Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · 15h

Just seen Dangerously Modern at Art Gallery of NSW, presenting the art of 50 Australian women artists who pursued their passions in Europe between 1890 and 1940

Here, I talk to the curators about Bessie Davidson and Agnes Goodsir and their works made against the odds artguide.com.au/cultural-exc...

Cultural exchange on the international stage

Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890–1940, co-curated by the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, celebrates 50 Australian women artists who tr...

artguide.com.au

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · 2d

Great to catch up with Uncle Kutcha Edwards for a yarn ahead of his debut with the Sydney Symphony at the Opera House.

The concert, Ngarli-Wangu (Our Song) takes Edwards’s poem My Favourite Drop as inspiration, featuring river-themed landscapes and soundscapes.
www.smh.com.au/culture/musi...

‘Us’ and ‘them’ is far from my spirit: Why Kutcha Edwards is building bridges

As he mourns the recent death of his brother Dave, Edwards is in a period of reflection ahead of his debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

www.smh.com.au

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · 6d

Ahead of her first season launch as artistic director of the State Theatre Company of South Australia, I talk to artistic director Petra Kalive about her life, career and community ethos www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/thea... via @thesaturdaypaper.com.au

Artistic director Petra Kalive

State Theatre Company South Australia’s artistic director, Petra Kalive, brings seldom-heard voices to her imminent first season.

www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · 17d

Loving the progressive values of those still posting with Elon.

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · 17d

Speaking of local content, when is Bluesky going to introduce regional topics?

We need a trending chart to keep us informed of Australia's biggest arsehats and bitter disappointments of the day.

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · 17d

"The FANGs [Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google] don’t pay tax in Australia. They commission very little content. ... they’re not dissimilar to the crown-of-thorns starfish ... bleaching Australian content from our screens.”

Agree. Zero Oz content on HBO Max, too.

mumbrella.com.au/michael-cord...

'Crown-of-thorns starfish bleaching Australian content': Michael Cordell blasts tech giants

Award-winning producer and director Michael Cordell has likened Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google (“the FANGs”) to the crown-of-thorns starfish – coming in and destroying the local content environm...

mumbrella.com.au

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · 18d

Given her own father-daughter road story, actor and playwright Kate Mulvany seemed destined to adapt D'Arcy Niland's classic novel The Shiralee for Sydney Theatre Company.

I profile Mulvany about her life and career for Limelight's October issue [subscriber].

limelight-arts.com.au/features/cro...

Limelight magazine's October cover image of a blue and pink Georgia O'Keefe's 1918 abstract painting Music - Pink and Blue No 1.

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Reposted by Steve Dow

James Ley @jamesley.bsky.social · 22d

The deputy editor speaks

overland.org.au/2025/09/no-g...

“No Guernicas, no sacred places”: On the closure of Meanjin - Overland literary journal

Australia’s literary culture depends for its life on its journals. Literary journals are not just clearing houses for pithy snatches of commentary and readable middlebrow fiction — they’re incubators ...

overland.org.au

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · 28d

Had a yarn with NZ artist Lisa Reihana, whose works welcome visitors entering Ngununggula in the Southern Highlands and Sydney Contemporary at Carriageworks.

"I try to demonstrate caring for others," she says, her survey at Bowral collecting her stunning recent video art.
artguide.com.au?p=219231

Looking Forward, Looking Back with Lisa Reihana

Auckland-born and raised artist Lisa Reihana is ever the optimist, creating two new works signifying social cohesion to hang outside two Australian arts venues—Ngununggula, and Sydney Contemporary at ...

artguide.com.au

Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Aug 10

On motherhood, career and rejection: my profile of Philippa Northeast, from The Newsreader and Territory to the ABC’s new drama The Family Next Door and her upcoming lead in a Netflix remake of an iconic Australian story. In today’s Sunday Life magazine. www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...

You mightn’t know her yet, but actor Philippa Northeast is a star to watch

After a COVID career setback, the 30-year-old star of The Newsreader and Territory appears in a new ABC drama based on a Sally Hepworth bestseller.

www.smh.com.au

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Jul 31

He eschewed “the lie” of naturalism on stage and saw artificiality as “more honest”. Visionary theatre and opera director Robert Wilson has died aged 83.

In 2015, he was ever the showman when I interviewed him, and he spoke of divas Gaga, Dietrich and Abramović. www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/d...

