Opinions & Analysis
Why US conservatives want to defund the arts
The Trump administration's proposal to remove US arts funding is the battle cry for another round of culture wars, familiar…
Arts transcend transgender monsters
Literature and film have shifted from demonising transgender people to attempts to understand them and represent them positively.
Arts fly under election radar
Election campaigns are often obsessed with infrastructure. Investing in a creative society is cheaper and just as important.
The politics of President Trump's gilt-edged taste in art
Trump’s opponents see his lavish taste as evidence of despotic tendencies but perhaps like Louis XIV he will use luxury…
Theatre, trauma and the age of Trump
Perhaps you’re not ready to have the intersectionality conversation with your Trump-supporting uncle. But you could share a theatre that…
2016's best-selling music shows are stuck in a time warp
In 2016, the most commercially successful music in the world wasn’t Beyoncé, Britney or Bieber. It was arguably more problematic.
We need a national day for the arts
Australia has public holidays for agricultural shows, football finals and a horse race. Why don't the arts have a public…
Visual arts sidelined by festival culture
As "festivalisation" takes over our cities, one thing is increasingly left off the programing list – and that is the…
Writers miss out on e-book payments
When libraries lend books to the public, authors and publishers receive remuneration from the Government under the Lending Rights schemes,…
Diversity is a white word
The superficial scramble for cultural diversity is not addressing the deep causes of exclusion and the power imbalance in the…