The Australian Letter a weekly newsletter from our bureau in Australia. Sign up to get it by email. This week’s issue is written by Natasha Frost, a reporter in Melbourne.
Mild temperatures blanket much of Australia. It won’t last – the forecast is back to colder weather early next week – but the dose of warmth is a good reminder that summer, with its many cultural attractions, is not too far away.
We have compiled a short list of some of the offerings in art, culture, design, music and theater available at the end of the year, to whet your appetite for the future.
Australian Capital Territory
Floriade at Commonwealth Park, Canberra. Nicknamed “Australia’s Celebration of Spring,” this free flower festival, which starts this week, features more than a million flowers. NightFest, its after-dark component, is ticketed, with admission for adults starting at 35 Australian dollars ($23), and will run for four nights at the end of September. (Sept. 16 to Oct. 15)
Emily Kam Kngwarray at The National Gallery, Canberra. This retrospective examines the work of Ms. Kngwarray, an Anmatyerre artist from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory who died in 1996. Over an eight-year career that began late in life, he produced more than 3,000 works, in many different media . (Dec. 2 to April 28.)
New South Wales
Venus and Adonis at the Seymour Center. A new play by award-winning dramaturg Damien Ryan is making its world premiere. Billed as an analog of the 1998 film “Shakespeare in Love,” the play “tells the story of the opposite of Will Shakespeare – a poet hidden in history. His is a unique story.” (Sept. 29 to Oct. 21)
SXSW Sydney. This festival of creativity and ideas, usually held in Austin, Tex., is coming to Sydney for the first time. Speakers include Charlie Brooker, the creator of “Black Mirror”; Chance the Rapper; and Cal Henderson, the co-founder of Slack. Don’t miss the world premiere of the Wiggles documentary, “Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles.” (Oct. 15 to Oct. 22)
Northern Territory
Desert Festival, Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Now in its 22nd year, this festival features music, dance, art and talks by creators from across Australia, with a particular focus on Aboriginal culture. A highlight: A bushfoods-inspired dinner that “pays tribute to the knowledge of local Indigenous women and their sustainable harvesting methods.” (Sept. 21 to Oct. 1)
Queensland
The Ring Cycle at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane. See one of opera’s greatest works, as a new production of Wagner’s 15-hour epic, performed over four nights, comes to Queensland. (Dec. 1 to Dec. 31)
Woodford Folk Festival. Experience performances from thousands of artists in 35 venues, covering music, circus, comedy, cabaret, workshops and ceremonies, at this festival about 45 miles north of Brisbane. (Dec. 27 to Jan. 1)
South Australia
Tarnanthi at the Art Gallery of South Australia. This exhibition showcases contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art from across the continent, supported by a program of talks, performances and workshops. (Oct. 20 to Jan. 21)
Adelaide Film Festival. This biennial event showcases international and Australian cinema, with a focus on emerging talent and boundary-pushing filmmaking. “The Royal Hotel” and “Housekeeping For Beginners” are among the films made in Australia that premiered there. This year’s festival will focus on cinema from Indonesia. (Oct. 18 to Oct. 29)
Tasmania
The Unconformity, Queenstown. Expect the unexpected: This arts festival, sometimes described as “weird and unique,” celebrates Tasmania’s remote West Coast. “Our unique proposition is to become a cultural gateway to western Tasmania – a place that is hard to get to and even harder to join – by mining a new cultural product with a spirit of freedom, courage, risk and adventure mixed with the DNA of our region,” wrote the organizers. (Oct. 19 to Oct. 22)
Victoria
Melbourne Fringe Festival, various venues. Find a hidden gem or a new favorite artist at this open-access festival, with events as varied as the aquatic choir at the Melbourne City Baths (you’ll be encouraged to get in the pool); an “experimental play/theatre piece” about Tennessee Williams’ life on the dodge ball court; and a laser light show on the Yarra River. Many events are free. (Oct. 3 to Oct. 22)
Melbourne Jazz Festival, various venues. Jazz across the spectrum, from traditional to contemporary and everything in between. (Oct. 20 to Oct. 29)
Western Australia
Thomas Dambo’s Giants in Mandurah. Some things are indescribable, and this free outdoor exhibit from the “world’s leading recycle artist” might be one of them. (Until Nov. 11)
Here are the stories of the week.
