SmartArts

Artistic Director Louise Bezinna gives an extensive overview of this year’s Brisbane Festival program; Priya Namana, CEO of the Centre of Projection Art on the upcoming innovative projection-art displays at the 2023 Gertrude Street Projection Festival; Acclaimed organist, Joseph Nolan, on the free Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ Event, paying homage to the music of Louis Vierne over five nights in...

Richard Hull, CEO of Flying Fruit Fly Circus explains the devastating impacts Swinburne University’s decision to freeze the National Institute for Circus Arts' student intake in 2024, may have on circus in Australia; Artist Ben McKeown on ‘Dig Deeper’, a portrait of four different Indigenous and First Nations artists, premiering at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival; Director Steven Mitchell...

Co-artistic director Sarah Kreigler talks everything puppets, delving into the Melbourne Festival of Puppetry and its 2023 puppet treasure hunt; Executive Director of the National Association for the Visual Arts, Penelope Benton, on the ABC’s cutting-edge online editorial and the future of arts reporting; Senior Curator Lisa Sullivan on the ‘Atmosphere’ exhibition at Geelong Gallery, celebrating C...

Richard is away this week, guest host Oliver Coleman fills in! Co-writer and performer Louise Siversen explores cancel culture in theatrical performance, ‘Underneath Ms Archer’, depicting a 21st woman’s encounter with a medieval man from the past; Co-Curator Annika Aitken on ‘Nightshifts’, a University of Melbourne exhibition that draws on the metaphor of night-time to understand the theme of soli...

Co-artistic director Lara Thoms on artist-run, experimental performance arts group, Aphids and their RISING Festival performance ‘Oh Deer!’, delving into the grief of losing a parent; Director Emma Valente on dramedy performance ‘Shhhh’, exploring consent and sisterhood; Curator Sebastian Henry-Jones celebrates the 30 year history of West Space gallery through exhibition ‘Unison’

Internationally renowned choreographer Edgar Zendejas on his collaboration with NICA graduates to create circus performance, ‘Oneiric’; Artist Yvette Coppersmith on her exhibition ‘Carnelian’, a response to the Jewish Museum of Australia’s exploration of Jewish artist, Chagall; An exciting overview of the Darwin Festival 2023 program, by program designer Kate Fell.

CEO Lucy Manne on 350 Australia’s campaign to help the arts community rule out coal and oil industry partnerships; Janet McLeod reminisces about her comedy room, ‘Local Laughs’ in the wake of its 20th anniversary; co-artistic director Eugene Ughetti and composer Erkki Velthei on their audio art event, ‘Sonic Eclipse’ as part of RISING Festival, featuring a 12-person percussion ensemble.

Actor Sarah Funari on the Stan and BBC original series ‘Ten Pound Poms,’ charting the story of over a million British people that migrated to Australia for 10 pounds; Artist Miles Johnson on glass design and his exhibition, ‘Journey in Roundism’; Artistic director of Australian Dance Theatre, Daniel Riley explores the deeply personal story of his Great-Great Uncle in his performance, ‘Tracker’.

Artist Genevieve Lacy on her twilight gathering of soundwork, 'Consort of the Moon', inspired by the oldest known notated song; Cabaret icon Paul Capsis takes audiences on an intimate journey of acoustic song in his show 'Dry My Tears' at Fortyfivedownstairs; curator Dr Léuli Eshrāghi on Tarrawarra Biennial's exploration of connection across First Nations communities

Adam Noviello on their theatrical exploration of bullying and the gruelling social hierarchies of high school in ‘MOTH’; actor Peter Houghton on ‘Cavalcade’ and the reopening of Eleventh Hour Theatre; Judith Lucy explores moving away from stand-up and starting a new chapter of her career, acting in ‘Happy Days’ at South Bank Theatre.

Director Ursula Sullivan on her gallery Sullivan and Strumpf and the changing commercial art landscape; Christos Tsiolkas & Dan Giovannoni on adapting the novel 'Loaded', as a play - exploring queer, migrant Melbourne; co-director Adriane Daff on her theatrical depiction of the behind-the-scenes of an arthouse foreign film, ' Lé Nør'.

Illustrator Oslo Davis explores his lasting connection with Triple R; Melbourne International Comedy Festival Director, Susan Provan on Barry Humphries’ controversial cultural legacy; Red Stitch actor Khisraw Jones-Shukoor on Pulitzer-nominated war-time play, ‘Selling Kabul’.

Comedian Josh Ladgrove pays tribute to his late Ukrainian grandmother’s strong spirit in tragic comedy ‘Baba’; Leisa Shelton on her exploration of the lost lineage of Australian art in a series of performances artworks ‘Archiving the Ephemeral’; comedian Oliver Coleman on how his past as a trained actor has impacted his comedy show, ‘Neon’.

