Opinions & Analysis

Budget 2015: What the AusCo cuts mean for you
The principles of independent arts funding are under threat as the Budget foreshadows the greatest shake up since the Australia…

Is it time for Madama Butterfly to flutter by?
There is a spectre haunting Opera Australia: the spectre of growing irrelevance.

Cripping up is the new black face
We no longer cast white actors in black face but we don't train disabled actors to ensure a fifth of…

A first-timer's guide to the opera
A first night at the opera turns out to be filled with surprises - not all of them on stage.

In praise of profit
Our major performing arts companies are clinging to an outdated not-for-profit model while commercial theatre makes the money they need.

Is the British Museum reviving our reputation, or conflating it?
This week Enduring Civilisation opened in London to mixed reviews – were they warranted of the exhibition or is this…

Buy Jingo! How the arts do it better
The barrage of commemorative Anzac stubby holders and tacky slogans glorifying war throw the value of the arts as meaning-maker…

Has the ANZAC centenary driven arts funding off course?
ANZAC cultural programming has fed millions into arts funding while creative proposals on other subjects are unable to secure government…

We’ve scrubbed Dennis Nona’s art from our galleries to our cost
Should the punishment of the individual extend to a censorship of that person’s art?

Artists in the city
Artists and designers have so much more to offer urban planning that a cosmetic fix.