the top prize. This year's Archibald runner-up, Cairns' work was the result of a visit to the Gallery's recent Pop to popism exhibition, where the artist saw Powditch’s Seascape II 1969. Cairns headed to Powditch's NSW north coast home and painted the celebrated artist in his studio. The result is a wonderfully elegant, angular portrait evoking Powditch's own modernist style, one of the most stop-you-in-your-tracks works of the finalists. ADAM ALCORN — ALICE FRASER An ex-academic, ex-corporate lawyer comedian with a Masters degree in English Literature from Cambridge, sold-out shows at Edinburgh and Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and her own podcast Tea with Alice, Alice Fraser is one of Sydney's secret comedy weapons. Painted by her buddy Adam Alcorn, Fraser's portrait is both figurative and minimal, praised by Leigh Sales in her Archibald Twitter review for having a "wonderfully arresting face". SOPHIA HEWSON — DELIVERED One of the most confronting Archibald portraits this year, Sophia Hewson's self portrait opens up a dialogue on female self-objectification. Paying tribute to different methods of pornography, Hewson’s self portrait came from one of her Melbourne public performance works, in which she intentionally objectified herself as a constructive means for women to claim back ownership of their bodies and reforge their identity in a patriarchal value system. "I can exhibit my sexuality without it amounting to my sexual availability." KIM LEUTWYLER — START THE RIOT Activist, designer, model and found of the fashion label and youth empowerment project House of Riot, Ollie Henderson is a bit of a boss. Using fashion as her weapon of choice, this 26-year-old has started more productive conversations about social change in Australia than many politicians could ever hope to. Kim Leutwyler, who typically creates paintings of LGBTQI-identified and queer-allied women, has rendered her buddy Henderson both figuratively and in abstract form, using the same broad brushstrokes as her globally celebrated 'Start the Riot' t-shirts and giving a rather beautifully complex identity to the activist and feminist member of the LGBTQI community. PAUL RYAN — THIRTEEN NOAHS It's almost physically impossible to not enjoy thirteen renderings of actor Noah Taylor's face. Made even better? When they're painted over curiosities found in junk shops and some of Paul Ryan’s very early works. Ryan, who grew up watching Taylor on the big and small screen, is represented by the same gallery as the actor/artist, Olsen Irwin. They met, and down the track Ryan decided to paint Taylor for the Archibald, referring to the actor's face as "so interesting it practically paints itself." The thirteen Noahs are all depictions of Taylor as a fictional character in fictional films, from Noah the mysterious figure in Murders at the lake, to Noah as a black American pimp in Hawaiian hustle, and Noah in the Australian classic Death on the Murray. This is inevitably one of the most sneakily Instagrammed works in the exhibition. TONY CURRAN — LUKE Sitting for hours for a portrait can be tedious business, often resulting in a stiff, unnatural representation of your subject as staged and uppity as a 17th century Spanish royal court portrait. When Tony Curran wanted to paint Wagga Wagga community leader and Museum of the Riverina manager Luke Grealy, he let Tony roam. "For this portrait, I invited Luke to move freely while I continued to draw and redraw him. I didn’t want to try to capture every aspect of his identity in this painting; instead I wanted to give the sense that the self can continue to grow into new manifestations." The result? An identity both in flux and measured, the perfect rendering of a man who's lived multiple lives as a commercial radio presenter, a city council executive, an electrician and even a masseur. PETER CHURCHER — THE LAST PORTRAIT It's impossible not be moved by Peter Churcher's beautiful portrait of his mother, Betty, who ran the National Gallery of Australia from 1990 to 1997 and was a highly regarded painter and arts administrator. This was the final portrait Churcher made of his mother before she passed away at 84. "Painted just weeks before her death, in her bedroom where she died, I was at the foot of her bed with canvas and easel and my mother lying there, her one still-good eye carefully studying my every move," says Churcher. "I was ordered to turn the canvas around frequently and comments were made such as: “Now, if you tinker around with that mouth I’ll kill you!” I did my best to obey." (DIS)HONORABLE MENTION: CORY BERNARDI BY STEWART MACFARLANE Is that a whip? A riding crop? We're not sure, but we've stood perplexed in front of Stewart MacFarlane's portrait of Liberal South Australian senator Cory Bernardi ever since the Archibald finalists were revealed. Author of The Conservative Revolution and perpetual utterer of WTF statements, Bernardi's been rendered quite lovingly (and quite beautifully) by MacFarlane, who "relates to his honesty and strength in the face of derision." There's two sides to every story, we know, and MacFarlane gives the man who continually links same-sex marriage to polygamy and bestiality heaving praise. "He is no coward. He is approachable, intelligent and charming." Righto. See the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until September 27. For more info or to book tickets, head over here.
From their much loved, big-windowed, minimalist decor to their epic Game of Thrones themed feasts, Gastro Park has proved their slogan, "a fairground of deliciousness", rings true for Sydneysiders for six years now. In bittersweet news, this year will mark the next phase for the two-hatted venue, which will close its doors on May 20 and be replaced with a new venture by executive chef Grant King (Gault Millau Chef of the Year 2017). "We've had a fantastic six years as Gastro Park and are proud of what we've achieved [but] the ethos has evolved and we want to do something more representative of that," Gastro Park representatives told Concrete Playground. For those who have yet to experience Gastro Park, there's still time to dig into their seven- or ten-course tasting menu ($140–$170 per person) and, our personal favourite a la carte item, the liquid butternut gnocchi mushroom consommé ($30). We sincerely hope this delectable dish is resurrected in King's new venue. While the team is keeping details of the new venture close-to-chest for the time being, we've been promised further details in the coming weeks. It will surely be a distinct departure from Gastro Parks, but we've got our fingers crossed that the new digs and venue-mantra will leave room for a new wave of Game of Thrones dinners. But seriously, we'll take that gnocchi any day. Gastro Park will close May 20 at 5-9 Roslyn Street, Potts Point.
Just days after the ol' crumbling sign sold for over a cheeky $100K raising money for Wayside Chapel on eBay, the iconic, restored Kings Cross Coca-Cola sign has switched the lights back on. Snapped by dinky di Sydney local Bridie Connellan (yeah, we're related), the sign was switched on this evening in full tacky blue, purple and yellow glory. Just look at it: IT'S BACK. #sydney #concreteplayground 🎥: @bridieconnellan A video posted by Concrete Playground Sydney (@concreteplayground) on Sep 15, 2016 at 1:37am PDT Funny time to turn on the very shining beacon of the ol' Kings Cross days, but there you have it.
Maybe you're in the midst of a Splendour comedown and need some more shindiggery in your life to distract you from life's responsibilities, or maybe you didn't make it to Splendour and are running low on party vibes. Either way UNDR Ctrl has you covered. The Sydney label is throwing a huge second birthday party this Saturday, July 30 at Oxford Art Factory, featuring Roland Tings (DJ set), Just A Gent, Rainbow Chan, Third Floor, Motorik Vibe Council, Purple Sneaker DJs, Adi Toohey plus heaps more. Proceeds from the night will go to OXJAM, which raises money for Oxfam Australia's fight against poverty — and nothing's better than partying for a good cause. Last year's birthday party sold out, so you'd better be quick if you want tickets. The dress code is 'all white', so bust out the bleach and get cracking on your getup.
Another beloved Australian music festival is sitting 2025 out, with the Listen Out team revealing that the event won't be on the calendar this year. In 2024, when Groovin the Moo announced its dates then cancelled, and Splendour in the Grass sadly did the same, this electronic-meets-hip hop fest still toured the country. Now, though, it's "hitting pause on Listen Out as you know it", organisers announced via social media. "We've always tried to build something special — where the lineup reflects the culture and the energy flows both ways between the artists and you," the statement advises. "The last few years have been tough." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Listen Out (@listenout) Although Listen Out isn't going ahead in 2025 in its usual format, the crew is putting on a series of shindigs badged Listen Out Presents, however. Music lovers can expect "one-off, carefully curated parties in killer locations around Australia all year long" featuring "some of the best artists in the world", the festival team announced. No further details have been revealed so far. Skipping the big fest setup for a smaller affair yet still boasting impressive names was Spilt Milk's approach in 2024 — when it ditched its usual festivals but had Troye Sivan, Glass Animals and G Flip take to the stage Newcastle, Perth and on the Gold Coast. The fellow fest is returning in its full form in 2025, headlined by Kendrick Lamar. That said, Listen Out's cancellation this year in favour of parties comes after both Groovin the Moo and Splendour in the Grass failed to make 2025 comebacks following their year off. [caption id="attachment_957230" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Samm Venn[/caption] In 2024, Listen Out did the rounds for its 11th year with a lineup featuring 21 Savage, Skepta, Tyla and Flo Milli among its hip hop and R&B names, plus John Summit and Sub Focus on the electronic side. The year prior, in 2023, the fest held its most-successful event at the time in terms of ticket sales ever, with the crew behind it hoping to continue that trajectory by turning the fest into a 16-plus event, age-wise, which was a first for 2024. [caption id="attachment_957228" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Warr[/caption] [caption id="attachment_957224" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mitch Lowe[/caption] [caption id="attachment_957218" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jordan Munns[/caption] [caption id="attachment_957221" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sam Venn[/caption] Listen Out is not taking place in 2025, with Listen Out Presents parties set to pop up instead — we'll update you when more details are announced, and keep an eye on the festival's social media in the interim.
Vivid Sydney is really cranking it up this year. Announcing a kaleidoscopic festival program of light, music and ideas this morning, Vivid's 2016 plans will have you squealing over social and locking in dates — lights are on at 6pm May 27 through to June 18. Vivid Ideas is of course, back for the brainiacs among you — and this year it's bloody huge. Vivid Ideas curator Jess Scully revealed the mega lineup this morning, including House of Cards creator Beau Willimon and legendary US filmmaker Spike Jonze at the top of the bill. They'll be part of the popular 'Gamechangers' series, alongside Orange Is The New Black writer Jenji Kohan and creative wunderkind Margaret Zhang. Vivid LIVE is back again with one humdinger of a lineup, revealed by curator Ben Marshall. Ready? There'll be 15 Sydney-only performances, including legendary outfit New Order, heartbreak king Bon Iver, chameleonic gem Anohni, alongside Ezperanza Spalding, Polica, Max Richter, Haitus Kaiyote with Sampa the Great (!), Tiny Ruins, Deafheaven, Oneohtrix Point Never, Future Classic nights and more to be revealed. Vivid Music will expand again, with curator Stephen Ferris behind the wheel. In one heck of a slam dunk, Carriageworks will see a contemporary program in which none other than Bjork (BJORK!) launches a huge virtual reality project dubbed BJORK DIGITAL — a collaboration with some of the world's best filmmakers and programmers. To celebrate the opening, Bjork herself will travel to Sydney to curate a one-off music event at Carriageworks, where she'll DJ with special guests. Obviously, the lights are the bigwig here, the event millions of visitors descend upon Sydney for. Sydney Opera House will feature Australian Indigenous art with new and iconic contemporary works from Karla Dickens, Djon Mundine, Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi, Reko Rennie, Donny Woolagoodja, and the late Gulumbu Yunupingu. The Light Walk will return, with Sydney's building facades lighting up with spectacular artistry. The eastern side of the Harbour Bridge will be lit up for the first time and Taronga Zoo will play host to an illuminated animal trail, celebrating its 100th birthday. The Chatswood precinct will light up with WildLight, inspired by the animals of Gondwana, and Martin Place will see the technical debut from NIDA in Martin Place called Fountain, a giant installation of human birth rate data as 'water jets'. There's plenty more where that came from, check the Vivid Sydney website for more details.
