This contemporary art exhibition explores water as both life-sustaining and as a metaphor for the human experience. Inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem Water, the exhibition reflects water's emotional and intellectual depths — its ability to summon empathy, heartbreak, pleasure and destruction. It also examines how water imparts and enshrines various forms of knowledge, from the historical, cultural and poetic to the political and aesthetic. Featuring artists who work across diverse media and cultural narratives, The Water Understands delves into the metaphorical significance of that most abundant of liquids. Offering a multifaceted exploration of its impact on human life, knowledge, and creativity, this show invites reflection on how water shapes our understanding of the world. [caption id="attachment_984939" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Angela Tiatia, 'Narcissus'[/caption] Top image: Tamara Dean, Turbulance
During camping trips, there comes a time when (after getting out all your ‘Kumbuyas’ and soaking up the intimate campfire glow) you face that cold, lonely retreat to your sleeping bag and zip yourself in — realising that after all the team bonding, it really is just you and the stars. It can be a solitary life as a snoozing camper. But Seattle-based designer Andy Storms has realised that humans aren't the only great outdoors enthusiasts and has come up with a remedy — in the form of the BarkerBag. It’s a sleeping bag made for your favourite camping canine friend. Developed after his dog Barker kept hogging his own sleeping bag, Storms decided to make a teardrop-shaped bunk for his (and your) four-legged friend. And as if that isn’t cute enough in itself, it’s fitted with zips enabling attachment to yours. Snuggles ahoy. Not only can you look forward to some loyal company through the long dark night, you also take advantage of your furry friend’s warm-blooded body heat. There’s also the option of slipping him/her between you and your nearest sleeping-bagged human buddy, in a three-bag option. The obvious question is, how do you stop your dog from slipping out and snuffling into the communal food supplies/going chasing wild pigs/leaving you abandoned, cold and sad? Ol' Stormy’s given it some thought and added an entrapment mechanism by way of a reinforced cinchable collar. Storms turned the concept into a reality via a successful Kickstarter campaign. "I was tired of crowding my sleeping bag and actually making my feet colder since over-stuffing the bag compresses the insulation," he explains in the promo video. The BarkerBag is available in three sizes (small, medium and large, catering to pretty much every breed from poodles to border collies and malamutes. There's even a double version, for campers with two outdoorsy dogs in their care. Prices range from US$69 to $89 and the first production run is now underway, with shipping scheduled for July. Via Gizmag.
Music lovers of Australia, and festival fans as well, we foresee trips to the Gold Coast, Cairns, Canberra or Geelong in your future. That's where The Grass Is Greener is heading this year, with the music, food and arts fest expanding beyond Queensland for the first time — and the event has just dropped its impressive lineup. Leading the bill: Ty Dolla $ign, YG, Zhu and Pnau, all hitting up the festival's four regional locations. The event is particularly pumped to have not one but two of the biggest names in hip hop gracing its stages, as well as one of EDM's global stars and some homegrown heroes. And, it's betting that you'll be just as thrilled to check them out live. Of course you will. One Four, Boo Seeka, Side Piece, Alok and Mashd N Kutcher also have spots on the lineup — and yes, the list goes on. As for when you'll be seeing all of the above, The Grass Is Greener is doing the rounds across the last two weekends in October, starting on the Goldie, hopping down to the ACT, zipping back up to its Tropical North Queensland birthplace, then wrapping up its 2022 run in Victoria. Clearly, it's a big year for the fest, which made its debut in Cairns back in 2016. Expanding to two new cities, covering three states and locking in huge headliners for this year's tour is quite the flex. The Grass Is Greener is also jumping into the NFT space in 2022, integrating NFTs into its ticketing with a limited edition 1,111 NFT Collection. As well as nabbing access to the fest, the NFTs also feature special art that you can use onsite to unlock unique and exclusive experiences that won't be available with physical tickets. THE GRASS IS GREENER 2022 LINEUP: Alok Aluna Boo Seeka Brux Crush3ed Little Fritter Wongo Jordan Burns (live) Market Memories Mashd N Kutcher Maya Jane Coles Mikalah Watego Mood Swing & Chevy Bass Onefour Piero Pirupa Pnau Sidepiece Sticky Fingers TDJ Ty Dolla $Ign Vnssa YG Zero Zhu (DJ set) THE GRASS IS GREENER 2022 DATES: Saturday, October 22 — Doug Jennings Park, Gold Coast Sunday, October 23 — Patrick White Lawns, Canberra Saturday, October 29 — Cairns Showgrounds, Cairns Sunday, October 30 — Geelong Racecourse, Geelong The Grass Is Greener will hit the Gold Coast, Canberra, Cairns and Geelong in October 2022. Ticket pre-sales start at 8am on Wednesday, July 13, ahead of general sales from 8am on Thursday, July 14. Head to the festival website for more information. Images: Curdin Photo and Mitch Lowe.
A good rule of thumb when travelling just about anywhere is to get out of the big smoke, at least for part of your holiday. If you're planning a Euro trip for their summer, don't fall into the trap of hopping between capital cities and competing for selfie space with hundreds of other travellers — slow down a little, and dedicate the continent's magnificent countries the time they deserve. But we get it, finding those tucked away, untapped towns isn't as easy as it looks, so don't be ashamed to enlist some help. Opt for a boutique river cruise and you'll be plodding along from the capitals and onto a trail of some of Europe's quaintest riverside towns and cities. Here are five we recommend visiting. ROUEN, FRANCE If Europe is a landmine of historical gems, then Rouen boasts quite a unique collection. The capital of France's Normandy region is nestled along the Seine and best accessed via a cruise. As you drift towards this vibrant city, you will get a glimpse of the first landmark — the Notre Dame cathedral spire. An elaborate example of gothic architecture, the cathedral contains Richard the Lionheart's tomb and was the subject of a number of Monet artworks. Explore the city by foot to appreciate its picturesque cobblestone streets and timber-framed pastel houses dating back to the Middle Ages, and stop by the market square where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. You will also have the opportunity to visit the Normandy beaches — the historical site of WWII's D-Day. But if you're not much of a history buff, Rouen's other big drawcard is food (you are in France, after all) — the gastronomic pleasures to be found in the city are as rich as its history. Take advantage by sampling the luxe butter, cream and some of the freshest fish. COLOGNE, GERMANY The biggest mistake you can make is thinking Berlin is the be all and end all of Germany. Dusseldorf, Heidelberg, Dortmund, Dresden, Rothenburg and Cologne will have you charmed by day, sleepless by night and desperate to drag out your Euro trip just that little bit longer — which is mighty easy on this cruise down the Rhine. If you have to pick just one German city to visit though, go with Cologne. It's a party-meets-history hub that gets far less credit than it deserves, and as such, loses a fair slice of the EU-tourist crowd. To get the full Cologne experience drink the city's Kolsch beer, eat hämmche (like corned beef, but pork knuckle) and make sure you check out a local gig. PASSAU, GERMANY For a city otherwise known as the 'City of Three Rivers', the route to Passau seems fairly obvious. Cruise down the Danube, and the river will converge with two others close to the Austrian border: Inn and Ilz. At this intersection sits Passau's Altstadt (Old Town). It's best appreciated from up high, so pop on those walking shoes and hike to Veste Oberhaus ('Castle on the Hill') or the pilgrimage monastery Mariahilf on the opposite bank. Both spots offer panoramic views of the city's Baroque-style buildings, the domed towers of St Stephen's Cathedral and the surrounding Bavarian countryside. Head in to the Old Town to explore the romantic laneways, archways and squares until you stumble upon a classic Bavarian beer garden to rest those weary legs in. DÜRNSTEIN, AUSTRIA Interesting fact: right near Dürnstein, a roadside memorial marks a pivotal defeat of Napoleon I of France by a combined Russian and Austrian army. And it's hard to be even a little surprised at that fact — Dürnstein is like the first episode of Outlander on steroids (for the unfamiliar, this means abandoned castles, high walls, ruins galore, murals and trees older than your surname). Every cobblestone street leads to a different old and incredible building. It's an hour drive from Vienna, but so much easier to get to — and view — via the water. HAARLEM, NETHERLANDS Haarlem is the capital of North Holland, and, though only a 15-minute train from Amsterdam, is best approached by water (like on this cruise) so you can float by endless fields of tulips on your way into town. We recommend going towards the beginning of summer, or even better, in spring because there are two main things definitely worth seeing in this medieval town: the country's largest organ and the aforementioned tulips, tulips, tulips. Haarlem is in full bloom until the end of May, and boy do they celebrate in style — read: an annual flower parade through the streets. If you're after a day of strolling around in search of some A+ cheese and spectacular buildings, Grote Houtstraat is your spot. It's made up of dozens of side streets that peel off into the city's many quiet nooks and crannies. This Euro summer, plan to head off the very beaten path with U by Uniworld and explore your way around some non-capitals.
