SmartArts

Richard Watts is joined by Tai Snaith for their regular ‘Art Attack’ segment, discussing in depth Bus Projects’ ‘Notions of Care’, a multidisciplinary visual arts exhibition located in the newly completed Collingwood Yards space.  

Actor Kristen Smyth talks about ‘The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven’, playing at Theatre Works as part of Midsumma 2021. The solo performance reimagines the rituals of Christianity through a transgender lens. 

Finally, Hayden Tonazzi, director of Rock Bottom Productions, chats about ‘This Genuine Moment’, which after a sellout season in Sydney, will come to La Mama Courthouse as part of Midsumma 2021. 

This week Richard Watts is joined by co-curators Amy Forbes and Caitlin Mullaly of Veils of Cirrus introduce ‘Negative Capability’, an immersive, tactile exploration based on John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale.

Award winning playwright Yve Blake chats about the Melbourne debut of ‘Fangirls’ at Arts Centre Melbourne. Inspired by interviews with teenage fangirls, this musical celebrates generations of passionate fan culture.

Finally, playwright Joanna Murray-Smith talks about ‘Berlin’, an MTC NEXT STAGE commission blending history and seduction into a taut romantic thriller. 

This week on SmartArts, Theatre-maker Mark Salvestro joins Richard to discuss ‘The Will to Be’, an award-winning solo show running at La Mama as part of Midsumma 2021. The piece blends Shakespearean language and Australian history to explore societal attitudes towards homosexuality in the 1960s.

Artistic Director of Circa Yaron Lifschitz introduces the company’s latest performance, ‘Shawn the Sheep’s Circus Show’ produced in collaboration with UK animation studio Aardman.

Finally, artist Kyoko Imazu talks about ‘Mayflies and Stars’, a visual arts exhibition at ArtSpace in Ringwood. Created during last year’s lockdown, the display draws attention to the tiny creatures who share the world with us through intricate paper cuts and shadow puppetry.

Musicians and visual artists Kim Salmon and Stu Thomas talk about their first-ever joint surrealist exhibition at the One Star Gallery; Karen Bryant, CEO of Midsumma, talks about this year’s program of events, set to run later in the year than usual; and Jamie Bretman, co-director and founder of circus company Dummies Corp chats about ‘Dumtectives’, a film-noir inspired circus piece for Melbourne International Comedy Festival. With presenter Richard Watts.

Boonwurrung and Wemba Wemba woman and Creative Director of Yirramboi Festival Caroline Martin discusses the festival’s 2021 program; Ukrainian-Australian Artist Stanislava Pinchuk talks about 'Terra Data', a museum survey of over 5 years of work mapping the Ukrainian civil war; and co-artistic director of RISING Hannah Fox chats about the launch of the brand new Melbourne arts festival, beginning on the evening of the total lunar eclipse in May. With presenter Richard Watts.

Comedian and Triple R ‘Breakfasters’ regular Nat Harris joins Richard Watts to talk about her new show with co-creator Hannah Camilleri, ‘Pét-Nat + Han ah Chocolat’, playing as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Actors Khisraw Jones-Shukoor and Keegan Joyce talk about 'Because the Night', the Malthouse Theatre’s immersive take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Set in the world of Elsinore, the piece allows audiences to choose their path through the story by journeying through different rooms and interacting with different perspectives.

Finally, artist and entrepreneur Andrea Lane discusses 'School for UnTourists', the latest venture by FLOAT project, a floating arts residency on Lake Tyres, Gippsland.

Resident comic book artist Bernard Caleo returns to the studio for the first time since lockdown with this month’s Drawn Out, discussing Zach Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ cut, Taiyo Matsumoto’s ‘Ping Pong’ as well as Safdar Ahmed’s ‘Still Alive’, which Bernard helped publish. Drawn from the stories of refugees detained in the Villawood Immigration Detention centre, ‘Still Alive’ is based on the Walkley-award winning webcomic ‘Villawood: Notes from an immigration detention centre’.

Dancer and former lawyer Rhys Ryan chats about 'Bodylex', a dance work exploring how our bodies navigate the laws and regulations imposed on them. Blending legal theory and choreography, this new work for three dancers will premiere at Dancehouse.

