Culture

For his leading role in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Timothée Chalamet has been charged with ‘saving the film industry’, but he wears the mantle modestly.

James stares at Max and Max stares at James. Each has a red mark under his left eye that will be dark blue by the time they get home. The boys step towards each other. Max raises his left hand, James his right, and their fingers twine together. They each place their empty hand in the small of the other’s back and begin to move their feet in counts of three. Max then James. James then Max. They tighten their grip, knowing this is the only time they have, and take turns facing the water as the sun begins to set.

Artist Shen Xin says the layering of desire, bondage and labour in Hito Steyerl’s video Lovely Andrea has deeply informed their understanding of image.

Kip Williams’ bold and devastating production of Julius Caesar brings the 21st-century media machine into a study of political rhetoric.

Julia Ducournau’s Palme D’Or-winning film Titane gives horror a high-octane twist.

In the NGV Australia exhibition Found and Gathered, Rosalie Gascoigne and Lorraine Connelly-Northey reveal the richness of debris.

Shubigi Rao’s unclassifiable writing and visual art wryly unpack the disappearances of Empire.

I sprinkle food into the aquarium. It is a delicate job. One fish died last week, and that was unfortunate. It floated to the surface at a pathetic tilt, its disappointed mouth open. I used a coffee cup to lift it out and lay it on a table napkin borrowed from the restaurant. I had a hunt through the lost property box for a glass marble to poke through the puckered mouth of the goldfish. I knew I had seen one in there. The marble was enough to weight the dead goldfish to the floor of the tank. The other goldfish dove down to inspect it. Flashes of orange and slow gulping mouths.

Multidisciplinary artist Amrita Hepi pays homage to Adrian Piper’s groundbreaking short video Funk Lessons.

Joan As Police Woman’s latest album is animated by legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, recorded shortly before his death last year.