In recent years Moroccan-Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui has bewitched Sydney audiences with his major works Sutra (2010) and Babel (2012), and now he summons desert landscapes for Spring Dance 2012 in Dunas. Joining Cherkaoui is the formidable Spanish bailaora Maria Pages, whose command of flamenco once led Jose Saramago to declare that "nor the sky nor the earth is the same after [she] has danced". Such an elemental pairing leaves no doubt as to the epic scope and atmosphere to be found in Dunas, where the relentless shifting of sands swallow humanity both ancient and modern. The desert evoked in Dunas is not of the New World, but that of the Middle East and North Africa. Szymon Brzoska, who previously composed the score to Sutra, joins with guitarist Ruben Lebaniegos to create music that fuses the flamenco rhythms with Arabic sounds, providing a sinuous accompaniment to the piece. What will Cherkaoui and Pages eventually unearth from their dunes? The conceptual strength of Cherkaoui's previous work is found at the point where cultures press against one another, and Dunas continues this theme when the strong form of Pages meets Cherkaoui's flow. Whether this meeting is the totality of their collaboration or the beginning of a deeper cultural duet is an exciting prospect for audiences at Spring Dance. Image by David Ruano. https://youtube.com/watch?v=sBn1LwYjIT0
It's been over a year in the making, but Erskineville's Swanson Hotel is finally getting a new lease on life. The sprawling corner pub is being resurrected by Gurdys duo Clare and Brett Davis, who'll return the pub to its original name, The Kurrajong, when it reopen at the end of July. The 1930s pub will also return to its former glory as a "locals pub run by locals" — though not without some serious renovations. The interior has been completed gutted, and the team has — in the process — restored a lot of the old heritage features, including the original art deco floor and wall tiles. "We tried to bring back as much of the heritage aspects as we could while also bringing it up to date," says Brett. Some of those updates include a brand new bar and kitchen, and the ripping out of the pokies — that space is now home to a separate kids playroom. Head Chef Daniel Lanza (Opera Bar, North Bondi Fish) is in the kitchen preparing classic pub grub that (like Gurdys) uses all sustainably and locally sourced produce — and will cater to all dietary requirements. Expect osso bucca bruschetta and bowls of lamb kofta, grilled octopus and falafel to make the opening menu. There will also be a few shared steak cuts from Banksmeadow's Haverick Meats on offer, including a tomahawk on the bone. Plus, chocolate lava cake for dessert. On the bar side of things, there'll be 12 rotating beer taps and three dedicated wine taps, all pouring Aussie drops. As there are no beer contracts at the pub, the team can really focus on independent craft brewers, including BentSpoke, award-winning Balter, Stone & Wood and Garage Project. Expect a focus on dark beers for these winter months and sours as the weather warms up. For wine, the taps will start off with small producers from Mudgee, Hunter Valley and Southern Highlands. A small cocktail list will also feature, with batched drinks and seasonal classics on the docket. The pub's long-time-coming renovation and reopening has not been without its drama, with major push-back from the community on a separate DA that would've seen the top floor of the building turned into apartments. It's still to be seen what will happen on that front, but we're glad to see the pub made it through the process unscathed. The Kurrajong Hotel will open in late July at 106–108 Swanson Street, Erskineville. Keep an eye on this space for updates. Image: Google Maps
Looking for a mid-week pick-me-up? Start your Thursday with a slice of pizza from one of Sydney's best pizzerias free of charge, thanks to a one-day promotion that's raising money for a good cause. At-home pizza oven company Gozney is currently showing support for local charity Hello Sunday Morning through its #UnitedByPizza campaign. Hello Sunday Morning is an organisation striving to change alcohol dependency through peer support, and Gozney is raising money for it through the sale of its new Tom Gozney Signature Edition Roccbox. Plus, it's giving out a bunch of free pizza to spread the word. If you head down to the beloved Darlinghurst pizza restaurant Dimitri's Pizzeria on Thursday, October 20 from 7.30 am, you can kick off your day with a free slice of a delicious breakfast pizza. Dimitri's co-owners Drew Huston and Ken Williams will be cooking up 100 breakfast pies featuring spinach, lemon, garlic, egg, pancetta and ricotta — as well as a vegetarian option — to giveaway. "We hope this event not only provides people with pizza that tastes amazing, but also starts a healthy conversation about alcohol consumption and our relationship with it," Hello Sunday Morning CEO Andy Morre says. "We're delighted to have Sydney's top pizzaiolos involved to give hundreds of Sydney-siders a little slice of pizza-shaped happiness." The pizza will be available on a first-in, first-served basis until they are sold out. Top images: Kimberley Low
When Daimon met Chuck: Charles owns a furniture store. Daimon, a musician-cum-artist, wants to stage an art show. Chuck and Daimon get to talking. The 1500 square metres is calling out for some artistic attention, and when better to do it than when the fashionistas come out to play? Et voila! We have a fashion week art activation (with food by bills) called the MCM House Art Show. The abundant space in Waterloo will be home to 70 of Sydney’s well-known and emerging artists for four full days, running May 6 to 9. See hybrids and monsters run riot in Claude Jones’s delicate prints and works on paper and Fiona White pack a punch with her narrative-rich portraits and scenes. Paul White, known for his delectable delineations that prioritise the subject over the setting, will present highly anticipated new work, and Daimon Downey, one of the brains behind this operation, will also feature, with some sweetly mad acrylic paintings. Photographers Nick Leary and Tom Ramsay show wildly different suites of works: Leary takes us to a capitalist graveyard in Neon Gravesite, documenting where billboard signs go to die in Las Vegas, while Ramsay transports us from rural Victoria and parts of Arnhem Land to his imaginary Shanedale — “a world full of hunters, strippers and fishermen”. It doesn’t stop there; MCM House Art Show will also feature sculptures and installations and promises to break down the art world’s pretence, making art accessible and celebratory. Image: Charles Hinckfuss and Daimon Downey.
It’s called Detroit, but may resemble suburbia anywhere; the periphery of a once-great industrial city now crumbling into economic uncertainty. Darlinghurst Theatre Company stages the Australian premiere of Lisa D'Amour's Detroit – continuing its trend of introducing edgy contemporary works from the USA. After success last season with another lower-working-class US comedy The Motherfucker with the Hat, Darlinghurst Theatre is confident in Detroit’s reach and relevance, with its universal themes of economic and social hardship. "Detroit is about dreams, self-respect, employment and community, and how quickly these can be destroyed," says director Ross McGregor. Detroit did very well in its home country, becoming a Pulitzer Prize finalist after debuting in 2010. The New York Times called it "a smart, tart critique of the country’s fraying social fabric". This accomplished Aussie cast (including Lisa Chappell, of McLeod’s Daughters fame) should deliver a solid performance of this black comedy, and transplant the story into the psyche of Sydney.
What does it take to build the world’s tallest skyscraper? 19,000 workers, seven months, 92 elevators, and, in all likelihood, a competitive streak. This month, yet another challenge to rule supreme over the global skyline will begin when the Broad Group starts building the world’s tallest skyscraper in Changsha, China. Apart from demonstrating the latest in engineering miracles, the project aims to improve our chances of environmental sustainability, as it will serve as a ‘Sky City’. It’s a fully self-contained settlement, in which residents will have access to all the facilities expected in an urban area, only they’ll come with a view. 56 courtyards, each with ceilings at 30 foot, will provide scope for sporting activities, and 930,000 square feet will be committed to the cultivation of organic farms. Access to all 170 floors will be achievable via elevators, or a six-mile long ramp, which will run the vertical length of the building. According to the Broad Group, any resident of the world’s tallest skyscraper will use only 1% of the land occupied by a run-of-the-mill, ground bound city slicker. Moreover, energy efficiency will be maximised through triple glazing, serious insulation, shading and the use of a co-generation plant, which runs on waste heat, to achieve climate control. Could this be the face of cities of the future? [via PSFK]
There's no denying that moving your body is a surefire way to improve the way you feel. Whether it's on a dance floor, in an exercise class or cruising 'round your neighbourhood listening to your favourite podcast, there's no shortage of ways to get active in a way that works for you. On Tuesday, October 4, Fitbit is making it even easier to get yourself moving via its one-night-only immersive Club Fitbit event in Sydney. And after your sweat sesh? Sparkling kombuchas, Fitbit goodies and more than a few health tonics. Plus, you can check out Fitbit's latest product innovations while you're there. At one of two sessions (5.30pm or 7pm), you and your crew can get involved in a 60-minute class that will see you power through three stellar workouts — for free. The sessions have all been designed around reducing stress, increasing movement and getting better sleep. In your sweat sesh, you'll get groovy at a dance fitness class with Sheron Sultan, the founder of Afro Step; dive deep in a breathwork workshop with Johannes Egberts; and experience a Himalayan salt yoga session led by renowned yoga and pilates instructor Leah Simmons. Bliss. While the event is free to attend, spaces are limited. So, make sure you book in advance to secure your spot. Keen to check it out? Club Fitbit will take place at 3 Danks in Waterloo on Tuesday, October 4. For more information and to reserve a spot at one of the two sessions, visit the website.
As anyone who's seen the doco Amy knows, during Amy Winehouse's troubled final years, the media was excruciatingly obsessed with her drug and alcohol issues. But, a new exhibition, arriving in Melbourne later this year, is bringing us another perspective. Titled Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait, the show covers four concepts: faith, fashion, music and London life. Expect to see loads of never-before-seen-in-public objects, such as family photos, dresses (including the dazzling Luella Bartley number that Winehouse wore at Glastonbury 2008), cookbooks, stories, records and musical instruments. Acting as soundtrack will be a mixtape Winehouse put together at the age of 13. The exhibition was conceived and curated by Amy's brother, Alex, and sister-in-law, Riva, in collaboration with the Jewish Museum of London. Since premiering in London in 2013, it's travelled to San Francisco, Vienna, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam, and, right now, it's at the London museum, Camden. Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait arrives at the Jewish Museum of Australia, St Kilda, on October 22 and will show until March 22, 2018. Image: Rama via Wikimedia Commons.
Still trying to get your head around Tracey Moffatt's bold, brave (and sometimes obscure) art legacy? The good folks at the Art Gallery of New South Wales are giving you a helping hand this winter. And they're not charging you a cent for the pleasure. As the holders of the largest collection of Tracey Moffatt pieces in Australia, the Gallery has handpicked some of the legendary Australian artist's key works for display, in an exhibition titled Laudanum and other works. The selected artworks — on show until September 4 — will explore Moffatt's interest in melodrama and cinema through both her still and moving image works. Even though Laudanum (1998) and Plantation (2009) were created more than 11 years apart, their exploration of fear, desire and high drama is linked through the motif of colonial architecture. In between working on them, she joined forces with Gary Hillberg to come up with video montages Love (2003) and Other (2009). The former follows the turbulent journey from romantic love to cruelty, while the second records powerful chemistry erupting between races, sexes and genders.
In this exhibition, outer space is not just the vastness beyond Earth's atmospheric layers – that is, the black blanket where planets live — it also refers to the spaces in-between human bodies, the agency of our physical existence, and the ways we inhabit our environments. Casula Powerhouse will be presenting work from a range of contemporary artists, including Anotinette J. Citizen, Haines & Hinterding, Christina Lissman, Peter Hennessey, Sylvia Schwenk, Alasdair Macintyre, Adam Norton, Liam O'Brien, Mira Oosterweghel, and Vernon Treweeke in the two-month exhibition, aptly named Outer Space.
Prancing through fields laced with the charm of provincial France? Casual summer weekendery. The ever-popular So Frenchy So Chic in the Park is waltzing back to Melbourne's Werribee Park Mansion for its seventh year running, while in Sydney it will be return to the Glebe waterfront at Bicentennial Park for the second time. The event will also head to Adelaide for its debut. If you haven't been before, expect an entire afternoon of French-inspired niceties — think gourmet picnic hampers, tortes and terrines, offensively good wine, furious outdoor chess, casual gypsy beats. So Frenchy hinges around a solid lineup of eclectic artists you may be yet to meet. There's Nigerian-born French rapper Féfé, San Fran-based French jazz-funk soul guru Hervé Salters (aka General Elektriks) and dream-pop band Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains, who are sure to get your dancing barefoot around your cheese platter. If you're not the most organised of picnickers, So Frenchy is putting on the works again with their beloved picnic boxes and cheese plates from Ed Dixon in Melbourne and Simmone Logue in Sydney. Filled with buttery pastry quiches, salad jardinière and goose egg meringue, the picnic boxes are one to preorder if you don't want to miss out. But So Frenchy won't let you go hungry; there'll be a huge banquet of seafood, crepes, macarons and cheese available on the day, along with a menu from Bistrot Gavorche in Sydney and L'Hotel Gitan in Melbourne. And of course, there'll be plenty of Laurent Perrier Champagne, French beer, Provence rosé, Bordeaux reds and whites, and special cocktails at the SFSC vintage caravan. Don your best floral-headband-and-sundress-combo and gear up for un merveilleux après-midi. SO FRENCHY SO CHIC IN THE PARK 2018 Friday, January 12 — Pinky Flat, Adelaide Sunday, January 14 — Werribee Park, Melbourne Saturday, January 20 — Bicentennial Park, Sydney So Frenchy So Chic in the Park will head to Melbourne Sydney and Adelaide in January 2017. Early bird tickets are on sale now until October 10 for $79. From then on, tickets will be $89 online or $99 on the door. For more info, visit sofrenchysochic.com.au. Image: Simon Shiff.