If you didn't already get goosebumps walking past Paddington's mysterious Reservoir Gardens at night, you sure will now. The rejuvenated public park has been bathed in a light installation that makes it look like it's full of water, complete with a single swimmer. This is Top5Feet, an intervention of light, glass, sound and projection that playfully nods to the history of the Paddington Reservoir. For local residents, the Paddington Reservoir Gardens are a serene pocket of green sunk beneath busy Oxford Street, but there once was a time when the eponymous reservoir served as a water source for a growing Sydney. Unfortunately, the reservoir's use was limited by a design flaw that meant only the top five feet of catchment could run to nearby properties. It's this quirk that gave inspiration to Australian artist and architect Dale Jones-Evans, who collaborated with Axolotl Art Projects in the creation of Top5Feet. “The artwork references the reservoir’s original purpose and emphasises its shortcomings," says Jones-Evans, “reflective lighting from the lower floor will create an illusion that the reservoir is full of water, while lighting of the upper arches will help create a beautiful, ethereal atmosphere." Visitors to the Gardens will share this space with a ghostly, lone swimmer who laps continuously from one end of the pool to the other. Art & About is famous for its springtime art installations across Sydney. This is the first time the festival is presenting artworks outside of its traditional schedule, aiming to reach and delight a wider audience throughout the year. Top5Feet is free to visit and will start each day at dusk until May 24.
Staying on a private island seems like something reserved for Beyonce, Jay Z and Blue somewhere in the Caribbean (and most definitely with some kind of a yacht). Because where do mere mortals even access entire islands, anyway? And do you have to be a millionaire to access one? These are all questions people who haven't had the pleasure of erasing all unwanted human contact from their lives for a period of time ask. All we know is that, in the words of Liz Lemon, we want to go to there. Enter Satellite Island. Just off the coast of Tasmania, the small 30-hectare piece of land in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel is every bit the idyllic alpine Tasmanian dream getaway you could hope for. And when you visit, it's totally, 100% only inhabited by you. The island has been owned by the Alstergren family for a few generations, but when Will and Kate inherited it six years ago, they decided to open it to the public for the first time. Which is great news for everyone else, because it's crazy beautiful. Sea cliffs drop down into that clear, fresh Tassie water, blue gums cover the landscape and you can see across to Bruny Island. Just take a look at where you could be sleeping. The island is yours to explore, with walking tracks, kayaks and fishing rods available for use. You can walk around the island in an hour and a half, so do that. Plus, Bruny Island is only a five minute boat ride away, so duck over there for all your cheese, wine and oyster supplies and come back and eat them on the deck as the sun goes down. Oof. Satellite Island is accessible from the Satellite Island private jetty at Middleton, about a 40 minute drive from Hobart. The manager will meet you to take you to the island. For more information, visit their website. Images thanks to Elise Hassey.
A pop-up by the name of Mazi Mas is bringing a whole lot of goodness to Sydney — in two important ways. Firstly, it’s providing female migrants, refugees and asylum seekers with training and employment. Secondly, it’s bringing you fun, tasty dinners, in cafes that you’d usually find closed after dark. A not-for-profit project, Mazi Mas kicked off in London in 2012, thanks to founder and CEO Nikandre Kopcke. While studying for a Masters of Gender at the London School of Economics, she met an Aussie by the name of Maggie Lloyd, who decided to bring the project to Sydney. “In both the developed and developing world, women do the lion’s share of care work, cooking and cleaning and looking after children,” Lloyd told Mamamia. “This is a way of celebrating that work, and rewarding it with fair wages … Its main aims are around celebrating the skills the [participants] already had, but there’s also the practical element of finding ongoing work in a new country and having formal and local qualifications.” This year’s events have included spring dinners at Ultimo’s Lush Bucket Café, autumn dinners at Potts Point’s Café Dov and Fijian feasts at Darlinghurst’s The Rusty Rabbit. And once a dinner's all done? Mazi Mas has teamed up with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre to help participants find jobs. And, so far, more than 50 percent of them have landed work in hospitality. Keep an eye on what's next for Mazi Mas and where they'll be setting up shop via Facebook. Images: Mazi Mas/Facebook.
We're pretty lucky on the east coast of Australia because the big vacay destinations are only a few hours away by plane. But Australia is a lot bigger than just the eastern seaboard. While the west side of Australia is so far-flung it's practically an international flight to get there, Perth has a vibrant bar and foodie scene that could rival any eastern capital. Still need some convincing to book that four-hour-plus Jetstar flight? In partnership with the Hahn Brewers, we've put together a list of ten very persuasive reasons why you should visit Perth. Spoiler alert: they're all bars. You're welcome. HULA BULA BAR If anyone claims they wouldn't love to sip on a drink while surrounded by kitschy jungle paraphernalia, they are lying. In Perth, you can have that experience at Hula Bula Bar while working your way through their entire menu. But remember, the jungle vibes are for show only – don't think you can get away with rocking shorts and thongs. 12 Victoria Avenue, Perth. GREENHOUSE For a genuinely unique west coast experience, head straight to Greenhouse. The restaurant-bar hybrid is encased in a façade of greenery courtesy of Melburnian Joost Bakker and his sustainable approach to hospitality. The green rectangle (nestled in amongst sterile corporate blocks) offers a quiet place for a beer, and has an extensive menu made with ingredients from their rooftop garden. 100 St Georges Terrace, Perth. EZRA POUND If you're after a lush courtyard and chill atmosphere where you can grab a drink, Ezra Pound is your new stomping ground. The sweet little bar on Williams Street in Northbridge serves up classic bar snacks (courtesy of No Mafia, an Italian eatery next door — expect a lot of quality olives and cheese) and has a Saturday night happy hour. What more does anyone need in life? Williams Lane, 189 Williams Street, Northbridge. CHOO CHOO'S Choo Choo's on St Georges Terrace is the kind of place where letting your hair down is mandatory. Seriously, it's pretty chill so leave your suit and tie at home and be yourself. The menu is extensive and changed on the reg, so head to Choo Choo's with no preconceived notions beyond max chillaxing. Industrial fittings, hip murals and a small, clicky (in a good way) bar crew will make you wish this was your regular. 125 St Georges Terrace, Perth. [caption id="attachment_589771" align="alignnone" width="1280"] @breaking_bias via Instagram[/caption] BOBÈCHE If your tastes run to the dramatic, check out Bobèche on St Georges Terrace. The dark, moody basement is named after a performing street clown from the '20s who would distract the crowd and sneak kisses from the gathered ladies. Modern day Bobèche has his own charms – beer, teapot cocktails, complimentary popcorn and an indulgent bar menu. We recommend the pulled venison croquettes with wild citrus. Basement 131 St Georges Terrace, Perth. WOLF LANE Wolf Lane is considered one of Perth's most popular small bars. The interior decorations alone are worth a trip. The industrial space has been decked out with mismatched velvet lounge chairs, leather ottomans and Persian rugs with trippy vintage suitcases on the ceiling and fairytale murals throughout. It's a real Alice in Wonderland atmosphere. Once you've settled in, grab a beer and build your own gourmet cheese board from the cheese, cured meats and dips available. Rear 321 Murray Street, Perth. MECHANICS' INSTITUTE Mechanics' Institute in Northbridge is a great all-rounder bar, perfect for a big night out on the weekend, after work drinks or a burger the next day for lunch. They've got the look nailed, with a slick industrial shine throughout the whole bar and (the pièce de résistance) a sweet, sprawling rooftop bar. Rear 222 William Street, Northbridge. LOT TWENTY Lot Twenty appreciate the good things in life — and they serve them in bulk. By good things, we mean oysters, doughnuts, booze, cheese, coffee and a large outdoor terrace. The menu at Lot 20 is amazing; after chowing down on roasted mushrooms served with pistachio puree, slow-cooked egg, truffle oil or house-cured coffee and maple bacon with cornbread, you'll never be able to go back to a standard cheeseburger (and nor should you). 198-206 William Street, Perth. ENRIQUE'S SCHOOL FOR TO BULLFIGHTING If you're in Highgate, Enrique's is perfect spot to drop by for a beverage and a bite. The warm and inviting restaurant bar serves up authentic Spanish cuisine, served up in the share style (tapas for a little, raciones for a lot) and always attracts a great weekend crowd. They have a damn fine happy hour every day from 5-6pm. 484 Beaufort Street, Highgate. PETITION BEER CORNER Petition is a beer corner, wine bar and kitchen all in one. So no matter what drink you're into, there's something here for you. We recommend you head to the beer corner and get the bartenders to pick you some for a tasting. The taps are constantly rotating (there's 18 of them), and they serve international beer as well as local suppliers alongside tasty bar snacks. Sign up to Hahn Brewers and use your weekend to take a trip to Perth.
Big news for Sydney's bar and restaurant industry, Dixon Hospitality has purchased six Sydney venues previously owned by Keystone Hospitality Group, after the latter company went into receivership earlier this year. Dixon will take over immediate operational management of Bungalow 8, Cargo Bar, Manly Wine, The Rook, The Winery and Kingsley's Woolloomooloo. The purchase sees the Melbourne-based hospitality group increase its total number of holdings to 43 across Victoria and New South Wales. Dixon's other Sydney venues include Queenies, Forresters, The Norfolk and The Oxford Tavern — Drink N Dine was bought by Dixon in January 2016. They're also planning to open a 1000 square-metre restaurant and bar at Barangaroo. "Growth is critically important to us, particularly as we are considering an IPO at some point next year," Dixon CEO Bruce Dixon told Business Insider. "This acquisition of the six Keystone venues will give us some good presence in Sydney and will complement our Barangaroo venues, which are currently under construction." Negotiations for the remaining Keystone venues, including Chophouse Sydney, Gazebo and Sugarmill Hotel as well as the six restaurant strong Jamie's Italian franchise, are currently ongoing.