Robert Wilson: the art my generation produced won’t be seen in 50 years

Avant-garde theatremaker on the genius of Lady Gaga and why contemporary artists such as Marina Abramović will become a ‘footnote’ in history

www.theguardian.com

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Jul 23

“I always want a painting or drawing I do to have a little energy and a sense of self."

Pleasure to spend time with rule-breaking artist Janet Dawson at her first state museum retrospective, at age 90, at Art Gallery of NSW.

My interview for Art Guide Australia: artguide.com.au/resisting-ru...

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Reposted by Steve Dow

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · Jul 12

🔥 Rosie O’Donnell, an American, responds to Trump threatening to revoke her citizenship — showing he is coming for anyone who opposes him eventually: “You are everything that is wrong with 🇺🇸… King Joffrey with a tangerine spray tan. I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Jun 13

Took a walk with choreographer Stephen Page and we spoke of grief, creativity and renewal as well as plans to make a feature film about his late brother, composer David Page www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Stephen Page: ‘Am I old? Am I not old? Can I still create?’

The acclaimed choreographer on leaving Bangarra, losing family and finding sacred stability

www.theguardian.com

Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Jun 8

“As an older woman, courage starts to wobble,” Marta Dusseldorp tells me in this interview ahead of her Tassie-noir romp Bay of Fires season two on the ABC.

“I want to keep my courage until the very end, and I’m finding right now I’m having to remind myself of that.” www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...

‘As an older woman, courage starts to wobble’: How Marta Dusseldorp finds her strength

Since moving to Tasmania, the actor and co-creator of Bay of Fires has embraced a more connected life.

www.smh.com.au

Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Jun 6

Light as life: I review Bangarra Dance Theatre’s new show Illume last night at the Opera House, ahead of its national tour www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...

Bangarra: Illume review – exquisite dance show makes for an astonishing visual feast

In the 1,500-seat Joan Sutherland theatre, Bangarra Dance Theatre finally has the space it deserves – and this ambitious production makes the most of it

www.theguardian.com

Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · May 23

In Janenne Eaton’s art lies an implicit critique of our over-reliance on digital technology, a musing on the collision of our physical and virtual worlds.

I talk to the Melbourne artist for Art Guide Australia artguide.com.au/janenne-eato...

Janenne Eaton reflects the impact of the digital world on the natural

Janenne Eaton’s first major career survey, Lines of Sight—Frame and Horizon opens at Geelong Gallery. With a lifetime of environmental work and appreciation, the work reflects on the omnipotence of te...

artguide.com.au

Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · May 23

Marina Otero drew on her breakdown to create Kill Me, her show about “madness for love” (or, as she puts it, “locura por amor”), coming to Melbourne’s Rising festival. I spoke to Otero in Madrid for @australia.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

‘I was sure salvation lay in art’: Marina Otero on death, dance and mental illness

The Argentinian choreographer, known for working out her traumas and neuroses on stage, is bringing her provocative new work, Kill Me, to Australia

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Steve Dow

Anders Nilsson @etwasanders.bsky.social · May 21

Michael B Tretow 1944-2025.
Svensk kulturkanon. ❤️

En ung Michael B Tretow sittande vid ett stort mixerbord. Frida, Agnetha, Björn och Benny stående runt.

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · May 18

Serial empath: I talk to director and lighting designer Alexander Berlage about his life and career, his take on Almodovar and his upcoming Aphrodite limelight-arts.com.au/features/ale... [subscriber]

Alexander Berlage: The Bold and the Terrifying

Alexander Berlage chats about his current projects – the Australian premiere of a musical and a world premiere with Sydney Chamber Opera.

limelight-arts.com.au

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · May 3

Dutton: “We know our values, we know our beliefs and we will always stick to them.”

Well, there’s your review, then. No soul searching there. Pity he couldn’t show Indigenous people the same respect he shows defence personnel. #ausvotes

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · May 2

Lamington Drive was Mary’s address in Adam Elliot’s Mary and Max. Iconic.

Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Apr 24

good idea, I guess

Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Apr 22

driving home the metaphor

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Steve Dow @dowsteve.bsky.social · Apr 21

From cruel Violet to optimistic Winnie, clinging to small comforts: I talk to actor Pamela Rabe about her two stage characters thus far this year, dealing with life’s blows in very different ways.

In Limelight magazine, ahead of Happy Days at Sydney Theatre Co limelight-arts.com.au/features/wal...

Walking Tall

Read the article from Limelight's May 2025 issue.

limelight-arts.com.au