Wander through Surry Hills this weekend and you'll encounter wind-powered instruments, dancing babies and long-lost dogs. Following its success as part of last year’s Sydney Festival, Micro Parks is back, this time in the hipster heartland. Five Australian artists will be turning local parks into stages, galleries and playgrounds for one glorious weekend. One of the artists involved is monster-maker Justin Shoulder (The River Eats), whose work 1001 Baddies will be using costume, props and crafted magical objects to transform Arthur Street Park into a visually tantalising realm. Inspired by the zombie-filled, rainbow-hued drawings of his husband’s six-year old son Zephyr, Shoulder wanted to extend on the theatricality of his costume wearables to create a work suitable for all ages. “I was interested in how kids use role play to respond and mimic the world around them, often playing with violent narratives," he says. "I am curious to see how they are read both by children and adults and what stories they create in the playground with this new sensorial frame." If you’ve seen Shoulder perform before, you’re probably familiar with at least one of his “fantastic creatures”. Mythical beings embodying both a sense of magic and gritty urbanity, they somehow manage to be confronting yet beautiful, grotesque but majestic, hilarious but wise. As they come to life almost of their own accord, (“I facilitate the creatures more than create them”, says Shoulder), it’s very easy to forget there’s a human beneath the costume. Shoulder enjoys the “extreme and visceral responses” his performances elicit from audiences, believing the art-in-everyday-contexts nature of Micro Parks will be an opportunity to connect with new audiences. “I also love ... the surreal potential of placing different storytellers in these public sites," he says. "It’s all about the element of surprise and accidental encounters. It is also so invigorating to see live works as an antidote to the dominance of screen culture — let's re-engage the senses!” Along with 1001 Baddies you’ll be able to check out Three in the Bush by The Fondue Set, (who intriguingly declare: “We will dance. Just us. No guests. Just babies. Maybe a few babies from time to time”), a play-meets-protest work in Joan Ross’s Possession is 9/10th of the law: please keep off the grass, a wind-powered musical performance entitled Calliope’s Nest by Ensemble Offspring and Malcolm Whittaker’s My Best Friend, a performative walk in memory of loved and lost pet dogs. Micro Parks is part of Performance Space's PSpace Social season of multidisciplinary works taking place in Surry Hills and Darlinghurst. Check out the full program on the Performance Space website.
An epic new Australian story, complete with live music, dance and an authentic Sri Lankan meal. 16 people. Five languages. Two continents. If you think this sounds a tad larger than Belvoir's usual fare, you'd be right. They think so, too. Counting and Cracking, a new work by Homebush-based writer S. Shakthidharan is the first show in Belvoir's history that's demanded a separate venue. It revolves around a single family, but it also has some serious sprawl. Crossing continents, languages and generations with a cast of almost 20 actors, the Belvoir's Upstairs Theatre was never going to cut it. Director Eamon Flack and the gang have upped stumps to Sydney Town Hall for an ambitious theatre experience. The work is an epic that follows Radha and her son Siddartha and how they find themselves torn by life in Australia and the demands of a family back in Sri Lanka. New strings and old are pulled taut as family and circumstance begin dredging up the past. Through music, dance and a story of action and romance, the play explores broader and more complex issues — particularly the political and social challenges of migration. It's a clever piece of storytelling that shares what life in Australia is like for many and what 'home' means. Ensuring the show (and by extension, its message) won't be easily forgotten, Belvoir is making the experience truly immersive. The Sydney Town Hall you know will be replaced by a Sri Lankan equivalent, complete with sarongs on seats, wrought iron gates and, of course, a cricket scoreboard on the wall. Before the performance commences, you'll be treated to an authentic Sri Lankan meal. Bookings are limited so we recommend moving quickly if you want to witness this spectacular show. Image: Brett Boardman.
With intrastate travel now allowed in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, many of us are already planning (a long list of) road trips. Those without a car have probably also been comparing car rental companies — and, now, there's a new player in the game: Uber. The global ride-sharing company is branching out and trialling car rental in Australia as a world first. Rolling out in Brisbane today, then in the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide next week, Uber Rent will only be available to 50 percent of app users in its initial phase. So, you'll need to cross your fingers you get it. If you do land in the lucky half of users, this is how it'll work: update your app to the latest version, select the 'Rentals' option and you'll be able to choose from a selection of cars from Cartrawler and punch in your pick up date and location. Cartrawler is a global company that's connected to a heap car rental suppliers, as well airline companies and online travel retailers, that does just what it says on the packet: trawls through the existing sites to bring you what's available at the times and locations you want it — so you don't have to spend too long doing your own comparisons. The connection to Uber helps make it a little more convenient, with the ability to book through the one app — and score Uber Rewards, if that's something you do. [caption id="attachment_583987" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Great Ocean Road[/caption] Cars start from around $40 a day (for a small car) and $76 for an SUV, with prices getting a little cheaper the longer you book. A Hyundai Accent, for example, will cost around $150 for seven days, with pick up and drop off at Melbourne Airport. If the trial is a success, it'll be rolled out nationally as a permanent option on the app. So, you can plan more trips to dog-friendly pubs, beaches and parks. And get to the vet a little easier (don't tell your cat). Need some inspo when planning your first (second or third) road trip? Have a look at these ten country towns near Brissie worthy of a day trip, these towns outside of Sydney or these wintry Victorian day trips. To find out more about Uber Rent, head to the Uber website.
There are some things that remain universal truths in the realm of television: Early episodes of The Simpsons are much better than the later, 'The Contest' and 'The Soup Nazi' are hands down the greatest things to happen on Seinfeld, and Breaking Bad is the best thing that's been on TV in recent years. Though these claims usually land you in nerdy arguments over a pint of beer, they can now be statistically proven due to the help of one glorious person with too much time on their hands. Graph TV is an easy-to-use website made by Kevin Wu, data analyst extraordinaire, that charts the rating of every episode of every TV series rated on IMDb. Let's just take a second to compute that information. You can type in the name of any show and find out which is the best and worst episode, how the series tracked as it went on, and when it officially should have called it quits. The future is here, and it's incredibly nerdy. Wu claims he thought of the concept while watching the final episodes of Breaking Bad. "I thought the last half of season five was just amazing, and wondered if people thought the same,” he said. After a quick look at the chart, it's easy to tell the majority of people agreed with him. Yeah, science! Obviously, the ratings system is still incredibly subjective. It's just a collection of opinions after all. But if democracy has taught us anything it's that there's strength in numbers, and when nearly 2000 people vote to say that racist episode of How I've Met Your Mother was the worst thing to happen in the entire show, I'm inclined to believe them. The numbers get more convincing when you move to bigger shows like The Simpsons. Showing a gradual but steady decline in viewer ratings over the show's long run, your argument at the pub can finally be put to rest. The highest rating episodes are all old classics from seasons 4-8. The lowest rating, however, is not the horrible compilation shows they tacked together for the offseason, but the cameo of Lady Gaga in season 23. Ouch, that's gotta hurt. Via Wired.
Ramp up the Christmas spirit this December with the return of the Sydney Opera House's much-loved tradition: Carols at the House. Featuring the acclaimed Sydney Philharmonia Choirs across three special dates from Friday, December 12–Sunday, December 14, this year's event is headlined by a trio of stars from the musical stage — Mitchell Butel, Annie Aitken and Alexander Lewis. Spanning a merry program, guests can expect a host of seasonal favourites sung with perfect pitch, including Joy to the World, Away in a Manger, Silent Night and The Twelve Days of Christmas. Meanwhile, the program also features the debut performance of Christmas in Summer — a newly commissioned work by Aussie composer Joe Twist. "With three fantastic soloists, a large symphony orchestra and a massive choir singing a range of traditional carols through to those fresh off the page, it's a real chance to not only show off our wonderful choristers but also introduce you to some new carols that will quickly become classics," says Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Artistic and Musical Director, Brett Weymark. Plus, as an extra special treat ahead of Christmas, the Sydney Philharmonia Choir will also host a one-off performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Part 2) from 2pm on Saturday, December 13, offering a Baroque interpretation of the Nativity story. Featuring two new commissions combining orchestra and chorus, expect this rousing encounter to lift your festive mood.
Australia's capital cities aren't the only places filled with music fans. That's one of the ideas behind Groovin the Moo, which rounds up a heap of huge names and takes them on the road to play regional locations. And, in 2023, those acts are indeed big — Fatboy Slim, Denzel Curry, Eliza Rose and Skepta-level big. They're four of the music stars on the just-announced lineup for the beloved large-scale touring music fest, which returns in 2023 after a pandemic-enforced break, then a smaller tour in 2022. This year, it's back with a full nationwide run, heading to six different states and territories across April and May. Along the way, it'll finally mark a comeback in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland — and hit up New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria as well. [caption id="attachment_878696" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Carlos Luna / Secretaría de Cultura CDMX[/caption] Also on the bill: everyone from Amy Shark, Ball Park Music and Barkaa through to Alt-J, Ocean Alley and Omar Apollo — plus Slayyyter and Sophie May as well. The full lineup spans an impressive mix of overseas and local talent, including Laurel and BBNO$ among the acts making the trip. The list goes on, meaning that folks in Wayville, Maitland, Canberra, Bendigo, the Sunshine Coast and Bunbury — or heading to them just for GTM — have plenty to look forward to. And yes, Queenslanders will note the already-revealed new Sunshine Coast location, after logistical challenges and increased financial pressures forced a move from Townsville. Already grabbing your gumboots? Getting ready to dance in a paddock to one helluva bill? Then you'll be keen to nab tickets from 12pm local time on Tuesday, February 7. And, GTM still has a few details to drop, such as the triple j Unearthed, Fresh Produce artists and Community programs. GROOVIN THE MOO 2023 LINEUP: Alt-J Amy Shark Ball Park Music Barkaa BBNO$ The Chats Choomba Confidence Man Denzel Curry Eliza Rose Fatboy Slim Laurel Luude Ocean Alley Omar Apollo Royel Otis Skegss Skepta Slayyyter Slowly Slowly Sophie May Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers Teenage Dads Teenage Joans Hosts: Lex and Pookie Plus triple j Unearthed, Fresh Produce artists and Community programs still to be announced. GROOVIN THE MOO 2023 DATES AND VENUES: Friday, April 21 — Adelaide Showground, Kaurna Country, Wayville, SA Saturday, April 22 — Maitland Showground, Wonnarua Country, Maitland, NSW Sunday, April 23 — Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), Ngambri and Ngunnawal Country, Mitchell, ACT Saturday, April 29 — Bendigo's Prince of Wales Showgrounds, Dja Dja Wurrung Country, Bendigo, VIC Sunday, April 30 — Kawana Sports Western Precinct, Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Country, Warana, QLD Saturday, May 6 — Hay Park, Wardandi Noongar Country, Bunbury, WA Groovin the Moo will tour Australia in April and May 2023. For more information, or for tickets from 12pm local time on Tuesday, February 7, head to the festival's website. Top images: Ruby Boyland, Ash Caygill and Chloe Hall.
