Author: Phil Brown
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Mummies dearest: Dead Puppet Society triumphant in Egypt
You’ve heard of Death on the Nile? Well how about Dead Puppet Society on the Nile? Nothing to do with Agatha Christie but everything to do with how talented and in demand this Brisbane theatre company is. In fact, they are just back from Cairo after being officially inaugurated as puppet designers for the massive…
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Fashion fit: What we wear, how it’s made and why we care so much
Fashion designer Bella Freud begins each conversation on her podcast Fashion Neurosis – which features the likes of Zadie Smith, Lorde, Graydon Carter, Hanif Kureishi and other artistic and cultural luminaries – by asking her subject about the first garment they wore that changed the way they felt about themselves. The responses are as psychologically…
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From Highgate Hill to Fallen Stars
When a box full of CDs arrived on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago, it felt good. Fallen Stars Over Handlebars – my fourth solo album – was finally finished. The reason I opted for a CD in the age of streaming is because I wanted the album to feel complete. To be a…
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What a croc! Our apex predator gets its own show
What does one wear to a crocodile exhibition? I asked myself this question as I browsed through the exhibits at Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends now on at Queensland Museum Kurilpa. It was when I got to the section dealing with popular culture that I twigged – I was dressed appropriately, wearing a Lacoste…
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True grit: Tony Birch’s short stories are tough stuff
Over the course of four critically acclaimed novels, four short story collections and two volumes of poetry, Indigenous Melbourne writer, academic, historian and activist Tony Birch has rightly earned himself a reputation as one of Australia’s finest writers. Last year his novel Women & Children won The Age Fiction Book of the Year and he…
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Delulu to Trululu … a local music festival’s journey
Hello. I’m Alex. I’m a piano player, composer, producer and festival director. Music matters because it’s a beautiful way to tell stories through sound. It is a way to embody impact within sentiment. It is a way that we, as artists, can gently manifest a shared, creative, utopian, emotional and human future. Brisbane Music Festival…
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Reading between the lines: Why I relish revisiting literary classics
What are you reading? I hope it’s okay to ask that. It’s not as creepy as asking, what are you wearing? Although feel free to share that, too, if you feel so inclined. I do find it fascinating to see what people are reading and I’m sure a psychologist could do a psychological profile of…
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From little things, big things grow
Less discernible edges brings Anna Varendorff’s practice home to Brisbane, where she trained and tested her first sculptural ideas. Her practice explores the “revolutionary capacity” of the handmade, the politics of labour, and feminism, particularly as a maker in metal. The exhibition title describes the ethic that continues to forge her practice, which is now…
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The BIFF is back! And screening soon near you …
The fate of the Brisbane International Film Festival hasn’t been clear in recent months. The question has been when and if it’s on at all this year. Here’s the good news – headed by a new team, under the direction of artistic director Sophie Mathisen, BIFF is back in late November for four days. It’s…
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First a portrait prize … now Brisbane gets a Portrait Gallery
We have our own portrait prize but what we really need is our very own portrait gallery. Right? So here’s the big news – we are getting one. Brisbane Portrait Gallery is an initiative of Stockwell property group, with the Brisbane Portrait Prize joining the endeavour as exhibition and curatorial partner. Opening in March 2026…