arts

City organ gets $2m tune-up

The Brisbane City Hall organ will make its grand re-entrance to Brisbane’s cultural life next year after restoration costing about $1.9 million. Intense restoration work on the 1890s classic organ continues in a workshop at Hemmant in Brisbane’s east. Master organ builder Simon Pierce said a 10-member team from Pierce Pipe Organs was restoring the […]


Travellers’ tales evoke a world of images

Jenni Kelly was one of six award-winning artists who took part in the “Travellers’ Tales” exhibition funded by the Moreton Bay Regional Council. The event was held this month at the Pine Rivers Art Gallery in Strathpine. The theme “Travellers’ Tales” embraced memoirs of the artists’ intrepid travels derived from photographs translated into art pieces […]


Review: Mrs Carey’s Concert

Preparations for a school concert will always be nerve-wracking for students and teachers alike. But when the big event is to be held at the Sydney Opera House and the music teacher is the determined, passionate Mrs Karen Carey, the potential for a riveting documentary is created. Mrs Carey’s Concert follows the teachers and students […]


Young string players charm Brisbane Square

The Terzina String Trio entertained patrons with enchanting baroque music at the Brisbane Square library last week as part of the Fête de la Musique Brisbane festival. The two-year-old trio is made up of Queensland Conservatorium students – twin 19-year-old brothers Michael Poulton on violin and Phillip Poulton on viola and Camilla Tafra, 20, on […]


Trio entertains in Fete de la Musique concert

Locals gathered at the Groove Train restaurant in Eagle Street Pier on Tuesday night to watch acoustic trio “Tony Mockeridge” perform for the Fete de la Musique-Brisbane, a non-for-profit , Brisbane City Council event. Established by the French Government in 1982, Fete de la Musique is celebrated on June 21 every year in more than […]


Haunted by an image of atrocity

When you walk into a gallery you never expect to leave haunted by an image that you saw. South African photographer Jodi Bieber captured the very confronting image of a disfigured Afghan girl who had both her ears and nose cut off as retribution for fleeing her husband’s home. This photograph is so powerful in […]


Press photography exhibition: capturing an instant in time

The combination of a great photo and explanatory text is powerful. The shock of the image stays in your mind in a way that even the most descriptive story never does. World Press Photo 11, the 54th annual World Press Photo exhibition of photojournalism is showing at Brisbane Powerhouse. It has been publicised with a […]


Changing perceptions of the Pacific through art

An exhibition that challenges our perceptions and questions our understanding of Australia’s closest neighbours is on display at Logan Art Gallery. “Pacific Storms” aims to overcome stereotypes of Pacific Island art by focusing on captivating the viewer and drawing attention to the Pacific culture seen through the eyes of Pacific artists. The painting “Frigate Bird” […]


Reynolds’ “Portrait of Aneas Mackay” is remarkable in its silence

It’s amazing what can be the most attention grabbing artistic work in a collection. People joke about sculptures made from great heaps of rubbish, and paintings that are reminiscent of their 4-year-old niece’s artistic triumphs. But in this case, we see a quiet painting of a man who seems as if he isn’t even there, […]


Glimpses into the life of an artist who died too young

Queensland Art Gallery When painter Amrita Sher-Gil died in 1941 aged 28 she was already recognised as one of India’s most important artists, though she left behind only about 150 canvasses. Born in Hungary to a Jewish opera-singer mother and an Indian Sikh father, her talent was nurtured early and at the age of 16 […]


Life and Light – Lloyd Rees at the QAG

More than 100 pieces of Lloyd Rees’s artwork are being shown at the Queensland Art Gallery this month, celebrating the Brisbane-born artist’s long and successful career. The Life and Light exhibition focuses on Rees’ early drawings of Brisbane and showcases his exploration of light in landscapes, street scenes and portraits. One of his most prominent […]


Review: Girl of the Golden West

Opera Queensland (Lyric Theatre) A strange mix of poker games, Italian, gun fights and high notes, Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West combines the cultured world of opera with the 1850s gold rush in California – and somehow does it well. The opera has a Romeo and Juliet feel to it, with Minnie, the […]


Mayo’s ‘Boy’ a sculpture of innocence

The Queensland Art Gallery’s current exhibition “Myth to Modern” displays a fascinating exhibition of bronze sculptures. This piece entitled Sketch (of a boy) by Daphne Mayo, standing only a few inches tall, struck me from across the room of raw, sculptured bodies. The piece embodies the femininity of a young boy that perhaps sets out […]


Exhibition helps raise awareness of mental illness

Art is helping raise awareness of schizophrenia through the annual art exhibition, Colours of Hope. Held this week in Brisbane’s King George Square it is the 20th anniversary of the exhibition in support of Schizophrenia Awareness Week. The Mental Illness Fellowship of Queensland (MIFQ) said it aims to raise awareness, reduce stigma and support local […]


Street poll: What did you think of the Oscars?

With the US film industry’s annual Academy Awards having their big event last night, we asked Brisbane people whether they watched the telecast of the ceremony – and what they thought of it. Camera and production supervision: David Douglas Stuart


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