From naturally-occurring wonders to marvels of architecture and design, this great nation of ours has no shortage of photo-friendly locations. Year after year, tourists and locals alike flock to Australia's most famous destinations, looking to capture that picture-perfect shot. Now, with just a few weeks left in the year, Traveller have revealed a list of the most snapped places in Australia. And while none of the locations are particularly surprising, they do serve as a reminder of just how goddamn crazy beautiful this country is. 5. MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND (MCG) A photo posted by artinayar (@artinayar) on Aug 16, 2015 at 1:03am PDT The most iconic sporting ground in Australia, when you consider how many people are regularly packed into the MCG throughout the year, its inclusion on the list makes a lot of sense. That said, we can't help but wonder if it would have appeared even higher if Instagram had waited until after the Boxing Day Test to release their rankings. 4. BONDI BEACH A photo posted by Adam Bull (@bulladam) on Dec 3, 2015 at 3:12pm PST Synonymous with Australian beach culture, Bondi offers Instagrammers the perfect opportunity to casually show off their tans against a backdrop of crystal waters and sandy shores. With an oceanside cinema, food pop-ups and a brand new dining precinct on the way, we don't expect to see Bondi drop off this list anytime soon. 3. SURFERS PARADISE BEACH A photo posted by Sharon Lewin | Australia (@thenomadictraveller) on Dec 1, 2015 at 12:52pm PST Pipping their NSW rivals to the proverbial post, Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast beat out Bondi as Australia's most Instagrammed beach. And with photos like these, it's rather hard to argue. Paradise indeed. 2. DARLING HARBOUR, SYDNEY A photo posted by Nimesh Yadav (@nimeshnimze) on Dec 3, 2015 at 5:37pm PST A bustling harbourside hub smack bang in the centre of Sydney, Darling Harbour has long been one of the city's biggest tourist destinations – and that was before they opened up their giant new urban playground. Just make sure you don't get your eye taken out by an errant selfie-stick. 1. SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE A photo posted by Tom Rex Jessett | Australia (@trex.photography) on Dec 1, 2015 at 1:01pm PST What a shocker! To the surprise of absolutely no one, the top spot on the most Instagrammed list goes to the most famous landmark in the country. From the dazzling displays seen during Vivid Sydney to the sobering site of the sails lit up in the colours of the French flag, the Sydney Opera House remains the number one place in Australia that inspires visitors to whip out their camera phones. And frankly, it's hard to imagine that changing any time soon. Via Traveller. Top image: Alan Lam via Flickr
The Negroni: traditionally equal parts Campari, sweet vermouth and gin. Around 100 years old, this bittersweet, boozy dark horse of a drink has rampaged back onto drinks menus worldwide over the last decade. It may be a cocktail of acquired taste, but it's been acquired by the masses, securing its place as a facet of any good cocktail list. This beloved beverage even has a whole week dedicated to it, celebrated in Negroni-loving cocktail bars around the globe each year since 2011. But where did this conspicuous drink pop up from? We've been asking ourselves that exact question. In honour of Negroni Week 2016, we've hit the books to put together a brief history on where the drink came from and how trends have brought it back into the spotlight. This is the boozy version of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time for all you imbibers out there. [caption id="attachment_573530" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] STATE OF ORIGIN Like many cocktail histories, this one is filled with myths and legends — always a fun start. A few books have even been published on the topic, including British bartender Gary Regan's The Negroni: Drinking to La Dolce Vita and Italian bartender Luca Picchi's Sulle Tracce del Conte: La Vera Storia del Cocktail Negroni. They've each traced the drink back to Florence in 1919, at a neat little place called Bar Casoni — the site still exists, but now houses the Caffè Giacosa pastry shop. According to dependable folklore of the day, the cocktail was born when one Count Camillo Negroni demanded a much stronger version of the Americano — an easy drinking cocktail of Campari, sweet vermouth, and club soda. There is evidence that the Count had recently spent some years abroad in the US, with some saying he was a bit of a rodeo clown, while others document his profession as a cowboy in the Wild West. Either way, he was reported to be a BAMF. Regan's book does admit some grey area, though, and this story isn't agreed upon exclusively. An individual named Noel Negroni disputes the above version, claiming that his relative, General Pascal Olivier Count de Negroni, is actually the man who came up with the recipe. Whatever the case, we like the idea of any Count being involved in the creation of a classic. FROM BLACK HOLE OBSCURITY TO A COCKTAIL FOR THE CLASSY So how did such a hard man's drink become a classy night time affair? Even as recently as the '90s, the Negroni had remained a quiet backgrounder that was only ordered by the very few in the know. While the exact moment that the drink went from obscurity to a cocktail list staple is unknown, there are a few contributing factors. The slow rise in worldwide Negroni interest has been suggested by many, including Conde Naste Traveller, as partly due to the resurgence in the popularity of gin and bitters around the globe. Even on a local scale, small-batch producers of gin (Distillery Botanica, Archie Rose, Poor Toms, Four Pillars, Young Henry's Noble Cut Gin among them), have helped the recent gin obsession in Australia, which ran hand-in-hand with the trend toward 'keeping it local'. On the bitters side, Angostura started this push, Australian Bitters joined the party, and many bars now make their own. With two-thirds of the cocktail's ingredients riding a popularity wave worldwide, the next step — a full-fledged menu invasion by Negroni — was a simple one. When the 'new age' Negroni was reintroduced to world by Campari in 2011, patrons were used to seeing gin and bitters in their drinks and their taste buds were more than ready for it. [caption id="attachment_573513" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Heartbreaker, Melbourne.[/caption] THE BIG BANG OF NEGRONIS The rise of the Negroni took place nearly a century after the drink was christened. Italian liquor company Campari pulled the pieces of the puzzle together in 2011, declaring it 'The Year of the Negroni' and widely distributing the recipe. Their celebration included the creation of the world's largest Negroni at the annual Tales of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans. The year-long focus rooted the drink in the minds of bartenders and, subsequently, drinkers everywhere. While the inaugural Negroni Week included only 100 Stateside bars, the 2015 Negroni Week expanded to 3500 venues across 42 countries — including Australia. The drink itself has evolved in the last few years — from barrel aged and Negroni on tap to entire bars dedicated to the stuff, but the photogenic cocktail doesn't seem to be fading from menus anytime soon. From Italy to Australia, bartenders are coming up with new and better ways to serve you this classic. You can get a salted caramel and coffee Negroni, a Negroni made with juniper or burnt orange, and even a "cheeky" Negroni that uses an Aperol and Lillet Blanc reinvention. We'll leave you with this apropos statement by Orson Wells about Negronis, as quoted in the The Coshocton Tribune, which we think best sums up the drink: "The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other." We'll cheers to that. Negroni Week 2016 runs from June 6 – 12. Check out our list of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane's best Negronis to get you ready for a week's worth of goodness. Via Conde Naste Traveller and Town&Country.
The October long weekend is nigh upon us, and you've probably already begun daydreaming of plans to leave Sydney. Now's the time to ditch that idea. We've partnered with Mastercard to help you make the most of your long weekend, here's a handful of reasons why Sydney's the place to stay. THERE ARE SO MANY NEW RESTAURANTS TO TRY Hubert, Kittyhawk, Mercado, Hacienda – they're just four of the many incredible restaurants and bars that have popped up in the CBD this year. Take advantage of the slightly less busy CBD and use your four day weekend to tick off the restaurants you've had your eye on for a while. IT'S THE PERFECT AMOUNT OF TIME FOR A ROAD TRIP How long have you been putting off visiting the Kiama blowhole? This gift from mother nature is great, but it's not the best thing about driving 90 minutes south of Sydney. Kiama is backdropped by green, rolling hills, and it has good coffee, good food (particularly good burgers), and good accomodation. Fill up the tank, follow our itinerary, and hit the road. YOU CAN GO ON A PROPER BIKE RIDE The Prospect Reservoir and Orphan School Creek track is 29km, and an entirely off-road loop that soars through several high points and offers cracking views of Greater Western Sydney. There are Instagram opportunities aplenty. If you're there on Saturday, pause at Prairiewood and visit the 600 stalls that make up Fairfield Markets. GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR A STAYCATION Be a tourist in your own city for the weekend. Book a room at one of Sydney's lovely, luxury hotels (we're looking at you, Shangri-La) and explore the city from a prime location. Or, put on a hotel robe, head down to the hotel spa for some spa treatments, then go back to your room and order some room service. Spending the night sleeping in crisp hotel sheets, and returning to your room the next morning to find your bed made can sometimes feel like a holiday in itself. YOU CAN GO BEHIND THE SCENES AT ROCKPOOL If you prefer to eliminate the possibility of surprise wallabies from your fine dining experience, Mr. Perry's Rockpool Bar and Grill is running pre-dinner tours through its wine cellar, giving connoisseurs of plonk the chance to revel in one of the most varied and impressive wine collections in the country. There's no tasting included, but don't worry, you can do that at the table. Visit priceless.com to see a Sydney long weekend itinerary from @beesbeesxthree, and more priceless experiences in Sydney exclusive to Mastercard cardholders. Words: Matthew Abotomey, Jasmine Crittenden and Kelly Pigram. Top Image: Hacienda
This is a biggie. Casula Powerhouse will be celebrating 21 years with an all-star group show and a killer birthday bash to boot. Harking back to 1994, their year of birth, the festivities held on Saturday, October 17, will be a combination of ‘90s dance party, bush doof, and television variety show. The night will feature special events such as Stephen Mushin’s popular Colourpult, which will fire ‘colour bombs’ into the walls of the museum as a non-polluting reimagining of its former life as a Coal Power Station. There will also be children’s workshops, roaming karaoke sessions and an 'edible dessert landscape', whatever that means. The exhibition will pay tribute to a host of emerging and established Australian artists, all of whom have contributed to the cultural development of Casula Powerhouse in some capacity. 21 will feature work from Gordon Bennett, Vivienne Binns, Daniel Boyd, David Capra, Rosie Deacon, Christine Dean, Mikala Dwyer, Fiona Foley, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, Deborah Kelly, Angelica Mesiti and many more. Image: Fiona Foley, HHH #1 (2014)
UPDATE: JUNE 22, 2020 — Sephora has extended its sale for five days. It'll now end on Sunday, June 28. Sephora, aka the French-based perfume and cosmetics chain that has won fans the world over, has been opening stores around Australia for the last few years. And whether you're keen to head into your closest shop, or you're quite happy browsing and buying beauty products online, it's currently hosting a huge sale with prices up to 50 percent off. That's good news for everyone, including your bank balance. If you haven't jumped on the Sephora bandwagon yet, then prepare to nab all those prestige international brands you can't get elsewhere. In-person and virtually, it's a beauty product wonderland, with more than 1500 different lines on offer. The exact discount varies from product to product, but you can expect 30 percent off Fenty matte lipsticks, 50 percent off Marc Jacobs foundation, 30 percent off Tarte lipgloss sets and hefty savings on Sephora's own branded lines, too — just to name a few of the items on sale. If this is the excuse you needed to boost your makeup bag, the sale runs until Sunday, June 28.