One day, glowing plants might provide enough energy to light up entire buildings. At least, that's the hope of Antony Evans, Kyle Taylor and Omri Amirav-Drory. They have the science to justify it, and the support behind their Kickstarter campaign to attempt its realisation. Their plan has been made possible by developments in synthetic biology over the past 30 or so years. Back in 1986, scientists cultivated the very first radiant seeds but discovered that their effectiveness required the addition of luciferin (the pigment that illuminates fireflies). Three years later, the luciferase-luciferin gene was sequenced. However, it wasn't until 2010 that researchers at the State University of New York managed to add the gene to plants, giving them a dim glow. Around the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, the University of Cambridge's iGem team was recycling luciferase to create bacteria that beamed with the ferocity of Kryptonite. Fast-forward three years, and the aforementioned trio of scientific talents is building on these developments to hatch a plan that has the dramatic reduction of CO2 at its heart. They've already raised the $65,000 necessary to achieving their initial aim — the cultivation of Arabidopsis plants. Now, they're on the cusp of reaching their first stretch goal — $400,000, which will enable the development of glowing roses. So far, 6,981 backers have committed funds, to the tune of $395,135. Supporters who pledge $40 or more are promised a batch of seeds, meaning they'll be able to grow their own glowing plants at home. $150 or more buys a bioluminescent rose. The project has received the backing of some of the highest fliers in the fields of Genetics, Biotechnology and Biochemistry, including George Church (Head of Genetics at Harvard Medical School), Andrew Hessel (Autodesk Distinguished Research Fellow) and Austen Heinz (Founder of Cambrian Genomics). [Via Inhabitat]
Schaübuhne Berlin is back. After setting the 2010 Sydney Festival alight with an improv-heavy and blackly humorous remix of Shakespeare's Hamlet, the Germans have returned for the 2019 festival. Beware of Pity is a collaboration with Simon McBurney from that other crew of mavericks, Complicité. The play is loosely based on a novel of the same name by Stefan Zweig (the man whose memoirs influenced Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel). The story follows an Austrian cavalry officer in a complicated relationship with a millionaire's daughter. Billed as a "prescient portrait of a Europe stumbling toward chaos", this will definitely be one of the brutes of Sydney Festival. Beware of Pity is part of Sydney Festival's dramatic and diverse 2019 program. Check out the full lineup here.
In a sneaky Instagram post last month, South Dowling Sandwiches — undisputed creators of some of the best sangas in the city — announced they'll soon be opening a second outpost in Alexandria. And today, they confirmed it: after 15 years in the biz, the eatery is expanding for the very first time. An expansion of the wildly popular family-run sandwich shop had been in the works for a while, but the Labi family were waiting for the perfect location, says PR Manager and family member Jordana Labi. The site they've settled on is located in the Bourke Centre at 110 Bourke Road, down near The Grounds. "A lot of customers travel from [Alexandria] and it's an up and coming area, in terms of food," she says. South Dowling Sandwiches 2.0 will stick to the culinary concept that's made the original so successful — that is, jumbo sangas packed with fresh ingredients in delicious combinations, sold at affordable prices. For example, the Leg Ham comes with the eponymous protein, plus honey mustard, herb mayo, bocconcini, Roma tomato, lettuce and rocket, and sells for just eight smackaroos. If you've yet to acquaint yourself with the menu, check it out over here. Darlinghurst regulars will be used to wolfing down a sandwich in a hole-in-the-wall, but the new cafe will be bigger, with more seating. "Look-wise, it's more modern," says Labi. "We had a design team take care of the interior." One feature is a blown-up photo of the outside of the original store. What's more, you'll be chasing your bread-encased feast with a Little Marionette coffee. If all goes to plan, the eatery will open for weekday service at the end of July. Keep an eye on their Instagram for more details. Image: Ryan Brabazon Photography.
Huge news: Crown Street could soon be home to Australia's first ultra-exclusive Soho House Club, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review. The global private members club was originally set to open on Domain Road in Melbourne's South Yarra, but developers were forced to ditch plans at the direction of VCAT in late October, after strong opposition from local councils and a residents' group. Trenerry Property Group and Kanat Group will lead the transformation of the $20 million, three-storey space at 256 Crown Street in Darlinghurst. Plans for the 512-square-metre site are scarce at the moment, but we'll bring you more information as it drops. Soho House first opened in London in 1995 as a private members' club for clientele in the creative sphere. They've since opened over a dozen clubs across Europe and North America, as well as restaurants, cinemas, workspaces, spas and bedrooms. From New York to Istanbul, exclusivity is a common global denominator. We'll bring you more information as it becomes available. Top image: Jason Briscoe, Unsplashed
Ready, set, subscribe. Sydney's theatre companies have started rolling out their plans for season 2012, and they have us excited already. Belvoir launched their new season on the weekend, inviting back many of their favourite players from this year and mixing in some vital new blood. Resident director Simon Stone (The Wild Duck, Baal) will adapt and direct two more classics for the stage: Eugene O'Neill's epic Strange Interlude (starring Emily Barclay) and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (with Colin Friels). The production that brought the young director to everyone's attention in the first place, Thyestes, from the Hayloft Project, will finally get a Sydney outing, too, at CarriageWorks during the Sydney Festival. Artistic director Ralph Myers will make his Belvoir directing debut (set design is normally his bag) with Noel Coward's Private Lives, utilising the very charming Toby Schmitz and Eloise Mignon as his barb-slinging divorcees, while Benedict Andrews (The Seagull, Measure for Measure) is also trying out a new role, having written the intriguing Every Breath, which he'll also direct. Other highlights include the collaboration of playwright Rita Kalnejais and director Eamon Flack — both dazzling, young and clever — for Babyteeth, and in the Downstairs Theatre, a version of Medea that promises to do for the Euripides classic what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead did for Hamlet. See the full program here. Over at the SBW Stables, the Griffin Theatre vision — to present the best in new and canonical Australian playwriting and support artists from inspiration through development to the stage — is written all over their 2012 season. They've extended their main season from five to six productions, making room for an encore run of Paul Capsis's sweet matriarchal ode, Angela's Kitchen. But first they'll kick things off with a headline piece of Griffin heritage, The Boys, in association with the Sydney Festival. Artistic director Sam Strong will direct this hypnotising, terrifying portrait of male rage that swagged so many AWGIEs and AFIs, and he'll also helm the later Between Two Waves, Ian Meadows' climate change/relationship drama, the first production to grow out of the Griffin Studio development program. Rounding out the main stage programming, The Story of Mary Maclane by Herself will bring together musician Tim Rogers and a historical wild woman, while the 2011 Griffin Award-winning A Hoax (coproduced with La Boite and directed by Lee Lewis) will rip into the culture of celebrity and the commodification of abuse. Meanwhile, the independent season (shows picked by Griffin to play but produced by others, both emerging and established) will bring The New Electric Ballroom in association with the Siren Theatre Company (As You Like It), Porn Cake with Michael Sieders and The Sea Project with Arthur. Finally, Tim Roseman from London's cutting-edge Theatre503 will come over to help pull off Rapid Write, for which writers will only start pitching their most of-the-now ideas a few weeks before opening. Can't wait for next year? Check out Griffin's Smashed and Belvoir's Human Interest Story right now.
Tim Minchin's theatrical hit Matilda the Musical is finally heading our way, and will make its Australian premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in August 2015. Having earned critical acclaim and popular adoration on the West End and Broadway, the show looks set to do the same here, with NSW Tourism already rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation of all the dollars to be gained from out-of-towner tickets. But Matilda comes with more cred than your usual musical extravaganza. The staggeringly successful show (just seven Olivier Awards and five Tonys, whatevs) was adapted from the original Roald Dahl novel by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Australia's own Minchin wrote the music and lyrics, bringing the requisite level of devilishly dark humour. As the Guardian put it, "You'd be a nitwit to miss [it]". Cast is yet to be announced, but no doubt a team will soon be scouring the country for some preciously talented youngsters to play Matilda, if they haven't started already. Those in the loop will probably already know that Minchin has now moved on to an adaptation of the 1993 classic Groundhog Day. The film's original writer Daniel Rubin is writing the "book" and Matthew Warchus, who directed Matilda's London and Broadway runs, will be working his magic again. If only Bill Murray could star. https://youtube.com/watch?v=2ZsmXBBKvTk
Do you solemnly swear that you're up to no good? Excellent. The Marauder's Map has opened and revealed that something exciting is coming to town: the Sydney Symphony Orchestra is bringing back Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ live in Concert. The Orchestra spent the years between 2017 and 2023 performing Harry Potter™ films live in concert with up to 80 of Australia's most skilled musicians, each sold out faster than you can say "expelliarmus". The series was over, but the people cried (and voted) for more, and now Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ is returning for more live performances from Wednesday, April 17 to Saturday, April 20. If you've never had the pleasure of seeing the Sydney Symphony Orchestra live, this is a perfect introduction. Founded in 1932, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra is one of Australia's leading performing arts groups and one of the top orchestras in the world. It is known particularly well for its live-to-film performances, which feature a movie playing on a big screen behind them as the orchestra performs the film's score. All while in the iconic concert hall of the Sydney Opera House, making it an unmissable Sydney music experience. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ was originally released in 2004, so the performance will be taking place just over a month before the film's 20th anniversary. In the film, Harry Potter and his friends are in their third year of schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In their third year at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione meet escaped prisoner Sirius Black, learn to handle a half-horse/half-eagle Hippogriff, repel shape-shifting Boggarts and master the art of Divination. Harry must also withstand soul-sucking Dementors, outsmart a dangerous werewolf and deal with the truth about Sirius and his relationship with Harry and his parents. Earning an Oscar nomination for the score, the spellbinding and masterful music composed by John Williams became a celebrated classic, conjuring beautiful, soaring motifs continuing the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends on their magical journey. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban™ will be performed live at the Sydney Opera House with five performances between Wednesday, April 17 and Saturday, April 20. For more information or to get tickets, visit the website.
A 19-year-old woman was found unconscious and convulsing at yesterday's Harbourlife festival at 4.40pm. After being assessed by paramedics, she was taken to St Vincent's Hospital where she was later pronounced dead of multiple organ failure. It's believed that drugs played a role in her death. Though an autopsy is yet to be carried out, friends of the deceased teenager have told police she had taken one-and-a-half pills during the day. The coroner will attempt to find out what was in the pills, but police are taking the opportunity to warn people of the general dangers of illegal drugs. "There's little to no quality control in the production," said Inspector Stewart Leggat in a statement this morning. "Quite simply, you don't know what you are getting — seeking a synthetic high could result in a serious injury or death." Of the 5,200 people in attendance yesterday, 78 were arrested for drug offences. Police are urging anyone with information about illegal substances to come forward. "We don't need to know who you are; all we need is the information you have," said Inspector Leggat. "The information you provide could save someone's life." Via NSW Police and SMH. If you have more information contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the online reporting page.
