There was an appropriate amount of controversy over the decision to award the $60,000 annual Sculpture by the Sea to Amercan Peter Lundberg for his work, The Ring. “Looks like a dog turd,” said one observer of the huge bronze work on display on Tamarama Beach (above) beside the highly photogenic We’re fryin’ out here by Andrew Hankin. The exhibition, 109 sculptures displayed along a 2km stretch of magnificent coastline between Bondi Beach and its neighbouring Tamarama, is
The stunning coastal path between Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach and neighbouring Tamarama Beach is the spectacular setting fo
r the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition which opened this week. More than 100 artists from 16 countries have works on show ranging from the sophisticated and awe inspiring to the distinctly quirky. Amore than 500,000 people are expected to visit the free exhibition, which runs between 23rd October, and 9 Novemberl are positioned along the coastal walk which showcases the outstanding natural Australian assets.
Attica in Melbourne, Victoria, has been named Australian Gourmet Traveller’s Restaurant of the Year. The full Top 100 are:
1 . Attica, Vic; 2. Rockpool, NSW; 3. Momofuku Seiobo, NSW; 4. Quay, NSW; 5. Brae, Vic; 6. Sepia, NSW; 7. Cutler & Co, Vic; 8. Marque, NSW; 9. Vue de Monde, Vic; 10. Penfolds Magill Estate, SA; 11. Est, NSW; 12. Rockpool Bar & Grill, NSW; 13. Tetsuya’s, NSW; 14. Bentley, NSW; 15. The Bridge Room, NSW; 16. Orana, SA; 17. Esquire, Qld; 18. Garagistes, Tas; 19. Rockpool Bar & Grill, Vic; 20. Urbane, Qld; 21. Provenance, Vic; 22. Flower Drum, Vic; 23. Sixpenny, NSW; 24. Porteño, NSW; 25. Sean’s Panaroma, NSW; 26. Four in Hand, NSW; 27. Café Di Stasio, Vic; 28. Lake House, Vic; 29. Ten Minutes by Tractor, Vic; 30. Ester, NSW; 31. Grossi Florentino, Vic; 32. The Press Club, Vic; 33. Restaurant Amuse, WA; 34. Aria, NSW; 35. Print Hall, WA; 36. Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, NSW; 37. Pei Modern, Vic; 38. Nu Nu, Qld; 39. Mr Wong, NSW; 40. Fish Face, NSW; 41. Ormeggio, NSW; 42. Pilu at Freshwater, NSW; 43. Rockpool Bar & Grill, WA; 44. Spice Temple, NSW; 45. Wasabi, Qld; 46. Aria Brisbane, Qld; 47. Appellation, SA; 48. Café Paci, NSW; 49. Flying Fish, NSW; 50. Woodland House, Vic.
In an unusual partnering, Australian conservationists are recruiting Maremma dogs for a new pilot program to help save the endangered Eastern Bandicoot. This follows a highly successful program where the Maremma protected the fairy penguins on Australia’s Middle Island from fox attacks. The dogs, which operated in pairs, form special bonds…
There was some unusual feedback from American novelist Phillipp Meyer, (pictured left) author of the knock-out The Son, who is star attraction at the Brisbane Writers’ Festival this week.“Praise is just as bad as criticism when you’re doing work,” he said in an interview with The Australian newspaper. “You can’t have anyone else’s voice in your head but your own, so the way I deal with it is I just don’t think about it,” he said. “When I see those sort of comments they have no emotional effect. It’s like a pretty girl getting your attention at a bar. If you did actually think about it, artistically you’d be ruined, you’d turn into a monster.”
He’d better get used to ignoring a lot of pretty girls in bars as the plaudits are
Misogyny and equality were the two words of the weekend at the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival on Australia’s east coast, dominating not only the discussion at a number of formal panels but also in the less formal conversations as people enjoyed the spectacular weather and location. Although the Festival schedule…
If you are in Sydney, Australia, before 15th August this year make absolutely certain you visit Wangechi Mutu’s exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Arts. Even if you are 
not an art lover, the MCA is worth visiting, located in the historic Rocks area and looking out on the bustling ferry terminal on the Harbour, directly opposite the iconic Opera House. A work of art on its own
Mutu, Kenyan-born, educated in England and America, now lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is making an international name as one of the most exciting and influential contemporary African artists. The exhibition, curated by the MCA’s Rachel Kent, shows the breadth of Mutu’s works which focuses on gender, race, globalisation and the lingering often bloody impact of post-imperialistic Africa, primarily through the women’s cultural perspective.