No more Netflix: world-class arts and culture at home
There’s more to at-home entertainment than endless TV — here’s how to get your culture fix without leaving your couch.
When, once again, Covid-19 shut down our favourite galleries, theatres, shows, restaurants and artistic institutions, it felt like a cultural death for the second year running.
For all of us subject to a ban on international travel – as well as the half of the nation that is in a prolonged hard lockdown – the fact the northern hemisphere has reopened with its West End musicals, Los Angeles movie premieres and European film festivals compounds the sense of desolation.
There’s nothing splendid about isolation this time around.
But it’s time to shake off the ennui – there are plenty of ways to stay connected to each other and to the cultural heartbeat that runs through the nation and our great global cities.
For the past 18 months, crisis has bred creativity, and the legacy of a pandemic world is a tonne of artistic innovation that can be accessed virtually from anywhere.
So it’s time to turn off Netflix and turn on a great podcast about art, explore a collaboration hub featuring original performances by some of the world’s most cutting-edge artists, tune into a live drawing class while wearing an outfit tailor-made to beat the working from home blues.
As Picasso once said, “Without great solitude, no serious work is possible” – so, in that spirit, of here is our ultimate lockdown list of the most interesting and engaging cultural offerings to beat boredom.
Listen and learn
Talk Art is one of the best podcasts if you’re looking to explore the magic of art and why it connects us all in such fascinating ways. Actor Russell Tovey and gallerist Robert Diament interview leading artists, curators and gallerists, and even occasionally their talented friends from other industries such as acting, music and journalism. Some of our favourite episodes include their tete-a-tete with Wolfgang Tillmans, KAWS, Tracey Emin and Sir Paul Smith.
Arguably the best interviewer on the podcast circuit (but don’t just take our word for it; it was the first business podcast to pass 100 million downloads), The Tim Ferriss Show is required listening for anyone who loves deep-diving into the minds of the world’s most fascinating people. Ferris deconstructs world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, sports, business, art and so on) to extract the tactics, tools and routines you can use. This includes favourite books, morning routines, exercise habits, time-management tricks and much more. Some of our top-rated episodes feature conversations with Ferris and Jamie Foxx, Malcolm Gladwell, Jordan Peterson and Jerry Seinfeld.
If you’re looking for a light upbeat podcast about books, the Lit Up podcast is hosted by Angela Ledgerwood, an Australian-born, New York-based editorial director who chats to her favourite authors about writing, life and what lights them up. For those looking for light during these dark times, we recommend listening to episodes such as Angela’s chat with Elizabeth Gilbert about dancing, “becoming interesting” and why being honest is better than being good.
Experience
While it’s true an evening of live music is hard to beat for diehard lovers of Bach, dare we suggest that this exclusive film’s extraordinary “peek into the orchestral pit” might offer some consolation.
Bach’s Universeis an exclusive new digital-only baroque music film by Paul Dyer and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, featuring baroque violinist Jonas Zschenderlein. Viewers will enter the heart of the orchestra with stunning cinematography that offers unique insight into the interplay and invention of baroque music performance.
The digital premiere performance was on August 28 but it can be accessed via a subscription to the company’s digital stage, Brandenburg One, which also offers shorter digital performances and interviews. brandenburg.com.au
Phoenix Central Parkis an artistic hub where visual and performing arts are in constant dialogue with one another, resulting in creations that can defy description. We strongly recommend performance videos featuring Genesis Owusu, Angela Goh, and Gordi. phoenixcentralpark.com.au
Imagine new ways to combat old problems such as climate change, broken financial models, and systemic racism via Sydney Opera House’s Antidote festival,featuring a line-up of virtual talks and workshops with leading thinkers and makers considering the world’s big problems and possible solutions. We’ve bookmarked live-stream talks on the end of an empire, stopping Asian hate, and the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Sydneyoperahouse.com, September 5.
View
An online exhibition devoted to our longing to touch – now more than ever as our lives turn inward and play out across a thousand screens – Sullivan & Strumph have curated On Touch, showcasing a selection of sculptural works by Australia’s leading contemporary artists such as Lindy Lee, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Alex Seton. sullivanstrumpf.com, exhibition ends September 19.
