Arts news watch: this week’s trending topics

We report it – you read it. This week: the story behind this year’s Vivid centrepiece, a massive 3D tapestry, and more reviews.
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This week’s top arts news stories

We take a look at the arts news that pushed to the top of your reading pile this week.

Why the art adorning Sydney Opera House for Vivid this year is like no other in its history

This year’s Vivid LIVE centrepiece casts light on political history, which in some parts of the world feels all-too present and pertinent to ongoing struggles for equal rights.

Australia’s ‘first 3D tapestry’ took over 10,000 hours and used 270 kilometres of wool

Locally sourced and crafted, the Welcome to Country tapestry will become a Victorian landmark.

David Bromley brings Sesame Street to life in new Australian exhibition

A new exhibition merges David Bromley’s signature style with Sesame Street’s beloved characters, opening in Melbourne before touring nationally.

Australia’s first National Centre for Environmental Art to open in Gariwerd/Grampians

A new destination in regional Victoria will house the country’s first gallery dedicated to environmental art, launching with a major exhibition by Jacobus Capone.

More arts news

Top reviews for the week

ArtsHub uses a five-star rating system. These are the week’s most read reviews from around the country:

Dance review: Ballet Preljocaj: Swan Lake, Lyric Theatre, QPAC ★★★★1/2

Ballet Preljocaj’s Swan Lake offers a radical reimagining of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece in a finely crafted, beautifully delivered production.

Exhibition review: Cézanne to Giacometti, National Gallery of Australia ★★★★1/2

A highly contextualised, thoughtful, and conversational exhibition, which maps out a decades-long conversation of modern ways of seeing.

More recent reviews

Read: RISING 2025 reviews and coverage

An eye on jobs and career news

Australian arts and humanities education is being slashed everywhere – what’s at stake?

From staff redundancies to course closures, arts and humanities education in Australia is undergoing significant structural change.

More careers articles

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Celina Lei is ArtsHub's Content Manager. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Instagram @lleizy_