There's a good reason that nearly every tour of Europe stops in Dubrovnik — the city is bloody beautiful. Inside the medieval walls of the Old Town, you almost feel as though you're wandering through a movie set (albeit a sweaty one with a lot of stairs). You can (and should) do the main attractions anyone who's been on a eight-day sailing tour of Croatia can tell you to do — walk around the city walls, have a drink on the cliffs outside the city walls at Buza bar I or II, do a Game of Thrones tour — but there's plenty of ways to do Dubrovnik your own way. We've compiled a list of the best ways to spend your time in the seaside Croatian city to make sure your visit is an unforgettable one. If you've been thinking about booking that European holiday, do it now. Swapping your Australian winter for a European summer is a great way to make your 2017 something to look forward to. In partnership with Topdeck, here is the first instalment of our Less Obvious city guides. Episode two: Dubrovnik. DRINK DINGAC AT D'VINO Unlike France or Italy, you never really hear anyone going on about Croatia's wine — but you should. This little country produces some killer drops, most notably on the Pelješac Peninsula, which just about an hour and a half north of Dubrovnik. Ask anyone who knows even the tiniest bit about wine, and they'll tell you to try some Dingač. Repeatedly. Dingač is the wine region, but generally they're talking about the much-lauded red wine variety Plavac Mali. Best place to try some of the stuff is at D'Vino in the Old Town. You can sit on the stairs, order a cheese platter and try the wine with a Dingač tasting paddle. SWIM IN A HUGE CLEAR BLUE LAKE For this one you'll have to take the ferry over to the island of Mjlet, which takes about an hour and a half. We promise it will take to you the most godly, most serene of waters. A huge chunk of Mljet is taken up by a national park, which includes two lakes. Veliko and Malo Jezero (literally meaning Large and Small Lake) both have incredibly clear blue water which you will definitely want to float around in until infinity. To get there, get the ferry to Polače (not Sobra — it's a big island), buy a ticket to enter the national park, grab a map and hike over to the lake. Once you've made it, you'll probably want to jump into the ridiculously blue water ASAP. Then you can wander around the lake, stopping at suitable nooks to rest under shade and take a dip wherever you please. This one is a day trip, as there's only one ferry (the Nona Ana) in the morning, and one in the afternoon. The timetable is here, but you can only buy tickets at the dock, so best to get there at least half an hour before the ferry departs to do so. SHOOT HOOPS WITH A VIEW OF THE OLD CITY Why pay to walk the city walls when you can shoot hoops from practically the same vantage point? Anyone can wander into this rooftop court — although it's oddly shaped and not at all a regulation-sized basketball court, so you won't be able to hold official competitions. There is, however, a sorta hidden entrance to the Gornji Ugao Tower, a restored medieval fort inside the city walls from the 15th century. EAT CROATIAN BARBECUE ON A ROOFTOP TERRACE If this place existed in Australia, it would get mad hype. It's not trendy by any means, but it's got all the makings of an inner city success: a rooftop, a barbecue and wine by the carafe. They cook basically everything on the charcoal grill here, which (happily for your nose) is located on the open air rooftop terrace overlooking the city you will be dining in. You can't go wrong with seafood, but it's worth trying their ćevapi, which is a minced meat morsel not unlike kofta. There's some epic queues at dinnertime, so it's best to get there really early or really late. Also, the best bit: it's called Lady Pi-Pi because there's a sculpture of a boss lady peeing out the front. See above. [caption id="attachment_590356" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: Peter Northall.[/caption] LEARN SOME VITAL LOCAL HISTORY AT THE WAR PHOTO MUSUEM Your lack of knowledge about Yugoslav history will probably never be more apparent than when you visit Dubrovnik. The city still lives with a vivid memory of the Yugoslav People's Army's two-month siege on the city — it only happened in 1991. The best place to get a sense of what happened is to visit War Photo Limited. Their permanent collection includes images of Dubrovnik under siege as well as iconic work from photojournalists covering the breakdown of Yugoslavia and the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. EAT A BREAKFAST BUREK ON THE ROCKS Look, not all burek were created equal — but pretty much all were created insanely delicious and that's all we need to know. Basically every second person is walking around Dubrovnik eating a burek out of a paper bag, and you should definitely be one of them. Best is the breakfast burek (which is only differentiated from lunch and dinner burek by time of day, not contents) because you get to eat cheese encased in pastry and it's a legitimate breakfast. Buy one (or two) from literally anywhere and walk it out of Ploče Gate and down some stone stairs to eat it on the rocks as the sun comes up. TAKE A DIP AT DANCE While our idea of a beach is one with sand, Croatians apply the definition to basically any bit of coastline you can hop into the water from. Dubrovnik's 'beaches' therefore aren't necessarily known as being amazing, but when the temperature rises and the Old Town becomes a hot, sweaty mess, you'll definitely want to find one. Avoid Banje Beach (it's overcrowded and run by a beach club meaning you have to pay for a chair), and head out of Pile gate to fine Danče beach. It's quiet, traversed mostly by locals and has rocks and slabs of concrete so you can lie down and soak up the Croatian sun. Visit Europe (including Dubrovnik) with a Topdeck trip and make 2017 a year to remember. Book early (that means now) and save up to $999. Top Image: Juan Carlos De Martin via Flickr.
Hating on everything in your seasonally inept wardrobe? Feeling like dropping a sizeable chunk of your pay cheque on some new threads? You're in luck. Incu are set to host a warehouse sale at Paddington Town Hall from Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28. Best bit? The reductions are going up to 80 percent. Yep. EGADS. There'll be grabworthy stock from a heap of brands — including A.P.C. , Acne Studios , Isabel Marant Kenzo, Stone Island, GANNI, bassike, Common Projects, Mansur Gavriel, Alexander Wang, Matteau, Wood Wood, Nike, Maison Kitsune, Rag & Bone, Saturdays NYC, Cecile Copenhagen, Adidas, Y3 and more. Phew. Cash, EFTPOS and credit cards will be accepted, so maybe skip a few coffees this week. You can head along on Friday and Saturday from 9am–5pm, and on Sunday from 9am–2pm. Image: Incu.
This article is sponsored by our partners, Sydney Festival. Image: PUNCTURE. Ever since Grease, there’s been no doubt that summer lovin’ is the best kind of lovin’ there is. But imagine if Sandy and Danny had had Sydney Festival to spice up the action. Whether you’re on a first, nail-biting, triple-checking-my-outfit, to-hell-with-it-buying-a-whole-new-outfit kind of date, or the latest of many joint adventures, SydFest has some hot date opportunities on the boil. GET WICKED WITH LIMBO The fire-swallowing, though on the scorching side, is definitely not the hottest part of this act. The international LIMBO crew, who sold out their 2014 Sydney Festival season, return with their wild, sexy, wicked take on all-things circus. Expect scary stunts, extreme acrobatics, next-level magic tricks and anatomy-defying contortion that you really shouldn’t try at home (regardless of how potent this date idea might prove), performed to a live score. Composer Sxip Shirey has described his tracking as “a New York brass band marching through New Orleans on its way to an all-night party in Berlin.” So there's that. January 7-25 at The Aurora Spiegeltent, Festival Village, Hyde Park North. Tickets $62-$79. HAVE A DREAMY PICNIC UNDER THE STARS FOR SYMPHONY IN THE DOMAIN To recover from LIMBO, how about a picnic, soundtracked live by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra? It doesn’t get much more romantic, even, curiously, in the company of 100,000 people. Plus, it’s free, so you can seriously impress your date even if you’re not cashed up. (If you are, there’s always the option of going top-shelf on the champagne.) This year’s program takes on a distinctively Australian tone, with the appearance of ARIA Award-winning composer and didgeridoo-player William Barton, who’ll be joining the SSO for his own piece Birdsong at Dusk and the late Peter Sculthorpe’s Beethoven Variations. Between the music, Anita Heiss will be reading poetry and prose. January 18 in The Domain. Free. PUT ON YOUR DANCING SHOES FOR ATOMIC BOMB! THE MUSIC OF WILLIAM ONYEABOR Show your date you have the moves at what’s shaping up to be the festival’s biggest dance off. The fact that it’s all about William Onyeabor will add an air of mystique. Between 1975 and 1985, the synth hero, who hails from Nigeria, made eight Afro-funk, space-age albums. Then, he not only gave up music but also refused to utter a word about it, ever. Keeping his epic jams and super-grooves alive at Sydney Festival will be a mega, 18-strong, international band, led by Sinkane, Money Mark, Luke Jenner (The Rapture), Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) and Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem), with special guests in the form of Gotye and the Mahotella Queens. January 16-17 at Enmore Theatre. Tickets $85/77. TAKE A WALK INTO ANOTHER TIME WITH DISCO DOME There’s nothing like a bit of time travel to get the chemistry bubbling. With Disco Dome, you and your hopeful friend/confirmed partner get to traverse decades arm in arm, with plenty to see, do and talk about along the way. This part walking tour, part live art, part dance event takes you on a journey through Parramatta as it was back in the '80s. While sipping on cocktails, shaking your booty and exploring back streets, you’ll be surprised with sudden performances and digital/sonic installations. Pack your finest mirror ball earrings. 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24 January at ICE (Information and Cultural Exchange), Parramatta. Tickets $89. REMEMBER WHAT FALLING IN LOVE FEELS LIKE AT KISS AND CRY This one won’t just provide a backdrop to your canoodling; it embraces a hands-on approach to matters of love, involving, well, two hands. And two hands only. In a stage show performed in a teeny-tiny set — and combining poetic ballet, puppetry and live film — an old woman looks back on the romantic encounters that shaped her life. It is presented at Sydney Festival by Belgium's Charleroi Danses and draws on the talents of choreographer Michele Anne De Mey (a founding member of Rosas dance company) and filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael, director of 2009 sci-fi film Mr Nobody. 22-25 January at Carriageworks. Tickets $59-75. LET SEU JORGE PULL AT YOUR HEARTSTRINGS Woo your amor in Portuguese by taking him/her along to see Seu Jorge live. His impossibly tender voice has transported him from homelessness in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to international musical success. So imagine what it might do for your romantic aspirations. If you’re a fan of The Life Aquatic, you probably know Jorge's mellifluous tones well. His David Bowie covers provided the soundtrack. And even Bowie was floored, discovering, he said, a "new level of beauty" in his songs after hearing Jorge’s take on them. He’ll be playing an array of his unique interpretations, as well as a bunch of originals, accompanied by a delicious mix of live and electronic Latin and Caribbean beats. January 10 in The Domain (free) and January 11 at The Star Event Centre. Tickets $45-89. The Sydney Festival is on from January 8-26. For the full program see festival website.
