Culture

Talking The Wife, The Female Persuasion and the female gaze with novelist Meg Wolitzer.

Beyond the thrills, the glamour and the sexual tension, Killing Eve’s second season asks viewers to confront their own ambiguous morals – and therein lies the series’ greatest strength.

The Tangible Trace, the TarraWarra Museum of Art’s new exhibition, has works of subtle beauty, but ultimately asks too few challenging questions of its audience.

Paul Mac has gone from playing the organ at church to forming a band with Daniel Johns, remixing tracks by Kylie Minogue and recording his latest album, Mesmerism. Here, he discusses his art, his love of trains and his political activism. “Unless we are continuously vigilant about the rights that we’ve gained, they can quite easily disappear again.”

A bagel and a coffee with Holly Rankin, better known as Jack River.

At the National Gallery of Victoria, the ancient terracotta warriors of Xi’an are exhibited with the work of contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang, provoking a conversation about history, legacy and immortality.

Love and Shit, an exhilarating double bill by Patricia Cornelius at fortyfivedownstairs, expose the uncomfortable realities of Australia’s underclass. In doing so, these plays remind us how vital theatre can be.

After achieving significant success as the director of two major New Zealand galleries, Rhana Devenport brings her ambitious vision to the Art Gallery of South Australia. Here, she talks about building relationships with artists and creating a safe space for audiences to explore challenging ideas. “I think that it is our role, working in a cultural organisation, to love our audience, to be as absolutely in love with our audience, to be thinking in multiple ways about how to be as expansive and open as humanly possible.”

A seat on the couch with non-binary drag king Dani Boi.

Following a seven-year hiatus, Bill Henson returns to Sydney with a show of carnal adolescence at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery. But despite the technical prowess evident in Henson’s work, the exhibition leaves the visitor questioning the Eurocentric world it portrays.