Culture

The children’s author Ursula Dubosarsky says books can be like cats, sitting at the back of your mind demanding your attention.

Botticelli to Van Gogh gives us a chance to see some of Europe’s greatest masterpieces without having to travel.

Irish duo Bicep transform ’90s underground dance music into a boldly original form that transcends and honours the rave era.

This year’s NGV Triennial is a site of topological turmoil that presents artworks to the masses but also empties them of substance.

Jason Arrow will be bringing his own interpretations to the title role in the highly anticipated Australian production of Hamilton.

The president wanted to make the call herself, but as a committee we felt this was risky. She saw her place in history, the first human to make direct contact with an alien civilisation; we saw a diplomatic catastrophe. Even if she managed the conversation without incident, it would be seen as an unforgivable insult by China, a declaration of war by the Americans. In the end, she was only convinced by our doubt. We insisted that it could all turn out to be a hoax, that her name might become synonymous with failure, a shame that would endure for generations. Eventually, she saw our point.

The moments of delightful surprise in The Crown are smothered by its refusal to permit uncertainty.

Behind the dad jokes, Queensland Theatre’s The Holidays is an ambitious play about family connection through dark times.

At 31, Kendall Feaver continues her brilliant career with her new adaptation of Miles Franklin for Belvoir. “I’m wary of black-and-white thinking … I’m interested in the ‘why’. Why is this fracture happening? Why is this so divisive, so deeply felt and fought over?”

At five, the doors click shut. Security / walks a final circuit and clocks off. The eyes / of the prominent are lost in the middle distance / beyond office, sports field or studio. Hair and skin / of oil, watercolour, polymer, the reassurance / of names everyone should know. Not ours / we are without shelter, without conservation. / But they cannot keep us out.