Picture this: a cosy, wooden structure somewhere remote, away from the hustle and bustle — and far, far away from mobile phone coverage — of your everyday life, perhaps with a fireplace and/or some kind of heated outdoor bathing fixture. You know the kind of place we're talking about. In fact, you're fantasising about it right now, aren't you? Take a coffee break and take a scroll through some of the world's most dreamy winter cabins that you can actually stay in. We've teamed up with NESCAFÉ to help you take the desk break you, as a hardworking human being, deserve. So start planning your worldwide cold weather escape — we promise none of them were featured in a Joss Whedon-written, Chris Hemsworth-starring horror movie. [caption id="attachment_580297" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Justin Muir[/caption] FOSSICKERS HUT, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND Want to go off the grid? Well you've found your place. Fossickers Cottage is located just an hour from Nelson in NZ's Marlborough region, but it feels at least nine hours away from any kind of civilisation. The stunning early settler-style hut is the perfect perch in the middle of the bush right next to the amazingly clear water of the Wakamarina River. Along with a cosy kitchen room and bedroom (with a loft up top for a few extra mates), there's also a fire-heated outdoor bath. It doesn't get much better than that. LAKE O'HARA LODGE, CANADIAN ROCKIES, CANADA If you're looking for an old-school cabin that really does feel like it's in a movie (but sans scares), then Lake O'Hara Lodge is the place to be. This is the type of cabin that Parks and Recreation's Ron Swanson would be proud of — well, aside from the fact that it's in the Canadian Rockies. Constructed in 1926, it's the perfect spot for skiing in winter, hiking in summer, and enjoying the serenity of British Columbia's Yoho National Park all year round. Their one-bedroom lakeshore cabins are of the 'no muss, no fuss' variety, boasting little more than a queen bed for sleeping, a day bed for relaxing, and a deck for looking out at the world. It's just what you need after a long day revelling in the splendour of the site's surroundings. UFOGEL, NUSSDORF, AUSTRIA Whichever way you look at it, there's nowhere quite like Austria's unique Ufogel cabin. You can take that literally, given the mountain hideaway's inimitable design, or you can see it as a statement on the once-in-a-lifetime experience you're bound to have in the one-of-a-kind structure in the village of Nussdorf. Inside, expect wood as far as the eye can see; the entire compact building is completely made of it. Bring a few mates — the place can sleep up to five — and don't waste your time wondering about the name. It's a blend of UFO and vogel, the German term for bird, as inspired by the structure's distinctive appearance. CHALET JEJALP, MORZINE, FRANCE Who hasn't fantasised about a snowy sojourn holed up in a chalet? If you like wintry sports, it's the ideal break: you'd hit the slopes when the sun is shining, and then enjoy the facilities inside looking out over the frosty valley of an evening. Chalet Jejalp is the exact place you want to get snowed in; the house includes a double-height glass wine cellar, bar, pool table, gym, sunken jacuzzi, sauna, cinema room, and on-site chef and chauffeur. Yep, this is the kind of place you need to win the lotto to stay in — but you know it'd be totally worth it. MOONBAH HUT, NEAR JINDABYNE, AUSTRALIA If you stay local, prepare to do some driving to get your Aussie cabin fix. But if you're willing to commit, the rewards really are stunning. Moonbah Hut is located on private frontage on the Moonbah River, the Snowy Mountains' cleanest, most unspoilt home for trout. Give your fishing muscle a flex from your front doorstep, while keeping an eye out for wildlife, from wombats to deer to brumbies. Or bunker down inside, with a huge, stone open fireplace for company. Previous guests have taken the experience next level and invited personal chefs along for an evening. Spanish chef Miguel Maestre is among those to have done the honours. LION SANDS GAME RESERVE, SABI SANDS, SOUTH AFRICA Cabins come in all shapes, sizes and heights — and suited to all climates, too. Your idea of a winter cabin might involve snuggling up by the fire; however if you head to Lion Sands Game Reserve in South Africa, it could involve hanging out in a treehouse, spotting wild animals and gazing at the stars as you nod off to sleep. Constructed out of wood and glass, their Kingston treehouse is designed to welcome visitors all-year-round, so there's no need to worry about any inclement weather. And if that's not enough to tempt you, how about this: it comes complete with a wooden drawbridge. Yes, really. EAGLE BRAE LOG CABINS, SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS, SCOTLAND That ideal image of a wood log cabin you've been dreaming about? Well, that's what you'll find at Eagle Brae. Their seven two-storey open-plan dwellings have been hand-built using massive western redcedar logs sourced from the forests of Canada. And although it's cold, the cabins feature log-burning stoves to keep you warm. Indeed, if there's ever been a place tailor-made for staying indoors and snuggling up, this is it — though there's plenty to see outside, of course. That's where you'll find out just how the Scottish Highlands got their name, spot plenty of wildlife, and maybe even go salmon fishing as well. AZUR LUXURY LODGE, QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND Talk about a room with a view — and a bed and a bath too. If it's a private villa with stunning lake and mountain sights available from every available floor-to-ceiling window that you're after, then Azur Luxury Lodge has you covered. So it's not exactly a 'cabin', but when you're hanging out by the fire with a glass of wine, you're not going to concerned with specifics. Plus, for those who just can't unplug from the outside world completely, the Queenstown resort offers the best of both worlds, with all the mod cons like Wi-Fi in the middle of a gorgeous natural setting. BODRIFTY ROUNDHOUSE, CORNWALL, ENGLAND Centuries ago, in Celtic villages in the Iron Age, chiefs slept in thatched roundhouses. Seeing one is quite a sight, particularly since there's only a handful of replicas littered throughout the world — but spending a night in one? Well, that's something else. At Bodrifty in Cornwall, you can do just that. As well as marvelling at the experimental architecture, you can set up camp inside and stoke the open firebowl as well. And while it might appear as though you're stepping back in time, expect a touch of luxury when it comes to sleeping, as visitors will relish the modern comfort of a four-poster bed. POST RANCH INN, BIG SUR, USA Perched atop the cliffs of Big Sur in California, Post Ranch Inn provides several riffs on the cabin experience. Everyone wants a bit of rustic charm — and you'll get that here in a variety of accommodation types, including circular houses inspired by redwood trees and stand-alone treehouses. Choose from mountain or ocean views, and enjoy a dip in two infinity pools, a spot of fine dining and everything from yoga to nature walks while you're there. Okay, so this one's a modern interpretation of a cabin — but hey, who doesn't want to try that at least once? Words by Sarah Ward with Jasmine Crittenden. Top image: Justin Muir.
It's the news Australian film and television fans have been dreading ever since they signed for a geododging service and a Netflix account. The streaming media behemoth might've taken your cash and looked the other way for years — even when they launched here in 2015 — but now that they're operating in 190 countries around the globe, it seems like they're gearing up to stop users accessing overseas libraries. In a post that appeared on the Netflix blog overnight, Vice President of Content Delivery Architecture David Fullagar advised, "Those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are." Exactly how they'll shut out everyone using VPNs, proxy servers and smart DNS services hasn't been disclosed, though the statement does mention that "technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it." So, if your account is almost permanently logged into the US service, your viewing options could be about to take a bit of hit. While Netflix-produced fare like House of Cards, Master of None, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, BoJack Horseman, Jessica Jones, Making a Murderer and A Very Murray Christmas are available everywhere, the American library currently has almost three times the number of titles than its Australian counterpart. Plus, plenty of content varies between the two; local comedy is quite popular on the Aussie version — or Netflix sure hopes it will be, seeing that their library is packed with it — for example. If you're a bit puzzled by this turn of events, particularly given that Netflix only recently trumpeted their plans to make sure everyone who subscribes to the service can access the same content regardless of the country they're in, that's understandable. They haven't really changed their tune — it's safe to assume that they're working towards that goal, which involves complex rights negotiations in each territory, by first locking down any loopholes that currently allow customers to circumvent geographic restrictions. Of course, just what will eventuate in the long- and short-term is anyone's guess, because Netflix has promised to stamp out geododgers before and then promptly done nothing about it. All Aussie customers can really do for now is watch this space — and maybe start thinking about signing up to Stan or Presto. Via The Sydney Morning Herald.
