Culture

This year’s WOMADelaide was the biggest so far – and the festival still holds moments of undeniable magic.

Kate Mulvany’s brilliant performance as Sarah Bernhardt is the linchpin of the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Bernhardt / Hamlet.

The detailed domestic architecture of Studio Bright has lessons for making dense urban spaces greener and lighter.

Influential designer Gaetano Pesce is incurably optimistic, even as he takes issue with the contemporary world.

After a two-year hiatus, Golden Plains Festival returned with its trademark feeling of community and camaraderie, interspersed with unexpected gems and straight-up bangers.

Final plans, he announced, in his very best baritone. He shunted his coffee mug aside and stubbed a blunt finger on the architect’s drawings. Council approved, he added, and gestured to a sheath of papers with unintelligible signatures.
Congratulations, I replied, nodding to simulate excitement.

Lounge chairs and sofa go here. Opposite the TV – 152 centimetres. Home cinema.

That’ll save you, I said.

I wish. Gunna cost a bomb. All this wall is double glazing. From inside you can see the deck and outdoor spa.

Save you going out, I mean. Not for the first time, I worried for my neighbour and his budget.

Lots of natural light. Ceramic dolphins either side of the spa.

Ah, symmetry, I said.

For celebrated actor Zahra Newman, Louise Bennett’s iconic collection of poems, Jamaica Labrish, is a reminder of the power of owning your own history.