Culture

When Nicholas Jose saw Liu Xiaodong’s painting Smoker, in a Beijing exhibition that expressed the political unrest leading up to Tiananmen Square, it marked a turning point in the writer’s life.

In a sublime theatrical poem for Chamber Made, cellist Zoë Barry details her experiences of being struck by lightning.

The strikes currently embroiling the tertiary sector reflect how universities undervalue and exploit the work of both academics and artists.

Bringing international artists together with local talent, this year’s Brisbane Festival addresses the existential crisis of our time.

Max McKenna has moved past childhood introversion to self-acceptance and stage success, and is now starring in a historical comedy on SBS TV.

She was not moving. This tram, the one half full of sickly pale commuters in the dying afternoon light, hadn’t moved for a few minutes. Everyone else had already registered it, the stillness, the flatness. Heads turned, people looked up from their phones irritably. They weren’t at a stop or lights, just halted in the middle of the road.

For musician and conductor Stanley Dodds, Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie is one of the most joyous works of music ever written.

Sydney Dance Company’s thrilling triptych Ascent showcases three very different approaches to choreography.

 As problematic as some believe Miss Saigon is, the crowd-pleasing Vietnam War-set musical is the only current big-ticket production to showcase Asian talent.

Spilling across the city, the 10th Ballarat International Foto Biennale offers a panoramic view of the state of the art.