Kitchen-Studio is the next Black Box Projects exhibition at MAY SPACE. Curated by Megan Fizell and featuring artists Nina Ross, Miku Sato, Hana Hoogedeure and Luke O'Donnell, Kawita Vatanajyankur, Hanne Nielsen and Birgit Johnsen, and Ana Prvački, the show turns the domestic kitchen into a performance space. Exploring themes such as the divide between public and private, female labour, collaboration, language, the body, and physical beauty, each artist takes inspiration from the everyday domestic gesture of preparing food. Underneath it all is the echo of Judith Butler's argument for gender as a cultural construction established through a 'stylized repetition of acts' — in this case, the repeated domestic gestures enacted day after day by women in their kitchens. What is the relationship between the kitchen, food preparation and the solidification of gender norms? And if an artist takes a space that is normally private and brings it into the realm of public performance? What happens then? Video artist Kawita Vatanajyankur in particularly is sure to capture your attention — her vibrantly hued staged performances explore the female body, its connection to domesticity, and most of all its capacity for strength and endurance. Image: Kawita Vatanajyankur, The Ice Shaver (2013).
Fans of Australian dance innovators Shaun Parker & Company will want to check out the world premiere of their new piece, Am I in the upcoming Sydney Festival. In a highly visual, theatrical piece, 14 musicians and dancers, including guest artist Shantala Shivalingappa (who's worked with Pina Bausch and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui), join forces to create the world of Am I — a near future in which seven individuals seek to create a new world order. As they examine the weaknesses and mistakes of the past, religion collides with science, harmony with disorder. Composer Nick Wales steps up for the company again to create an original soundscape combining world music and cult-like singing. You may have seen the company’s highly popular Happy as Larry at the Seymour Centre, or more recently, witnessed them tumbling their way across Sydney’s playgrounds in SPILL. If you’ve never seen their work, this could be a good time to get acquainted with a local company making some pretty exhilarating stuff.
It's one of our favourite times of the year: Mardi Gras season — when we can unapologetically express and celebrate being who we are. There are numerous happenings throughout the city during the month to celebrate this most glittery and colourful festival, including at Broadway Sydney, which is going all out with its celebration: CAMP! Broadway. Come down to the shopping centre to check out all the camp and colourful decorations, including the pink fuzzy travellator arches, a massive silver horse giving Beyonce Renaissance vibes, giant disco ball cherries with matching martini glasses, a disco ball Christmas tree for those that can't leave Christmas in December and huge flamingos wearing cowboy hats surrounded by rollerblades. There will also be bespoke events to celebrate all things Mardi Gras. Read on for the full rundown of happenings at CAMP! Broadway. Kath and Kim Bingo with Prada Clutch and Conchita Grande You know what's nice, different, unusual? Kath and Kim Bingo. And who better to lead the activities than Prada Clutch and Conchita Grande? These fabulous drag queens will be hosting the bingo at Broadway Sydney Hoyts at 6.30pm on Friday, February 23. Tickets are $45 and include a drink and canapés on arrival. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to LGBTQIA+ Charity, Twenty 10. Winners of the bingo will score Broadway Sydney shopping vouchers and fun retailer proizes.Be sure to deck yourself out in all the leopard print you have (there will be a prize for best dressed) and come armed with all the Kath and Kim references you can — Prada and Conchita will surely deliver. Bookings are essential and can be made on the website. Drag N Dine Bingo with Conchita Grande If you like your bingo with a side of burgers and hot chips, then join the fabulous Conchita Grande for Drag N Dine bingo at Broadway's Grill'd on Thursday, February 29 — because being that stylish needs fuel in the form of delicious food and number puns. Tickets are $10 and include a drink. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Twenty 10. There will be two sessions, one at 5.30pm and the second at 7.30pm. Bookings are essential and can be made on the website. Fair Day Fun with Fairy Drag Mothers Queen Charlamaine, Dakota Fann'ee and Annie Mation Fair Day may be officially cancelled, but you can still get your dose of CAMP at Broadway Sydney. The one day you shouldn't miss at Broadway is Fair Day on February 18. Keep your eyes peeled for Fairy Drag Mothers throughout the day. Drag darlings and lip-sync extraordinaires Dakota Fann'ee and Annie Mation will be delighting shoppers with their charming performances throughout the day. Watch (and join in) with these gals as they spin, twirl and belt out show tunes while showcasing their fierce dance moves. Plus, Queen Charlamaine will also be appearing as a special guest at the Snap N Share installation to raise money for Rainbow Families. Head up to the pop-up on level one and strike a pose with Queen Charlamaine and your family or your mates. More details on Snap N Share are below. Find out more information about Fair Day Fun on the website. Roaming Drag Performances Queen Charlamaine and Fairah Nuff will be putting on drag performances all over the shopping centre, bringing smiles to those shopping. Visit on Thursday, February 29, from 5–8pm to see the mini-drag performances happening throughout the shopping centre for free. Find out more information on the website. Snap N Share to Win Head up to the Snap and Share installation to raise money for Rainbow Families throughout the festival period. You will find the pop-up on level one and strike a pose with your family or your besties. For every photo snapped and shared on your social media with the tags @broadwaysydney and @rainbowfamilies between February 7 and March 4, Broadway will donate $1 to Rainbow Families. If you don't want to share to your socials, you can also use the 'share box' by the installation and write about a moment you felt "pride in who you are". For every share note left, Broadway will donate another dollar. Plus, every entry puts you in the draw to win a $1000 Broadway Sydney gift card. Find out more information on the website. Queer Art CAMPaign In addition to all the performances and fabulous decorations, you will also have the chance to support local LGBTQIA+ artists and purchase a print of your favourite work at the CAMP! Broadway's art exhibition, Queer Art Campaign. Showcasing illustrators, designers, photographers, and painters from the LGBTQIA+ community. Proceeds from each purchase will be shared equally between Twenty10 and the artists contributing to the exhibition. Some of the artists include Jade D'Amico, Alvin Zhong, Jeff McCann, Lots of Broth (Tessa Curran), Doodad and Fandango, and Lexi Laphor. Find out more information on the website. CAMP! Broadway takes place during the month of February. Find out more about the festival and all happenings at Broadway on the website.
Pocket City Farms is joining forces with horticulturist Narelle Happ to teach the community all there is to know about native bush food — how to identify species, what's edible and how best to grow these plants at home. Happ has over a decade of experience in sustainable production and specialises in native gardens and permaculture design. Tickets include tea, coffee and a taste testing of these local plants, as well as an introduction of how to use them in cooking and for medicinal purposes. Happ will also lead discussion on how growing Australian native bush plants can boost biodiversity, attracting native birds and bees to your garden and the community at large. Attendees are encouraged to bring along a hat and gardening gloves, as the day will include demonstrations of how to properly propagate and harvest natives.
What do Elvis Presley, Yayoi Kusama, Pablo Picasso and Ancient Greece have in common? In the coming months, all four will have items and objects on display across Victoria. Accordingly, if you're looking for an excuse to spend the cooler months in a museum or gallery, you have several — including peering at 44 ancient works dating back to the early bronze age. Those historic pieces will hit Melbourne Museum courtesy of Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys and Connections, a new exhibition that's set to open on Saturday, April 23. Co-created and presented with the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the Australian-first showcase will feature pieces from the Greek organisation's collection — which happens to be the richest range of artefacts from Greek antiquity worldwide — all of which will be making an appearance Down Under for the first time. In the case of two of the exhibition's big highlights — the gold Theseus ring, which dates back to the 15th century BCE, as well as a 2500-year-old marble sphinx that depicts a female head with the body of a winged lion — they'll make their debut outside of the National Archaeological Museum, too. Also coming our way: a collection of artefacts depicting Greek hero Heracles, as well as pieces that date through to the Roman period. [caption id="attachment_845137" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Column krater, clay, Herakles slaying the king of Egypt, Busiris, and his attendants. B. Maenad and Satyrs. By the Cleveland Painter.Unknown provenance.About 470 BC. Credit National Archaeological Museum and Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. Photographer Eleytherios Galanopoulos[/caption] Overall, Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys and Connections will focus on not just Ancient Greece itself, but how the trade of ideas and goods influenced its culture — and how the Greeks also influenced the rest of the ancient world. "Since antiquity, the Greeks have always followed the open horizons of the sea, constantly travelling to every corner of the world. Extroversion, broad-mindedness and cosmopolitanism, as well as the ability to embrace and utilise foreign influences in a creative and original way have been integral elements of Hellenic culture," explains Minister of Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports Dr Lina Mendoni. Announcing the news, Museums Victoria CEO Lynley Crosswell said "we are excited to be collaborating with the National Archaeological Museum to bring some of the most remarkable artefacts direct from Athens for audiences in Melbourne to enjoy. This captivating exhibition will invite visitors to explore the cross-cultural connections that contributed to the formation of Ancient Greece." Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys and Connections opens at Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, on Saturday, April 23. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the museum's website. Top image: One of a pair of antefixes Clay Representations of Chimaera and Bellerophon mounting his winged horse, Pegasus. From Thasos. 550-500 BC. Credit National Archaeological Museum and Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. Photographer Magoulas.
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who think the movie Legally Blonde is awesome, and those who are wrong, so plain wrong. Reese Witherspoon's adventure as Elle Woods, the Malibu sorority girl who goes to Harvard Law for all the wrong reasons and yet finds it's just the right place for her, is a 2001 classic that's totally hilarious, surreptitiously full of heart, and a pillar of the teen girl-power canon. And with all its exuberance, kitsch, and preposterous costume, it was ripe to make the hop from celluloid to the musical theatre stage. Legally Blonde: The Musical opened on Broadway in 2007 to widespread 'snaps' of approval. Now that show's original director and choreographer, Jerry Mitchell, has reproduced the spectacular on the Lyric stage with a knockout Australian cast. Avenue Q or The Book of Mormon it ain't, but Legally Blonde is still a hipper musical than most and a great excuse to leave your cynicism and 'thinking brain' at the door for a night of giddy, gratifying musical theatre that will have you grinning like a golden retriever puppy. The numbers here are big and seductive. It opens with the all-in 'Ohmigod You Guys' as Elle (Lucy Durack) prepares with her Delta Nu sisters for an impending proposal from boyfriend Warner (Rob Mills), and the uber-catchy, always-apt refrain happily reappears throughout the show. Things briefly take a turn for the wistful when its revealed Warner and Elle have their lines crossed on what it means to get 'Serious', as Warner dumps Elle to begin his fast track to political candidacy via Harvard Law School. He now needs a Jackie, not a Marilyn, he memorably tells her. Heartbroken, she resolves to become that serious partner, applying herself to her studies for the first time so she can blitz the SATs and join him at the prestigious university. But, as we all know, being something other than who you are is a recipe for disaster, and Elle learns that in a glorious, individuality-affirming way. The only musical number that equals the charm of 'Ohmigod You Guys' is the courtroom drama 'There! Right There!' (also known as 'Gay or European'), but solid songs dot the performance, from Elle's turning-point mantra 'Chip on My Shoulder' to the energetic exercise routine 'Whipped Into Shape' from Brooke Wyndham (model Erika Heynatz making her impressive musical debut) and 'Blood in the Water' from legal shark Professor Callahan (Cameron Daddo), which drips with cartoon villainy in a manner reminiscent to Scar preparing to kill Simba. Occasional dashes of contemporary pop and hip hop are welcome in the typically Broadway broth, although the forays into Irish folk are a little stranger. The performers really make this production, as they're beautifully cast. Durack, last seen as Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, effuses high energy and total adorableness as Elle. Mills has well and truly come good in the musical theatre world since his Idol days, and he does 'caddish and slightly infuriating' really, really perfectly. Thesp Helen Dallimore gets sweetly garish as Paulette, and David Harris is a strong presence as Elle's new, better love interest, Emmett. The performers do well just to hold their own against the four dogs playing Bruiser and Rufus, whom audiences are clearly smitten with. It must be said, however, that this Elle Woods does not rock as much as Witherspoon's, and it's through no fault of Durack's. It's that composers Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and director Jerry Mitchell have increased Emmett's role to the point where he often stands in for Elle's intellect and morality, stripping her of her own agency, which drove her arc in the film. Now, it's Emmett who pushes Elle into reorientating her attention towards her studies in 'Chip on My Shoulder', rather than her making that change of her own reckoning, and Emmett even prompts her first legal victory, where she reclaims Paulette's dog. In return, she gives him a makeover (ugh). You can see why they've done it — to centralise the romantic plot for a mainstream audience and to theatricalise her internal journey for the big stage — but the consequences are disappointing to anyone who valued Legally Blonde precisely because of Elle's independence. (Outside of gender politics, the creative team also seems to have decided that the source of Elle's pep is Red Bull, which seems to miss the point of the story's supposedly central message of embracing your true, natural self, whatever it may be. No?) But that's already too much serious talk for a buoyant musical with sets that unfurl like pretty Transformers, costumes that dazzle, and songs you'll download to iTunes in secret. Its simple philosophy is that femininity can be a strength and not a weakness. And that positivity is cool. And that pink goes with everything.
