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Aerobatic feats and big military jets drew crowds of plane-spotters to Surfers Paradise beach for the return of the Pacific Airshow over the weekend. First held in California in 2016, the event came to Queensland in 2023 but was cancelled last year due to damage caused by Cyclone Alfred Continue reading...
Director Finlay Pretsell captures Gordon setting things alight with a miniature blowtorch, smearing himself with silver paint and throwing shapes with a bullwhip Here is a brave and not entirely orthodox artist documentary; not so much a dates-and-shows-and-talking-heads profile, but resembling something of an act of art in itself. The subject is Douglas Gordon, the Scottish film and video-maker,…
Dozens of prisons were built in Britain between 1842 and 1877, many of which are still in use today. For more than 20 years, Andy Aitchison has photographed behind the walls. His book Incarcerated explores how Victorian prison infrastructure has persisted, and what these old buildings mean for the people who live and work inside What is now HMP Lincoln opened at the end of the most prolific period…
My civil partner’s brother John David Edwards, who has died from heart disease aged 74, was a painter and sculptor who exhibited widely as John D Edwards and inspired community arts projects. He gave immense personal support to people living with cancer and to others recovering from life-threatening addiction. His selfless dedication to helping people in need was also reflected in a generosity of…
Theft of four works on national holiday described as wound to historical memory and cultural identity of city of Messina Four of the most important works of art by the 15th-century Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen during a national holiday from a museum in the Sicilian port city of Messina. Thieves gained access to the Regional Museum of Messina , or MuMe, on Saturday evening,…
Lithuania’s capital Vilnius has been billed as the ‘European corgi capital’. Corgi Race Vilnius began during the pandemic as a friendly bet between two owners, and now features sprint heats, a costume parade, a loudest bark contest, and new agility and ‘run and return’ races. Continue reading...
Martine Perret’s latest aerial images reveal the land at a scale that invites both awe and urgency; ancient riverbeds that have carved the land over millenia, the immense salt flats reflecting incredible colours and a unique marine biodiversity. These images are part of an ongoing photo series from the last five years showing sweeping landscapes from the Abrolhos Islands, Gascoyne, and Wheatbelt…
The photographer was on an early-morning hike by a lake in Michigan when he spotted the unusually large amphibian, so he dipped his lens below the waterline to get the shot Steven Scott Grogin describes his mornings in Michigan as a ritual. He wakes up at 6am on the dot to get ready for a hike. His favourite lake, once a quarry pit, is a 30-minute walk away, so he tends to arrive by around 7am.…
Dominic Sessa plays Anthony Bourdain in a fun biopic, and the ever-danceable UK funksters are back with a sun-dappled new album Tony Out now This comic biopic of Anthony Bourdain focuses on the celebrity chef and documentarian’s late adolescence, as he gets a summer job at a restaurant in Cape Cod at the age of 19. Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) plays Bourdain, with Matt Johnson directing. Rich…
Wildfires rage in Europe and the US, an earthquake rocks Colombia, Russian strikes in Ukraine and a solar eclipse – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists Continue reading...
Various venues, Edinburgh From queer narratives to secret histories, this year celebrates the underground and the unheralded. Our writer uncovers so many stories, he feels like Columbo By the time you’re done with Edinburgh art festival you’ll have uncovered so many hidden stories you’ll feel like Columbo. We’re talking queer narratives, secret histories, undiscovered archives: the whole festival…
Edinburgh art festival erupts with Del LaGrace Volcano, Belgium lays down a marker for public art and Toulouse-Lautrec captures a dancer – all in your weekly dispatch Edinburgh art festival Science-minded artist Katie Paterson finds a natural home in the Collective Gallery’s repurposed observatory on Calton Hill, while Del LaGrace Volcano, Eva Rothschild and more show in the many other memorable…
Muse Betty Freeman sits at the centre of this sun-drenched book about art, eccentricity, and the spirit of Los Angeles David Hockney was 29 years old when he came to Betty Freeman’s house to photograph her swimming pool. Scouting locations for the pool paintings that would make him a household name, he took preparatory snaps of his partner, Peter Schlesinger, emerging naked from the water. And yet…
Lord mayor says town hall square will be ‘fantastic’ – but business advocate says project’s scale of demolition presents ‘unwanted disruption’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Sydneysiders have been given a first glimpse of a new public square set to “unify” the CBD, more than 40 years after the project was…
When temperatures get to 40C inside, and French building regulations won’t even allow shutters, these tenants’ listed homes are simply unlivable The population of Firminy, south-east France, has been dwindling for decades. Its recent history is one of factory closures in a region built by steel, and locals tell me that many people leave for better opportunities in neighbouring Saint-Étienne, or to…
This year’s finalists for the National Architecture awards’ sustainability category include a compact Canberra housing development and the largest commercial use of hempcrete in the country. Architecture ‘holds a mirror up to who we are as a society – what we value, what we’re willing to invest in, what we want to leave behind,’ says Adam Haddow, the chair of the jury for the awards. ‘The…
Court rules architecture firm not responsible for safety breaches before fatal incident but project managers and contractors found guilty The architecture firm founded by Norman Foster has been cleared over the death of a man killed by a window that fell 90 metres from a newly constructed London penthouse. Foster + Partners (F+P), the practice behind some of the world’s most recognisable buildings…
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London Era-defining photographs from the likes of Alfred Stieglitz, Saul Leiter and Dorothea Lange showcase the urban landscape, from midnight crime scenes to gloomy corridors In pictures: Great American cities in pictures This – only the second photography exhibition in Dulwich Picture Gallery’s history – is a quietly contemplative but gripping show that traces two…
Empty galleries | Cooking real food | Enigma of Alan Turing | DIY desperation | Futility rooms One thing that the new director of Tate could do ( Jessica Morgan named new Tate director – with ‘big pay cut’ to take job, 22 July ) is display a lot more of the art they have in store. There are acres of Tate Modern and (to a lesser extent) Tate Britain that are empty. No one wants a display like the…
The Whitworth, Manchester Manchester’s past as a centre of textile production forms the starting point of this seamless showcase of skills How many hands did it take to make this show? That is to say, how many artisans, craftspeople, weavers and artists’ hands did these pieces pass through? For this is a textile exhibition that doesn’t just celebrate a short list of singular artists, but rather…
The UK is both an epicentre of global creative industries and a budding AI powerhouse. Here’s how it can balance support for creatives while also embracing technological changes What does it mean to be a creator in today’s modern world when artificial intelligence is reshaping relationships between humans and technology? That’s one critical question the UK creative industry has been asking itself…
A new exhibition at Melbourne’s Potter Museum of Art celebrates the cultural and ecological significance of the eucalypt. Translating as ‘breathing for us’ in Woi Wurrung, the show Ngarn Wa’ngal brings together more than 160 works that capture this defining feature of the Australian landscape. Ngarn Wa’ngal: Art of the Gum Tree opens on 10 July; admission is free Young Archie competition:…
The Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins, on the citizens risking their lives to salvage Ukraine’s cultural heritage The Chornobyl Museum in Kyiv, recently renovated to mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster, stood as a vital site of memory for an independent Ukraine. But just weeks after its reopening, a massive missile strike left its halls in ruins. Charlotte Higgins, the…
They often boast thousands of great works – but who needs that? I can only really engage with one or two before feeling exhausted Visiting an art gallery always goes the same way for me. I look at one artwork. I look at the next artwork. And then the next. What was the first one again? Was it of a farm? Who knows? I reach the inevitable conclusion: there are simply too many paintings. After about…
