Arts & Movies

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 […]


Sherbet icon braves the sun for Green Heart

Skin cancer victim Daryl Braithwaite endured the strong Queensland sun yesterday, to wow the crowd at the Council’s Green Heart Fair at Chermside. The Australian pop icon, who made his name in the ’70s band Sherbet, was the climax of the festival, a initiative of Council’s Green Heart (sustainability) campaign. Green Heart is Council’s attempt […]


Asian fusion the key to new life for Brisbane restaurants

Brisbane’s restaurants have fallen under harsh scrutiny from critics and the press alike. Its culinary scene has received harsh criticism over the years, with claims that Brisbane food culture represents a “cultural desert”. Alchemy Restaurant manager Edward Bray rejects the criticism. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a cultural desert as such, it’s constantly evolving, desert […]


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


Review: Macbeth

New Farm Nash Theatre Blood and butchery, swords and sorcery, tyranny and tragedy, murder and mayhem,  daggers and death are all promised in promotions for Nash Theatre’s production of Macbeth.  It’s a promise the cast are clearly driven to deliver as much as Lady Macbeth in her wanton desire for the throne. Brenda White’s decision […]


Trash man dumps selling videos to make movies

West End landmark Trash Video closes its doors for the last time this weekend, but owner and fan of exploitation movies Andrew Leavold has plenty of things to do after locking up on Sunday night. For a start, he’ll be making his own movies. Leavold (pictured) says he opened Trash Video in 1995 “because I […]


Review: Romeo & Juliet

It isn’t every ballet that uses rock music and motorbikes, but Queensland Ballet’s student production of Romeo and Juliet isn’t every ballet. The young faces on stage are the only indication they are students, for their talent and professionalism make this an outstanding production. As lines from Shakespeare’s play opened the ballet, artistic director Martyn […]


Review: Valentino

Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art beat hundreds of international galleries to win the first overseas exhibit of the revered Parisian Valentino exhibit. Valentino Retrospective Past/Present/Future was unveiled in Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art last weekend in the exhibit’s first display outside Paris. It follows Valentino Garavini and the fashion powerhouse over the decades since 1959. […]


How books saved an author’s life

“Sex won’t save you, but a good story – yes!” said a smiling Brenda Walker, award-winning author and academic. She appeared with fellow literary scholars Stuart Glover and David Carter in a panel discussion on “The Art of Reading” at Avid Reader in West End on Tuesday night. In a discussion chaired by newly published […]


Review: David Campbell

The promotional material promised a night of classic and modern Broadway songs accompanied by a dazzling orchestra. Finely groomed and in a shiny three-piece suit, David Campbell promises “an election free zone” and “no swingin’… until later.” With the coloured lights and overworked smoke machine it’s easy to imagine you are knocking heads in a […]


Review: The Secret Love Life of Ophelia

Fractal Theatre (Metro Arts Theatre, Brisbane) Reading between the lines of Shakespeare’s Hamlet there is little doubt that the prince of Denmark had his way with the daughter of the king’s minister, Polonius – or at least tried to. Steven Berkoff speculates about the possibilities in this clever parallelquel to Hamlet, reminiscent of Tom Stoppard’s […]


Review: The Clean House

Cremorne Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre Reluctant cleaners watching this clever play will be relieved to note obsessive cleaning and too much attention to fastidious detail may blunt your passion for life! As a high achieving, clinical, busy doctor, white-clad Lane has little time for life’s pleasures. She hires a young Brazilian to clean her […]


Review: An Ideal Husband

New Farm Nash Theatre The wheels within wheels, the corruption, the bribery and the back room deals are as much a feature of modern politics as they were one hundred years ago.- Nigel Munro-Wallis, director. Set in London’s Grosvenor Square, Oscar Wilde’s classic play begins at a dinner party hosted by the wealthy and highly […]


Music and sport help refugees feel at home [audio]

For refugees escaping persecution in their homeland, adjusting to Australian culture can be difficult. Refugee inclusion groups in Brisbane are using sport and music to break down social barriers, not only between refugees and the Australian community, but also between separate cultures within the refugee community. Brisbane Women’s Volleyball coach Mandy Cox said sporting clubs […]


One man dares to review all

Chances are you have never met anybody like Myles Barlow and you’ve never seen a show quite like his.


A bikini is not a bikini unless…

A bikini is not a bikini unless it can be pulled through a wedding ring, according to the new “Exposed” exhibit at Queensland Museum. The exhibition is a showcase of Australia’s beach identity and the development of a million dollar industry that now has its own fashion week. The development is a seductive one that […]


Mueck’s sculptures show life in the raw

“A Girl” is Ron Mueck’s scuplture of a nude newborn baby complete with blood smeared on her body and a purple-blue umbilical cord still attached. The baby is quite ugly, suggesting a challenge to the idea of beautiful and innocent childhood. This sculpture is of no innocent, but of a primal force of nature. One […]


Nikki Lynn – an angel sings dirty

You probably would not take your parents to see her perform. In fact, she did not even let her biological parents hear any of her “funny songs”. [WARNING: strong language follows] If you did not understand English you would swear Nikki Lynn Katt (pictured) was an angel singing. But when you understand her, it’s a […]


Paper theme for student exhibition

Paper is the theme of an exhibition by art students of the Queensland College of Art this Saturday. Titled “Paper Walls”, the exhibition showcases the work of 13 students, mostly in their final year, from different disciplines. Organised and put together entirely by students, the exhibition is part of a learning project where students learn […]


A century’s images of war

An exhibition at the Brisbane Powerhouse captures 100 years of war through the eyes of the photojournalist. Degree South: War uses images taken over nearly 100 years to look back, forward and sideways at the events of modern war. The exhibition shows that in the human aspect of combat there is no glory or glamour […]


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