Liveworks is a crawling, sprawling tangle of contemporary pieces, bundled together into a four-day-long festival extravaganza. There's plenty for punters to choose from. Karen Therese will apply her particular brand of charismatic, confrontational and a-little-bit-crazy performance to Alistair White's 'Comfort Zone' theory. Brigid Jackson's Into/Out Of Me is a solo performance in a dressing room that explores the extent to which our bodies actually belong to us. In manola, Claudia Escobar pursues an "experimental visual journey", swinging between her heritage and popular perceptions of Colombia. And if you should feel the need for a brief moment of respite, don't visit the Clubhouse, where Cinemanic and I Can Draw You A Picture will be busily at work. While a day pass will keep you busy, I'd recommend the festival pass: for a mere $60, you can see as many performances as you can cram into the four days of the festival.
Sometimes it can seem really hard to meet new friends. You float around your fish bowl meeting the same people all the time, and even though our generation is supposed to be all about 'social networking', sometimes it feels like the nicest thing in the world would be to hang out with interesting people who have completely new stories to tell you. This is what Wok+Wine is about. Beginning in New York in November 2008, Wok+Wine was the brainchild of Peter Mandeno and Lizzie Shupak, who decided to gather a diverse yet small group of people together over 50 bottles of fine wine and 50 pounds of jumbo prawns. Since then the concept has exploded, with events being hosted all over the world. This month Wok+Wine are returning to Sydney and have been lovely enough to partner up with Concrete Playground in the first ever Playground Perks event. We caught up for a chat ahead of their visit. What was the inspiration behind Wok+Wine? When Peter arrived in New York from Amsterdam, it was the fifth city that he'd had to start in from scratch. And when you're starting in a new place, you know you need to meet diverse interesting people, for both social and business reasons, but it's pretty hard to break in without being pigeon-holed. Yes, you could join the Art Directors Club, or the Expat Association, or start playing rugby or football, but if your aim is to just meet interesting people, it's hard to find them all at the same time. So that's where Wok+Wine came from. A way to gather a diverse group of people together, and turn them from strangers into friends. How does a normal Wok+Wine event usually work? How do you get the word out there? The event formula is simple. We invite you to a mystery location; think art galleries, bike shops, warehouses etc, and all you know is that you'll be standing around a long communal table peeling prawns with your hands. We only serve one kind of food and one kind of wine, to level the playing field and take the decision-making away, so that you can just focus on the conversations. We get the word out through our community, and through likeminded partner organisations like Concrete Playground. We've deliberately steered clear of mainstream press and PR, and so we've grown organically. That said, we now have a community of 3000+ people around the world, so it's becoming pretty interesting. It seems like the idea of community is a really important idea behind Wok+Wine. How are these events different to generalised 'social networking'? "Social networking" is such a sterile term. And it also comes with an agenda. A friend in New York once told us that the reason Wok+Wine was so special, was because it was a 'no reason' party. People have all kinds of excuses for being there, but there isn't a specific reason. It's not an event about talking business, or for picking up a partner, it's just about meeting people and having authentic conversations. What kind of food and wine can people expect from Wok+Wine? You can expect heaps of jumbo prawns, heads and shells-on, with junks of artisinal bread to dip into the sauce, along with all kinds of wines from around the world. We've done events with Craggy Range, Bear Flag, Chapel Hill, Mitchelton...Oh, and we've used Sake as well. What kinds of people can you expect to meet on the night? Do people often come alone? You can expect to meet people with interesting stories. You have to be a certain type of person to pay money up front, to go to a mystery location, and eat with your hands with a group of strangers. Those people tend to be adventurous, willing to take risks, creative and international. As far as whether people come alone, it really depends on the culture of the city. In New York and San Francisco, people are really willing to come by themselves, and say that coming with someone is actually a real pain. In cities like London and Vancouver, people prefer to come with someone else or a small group. We try to discourage large groups coming along, as half the fun is meeting new people. But most groups break up quite quickly, as new conversations are sparked around the table. How do you choose where your events are going to take place, and what brings you to Australia? We try to find venues that are a bit different, which are owned or managed by likeminded people. Some hosts approach us and others we come across out of the blue. Like The Little Mule cafe in Melbourne. It's a hybrid custom bike shop and cafe, and we emailed them randomly to ask whether we could do an event in their space. They said "We love what you're doing, sure!" and let us in. As far as Australia goes, we're spending more and more time down under. We came last year and had such a great time that we thought we'd better come again! To get an idea of how awesome this all looks, check out this time-lapse video of their latest event in New York.
In The Shape of Water, love conquers all, even when a man-like sea creature is involved. That extends to this year's Academy Award nominations, where Guillermo del Toro's monster romance scored a massive 13 nominations — and helped lead the charge for a traditionally under-represented genre. That'd be horror. It doesn't usually get much attention from the Oscars, but the Academy fell head over heels for the gorgeous creature feature, as nods for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Sally Hawkins), Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer), Best Supporting Actor (Richard Jenkins), Best Original Screenplay (Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor) and more all show. They were also more than a little fond of Get Out, which picked up four nominations. Star Daniel Kaluuya received a Best Actor nod, but it's writer/director Jordan Peele who's rightfully feeling thrilled at the moment. Recognised in the Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture categories, he's the first African-American to earn the trifecta of nominations for writing, directing and producing. https://twitter.com/JordanPeele/status/955807529161801728 Peele also became the fifth black nominee for Best Director in the awards' 90-year history, featuring in a field usually filled with white guys. That's not the directing branch's only welcome departure, with Lady Bird's Greta Gerwig becoming only the fifth woman to earn a directing nod. Dunkirk's Christopher Nolan, Phantom Thread's Paul Thomas Anderson and The Shape of Water's Guillermo del Toro fill out the category. Interestingly, all five nominees also wrote or co-wrote their film's screenplays. Elsewhere, Dunkirk collected eight nominations in total, Golden Globes standout Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri received seven (including for Best Actress favourite Frances McDormand), and Phantom Thread and Darkest Hour six apiece, with Blade Runner 2049 and Lady Bird nabbing five each, and Get Out, Mudbound, Call Me By Your Name and Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi all picking up four. And while that's an impressive spread — and an impressive list of recognised films — this year's Oscars were at their best when they were making history. First-ever female cinematographer to score a nomination? Yep, that'd be Mudbound's Rachel Morrison. First acting nominee from a film directed by a woman of colour? Mudbound again, with Mary J. Blige earning a Best Supporting Actress nod under Dee Rees' direction. First person to receive nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Song? Mudbound and Mary J. Blige once more. Youngest male acting nominee since the 1930s — and oldest acting nominee ever? They came in the form of Call Me By Your Name's Timothée Chalamet and All the Money in the World's Christopher Plummer, the latter getting the tap after famously only stepping into the film mere months ago. And iconic French director Agnes Varda became the oldest nominee ever in any category, thanks to Best Documentary contender Faces Places. As for Australia's efforts, Margot Robbie picked up a Best Actress nomination for I, Tonya, while editor Lee Smith was recognised for Dunkirk. The 90th Academy Awards will take place on March 5 Australian time, and will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Here's the full list of nominations. OSCAR NOMINEES 2018 BEST MOTION PICTURE Call Me by Your Name Darkest Hour Dunkirk Get Out Lady Bird Phantom Thread The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri BEST DIRECTOR Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk Jordan Peele, Get Out PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Margot Robbie, I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird Meryl Streep, The Post PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Daniel Day-Lewis, The Phantom Thread Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq. PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Mary J. Blige, Mudbound Allison Janney, I, Tonya Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR Coco Ferdinand Loving Vincent The Breadwinner The Boss Baby ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY Roger A. Deakins, Blade Runner 2049 Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water Rachel Morrison, Mudbound Hoyte Van Hoytema, Dunkirk ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN Mark Bridges, Phantom Thread Jacqueline Durran, Darkest Hour Jacqueline Durran, Beauty and the Beast Consolata Boyle, Victoria and Abdul Luis Sequeira, The Shape of Water BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Faces Places Last Men in Aleppo Strong Island Abacus: Small Enough To Jail Icarus BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT Edith + Eddie Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 Heroin(e) Knife Skills Traffic Stop ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss, Baby Driver Jon Gregory, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya Lee Smith, Dunkirk Sidney Wolinsky, The Shape of Water BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR A Fantastic Woman, Chile Loveless, Russia On Body and Soul, Hungary The Insult, Lebanon The Square, Sweden ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard, Victoria and Abdul Arjen Tuiten, Wonder Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinkowski, Lucy Sibbick, Darkest Hour ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE) Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread Carter Burwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG) 'Mighty River' from Mudbound by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq, and Taura Stinson 'Remember Me' from Coco by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez 'Stand Up for Something' from Marshall by Lonnie R. Lynn (Common), Andra Day, and Diane Warren 'The Mystery of Love' from Call Me by Your Name by Sufjan Stevens 'This Is Me' from The Greatest Showman by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis, Dunkirk Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, and Jeff Melvin, The Shape of Water Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Darkest Hour Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Beauty and the Beast Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola, Bladerunner 2049 BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM Dear Basketball Garden Party Negative Space Lou Revolting Rhymes BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM DeKalb Elementary My Nephew Emmett The Silent Child Watu Wote/All of Us The Eleven O'clock ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING Richard King, Alex Gibson, Dunkirk Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green, Blade Runner 2049 Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, The Shape of Water Julian Slater, Baby Driver Matthew Wood, Star Wars: The Last Jedi ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING Ron Bartlett, Dough Hemphill, Mac Ruth, Blade Runner 2049 Tim Cavagin, Julian Slater, Mary H. Ellis, Baby Driver Christian T. Cooke, Filip Hosek, Brad Zoern, The Shape of Water Gregg Landaker, Gary Rizzo, Mark Weingarten, Dunkirk David Parker, Michael Semanchick, Ren Klyce, and Stuart Wilson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS Ben Morris, Michael Mulholland, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, Joel Whist, War for the Planet of the Apes Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Mike Meinardus, Kong: Skull Island John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer, Blade Runner 2049 Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Dan Sudick, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Aaron Sorkin, Molly's Game James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green, Logan Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, The Disaster Artist Dee Rees, Virgil Williams, Mudbound ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Guillermo Del Toro & Vanessa Taylor, The Shape of Water Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick Jordan Peele, Get Out Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Over the past few months, with COVID-19 cases remaining low, New South Wales has been loosening its coronavirus restrictions. But, due to the new northern beaches cluster, the state is now tightening up its rules in an effort to contain the spread. That has seen quite a few things change rather rapidly since Friday, December 18 — including today, Sunday, December 20, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian announcing new restrictions for Greater Sydney. Presently, the northern beaches local government area is in lockdown until 11.59pm on Wednesday, December 23 — and residents of the rest of the city have been asked to avoid non-essential activities across the same period. Now, Premier Berejiklian has advised that new public health orders are coming into effect from 11.59pm tonight, Sunday, December 20, regarding at-home gatherings and hospitality venues. Yes, they'll cap how many people can be in either type of space. And, they'll be in place for the Greater Sydney area, including the Blue Mountains and Central Coast. First, the news that might change your festive celebrations. If you're keen to have folks over to your house, that's being capped at ten people — and runs through until midnight on Wednesday. So, if you're getting merry in someone's home in the lead up to Christmas, you'll now need to scale down your plans. At all other indoor settings other than the family home — which includes hospitality venues — the one-person-per-four-square-metre rule is back in effect until further notice. That's changing from one person per two square metres, so it's basically halving the amount of people who can be inside in a venue. Also, a cap of 300 people will apply, even if a large space can hold more than that and still abide by the density requirement. Singing and chanting are also off the cards at indoors venues. Obviously, that's going to affect Christmas festivities, too. And, dance floors have been nixed again — other than at weddings, where a maximum of 20 people from the bridal party can still cut a rug. https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1340451514741972992 The restrictions are being put back in place as New South Wales reports 30 new local cases — including 28 that have already been directly linked to the Avalon cluster — plus six acquired from overseas. The aim of the new caps is to limit the spread of COVID-19 across Sydney, including via further seeding events as folks spend more time together indoors in the lead up to Christmas. Sydneysiders are also asked to continue to frequently check NSW Health's long list of locations and venues that positive coronavirus cases have visited over the past week — and, if you've been to anywhere listed on the specific dates and times, get tested immediately and self-isolate for 14 days after your visit. In terms of symptoms, Sydneysiders should be looking out for coughs, fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste — and getting tested at a clinic if you have any. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website. Top image: Stix, Cassandra Hannagan.