Comedian Melissa McLensey on ‘The Briefing’, her latest interactive US press briefing style MICF show; Curator Vistal Kumaraswamy talks exhibition at North Melbourne Town Hall, Okkoota; Daizy Maan and Sukhijt Kaur Khalsa discuss South Asian women and comedy in Australia in new MICF show, Brown Women Comedy.

Artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah on ‘Journey’, his latest exhibition exploring the intersection of faith, identity and culture through large scale sculptures; Musical comedian Gillian Cosgriff talks optimism and stuff you like in her MICF show, Actually Good; Adrienne Truscott and Le Gateau Chocolat discuss their new MICF show, Grey Arias.

Ahead of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, comedian Rowan Thambar discusses his show ‘Nothing Deep, Just Good Times!’, a night of irreverent laughs from a former chronic over-sharer; Poet-turned playwright Nathan Curnow talks The Shift Theatre’s production of his play ‘Mystery in a blimp’, which takes the piss out of independent theatre; Associate professor Simone Slee on ‘It’s not you,...

Melbourne Theatre Company’s artistic director and co-CEO Anne-Louise Sarks talks about making her directorial debut as AD with ‘Bernhardt/Hamlet’; Irish contemporary artist Sean Lynch talks curating the exhibition ’Desire Lines’ at City Gallery, Melbourne Town Hall; actor and writer Sally McKenzie on her new play ‘WAY ’ at La Mama about the crisis of homelessness impacting women over 55. With pres...

Bernard Caleo checks in for the Drawn Out segment with news from around the world of comic books; Artist and photographer Odette England discusses her exhibition Dairy Character at Centre of Contemporary Photography, which reflects on her early life on a dairy farm in rural south Australia; And comedian Damian Callinan chats about his Melbourne International Comedy Festival show Double Feature , a...

Theatre-maker Liv Satchell and actor Emily Tomlins discuss their upcoming plays ‘The Grief Trilogy’ for La Mama Courthouse; Veteran theatre practitioners Patricia Cornelius and Susie Dee explain their film adaptation of their play ‘Sh*t’, premiering at the Melbourne Women In Film Festival 2023; and Artistic Directors Jonathan Homesy and Emily Sexton talk about the launch of FRAME: a biennial of da...

Tai Snaith is back for our fortnightly visual arts review segment Art Attack; Tiffany Barton talks co-writing ‘Not All Dictators’ and what happens when women fight back, for La Mama Courthouse; Director Cass Fumi and designer Dann Barber chat about bringing ‘The Crocodile’ to the stage at Fortyfivedownstairs. With presenter Richard Watts.

Bernard Caleo is back for ‘Drawn Out’, our monthly comics segment; Artist Robert Clinch discusses ’Romancing the Streetscape ’, an exhibition at Hawthorn’s Town Hall Gallery celebrating streetscapes, parks and buildings iconic to Melbourne; Meanjin editor and arts advocate Esther Anatolitis dissects the new National Cultural Policy ‘Revive’, designed to renew Australia’s arts, entertainment and cu...

Cheyney Caddy and Issy Weiskopf talk about their work on Black Apple Theatre’s production of ‘Thrive: Queer voices out loud’ for the upcoming Midsumma Festival; Playwright Jo Clifford on another Midsummer highlight, ‘The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven’, showing at fortyfivedownstairs; Photographer Jason Edwards discusses ‘Icebergs to Iguanas’ , his new nature photography book. With pre...

In our final Smart Arts episode for 2022, Anne-Marie Peard casts her eyes back over this year’s theatre highlights in our fortnightly theatre review segment; Vincent Alessi talks stepping into his new role as CEO and director of Linden New Art, and the Linden Postcard Show; Artistic director Ruth Mackenzie discusses what’s in store for the 2023 Adelaide Festival program. With presenter Richard Wat...

TarraWarra Museum of Art curator Anthony Fitzpatrick discusses the current exhibition on Australian painter Peter Booth; Author Kath Kenny talks about her work of narrative nonfiction ‘Staging a Revolution: When Betty Rocked the Pram’ via Upswell Publishing; Chelsea Hopper on 99% Gallery’s latest show ‘The General Public’, an “open call” for the general public to submit their artwork. With present...

Andy Freer, the CEO and artistic director of the 30-year-old Melbourne puppet company Snuff Puppets talks about the world premiere of ‘SWAMP’; Heide Museum of Modern Art’s artistic director, Lesley Harding, on Heide’s latest exhibition ‘Barbara Hepworth: In Equilibrium’; Director Kirsten von Bibra joins Identity Theatre founder and performer Ray Swann to discuss their adaptation of TS Eliot’s ‘The...