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Lightscape installation Mycelium Network by international artist Stevie Thompson.

The inspiration behind an otherworldly network of glowing mushrooms in Kings Park

More than 50,000 kilometres of cables, fibre optics and lighting components will power 18 installations across Kings Park as part of the immersive Lightscape experience.

  • Indigo Lemay-Conway

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Lana Kains at Opera Australia’s headquarters in Sydney.

Lana was not even a teenager when she first sang for Opera Australia. It set her on a lifelong path

The young soprano is one of seven recruits whose talent, commitment and infectious enthusiasm for the artform may excite a new generation of opera-lovers.

  • Matthew Westwood
Anna Funder’s new role is Professor of Practice for Creative Writing at Sydney University.

Newly appointed USyd professor Anna Funder knows fascism when she sees it. And she sees it in the White House

Acclaimed author and Miles Franklin prize winner Anna Funder has been appointed as a new Professor of Practice in Creative Writing. She’s on a mission to remind us of the power of human stories in the era of AI slop.

  • Jacqueline Maley
Adrian Collette endured another bruising encounter with Sarah Henderson in Senate estimates.

Arts boss Adrian Collette says Creative Australia is ‘not about moral compass’

The country’s top arts bureaucrat has insisted his organisation is not in the business of judging people’s opinions, merely the quality of their work.

  • Karl Quinn
Eleven books we are keen to read this month.

From Aussie crime to a literary giant’s last novel, here are 11 books to read this month

This selection will help you get your new year up and running.

  • Jason Steger
Pianist Jayson Gillham.

Sacked pianist Jayson Gillham’s case against MSO to run for three weeks

At the heart of the issue is freedom of expression for employees – especially artists.

  • Kerrie O'Brien
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Fwends stars Melissa Gan, (left) and Emmanuelle Mattana.

Don’t let the name put you off, Fwends is poignant and real

This tiny budget debut feature film by Melbourne-based Sophie Somerville punches above its weight.

  • Jake Wilson
Director Lynette Wallworth with Tashka Yawanawa.

Treading a perilous line between science and shamanism

Edge of Life is a documentary probably best left to the true believers.

  • Jake Wilson
Watched by Gough Whitlam. David Smith, official secretary to the governor-general, reads the proclamation dissolving parliament following the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975.

50 years on from the Dismissal, it could all happen again

Have we learnt anything since the dismissal of the Whitlam government five decades ago? This writer fears not.

  • Kerrie O'Brien
This year’s SXSW Sydney, with Teddy Swims and Paul Feig giving keynote addresses, is the festival’s third in Australia. Even though big names, including Nicole Kidman, have been attached to it, whether SXSW Sydney lives up to the hype is debatable.

Taxpayers forked out millions to host this world-class ‘festival of festivals’ in Sydney. Was it worth it?

The state government refuses to confirm its level of investment, and the pay-off, of its gamble. That’s only one element shrouding SXSW Sydney – and its complicated web of stakeholders – in mystery.

  • Bronte Gossling