If there's one thing that Gelato Messina loves more than the dessert that shares its name, it's whipping up decadent dishes that either feature its creamy, frosty wares, or pair them with cookie pies or scrolls. These sweet treats have been helping plenty of people get through lockdown; however, under Sydney and Melbourne's travel limits, these specials come with a catch: you can only get one if you live within the right radius of a Messina store. Don't reside near one of the dessert chain's shops? Still hankering for one of its tastebud-tempting once-offs? Been eyeing them off for too long, and have the grumbling stomach to prove it? Finally, the brand has good news for you. Thanks to a new home delivery service, Messina is now bringing its dishes to select parts of Sydney and Melbourne, with a focus on areas that aren't in the vicinity of one of the chain's outlets. If your mouth is now watering, folks in the northern beaches and upper north shore in Sydney, and in Melbourne's southeast and northwest, will get their chance to indulge between Monday, September 6–Thursday, September 9 — with orders open now for deliveries during those dates. In terms of what you can get brought to your door, you do only have one option, though: the Andy Bowdy-inspired banana split kit that made ice cream lovers hungry just this week. Messina is planning to open up its deliveries to new areas each week, so if you're not covered this time around, you'll still want to keep an eye on its website. And, given how the chain likes to mix up its specials, fingers crossed that it switches up its delivery options each week as well. Gelato Messina is now offering home delivery to select parts of Sydney and Melbourne. For further information and to order, head to the brand's website.
If social distancing and isolation has seen you clocking up bulk hours in the kitchen this year, we're betting you've chewed through quite the recipe collection — and, as a result, that you're now in need of some new culinary projects to have a crack at. Your mates at KFC are happy to help, releasing the recipe for a dish you never knew you wanted: hot and spicy mac 'n' cheese, as topped with fried chicken of course. Destined to warm some cockles and answer a few carb cravings this season, the revamped comfort food classic stars KFC's Hot & Spicy chook, which is back on the restaurant chain's menu until Monday, August 10 only. To make the recipe at home, you'll need to nip to your local KFC to stock up on the hero ingredient. But the rest of the lineup is pretty simple, mostly featuring stuff you'll probably already have in the pantry and fridge — like cheese, milk, spices and dried pasta. Here's the recipe — sort out a bowl, a whisk and a saucepan and getting cooking: HOT AND SPICY MAC 'N' CHEESE Serves one KFC Hot & Spicy chicken 150 grams pasta 3/4 cup milk 1 tablespoon plain flour 100 grams grated cheese Fresh herbs 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder If you can't be bothered with the spices, you can just substitute your favourite hot sauce as an alternative. Method: Cook pasta until al dente, then drain and set aside. Place 1/4 cup of milk in a small bowl, then whisk in flour until all the lumps are gone. Place the other 1/2 cup of milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, then mix in the spices/hot sauce. Yo can adjust the amount of spices/sauce based on your preference. Once steam starts rising from the milk, whisk in the milk and flour mixture until the sauce thickens (which should take around four minutes). Turn heat down to low, then mix in the cheese gradually until it has all melted. Remove from heat, stir in the pasta and fresh herbs, then serve in a bowl. Top with Hot & Spicy chicken.
Everyday food items earning their own cafes: no, it's not a culinary kind of science fiction; it's our current reality. Cereal, avocados, mayonnaise, cookie dough, peanut butter on toast... the list goes on, and now it includes the humble marshmallow. American marshmallow makers XO Marshmallow are taking their online venture into the bricks-and-mortar world after meeting their crowdfunding goal, and plan to open their eatery in the coming months. If you've only ever devoured supermarket marshmallows, then your tastebuds mightn't be tingling at this idea; however their flavour range puts regular old spongy pillows of sugar, water and gelatin to shame. https://www.instagram.com/p/BTuHm7_hVJD/?taken-by=xo.marshmallow It would probably be easier to list the varieties they haven't tried — XO's standard selection includes trusty faves vanilla and raspberry, plus salted caramel, lavender honey, rose, mint, green tea, bourbon, Kahlua and champagne. Among the others they've given a spin are Nutella, mango habanero, pumpkin spice, root beer float, mimosa, double cherry, strawberry and spiked eggnog. Yes, your stomach should be rumbling. If you find yourself in Chicago looking for some marshmallowy goodness, XO's cafe will expand their operations to include s'mores, taco s'mores, rice crispy treats, marshmallow cones, marshmallow pops and toasted marshmallow lattes. For now, feast your eyes on their Instagram feed and just imagine how great their fluffy wonders would taste melted over a fire. Via Food & Wine.
Each year, the Berlin International Film Festival premieres a treasure trove of flicks that movie buffs will be talking about for months to come, and longer, including when said titles make their way to Australia. It also understandably goes big on new German cinema, which often heads Down Under via the German Film Festival — and that touring event now has the 2023 program to prove it. At Sydney's Palace Norton Street, Chauvel Cinema and Palace Central from Tuesday, May 2–Wednesday, May 24, film lovers can look forward to five Berlinale-debuting picks, starting with The Teacher's Lounge with Babylon Berlin's Leonie Benesch, which follows a teacher struggling over a series of thefts at her school; Sisi, the latest take on Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary after Corsage, this time featuring Toni Erdmann's Sandra Hüller as her lady-in-waiting; and Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey into the Desert, as led by Corsage star Vicky Krieps as the titular writer. And, there's also the 1990-set Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything, which stems from the page — plus crime-thriller Till the End of the Night, which won actor Thea Ehre Berlinale's Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance. The German Film Festival kicks off with A Thousand Lines, hailing from Balloon filmmaker Michael Herbig, and diving into the IRL 2018 fake news scandal involving a journalist disgraced from Der Spiegel. At the other end, it'll close with Over & Out, Germany's addition to the spate of flicks about women reuniting with their old pals years later (see also: Off the Rails). Another hefty highlight: big focuses on the glorious city that is Berlin and also music, both via retrospective picks. So, add Christiane F, which follows the eponymous 14-year-old through 70s-era West Berlin and features David Bowie as himself, to your must-see list on the big screen. Add Wim Wenders' stunning Wings of Desire, about angels observing daily life but unable to interact with it, too. And, B-Movie: List & Sound in West Berlin 1979–1989 belongs in the same category with its archival footage and interviews, complete with Nick Cave, Joy Division and '99 Luftballons' band Nena. Other standouts include In a Land That No Longer Exists, as based on director Aelrun Goette's experiences in the 80s; documentary Merkel, about Germany's first female chancellor; crime comedy The Peacock; and body swapping in sci-fi Skin Deep.
The World Press Photo Foundation is a global platform connecting professionals and audiences through raw visual journalism and storytelling. The organisation was founded in 1955 when a group of Dutch photographers organised a contest to expose their work to an international audience. Since then, the contest has grown into the world's most prestigious photography competition and global travelling exhibition. The 64th edition of the World Press Photo Exhibition will touch down in Sydney this year and be on display at the State Library of New South Wales from Saturday, May 15–Monday, June 14. The winners from this year's contest were chosen by an independent jury that reviewed 74,470 photographs by 4315 photographers from 130 countries — with more than 150 images from 45 photographers in 28 countries included in the exhibition. Taking top honours for 2020: Mads Nissen's First Embrace. The COVID-19 pandemic was always going to play a part in this year's batch of winners, with the image showing 85-year-old Rosa Luzia Lunardi being embraced by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza at the Viva Bem care home in São Paulo, Brazil. This will be on display alongside other finalists, such as Luis Tato's stunning image of locust swarms in Kenya — and eye-catching images in other categories, such as contemporary issues, the environment, general news, nature, portraits and sports. [caption id="attachment_812191" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] The First Embrace © Mads Nissen, Denmark, Politiken/Panos Pictures[/caption] Top image: Fighting Locust Invasion in East Africa © Luis Tato, Spain, for The Washington Post.
Melbourne is about to boast not one but two international airports, with Avalon welcoming Air Asia flights from the end of 2018. In good news for travellers, a new curfew-free terminal will be built — and is expected to service 220,000 international passengers each year. Minister for Industry and Employment Ben Carroll and Minister for Tourism John Eren announced that twice-daily flights will begin between Avalon and Kuala Lumpur, in the latest expansion of Avalon's capabilities. The Victorian Government has invested $1.5 million in infrastructure works at the airport, including ensuring that Jetstar will continue to operate at the site 55 kilometres outside of the city. The move, which comes after the Federal Government amended Avalon's lease to allow a new terminal back in 2015, is expected to open up Geelong and the Great Ocean Road to a greater number of international tourists. "We're so proud to have secured the first ever international service for Avalon — attracting thousands more visitors and bringing more business to our region," said Eren.