Enter the bold and distinctive world of Brett Whiteley at Home – a realm filled with ultramarine-blue Sydney Harbour views, intimate and revealing portraits, characterful birds and animals, and lyrically observed landscapes. Explore Whiteley’s last studio and home from the comfort of your own home and find out more about his artistic legacy. artgallery.nsw.gov.au
KAWS, real name Brian Donnelly, began his career in street art before making his claim as one of the world’s most prominent contemporary artists. His now aptly titled exhibitionKaws: Companionship in the Age of Loneliness delighted National Gallery of Victoria visitors when it opened in 2019. If you missed it, or you’re keen to immerse yourself in a world of quirky, childlike and outsized creation., check out this and others on the NGV’s virtual exhibition channel. ngv.vic.gov.au/virtual-tours/kaws
Eat + Drink
A service that delivers wine to your door is something worth cheering. DRNKS is an evolving collection of sustainable, organic and biodynamic wine sourced from family-owned labels made with limited to no additives. It sends wine all over Australia from its temperature-controlled warehouse where all stock is held. Most of its inventory isn’t available anywhere else: not because of some manufactured exclusivity but because the special nature and limited production of its stock precludes it from traditional sale. drnks.com
Providoor arguably has transformed takeaway with dishes and set menus from Sydney’s best restaurants such as The Apollo, Rockpool, Icebergs, Monopole and Fratelli Paradiso, and Melbourne’s top names in fine dining including Cumulus, Cutler & Co and Di Stasio, among dozens more. The cities’ top chefs prepare your meal and Providoor delivers it chilled and ready for you to finish at home – which usually means heat, plate up and take credit. providoor.com.au
While it’s never advisable to judge a book by its cover, or chocolate by its packaging, in this instance it’s encouraged. Casa Bosques Chocolates, founded by Mexico City-based designer Rafael Prieto, has released distinct bars in collaboration with artists and chefs offering textured yet smooth chocolate infused with herbs, fruits and spices. casabosques.co/
Cook
Some people simply cannot be stopped from doing what they love. Chef Orazio D’Elia is co-owner of two Matteo restaurants in Sydney and guru of Italian cuisine. Despite the lockdowns crippling the hospitality industry, D’Elia, who is from Naples, continues to inspire and create from his kitchen at home by coaching his 17,000 Instagram viewers via@chef_orazio into making perfect Italian dishes with his fail-safe, simple recipes. Be it vodka pasta, vongole bottarga or stuffed calamari, D’Elia guides you through each step, from which products to use to navigating a toddler in the kitchen.
Part cookbook, part art tome, The Kitchen Studio: Culinary Creations by Artists comprises illustrations, paintings, photographs and recipes from 70 artists. With stunning works by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Philippe Parreno, Olafur Eliasson, Tiffany Sia and others, the book also features an introduction by Massimo Bottura. From a recipe (and sculpture) of candied yams by Charles Gaines to colourful face-shaped meringues by Jeppe Hein, these recipes span cocktails, main meals, snacks, dips and more. Pre-order from Phaidon, $59.95.
Move
Ballet before breakfast? Pilates instead of another packet of chips? Sydney Dance Company’s classes are the perfect way to finesse your fitness routine, improve your technique or simply get your body moving. With a library of prerecorded classes in loads of dance styles at many skill levels, a subscription to classes on demand will give you the best Sydney Dance Companyexperience from the comfort of your living room floor.
Whether you’re working from home, homeschooling or both, there isn’t enough time to focus on our mental and physical health. EnterKAAIAA, the one-hour transformational workout that trains our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual faculties via a combination of breath work, bodywork and meditation. KAAIAA founder Leah Simmons will transform your day via live Zoom or on demand.
The Future Sound of Yogais the ultimate – and perhaps the only – yogi-rave fusion event you’re going to encounter. It’s the creation of Angel and Matt Singmin, two music-passionate yogis who met by chance in the dance tent at Glastonbury while watching the Chemical Brothers. Their usual set up is nightclub lighting and a big sound system; since lockdown began they’ve been channelling good vibes and downward dogs virtually from their studio every Friday night.
Wear
When two Australian classics – May Gibbs and Romance Was Born – come together to create the perfect Work From Home collection, it’s safe to say we won’t be wearing anything else until we get our freedom.
After first collaborating in 2015, Romance Was Born has gone on to design multiple ranges depicting the loveable cherubic characters from the Australian bush. There are hoodies and sweats, but our favourite offering is the dreamy Bush Gumnuts Long PJ set.
Just when you thought all the coolest collaborations possible had been attempted, add Rick Owens X Converse to your list. The DRKSHDW TURBOWPNis tall, dark, and chunky, and made to be extra imposing by a super-tall tongue. It sounds like it’s time to start some sartorial stomping – guaranteed to put a spring in your step even if it’s just to the corner to buy milk.
Camilla and Marc presentFuture Now, a virtual exhibition that brings together a collective of 10 Australian creatives in a series of works to celebrate a renewed sustainable vision for the future. The limited edition unisex capsule collection is crafted from fabrics that have been carefully selected to reduce landfill, ocean waste and carbon emissions, while also saving water and energy. Saving the planet never looked so good.
Do
Making art has been scientifically proven to reduce stress. We highly recommend Peach Black Gallery’s two-hour live-streamed life drawing classes held every two weeks and led by Peach Black’s founder and visual artist Matteo Bernasconi. What better way to connect with artists and cultural enthusiasts around the world or around the corner?peachblackgallery.com
Never got clayed before? Clay Time has you covered. Pottery-making may be a bit of a lockdown cliche but there’s no doubting the therapeutic benefit of getting mindful and muddy. These simple-to-follow online tutorials and DIY home-delivered Claytime kit, which contains 5kg of delicious hand-building clay goodness and eight tools to craft, etch, shape and mould, are a great introduction to the craft. claytime.co
Virtual experiences are no substitute for the magic of our national museums and institutions, but the National Gallery of Victoria’s online courses are at least an opportunity for some powerful self-improvement. Learn about the power of art to bring about social change, the story of impressionism and its enduring legacy, or even how philosophers have examined raw human emotions. ngv.vic.gov.au/learn/
Read
Glorious books on art double as an interiors play when they sit in colourful splendour on your coffee table.