For the past three and a half months, Sydney's fine dining scene has sported a Quay-shaped hole, as the legendary restaurant temporary closed up shop and underwent some pretty hefty renovations. But as of this Thursday, July 19, the harbourside restaurant is back in action, showing off a complete, head-to-toe transformation — of the design, food menu and drinks, no less. This new incarnation sees Quay embracing a more interactive, individualised dining experience and dishing up plenty of surprises along the way. So what's different? Pretty much everything. Let's take a look inside. THE DESIGN While the dining room has lost 20 seats, the whole space has gained an impressive fitout by acclaimed architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, the team behind the design of some of the Fink Group's other establishments, Bennelong and OTTO Brisbane. The restaurant, now divided into smaller, more intimate dining spaces, has been rejigged to face both the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Referencing Executive Chef Peter Gilmore's nature-driven cooking, the space embraces the organic, with elements including ocean-like blue carpets, tabletops crafted from sustainable solid spotted gum, and stone detailing that conjures images of cracked bark. Above, bespoke timber work complements the existing ceiling by original designer George Freedman. Meanwhile, art-lovers will also find plenty to swoon over, including the inspiration behind Quay's logo, Bronwyn Oliver's Tide, which presides over the entrance. THE TABLEWARE The white tablecloths of yesteryear have been given the boot, in favour of showing off those tabletops — and the custom-built 'Quay Chair', by Australian designer Adam Goodrum, whose design references the pattern on the Opera House shells. As always, the Quay experience extends beyond the food to the design beneath. This time around, Gilmore has worked closely with ceramicists Paul Davies and Jacqueline Clayton (from Red Shed Studio Jam), Malcolm Greenwood and Ben Richardson on a stunning new range of bespoke tableware. Each piece has been carefully designed to best showcase a particular dish — like this stunning 'White Coral' dessert. THE FOOD While the menu is entirely new, it's grounded in Gilmore's passion for showcasing rare and beautiful ingredients. A ten-course tasting menu ($275) best captures the journey, though an abbreviated six-course menu ($210) will be on offer (from August 3) at lunch from Friday to Sunday, and at dinner from Sunday through Thursday. As with the restaurant's previous menu, Gilmore has worked closely with farmers, fishermen and artisans to source ingredients — many of whom grow, forage and create items specifically for the acclaimed chef. Newcastle Greens, for example, grew red speckled peas for Gilmore, and you'll find them on the menu served alongside miso and anchovy. Gilmore has continued to go above and beyond with his plating and creation of dishes — which is prevalent most clearly in his recreation of the humble oyster. It's an innovative dish of oyster cream, oyster frill crackling and Ossetra caviar, served in a hand-crafted ceramic shell and eaten with a mother of pearl spoon. This dish was particularly close to Gilmore's heart as he himself dislikes the texture of oyster, and wanted to recreate the mollusc with exactly the same flavours, but a significantly different bite. As expected, the famed Snow Egg dessert has taken its final bow, though the feijoa and coconut White Coral creation — made with a super light white chocolate, aerated and then frozen with liquid nitrogen — replacing it has the makings of yet another cult favourite. THE DRINKS A revamped drinks offering is showcased through four different beverage matches: a booze-free lineup called the Temperance Pairing ($95); the Round of Drinks ($110), which features a collection of brewed, fermented, distilled and blended lesser-known heroes; the Contemporary Pairing, which will see local and international wines hit your table; and the signature Quay Pairing ($125), a wide-roaming wine pairing featuring local, modern, funky and old-fashioned drops. The drinks list (if you can really call it that) was put together by a team of three sommeliers: Wine Director Amanda Yallop, Head Sommelier Shanteh Wong and Assistant Head Sommelier Seamus Brandt. If you decide to veer away from the pre-prescribed pairings, you'll have to navigate the 500-strong wine collection (backed up by 20 cocktails, nonetheless). But you won't be alone — one of the aforementioned wine aficionados will be on hand to (kindly and patiently) guide you through. Quay will reopen for dinner on Thursday, July 19, and for lunch from Friday, August 3. Reservations are now open. Images: Nikki To.
Barangaroo House has been three years in the making — we first wrote about this back in 2014 — and the anticipation around it was sure to injure someone if it continued to grow. Thankfully, Matt Moran's Solotel Group will open the Barangaroo masterpiece opens today, Friday, December 15. The architecture of the three-tiered building has the appearance of stacked bowls; the exterior has been draped in plants, from which garnishes will be sourced. While food throughout the building will be overseen by credential-heavy Cory Campbell — who previously headed Noma and Vue de Monde — each level has its own menu and will offer different drinking and dining experiences. On ground level you'll find the House Bar, the most casual of the venues. Here, you can drop in for a drink or a cheapish meal — nothing will come in at more than $30. At Bea upstairs things get a little bit more expensive. The 180-seat restaurant will have a full menu focused around meat, seafood and native ingredients. Mains here are around the $40 mark. On the top level is the rooftop bar, Smoke. Needless to say, there's going to be a 'smoke' theme which will be evident in both the 50-plus cocktail menu and interior design. Head Sommelier John Paul Wilkinson has created a 400-bin wine list featuring both small and large growers and a huge selection of Champagne. Expect snacks like fried smoked brisket doughnuts, spiced crisp chicken skin skewers and a sea urchin and orange jam toastie. It'll have a capacity of 150 outdoors and 100 indoors and a specially-designed soundscape will allow live music. Barangaroo House is now open seven days a week 11am till midnight at 35 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo. for more info, visit barangaroohouse.com.au. Images: Cole Bennetts.
El Jannah has earned cult status for its Lebanese-style charcoal chicken and finger lickin'-good garlic sauce, but for inner-city folk, it's never been all that easy to get to. Sure, the much-loved chicken joint has an impressive 15 outlets under its belt, but — if you've lived east, north or south — you had to trek out west to get to any of them. Until a few years ago, that is. El Jannah opened its first inner west store — El Jannah Express — in 2019 in the heart of Newtown, just across the road from cocktail bar Corridor and The Marlborough Hotel. This means that inner city folks finally have easy access to that chook goodness (and that Sydney's 'chicken curtain' needs some urgent adjustments). While you'll find all of the cult favourites on the menu — including the EJ Meals with chicken, chips, pickles, pita and that garlic sauce — El Jannah Express also has an exclusive, very Newtown addition: fried chicken. Yep, even El Jannah can't stay away from it. It's doing drumsticks and tenders, in three-, five- and ten-piece packs. Of course, you can still drop by and pick up a whole rotisserie chicken, and bowls of hummus and baba ghanoush. The Express store also sells the chain's burgers, which are often looked over in favour of the main event. There are a few seats for dining in — but this'll be a prime takeaway spot as it's open until 11pm on weekends. Just look for the neon green sign. El Jannah has won plenty of fans for its offering of charcoal chicken matched with that famed garlic sauce, along with hot meat-stuffed rolls, grab-and-go meal packs, burgers, salads and Middle Eastern skewers. Following stores in Blacktown, Campbelltown, Punchbowl, Granville, Kogarah and Penrith, this Newtown outpost is group's first 'express' offering. Appears in: Where to Find the Best Burgers in Sydney for 2023
"What we don't acknowledge becomes the shadow within ourselves," says Western Australian curator Clothilde Bullen. "And that is what has happened in this country. We have to more openly have these conversations, in order to bring these histories into the light." Pieced together from the Artbank treasure trove and complemented with select loans is a new exhibition curated by Bullen, showcasing the work of contemporary Indigenous artists. Darkness on the Edge of Town will explore narratives of marginalisation and the positioning of the Indigenous Australian. It's a timely exhibition that will excavate hidden histories and reflect on continuing injustices. Bullen was drawn to create an exhibition that responded to the ongoing injustices against Indigenous people. "The works are highly political in nature," she says. "When I started this exhibition, I was looking at the Black Lives Matter movement and SOS Black Australia." What is striking about many of the works on display is their dark aesthetics — shades of black and grey ripple through paintings, photographs and sculptures. "A lot of history is very murky — there are parts people choose not to know about it," says Bullen. In revising the white-washed version of Australian history, Bullen's exhibition is all about restoring and elevating black voices. "I would like there to be an understanding that within these spaces, and within Australia, these are important voices that matter," she says. "Our voices are front and centre — they are embedded within the history of this country. Let's not participate in the great forgetting." Darkness on the Edge of Town runs August 18 to November 12 at Artbank Sydney. Bullen took us into the Artbank store for a peek into the exhibiting artists and what to expect from this complex, highly timely exhibition. [caption id="attachment_582492" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Christopher Pease, Balga resin (2008), Artbank collection[/caption] CHRISTOPHER PEASE — BALGA RESIN Looming large over this exhibition is a painting from Wardandi artist Christopher Pease. This heavily textured work was created through a labour intensive process of collecting resin from the balga or grasstree, which is native to Southwest Australia. Pease then melted the resin onto hessian and canvas, creating a dramatic visual effect. "The resin is actually a living thing," says Bullen. "This work changes every time you look at it and in different lights. It has different personalities." From one angle, the sumptuous and bioluminescent painting looks like purple veins pulsing through black paint. Under a different light, it looks like a red lightning strike cracking open the darkness. "The materiality tells a lot of the story," says Bullen. "In terms of the way the resin is bound to the hessian, the work speaks to a connection to country and how that has changed over time." [caption id="attachment_583651" align="alignnone" width="1280"] James Tylor, (Erased Scenes) From an Untouched Landscape #5 (2014), Artbank collection.[/caption] JAMES TYLOR — ERASED SCENES (FROM AN UNTOUCHED LANDSCAPE) #12 James Tylor is quickly becoming one of Australia's most eminent young photographers. In this series, Erased Scenes (From An Untouched Landscape), his moody and mysterious photographs look like documents from a crime scene investigation. Of course, there is a sophisticated political critique that binds these works together. The geometric black shape imposed onto each image omits the presence of Aboriginal people and culture, paralleling their omission from history and society. "The immediate sense you get when you see these works is that something is missing — the country is incomplete. Alternatively, something has been laid over the top," says Bullen. "So there is either a hidden history or something we want to blank out. What goes on in that blackened space? What has been forgotten? As simple as these works look, they are embedded with multiple levels of meaning." [caption id="attachment_583228" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Narrbong (String Bag) (2007), Artbank collection.[/caption] LORRAINE CONNELLY-NORTHEY — NARRBONG (STRING BAG) Lorraine Connelly-Northey's sculptural practice begins with sifting through discarded materials: fencing wire, barbed wire, rusted iron, metal meshing. Salvaged mainly from farming lands, these industrial materials are typically used to demarcate property. In this way, her objects contain a powerful commentary on the territorial impact of colonisation. Connelly-Northey's intricate sculptures are modelled on traditional Aboriginal artefacts. For instance, her reimagined narrbong references the string bag once used to collect water. "We have these traditional objects that we can't necessarily make anymore," says Bullen. "Our culture is dynamic, it's not static. This work is an example of we can utilise whatever we can in order to make something that is going to work for us. This exemplifies the practice of using ideas around traditionalism and manifesting them in completely new and contemporary ways." [caption id="attachment_582495" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ian Abdulla, Night Boxing (1992), Artbank collection.[/caption] IAN ABDULLA — NIGHT BOXING Rooted in a specific historical phenomenon, Ian Abdulla's work traces the culture of tent-boxing in Aboriginal communities. This bareknuckle sport, which was frequently illegal, arose around 1900 and continued until the late 1980s. "In reference to the title of the exhibition, we're talking about fringe dwellers," says Bullen. "These were people who were kept out of town at night and were asked to exist on the edges." While the history of tent-boxing is a complex one, Abdulla draws attention to a self-sufficient practice, which unfolded outside the control of authorities. In this way, it provided an alternative set of fiscal structures beyond the mainstream. "To me, this work makes a nice comment on what you need to do in order to be economically viable," says Bullen. "Tent-boxing was a meaningful cultural tradition for people all over the country." [caption id="attachment_583229" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Clinton Nain, What are you saying? (2007), Artbank collection.[/caption] CLINTON NAIN — WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? In scrutinising the scars of dispossession, Clinton Nain's practice confronts the darkest elements of Australian history. In particular, his painting, What are you saying? is a sombre take on the linguistic assault on Aboriginal languages. "Nain uses materials that are found in missions and reserves," says Bullen. "Then he turns them around to create strong messages about the colonial history of this country. While this work looks quite abstract, it's a critical statement about families being in missions and the stolen generations." Using bitumen and bleach — an uneasy combination — Nain's painting contains a political message that evokes the attempted conquest of white over black. "The medium is quite expressive and matches the content," says Bullen. Darkness on the Edge of Town runs August 18 to November 12 at Artbank Sydney. Images: Kimberley Low.