Multidisciplinary artist Candy Bowers talks about 'TAKE BACK!', a co-production between MAV and Darebin FUSE festival featuring a team of female and gender-diverse artists of colour both onstage and behind the scenes. Including both live performances and digital content, the performance explores and challenges the racialized gaze.

Finally, MTC CEO Brett Sheehy announces the company’s Act 2 program playing during the second half of this year: ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’, a comic Broadway turn on the nature of truth, ‘The Truth’, a dark comedy on marital troubles, ‘Sunday’, the story of Heide Museum of Modern Art founder Sunday Reed, ‘Jacky’, Green Room Award Winner Declan Furber Gillick’s MTC debut, ‘Cyrano’, a gender-flipped adaptation of the Edmond Rostand classic, and ‘As You Like It’, which reunites the creative team behind MTC hit ‘Twelfth Night’.

Composer Luke Styles, Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani and translator and collaborator Omid Tofighian join Richard ahead of ‘No Friend but the Mountains: A Symphonic Song Cycle’ premiering at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Inspired by Boochani’s book of the same name written secretly in Farsi whilst on Manus Island, this adaptation explores his brutal detention experience through the language of music.

Susan Provan, CEO of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival speaks about the challenges of returning to the stage after the cancellation of last year’s festival just weeks before its launch. The 2021 program will feature local acts front and centre, as well as an array of online and on demand streaming events from much loved international names.

Meg McNena, writer of ‘A Name for Herself’, talks about her new play following the women at the forefront of Ireland’s Easter Rising of 1916. Based on the true story of Irish activist Countess Constance Markievicz, the play is directed by Dublin-born Lynda Fleming, and premieres at the Renaissance Theatre, East Kew.

Finally, Eugenia Flynn, Director of Collingwood Yards unveils the new arts precinct and community hub located in the heart of Melbourne’s inner north. Spanning over 6500sqm and with over 50 separate tenancies, the space will open in stages from April this year.

Tai Snaith returns to the studio for the fortnightly visual arts segment Art Attack, chatting about her artistic process whilst working from home, and reviewing Judy Watson and Yhonnie Scarce’s ‘Looking Glass’, on display at the TarraWarra Museum of Art. Described by curator Hetti Perkins as both “a love song and lament for country”, this exhibition sees Watson, a Waanyi artist, and Scarce, a Kokatha and Nukunu artist, explore the painful, dark history of the Australian landscape in poignant synergy. 

Jane Scott, Curator of Flesh After Fifty at the Abbotsford Convent introduces the exhibition’s program of events, challenging ageism, sexism, and body shame to celebrate and promote older women within the art world. Featuring commissions from 14 dynamic Australian artists, the exhibition includes talks from both artists and medical professionals on subjects such as menopause and family violence.

Finally, Dr Miranda Wallace, Senior Curator at the NGV announces the gallery’s winter offering, French Impressionism, featuring 79 works which have never previously been exhibited in Australia. Presented in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the exhibition will chart the major developments of this artistic period through key figures such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas. 

William Mora, son of Melbourne cultural icon Mirka Mora joins Richard to discuss ‘MIRKA’ - the most expansive exhibition of her work to date, which will be on for an exceptional nine months at the Jewish Museum of Australia. Featuring previously unseen works, objects she lived with and a soundscape of her voice in each room, the exhibition is a comprehensive and immersive honouring of a truly remarkable life.

Dr Priya Srinivasan, co-director and co-founder of Sangam introduces their 2021 program, celebrating contemporary and classical South Asian arts and culture over 4 weekends. Designed to address the underrepresentation of South Asian artists in mainstream events and arts practice, the festival features both emerging artists and established practitioners working in a range of different art forms.

Finally, Gareth Reeves and Soren Jensen, stars of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at the Princess Theatre chat with Richard about the challenges of getting show ready after an extended break. Presented in two parts, this is the eighth story in J.K Rowling’s beloved Harry Potter series and follows the courageous trio of friends as their past returns to haunt them in adulthood.