The Venice Biennale is the Olympics of the art world – a wild, freewheeling festival of the best and brightest players in today’s cultural zeitgeist. Australia at the Venice Biennaleis a richly illustrated book illuminating the untold stories and origins of the most important event of the art world, including works by Australian art heroes Sidney Nolan, Russell Drysdale, Rover Thomas and Patricia Piccinini. MUP, $79.99.
Among the few female artists who have transcended art history, none had a meteoric rise quite like Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. This newly published XXL monograph, titled Frida Kahlo: The Complete Paintings, combines all of Kahlo’s 152 paintings with rarely seen photographs, diary pages, letters, and an illustrated biography – forming the most extensive study of Kahlo’s work and life to date. Publisher and price to come.
Interact & Play
Louis Vuitton’s Louis the Game, an addictive phone app that travels through six worlds, isn’t like most fashion games – it’s actually good. Gamers are able to customise their character with different Louis Vuitton monogram prints and colourways, but most notably are the 30 embedded
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, you can find throughout the game, designed by American digital artist Beeple. Each NFT is a collectable that can be found only through playing the game and cannot be sold.With no formal art training CJ Hendry masterfully draws hyper-realistic, large-scale images that sometimes take 200 hours to complete. Rising to fame via social media, Hendry has drawn everything from Chanel perfume bottles to lipstick-stained cigarette butts. Can’t afford one of Hendry’s original drawings? Upgrade your screen saver instead with her Weekly Wallpapers, available for free download. cjhendry.live
The flagships
And as per Lockdown 2020, our great institutions are still a trove of great online content. The Australian Ballet has postponed the live-streaming of performances but still has adult classes, behind the scenes videos and digital editions for New York Dialects and Anna Karenina on Ballet TV.
Melbourne Digital Concert Hall has the biggest program of live-streamed classical music, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has a dedicated channel with streaming on demand and Melbourne Theatre Company’s MTC Digital Theatre’s latest is Berline by Joanna Murray-Smith, showing until May 27 next year.australianballet.com.au/tv; melbournedigitalconcerthall.com; watch.mso.live; mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/whats-on/mtc-digital-theatre/
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In a locked-down world, Arts-Matter
Described by Vogue Australia as “the ultimate party planners you never knew you needed”, whose “sought-after events nourish the brain as well as the body”, culture queens Michelle Grey and Susan Armstrong (pictured) are here to curate lockdown 2021, presenting the sprawling guide on this page.
Grey, having shaped some of the most innovative content and programming platforms for global brands such as NeueHouse LA and Soho House in New York, moved back to Sydney last year at the height of the pandemic’s first wave to join forces with Armstrong, who had been working as an art director for top-flight fashion and hospitality brands. The pair set up Arts-Matter, which puts artists, critics and cultural leaders from different disciplines together to create events as well as smaller, salon-style experiences.
After 16 years in New York, Grey was “dying to come back and everything in Australia looked like it was still going”, Grey told Vogue last month.
Of course, since then things have, well, stopped for at least half of the nation but Grey and Armstrong are undeterred, using this time to immerse themselves in virtual arts and cultural fare as well as a stream of books and remote activities as means of sparking inspiration for when we open up again. It also has given them the benefit of staying connected with what’s happening in the world’s biggest culture hubs.
Says Grey, “even at a distance our sense of community, solidarity and shared humanity is stronger than ever”.
Grey, who while working overseas also steered The New York Times’ live-stream talks program – arranging in person and video events with Grace Jones, Ai Weiwei, Wes Anderson, Gloria Steinem, Christo and Kanye West, among others – is keen to use her connections and holistic approach to arts and lifestyle to spice up the nation’s creative scene.
Surfacing out of the first lockdown, Arts-Matter hosted workshops and events that included an artist-led Pictionary with Kim Leutwyler; sneaker-designing with multimedia artist Tony Albert; performances by Sydney Dance Company, and a pasta-making class with Archibald Prize finalist Jamie Preisz, attended by high-profile creative and society figures such as Camilla Franks and Louise Olsen.
Armstrong and Grey also tested the water with a week-long series for Absolut Art in March last year, hosting English-born artist Shantell Martin, a dinner and light show at Icebergs, and a live-drawing performance with artist Brook Andrew. “We jam-packed a lot into that week and it showed us there was a real appetite for that sort of thing,”
For a daily dose of cultural inspiration, follow Arts-Matter on Instagram @arts__matter
- Imogen Reid