Chef Clayton Wells has won over many a Chippendale foodie's heart since opening Automata on the ground floor of the Old Clare Hotel in 2015. And now he's set to extend his reach with the opening of a casual all-day eatery, just 20 metres away. A1 Canteen will open on the ground floor of The Old Rum Store on Kensington Street on Wednesday, June 20 — the same building that houses Olio, Bistrot Gavroche and Eastside Kitchen. Whatever the time of day — and whatever the nature of your hunger — you'll be able to satisfy it. A1 will be open for brekkie, lunch, dinner and snacks, including pastries and sandwiches, so you can sit down and take your time or grab a tasty morsel and run. "I've been working on a casual concept for a while now," Wells said. "We tested it out last year with auto.lab and we've been waiting for the right space to open something permanent. Finding a site directly across the road from Automata is a dream. A1 will be much simpler and more casual than Automata." At breakfast, you'll find a takes on a ploughman's plate — with boiled egg, shaved ham, fermented cabbage and pickled chilli — a grilled mortadella and fried egg sanga, eggs benedict with blood cake and breakfast doughnuts (with mandarin curd and clotted cream, no less). The restaurant soft-opened over the weekend, and, if first reactions are anything to go by, the curried egg scramble with LP's sausage and english muffin is set to become the restaurant's most popular (or, at least, most Instagrammed) breakfast. https://www.instagram.com/p/BkG6LpwlFAW/?hl=en&taken-by=levdawg At lunch, Wells is catering to those who need to get in-and-out quick with an "easy, one plate situation". You'll be able to choose a protein — roasted lamb shoulder, hot smoked trout, spiced chicken or roasted celeriac — and pair it with two salads of your choice for $22. For those who prefer their lunches a bit carbier, there's also a lineup of sandwiches, ranging from a salted beef bagel, to a fried eggplant sandwich and a pressed baguette, which is Wells's take on a New Orleans muffaletta. Return at night and you'll find a menu with slightly more similarities to sister-venue Automata. Split into small and large plates, a steamed clams with anchovy butter sit in the former and a black angus hanger steak with pine mushrooms in the latter. Drinks, as you'd expect, are equally impressive and extensive, with Single O coffee and cold-pressed juices in the morning, and batched cocktails, local beers, an interesting — and affordable — wine list available from lunch. Wells will be joined by chef Scott Eddington in the kitchen, while in the role of restaurant manager will be Rachael Trewin, who's the current assistant manager at Automata. Meanwhile, Matt Darwon is overseeing the design. The fit-out is inspired by the Bauhaus movement of the late 20s, with cantilever chairs, cherry marble table tops and dark vinyl flooring filling the warehouse-style space. Wells has just returned to Australia after spending some time in Singapore, where he opened Blackwattle, his first venture in Asia. A1 Canteen will open on Wednesday, June 20, on the ground floor, 2-10 Kensington Street, Chippendale.
When your last festival screened 48 films to 168,000 people around Australia, what comes next? It's a problem many events wish they had, however, in their 28th year, the Alliance Française French Film Festival is on the case. With the massive celebration of Gallic cinema continuing to draw huge crowds, the beloved annual festival is offering up more of the same. The lineup has changed, of course, but the eclectic nature audiences have come to expect of the event is back. Kicking off on March 7 in Sydney before touring to Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, Parramatta and Casula until April 9, the 2017 program begins and ends with a bang — or, with two very different journeys. In pole position at the start of the fest sits The Odyssey, an adventure-filled biopic focused on famous oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, and co-starring Audrey Tautou as Cousteau's wife Simone. Then, after running through the bulk of its 45-film selection, the fest comes to a close with maternal comedy A Bun in the Oven, featuring The Bélier Family's Karin Viard as an unexpectedly expectant 49-year old. In between, the AFFFF delivers on two fronts: stars and a vibrant array of big screen stories. There's plenty of both. The former includes 2017 Oscar-nominees Isabelle Huppert and Natalie Portman, with Huppert showing up twice — playing a woman with a secret past in the rom-com Souvenir, and a philosophy professor in Things to Come — and Portman joining forces with Lily-Rose Depp (yes, Johnny's daughter) in Planetarium. Depp also stars with French singer-actress Soko in The Dancer, while Marion Cotillard does double duty too in romance From the Land of the Moon and the Xavier Dolan-directed family drama It's Only the End of the World. Inglourious Basterds actress Mélanie Laurent co-directs environmental doco Tomorrow, the great Gérard Depardieu takes a road trip in Saint Amour, and one of the last roles played by Amour's Emmanuelle Riva, as an elderly aunt in Lost in Paris, also features. Elsewhere, the 2017 fest tells the tale of the first popular Afro-Cuban artist of the French stage in Monsieur Chocolate starring The Intouchables' Omar Sy opposite James Thierrée (aka Charlie Chaplin's grandson), examines the real-life circumstances surrounding a pregnant nun in The Innocents, dives into coming-of-age affections with Being 17 and gets ghostly with the haunting Daguerrotype. Or, viewers can catch Juliette Binoche at her most slapstick in farcical detective effort Slack Bay, and enjoy the kind of moral dilemmas the Dardenne brothers explore so well in The Unknown Girl. Looking back as well as forwards, a two-movie retrospective steps into the court of Versailles courtesy of the Marie Antoinette-centric Farewell, My Queen and music drama Mozart's Sister. Plus, if all of the above isn't enough for the most eager film buffs, dedicated cinephiles can take A Journey Through French Cinema for 191 minutes of movie history. The Alliance Française French Film Festival tours Australia from March 7, screening at Sydney's Chauvel Cinema, Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona and Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace from March 7 to 30; Melbourne's Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Kino Cinemas and The Astor Theatre from March 8 to 30, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from March 16 to April 9. For more information, visit the festival website.
If seasonal change has left you in a dizzy headspin of new colours and fabrics and prints and jackets — or if, y'know, you just like some fancy new clothes now and then — you'll be pretty pleased to know that the Big Fashion Sale is back in physical form. Usually it pops up several times a year; however 2020 is a year of changes. So, as well as hosting online sales, the shopping extravaganza has turned its Sydney showroom into a temporary outlet store. Located at Unit 19, 20–28 Maddox Street, Alexandria, this pop-up will let you browse the Big Fashion Sale's hefty range in person. You can't just drop by, though — walking through the door is by appointment only, and the outlet is only welcoming in shoppers on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays until Thursday, October 8. As for what you'll be rifling through, the name pretty much says it all. This thing is big. You'll find a hefty array of lush items from past collections, samples and one-offs from a huge lineup of cult Australian and international designers, both well-known and emerging — including Romance Was Born, Alexander McQueen, Isabel Marant, The Row, Dion Lee, Dries Van Noten and more. With more than 50 brands on offer, and discounts of up to 85 percent off, this is one way to up your count of designer threads while leaving your bank balance sitting pretty, too — whether you're keen on clothes, shoes, swimwear or accessories. The Big Fashion Sale's Sydney pop-up outlet is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays until Thursday, October 8, with bookings via appointment only.
Fans of Robert Mapplethorpe will no doubt have already snapped up tickets to the new survey exhibition of his work at AGNSW. Showcasing an impressive selection of portraits, figure studies, floral still lifes and erotic imagery reflecting his participation in both New York's uptown art clique and underground gay scene, The Perfect Medium will grant fans an intimate, comprehensive insight into Mapplethorpe's distinctive artistic methods and private world. As one of the most compelling, boundary-pushing late 20th century American artists, Mapplethorpe's photography shaped an era, in part thanks to his portraits of the cultural idols of the 1970s and 80s (think Debbie Harry, Philip Glass and Mapplethorpe's longtime muse Patti Smith). AGNSW director Dr. Michael Brand says that Mapplethorpe played an influential role in establishing photography as a valid form of contemporary art: "whether he was photographing a figure, a flower or a fetish, Mapplethorpe's subjects were unified by an enduring and unflinching quest for beauty." Compulsory viewing for anyone interested in photography and the 1970s/80s New York art scene. Images from left: Robert Mapplethorpe Two men dancing 1984; Kathy Acker 1983. Promised Gift of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to The J Paul Getty Trust and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission.
Having conquered hearts in both Sydney and Melbourne, Longrain's gutsy Thai flavours will now take on Japan, with the restaurant group's owner Sam Christie set to open the doors to a sister venue in Tokyo this August. As the first international outpost, it sounds like a ripper — a classically-styled, 160-seat stunner on the 39th floor of the Yebisu Garden Place Tower, as imagined by Sydney-based designers Luchetti-Krelle. The space is a warm and welcoming one, nodding to aspects of Sydney and Melbourne's iconic Longrain eateries, and featuring artwork by Sydney's own Christopher Hodges. Making his much-anticipated return to Longrain Sydney and set to also head up the kitchen at the Tokyo digs, executive chef Griff Pamment will be tweaking Longrain's signature offering to win over a new audience of foodies. He's promising a punchy celebration of Thai and South East Asian flavours, built around local produce — the menu featuring plenty of old favourites alongside a host of new rice and noodle dishes. Backing up the eats, expect a selection of crafty cocktails and aromatic wines, with varietals from across Australia and beyond. Longrain Ebisu will open daily from August 26, 2017. Find it at Floor 39, Yebisu Garden Place Tower, 4-20, Ebisu, hibuya-ku, Tokyo, next time you're in town. Images: Nikki To.
