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2 days ago | 
theguardian.com | Kelly Burke
One of the world’s earliest recorded examples of printed text will go on display in Melbourne this month, to mark the 20th anniversary of a long-running exhibition celebrating the evolution of the book. The historical printed matter – known as the Hyakumantō Darani – dates back more than 1,250 years, when the most powerful woman in Japan, the Empress Shōtoku, ordered the creation of one million paper scrolls bearing Buddhist prayers.
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5 days ago | 
ca.news.yahoo.com | Kelly Burke
‘A lot of pride and joy’: the First Nations team representing Australia at the Venice Biennale of ArchitectureAustralia’s participation in next year’s Venice Biennale remains under a cloud. With Creative Australia holding fast to its decision to cancel its commission of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the Australian Pavilion might remain dark in 2026.
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6 days ago | 
ca.news.yahoo.com | Kelly Burke
Julie Fragar painting ‘Flagship Mother Multiverse (Justene)’, of artist Justene Williams, which has won the 2025 Archibald prize. Julie Fragar painting ‘Flagship Mother Multiverse (Justene)’, of artist Justene Williams, which has won the 2025 Archibald prize. Photograph: Jenni CarterJulie Fragar has won the 2025 Archibald prize for her portrait of her fellow artist Justene Williams.
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6 days ago | 
theguardian.com | Kelly Burke
Julie Fragar has won the 2025 Archibald prize for her portrait of her fellow artist Justene Williams. Announced as the winner of the $100,000 prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Friday, the winning work was selected by the judges from 904 entries and 57 finalists.Fragar is just the 13th woman to win the prize in its 104-year history.
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6 days ago | 
aol.co.uk | Kelly Burke
Julie Fragar has won the 2025 Archibald prize for her portrait of her fellow artist Justene Williams. Announced as the winner of the $100,000 prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Friday, the winning work was selected unanimously by the judges from 904 entries and 57 finalists.Fragar is just the 13th woman to win the prize in its 104-year history.
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1 week ago | 
theguardian.com | Kelly Burke
The federal court has given the green light for concert pianist Jayson Gillham to sue the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, with chief justice Debra Mortimer ordering the case to proceed to trial. In March, the MSO sought to have Gillham’s case thrown out, arguing that the pianist was not an employee but a freelance contractor, so neither the Fair Work Act, or Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act, applied.
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1 week ago | 
theguardian.com | Kelly Burke
A Coalition government would divert more than 10% of annual government funding for Creative Australia to a single cultural project and unspecified broadcasting programs if elected at Saturday’s federal election. In the Coalition’s policy costings, released on Thursday, the “safe, sustainable and connected communities” section contained a pledge to “redirect” $33.2m of Creative Australia’s annual funding of $312m “to Melbourne Jewish Arts Quarter and supporting broadcasting”.
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Kelly Burke
A portrait of the artist Jason Phu by Abdul Abdullah has won the $3,000 packing room prize at the annual Archibald prize. Phu is also a finalist with his portrait of Hugo Weaving and a sitter for Abdullah’s winning painting, titled No Mountain High Enough, in which he is depicted sitting astride a horse. Abdullah won out of 57 finalists up for Australia’s most presitigious portraiture award. This year’s overall Archibald winner will be announced on 9 May.
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2 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Kelly Burke
Music festivals are a threatened species that could die out if they fail to adapt to the climate crisis. While soaring insurance and production costs, disruptions to supply chains, mass cancellations and shifts in consumer buying habits have all contributed to a flailing live music scene, extreme and unpredictable weather is an underlying contributor to these factors, an RMIT University report has found.
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3 weeks ago | 
theguardian.com | Kelly Burke
The federal government says it is continuing to work on a crackdown on dynamic pricing, “drip pricing” and hidden fees after prices for even the cheapest tickets for Lady Gaga’s Sydney and Melbourne concerts more than quadrupled soon after going on general sale on Thursday. “There should be no hidden costs that suddenly appear at the end of a transaction and the government is taking action on this,” the arts minister, Tony Burke, told Guardian Australia.
