Powerhouse has unveiled Unpopular, a major exhibition featuring the never-before-seen archive of music entrepreneur Stephen ‘Pav’ Pavlovic. The exhibition explores the global rise of the alternative music scene that included cornerstone bands such as Nirvana, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Fugazi and Bikini Kill. Opened on Thursday 27 October, Unpopular features more than 200 objects from Pavlovic’s extensive archive, alongside stories and oral histories from the community of artists he worked with, bringing visitors backstage and behind the scenes of this era of live music.

Bell Shakespeare presents the world premiere of The Lovers, a pop musical written by young Australian writer and composer Laura Murphy reimagining Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with a fresh and infectious original score.

On now at Sydney Opera House until 20 November 2022, the production features some of the best voices in Australia’s musical theatre scene, including Natalie Abbott, Blake Appelqvist, Monique Sallé, Brittanie Shipway and Jerrod Smith, alongside 2020 finalist of The Voice Stellar Perry making her musical theatre debut.

Laura Murphy, who is one of Australia’s most exciting playwrights at the forefront of composing new Australian work, has been developing this project for the past 12 years. The Lovers gives audiences a fresh perspective on Shakespeare’s classic tale, exploring the magic and mishaps of romantic love, with original pop songs sung by the cast and accompanied by a live band.

Bega Valley Shire Council has announced the new South East Centre for Contemporary Art (SECCA), a purpose-built contemporary art space, will be unveiled this summer following completion of a major redevelopment and expansion of the 30-year-old site formerly known as Bega Valley Regional Gallery.

Award-winning Melbourne-based architecture practice, Sibling was selected from a public tender to design the $3.5 million renovation, working with Council to elevate the contemporary exhibition facilities and create a new gallery reflecting the rich cultural landscape of the region. Located on the traditional lands of the people of the Yuin Nation in the pristine landscapes of the south east corner of NSW, SECCA is home to the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, one of the most pre-eminent awards for portrait in the county and the historic Bega Valley Arts & Crafts Society collection.

The gallery will feature a significantly larger exhibition space, expanded from 180m² to 290m² and will include a state-of-the-art main gallery space for touring exhibitions.

DESIGN Canberra Festival has unveiled five new exhibitions and a collaboration with acclaimed food and entertainment organisation, The Forage, to launch as part of its ninth edition.

Forage Festival will offer a high-quality food and entertainment program, including an array of culinary and musical attractions on Saturday 5 November, showcasing the best of Canberra’s food and music scene.

The five exhibitions will each display unique design talent across an eclectic range of disciplines including architecture, interior design, metalwork and digital media from both local and international creatives: the Robert F!NK National Metal Prize, Home Life, Seeing Seventies Photography Competition, Shadow Lines and Ctrl. ALT. Design.

Carriageworks, one of Australia’s most significant contemporary multi-arts organisations, today announced a dynamic program spanning visual arts and live performance to be presented as part of Sydney Festival 2023. The program includes two major exhibitions by leading Australian artists Paul Yore and The Huxleys, a large-scale mural by Arrernte and Kalkadoon artist Thea Anamara Perkins, and an immersive live performance work by innovative percussive arts organisation Speak Percussionpresented in Sydney for the first time.

Image: Paul Yore: WORD MADE FLESH, installation view, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne. Photo credit: Andrew Curtis

Carriageworks, one of Australia’s most significant contemporary multi-arts organisations, today announced the program highlights for PARTY | PROTEST | REMEMBER, a free precinct wide event on 12 November that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Black Theatre. Curated by Director of First Nations Programs, Jacob Boehme (Narangga/Kaurna), the program celebrates Blak excellence and spans live music, performance, drag, visual art, film and will be kicked off with a citizen’s assembly led by author and Uluru Statement from the Heart campaigner Thomas Mayor.

Image: Nana Miss Koori for Party | Protest | Remember. Image: Jacquie Manning

Bruce Reynolds has been announced as the winner of the 2022 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, ahead of the opening of the 21st anniversary exhibition at the new Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf. The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize is Australia’s pre-eminent prize for small sculpture and the first national acquisitive prize for an original sculpture of up to 80cm, presented by Woollahra Council.

Bruce Reynolds has been awarded the $25,000 award, for his work, “Animal Kraters”, which will be acquired for the Council’s permanent public collection, joining previous winners Tim Silver, Robert Owen, Yvonne Kendall, Rhonda Sharpe and Mikala Dwyer.

Exploring an eclectic mix of themes including loss of identity, decolonisation, the reimagining of ancient stories and artefacts and gender identity, the 2022 finalists’ works will be on display at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf in an exhibition running from 13 October to 20 November 2022.

Image: 21st Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf. Credit Jacquie Manning

Anna Schwartz AO, Founder of Anna Schwartz Gallery, said: “Anna Schwartz Gallery is proud to present the latest development in the practice of Daniel von Sturmer: a series of highly refined, indefinable works on the walls of the gallery. This is the 9th solo exhibition of Daniel von Sturmer with the gallery and a great opportunity for audiences to see the fascinating progression in the work of this major artist.”

Daniel von Sturmer has an enduring interest in the devices associated with image-making, particularly in photography and video. These new works use an intentionally invisible trope of photographic vernacular (the graduated background) and render it concrete as a philosophical object. Entities that resist categorisation hold their potential, keeping easy apprehension at bay.