In his second solo exhibition at Galerie pompom, multidisciplinary artist Todd Robinson continues his penchant for exploring audience reception and how we as viewers encounter art. Featuring photographic, sculptural and video works, The Wringing Core is comprised of two seemingly separate, but in fact, connected, collections. Firstly, a series of sartorial studies exploring the interaction between garments Robinson has created and tactile materials (think water and sand), and the second, a series of sculptures — strikingly simple vertical wooden forms that are crumpling and bending in places, as if being bent by an invisible force. They make gentle reference to bodily articulations, subtly recalling flexed elbows, bending knee joints and responsive spines. The exhibition also references figurative sculpture, along with therapeutic practices like meditation and relaxation exercises. If this all sounds a little vague, that's probably because Robinson's work avoids absolutes and defies closed construction — typically embracing a sense of flow, openness and what the exhibition describes as "the multiple intelligences of bodily knowledge." Bring an open mind, and while you're there, why not check out James Lieutenant's Supergods exhibition. Image: Todd Robinson, from the series The Wringing Core (detail), 2017.
The MCA's Anna Davis has curated this survey exhibition of leading Australian artist Jenny Watson, which features works from the 1970s up to the present day ranging from her early realist drawings and paintings to several series of works on fabric. Evidencing Watson's naive, unaffected style, The Fabric of Fantasy showcases her special ability to blend autobiography and psychology with imagination, wit and deadpan delivery to explore her dreams and desires. Based in Brisbane but an avid traveller, Watson often incorporates textiles purloined during her adventures into the surface for several of her paintings — which could be anything from sequins to horsehair to magazines. Influenced by punk and the feminist movement, a significant part of Watson's work involves self-portraits or alter egos — think longhaired Alice in Wonderland-like figures in dresses, ballerinas, rock guitarists, plus the odd horse or cat — and often uses hand painted text alongside distilled imagery to bring to life an unusual interior world. Whether you're a fan or not, don't miss this chance to see over four decades of work from a truly fascinating conceptual painter. Image: Jenny Watson, 'The Pretty Face of Domesticity' (2014).
The 2016-17 Sydney International Art Series might've just kicked off with Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect with Everything and Nude: Art from the Tate collection, but that doesn't mean that we can't start looking forward to next year's art extravaganza. 2017-18's event is shaping up to be just as big. Think the Dutch Golden Age and acclaimed multimedia art. Sydney is getting its first ever art show dedicated to the former, to be held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The exhibition will bring you stacks of Rembrandt's masterpieces — and splashes of Vermeer, Ruisdael, Hals, Steen, Dou, Lievens and Leyster as well. Expect works interpreting all aspects of Dutch life in the 17th century, from country characters and landscapes to city scenes and sailing ships. That's just the half of the 2017-18 International Art Series. Also coming your way is a mega new Pipilotti Rist retrospective, to be hosted at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Rist, who hails from Switzerland, has been challenging the boundaries of multimedia art for 30 years. Her massive installations immerse you in worlds filled with light and music, where video, sculpture and live performance blend. In 2009, she drew a record crowd to New York's Museum of Modern Art. "Pipilotti Rist is one of the world's most celebrated contemporary artists," said Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE, director of the MCA. "Her lush and playful multi-screen video installations are audience favourites wherever they are shown and will no doubt captivate visitors here in Australia." The retrospective, which is being put together by Natasha Bullock, senior curator at the MCA, will include important early works and major video objects. Since being founded in 2010, the Sydney International Art Series has attracted more than 1.7 million people and inspired $122 million worth of spending from overnight visitors. Rembrandt and the Dutch golden age will show at the AGNSW from 10 November 2017 to 25 February 2018. The Pipilotti Rist retrospective will show at the MCA from 26 October 2017 to 18 February 2018.
In 2015, Artbank partnered with Create NSW on a two-year project that aimed to both acquire new artworks for the collection and increase visibility for NSW artists who identify as living with a disability. Both those goals were met, and something else wonderful happened too. Over the course of the project supported by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services, Artbank encountered the rich creative relationships forming between the artists and their peers living with and without disabilities. Thus Good Neighbours was born, delivering an exhibition that celebrates the original project and the doors it opened, weaving a narrative through the artworks selected. [caption id="attachment_626822" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Good Neighbours artists and curators left to right: Digby Webster, Miriam Kelly, Wart, Nadia Lolas, Meagan Pelham, Emily Crockford, Matthew Calandra, Greg Sindel, Thom Roberts, Harriet Body, Daniel Mudie Cunningham.[/caption] Show curators Daniel Mudie Cunningham and Miriam Kelly are understandably excited to introduce audiences to this undeniably inspiring show that draws from both Artbank's collection and private loans. The works selected directly reflect the relationships formed between artists over the past two years, or simply honour the sense of community among colleagues, mentors and mates. Neither curator could pick five favourite works, so instead they've given us a little taster of what's in store. "Some of our favourite things are in the mix — including colour, dance, pop culture and homages to trashy TV," they say. Continue on to discover what's to come at Good Neighbours, opening June 29. [caption id="attachment_626828" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nadia Lolas with Ramsay Street.[/caption] NADIA LOLAS: RAMSAY STREET Artist Nadia Lolas can proudly take credit for inspiring the show title with her drawings of Ramsay Street and its various characters (that's your cue to start singing the Neighbours theme song). Though Ramsay Street shows Lolas predilection to charcoal pen and marker, the artist has recently been drawn towards paint, having picked up painting techniques from fellow artist Laura Jones — a relationship that has also led to a series of collaborative paintings between the pair. Whilst their art explores very different themes (Jones' works in the exhibit explore Australian coral reef degradation), Cunningham and Kelly say the two artists have commonalities, "Both artists have an incredible attention to detail and wonderful eye for colour." [caption id="attachment_626925" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Greg Sindel.[/caption] GREG SINDEL: PAYBACK ON HER KILLERS While working at Studio A in Hornsby, Greg Sindel was commissioned to make a graphic novella for Artbank's publication Sturgeon, a work Cunningham and Kelly describe as "wickedly funny." This work then led to the acquisition of two standalone prints from a recent series, which have been included in Good Neighbours. The animator, filmmaker and prolific graphic novelist creates art inspired by a love of gothic and horror schlock films. Also a passionate storyteller since childhood, Sindel is mentored by comic artist Leigh Rigozzi, and works across a variety of mediums. The last few years have seen him create a ten-minute animation based on his horror comics, publish his first graphic novel and collaborate with Erth art gallery in Marrickville on a puppet incarnation of one of his characters. Cheeky, funny and a little bit gory, Sindel's work appeals to those who like their animation with a sense of humour. [caption id="attachment_626966" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anthony Mannix: Ero to Mania, 2015. Artbank collection, purchased 2017 as part of the NSW Arts and Disability Partnership, generously supported by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services and Create NSW.[/caption] ANTHONY MANNIX: ERO TO MANIA Produced largely on paper using inks, oils, watercolour, tea and ballpoint pen, Anthony Mannix darkly humorous art often explores his experiences with mental illness. In Good Neighbours, his art directly responds to his personal experience with schizoaffective disorder and its impact on the way he perceives the world around him. "Works like the Spidercity series and Ero to Mania [included in Good Neighbours], while on the surface appear lyrical, are underpinned by a darker sensibility," say Cunningham and Kelly. Now based in his home studio in the Blue Mountains, Mannix first began making work as part of a program in the former Callan Park mental health premises. And despite no formal training, the artist has seen his work both on exhibit in Australia and on tour globally as part of the The Museum of Everything — currently on display at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart — plus a 2013 retrospective of his work at the Sydney College of the Arts heralded him as "Australia's most celebrated Outsider Artist." [caption id="attachment_626972" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rosie Deacon: Bit Fat in Da Back, 2016. Artbank collection, purchased 2017.[/caption] ROSIE DEACON: BIT FAT IN DA BACK Both curators describe themselves as "pretty pumped" for this "zingy" piece by artist Rosie Deacon. The video, Bit Fat in Da Back, will be presented as part of an installation inspired by the overstocked stalls of Paddy's Market — it's also packed with a large amount of kangaroo paraphernalia. Intrigued? Us too. Working in sculpture, video and installation, Deacon's practice draws on aspects of kitsch, folk-art and craft to explore belonging, the absurd and the interaction between humankind and animals. You may have been introduced to Deacon's material sensibility at the 2015 Sydney Contemporary or with Tutti Fruity Dream Factory at Underbelly Arts that same year — the latter a collaborative project between Deacon, Studio A principle artist Emma Johnston and artist Emily Crockford who also exhibits in Good Neighbours, among others. Deacon has continued to work alongside and collaboratively with Crockford, and both are magnetically drawn to working with texture, bling and "a colour palette that might be described as pure sparkle," describe Cunningham and Kelly. Deacon's colourful, fun-filled contribution to the exhibit seems like the art equivalent of a really great sugar high. [caption id="attachment_626351" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Kotja: Walking All Over My Friends, 2017. Artbank collection, commissioned 2016 as part of the NSW Arts and Disability Partnership, generously supported by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services and Create NSW.[/caption] DANIEL KOTJA: WALKING ALL OVER MY FRIENDS Good Neighbours will see the premiere of artist Daniel Kojta's commissioned digital video, Walking All Over My Friends 2017. Kotja spent a year inviting friends and fellow artists over to his Blue Mountains studio, where he filmed them walking around. Next, he edited his own upper body over their legs — in the process reflecting on the limitations of his physical abilities as a paraplegic. Cunningham and Kelly say the video embodies Kotja's desire to transform public perceptions of disability, adding that the piece "speaks about collaboration and the value of community relationships and support for one another in a different and pretty profound way." 'Good Neighbours' at Artbank runs from June 29 to October 6, featuring work by Liam Benson, Harriet Body, Matthew Calandra, David Capra, Emily Crockford, Rosie Deacon, John A Douglas, Peter Dudding, Laura Jones, Stefan Kater, Daniel Kojta, Nadia Lolas, Anthony Mannix, Meagan Pelham, Thom Roberts, Thom and Angelmouse, Greg Sindel, Wart, Digby Webster and Paul Williams. Images: Jesse Jaco and supplied.
Police have recovered the body of a man who fell into Darling Harbour last night. It is believed the unidentified man in his 30s fell into the water at 11pm while watching the lights at the first night of Vivid Sydney. After the man fell off the pier, two acquaintances jumped in the water but could not locate him. A search was launched by the Marine Area Command, Police Rescue and NSW Ambulance helicopter service, and his body was found at 1.30am. Acting Inspector Christopher Breed says police have ruled out foul play. "It was known ... that he wasn't a proficient swimmer," Breed told the ABC this morning. While many onlookers became aware of the events unfolding in the water, the main music and light shows from Vivid continued around the scene. The man's death undoubtedly marks a tragic opening night for the festival. Image by James Horan.