See the other articles in our Wine Lover's Weekenders series. With its rugged scenery, lush waterfalls and cool climate wines, the Southern Highlands is like the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley combined, but without the crowds. One reason it's still a bit of a secret is that, for a wine region, it's young. "Official status" was only granted in 1999. However, the oldest winery in the area, Joadja, was set up back in the 1980s. And since then, more than 60 vineyards and 16 wineries have joined it. At an altitude of more than 600 metres, the area specialises in cool climate varieties, like pinot noir and riesling. Here's your guide to wining your way through a weekend in the Southern Highlands. DRINK For consistently cracking boutique wines, head to Tertini (Kells Creek Rd, Mittagong; (02) 4878 5213; 10am-5pm Thu-Mon or by appointment), which has been winning awards since dropping its first bottle ten years ago (the 2005 riesling). Unassuming yet skilled wine maker Jonathan Holgate is committed to old-fashioned processes. That means hand pruning, hand picking and low cropping. He produces in small batches and experiments with alternative varieties, such as arneis and lagrein. Meanwhile, at the majestic Centennial Vineyards (252 Centennial Rd, Bowral; (02) 4861 8722; 10am-5pm daily), on the outskirts of Bowral, the cellar door affords dazzling panoramas over 80 acres of vineyards, where chardonnay, riesling and pinot noir as well as exotic varieties like albariño, pinot meunier and tempranillo grow. At 760 metres above sea level, the fruit ripens gradually and is all the richer for it. To linger over the views, stay for a meal at the onsite restaurant. Further south, near the historic, haunted town of Berrima, there's Joadja (cnr Greenhills and Joadja Roads, Berrima; (02) 4878 5236). A self-guided tour takes you through the winery and gardens, where you're welcome to picnic, or, in cold weather, stay inside sampling wine next to the wood fire. Other wineries to visit include Artemis, the home of Sun Shack Cider (46 Sir Charles Moses Lane, Mittagong; (02) 48721311; 10am-4pm Mon-Fri; 10am-5pm Sat-Sun and public holidays); McVitty (434 Wombeyan Caves Rd, Mittagong; (02) 4878 5044; 10am-5pm weekends); Eling Forest (12587 Hume Highway, Sutton Forest; (02) 4878 9499; 10:30am-4:30pm daily); and St Maur (Old Argyle Rd, Exeter; (02) 4883 4401; 10:30am-4:30pm Thu-Mon). For the official Southern Highlands wine trail map, visit the Southern Highlands Wine website. EAT There are two hatted restaurants in the Southern Highlands. Biota (18 Kangaloon Rd, Bowral; (02) 4862 2005; lunch Fri-Mon; dinner daily), awarded Regional Restaurant of the Year in 2014 and 2015, has two. The focus is on local produce, grown in the restaurant's onsite kitchen garden and combined in creative ways. If you don't want to sit down to a full meal, try the rather unusual bar menu, featuring dishes like smoked South Coast oyster with nasturtium, and pork parts with citrus caramel. Then there's the one-hatted Eschalot (24 Old Hume Highway, Berrima; (02) 4877 1977; lunch Thurs-Sun; dinner Wed-Sun), housed in an atmospheric sandstone heritage building. Alternatively, to mix some reading with your dining, try Bendooley Estate (3020 Old Hume Highway, Berrima; (02) 4877 2235; lunch daily), where you can wander through the Berkelouw Book Barn and visit another cellar door. Or go for some excellent Italian at the family-owned Onesta Cucina (5 Boolwey St, Bowral; (02) 4861 6620; lunch Thu-Sat; dinner Mon-Sat). STAY The Highlands' rich-and-famous experience (a la Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Barnes and Peter Garrett, all of whom own estates in the area) is on offer at the five star Milton Park Country House Hotel and Spa. Set on 300 acres of hilltop woodland, it comes with the works: a grand mansion, world-famous landscaped gardens, deluxe rooms with four-poster beds, marble bathrooms, a spa and, of course, helicopter and limo transfers. For a stay less grandiose yet still luxurious, historic and charming, there's the 170-year-old Fitzroy Inn (1 Ferguson Crescent, Mittagong; (02) 4872 3457). Meanwhile, Biota is home to some relaxed, contemporary rooms, from where you can access the restaurant's 3 acres of grounds, complete with duck pond. DO Possibly the most fun way to see the Southern Highlands is from the back of a shiny red Boom Trike, with Highland Trike Tours (0412 555 757 or 0419 461 106) Choose a ready-made tour or design your own, incorporating as many wineries as you can handle. To move at a slower pace — while seeing some of the region's best scenery — hire a bicycle at Ye Olde Bicycle Shoppe (11 Church Street, Bundanoon; (02) 4883 6043; 8.30am–4pm Sun–Fri; 8:30am-5pm Sat). From there, an easygoing, 12 kilometre circuit visits 12 lookouts, as well as waterfalls and swimming holes. Your weekend art fix can be had at the Milk Factory Gallery (33 Station St, Bowral; (02) 4862 1077; 10am-5pm daily). This enormous, airy space with its 7 metre high ceilings incorporates a variety of rooms and a dynamic contemporary exhibition program. For design, pop into the Sturt Gallery (cnr Range Rd and Waverley Parade, Mittagong; (02) 4860 2083; 10am-5pm daily), which was established in 1941 and is the oldest craft and design centre in Australia. The grounds are beautiful and an onsite cafe is open Wednesday to Sunday.
One of the most important donations in years for Australia's contemporary art scene, a millionaire Melbourne property developer has endowed Melbourne University with a $26 million gift of his epic private collection — and a place to exhibit them all. The Michael Buxton Centre of Contemporary Art (or the rather awkward sounding MBCOCA) is a brand new, purpose-built museum set to open in 2017 at the University of Melbourne's Southbank campus. An entrepreneurial developer with a keen interest in contemporary art, Buxton has collected more than 300 works in a variety of media over 30 years. "Our acquisition policy has… focused squarely on supporting living artists and working alongside them to foster and support their careers," he told ArtsHub. The collection provides valuable insight into the stylistic development of the 53 artists it includes; from the paintings of Howard Arkley and Mike Parr, to the photography of Tracey Moffatt and Bill Henson as well as the sculpture and installation work of Ricky Swallow and Patricia Piccinini, among others. By donating such a showstopper collection to an institution like the University of Melbourne, Buxton hopes to ensure its longevity. The new museum will serve as a major resource for students as well as the public in general. "We are educating future generations of students and serving as a resource for all Australians aspiring to understand or collect challenging contemporary art," he told The Australian. Plus, building the new museum opposite the National Gallery of Victoria and next to the Victorian College of the Arts will well and truly cement Southbank's reputation as the city's premier arts precinct. The Buxton family will remain involved, providing funds for the museum's construction and maintenance over the next 20 years. New works will also continue to be collected, ensuring the museum remains a dynamic, evolving collection of works by the biggest and brightest contemporary artists of today. See more of the collection on the Michael Buxton Collection website. Via ArtsHub and The Australian. Image credit: From the ABC, Stephen Bush, Shout on the hills of glory, 2008.
FBI special agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder are returning to find that truth after 13 years off the air. The X-Files is officially returning to your screens, with creator Chris Carter, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson locked in for the reunion fans have been waiting for. While it's not a full-blown season — just six episodes are planned — it's news to the ears of X-Philes worldwide. "I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” Carter told TIME. "The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories." Here's hoping we don't pick up where we left off in 2008's cinematic casserole The X-Files: I Want to Believe. No cameos of Billy Connolly playing a convicted paedophile thanks. Let's hope Carter throws back to 1993, when The X-Files first kicked off years of killer dolls, literal substitute teachers from hell, creepy skateboard dudes and Texas Chainsaw-like creepo families. And aliens, o'course. According to TIME, the six episodes will indeed head back to the show's original format — we're talking one show, one mystery, all sexual tension. The X-Files is heading into production this winter, with no release date in sight yet. But we want to believe early 2016. Via TIME. Image: Diyah Perah, 20th Century Fox.
If you haven't heard of 28 Hongkong Street before now, don't feel too out of the loop. Sure, it's been voted Asia's best bar for three years running and knocks out some seriously amazing cocktails — but it also operates as one of those mysterious, super secretive, word-of-mouth-only venues, hidden away behind an unassuming 1960s shopfront. Plus, it's been hanging out all the way up in Singapore, 6000 kilometres and an eight-hour flight away. Until now. For three nights this month, 28HKS will be hitting our shores as part of Sydney Bar Week. The brief touchdown on Australian turf will see the Singaporean enigma visit Sydney and Melbourne to take over two of our own hidden cocktail bars and give lucky locals a whirlwind taste of all the cocktail magic. They're not cutting any corners, either. The Sydney pop-up — which will grace Darlinghurst's Henrietta Supper Club on Sunday, September 18 — will offer a bang-on recreation of the 28HKS concept. Expect those award-winning cocktails alongside a selection of the American-leaning share plates, all delivered by five of 28HKS's mixologists, floor staff and chefs. They're even bringing over the soundtrack to round-out the experience. It's not the first time Australia's had a fleeting taste of international cocktail greatness and, given the success of Attaboy's February stints at The Everleigh and Dead Ringer, and last year's Please Don't Tell pop-up at The Black Pearl, it's probably safe to say that this latest cocktail-wielding visitor won't be the last. There will be two 1.5 hour sittings on the night — one at 7pm and another at 9pm. At just $20 for a spot at the bar and a cocktail on arrival, these tickets won't hang around for long. Snap one up here for the Sydney pop-up.
Rarely in Sydney does a business pop-up that is truly unique. Welcome Merchant is one of them. Founded by Marjorie Tenchavez, Welcome Merchant was initially launched on Instagram to support and celebrate innovative Australian entrepreneurs — who happen to come from refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant backgrounds. The not-for-profit has since expanded its critical role in elevating the voices of refugee and asylum seekers in the community — and offers one-of-a-kind dining experiences in collaboration with refugee chefs. The next event is presented with Mums 4 Refugees to celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday, May 9. Dishes will be served by Welcome Merchant-affiliated businesses, Racha's Syrian Kitchen and Margarita's Cakes. Racha's Syrian Kitchen is run by Racha and Nidal, two chefs who bonded over their passion for their homeland's cuisine. Margarita's Cakes is headed up by Katherine Honig who hails from Venezuela, and offers detailed cakes, cake toppers and sweets. All proceeds will go to chefs and Mums 4 Refugees, who provide emergency housing and support to families from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. Dulce Munoz from Mums 4 Refugees says, "There are so many fantastic business minds and entrepreneurs among our refugee community in Australia. To inspire prosperity and growth among all communities, it's important we welcome refugees and asylum seekers by supporting their businesses, learning about their cultures, and enabling fair work and pay."
