Steve Dow
@dowsteve.bsky.social
Arts journalo, everywhere I go - Guardian, Saturday Paper, The Monthly, Sunday Life, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Art Guide Australia, Limelight, Vault, Meanjin. http://stevedow.com.au/default.aspx
A premiere animation on Hermannsburg Ladies Choir, beside Vincent Namatjira's major new portrait, Royal Albert, that depicts his great-grandfather as King of Country, at the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial.
Potters have reproduced Albert Namatjira's belongings in clay, including his letters.
Potters have reproduced Albert Namatjira's belongings in clay, including his letters.
December 4, 2025 at 8:20 PM
A premiere animation on Hermannsburg Ladies Choir, beside Vincent Namatjira's major new portrait, Royal Albert, that depicts his great-grandfather as King of Country, at the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial.
Potters have reproduced Albert Namatjira's belongings in clay, including his letters.
Potters have reproduced Albert Namatjira's belongings in clay, including his letters.
A preview here of the Namatjira room at the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial opening at the National Gallery of Australia.
A collaboration including 57 artists from Namatjira's family and community, it features a beautiful glasshouse reproduction of Namatjira's house, which still stands today.
A collaboration including 57 artists from Namatjira's family and community, it features a beautiful glasshouse reproduction of Namatjira's house, which still stands today.
December 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
A preview here of the Namatjira room at the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial opening at the National Gallery of Australia.
A collaboration including 57 artists from Namatjira's family and community, it features a beautiful glasshouse reproduction of Namatjira's house, which still stands today.
A collaboration including 57 artists from Namatjira's family and community, it features a beautiful glasshouse reproduction of Namatjira's house, which still stands today.
It’s the eyes that greet you first as you pop out of the elevator on the second floor of the National Gallery of Australia.
Instantly, I was smitten. Who was she, among these luminaries. I needed to know.
Instantly, I was smitten. Who was she, among these luminaries. I needed to know.
December 2, 2025 at 12:13 AM
It’s the eyes that greet you first as you pop out of the elevator on the second floor of the National Gallery of Australia.
Instantly, I was smitten. Who was she, among these luminaries. I needed to know.
Instantly, I was smitten. Who was she, among these luminaries. I needed to know.
“I’m very passionate about having a First Nations storyline in such a huge show with such a huge reach.”
In Sunday Life today I profile Tuuli Narkle about her life, Noongar ancestry and ongoing role as Evie in NCIS: Sydney as well as Mary in Mystery Road: Origin.
www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...
In Sunday Life today I profile Tuuli Narkle about her life, Noongar ancestry and ongoing role as Evie in NCIS: Sydney as well as Mary in Mystery Road: Origin.
www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...
October 11, 2025 at 6:53 PM
“I’m very passionate about having a First Nations storyline in such a huge show with such a huge reach.”
In Sunday Life today I profile Tuuli Narkle about her life, Noongar ancestry and ongoing role as Evie in NCIS: Sydney as well as Mary in Mystery Road: Origin.
www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...
In Sunday Life today I profile Tuuli Narkle about her life, Noongar ancestry and ongoing role as Evie in NCIS: Sydney as well as Mary in Mystery Road: Origin.
www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...
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...
I profile Mulvany about her life and career for Limelight's October issue [subscriber].
limelight-arts.com.au/features/cro...
September 21, 2025 at 10:24 PM
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...
I profile Mulvany about her life and career for Limelight's October issue [subscriber].
limelight-arts.com.au/features/cro...
“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...
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...
July 23, 2025 at 4:38 AM
“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...
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...
I visited Mitch Cairns in his studio to discuss his ideas, his eschewing of visible brush strokes, his restless legs and his reading, for Art Guide Australia. artguide.com.au?p=210491
April 9, 2025 at 1:09 AM
I visited Mitch Cairns in his studio to discuss his ideas, his eschewing of visible brush strokes, his restless legs and his reading, for Art Guide Australia. artguide.com.au?p=210491
James Tylor's black-and-white photographs of landscapes on Country include large holes cut to reveal an “absolute black shadow”, symbolising gaps in the historical record as a result of the systemic removal of Indigenous people from Country.
My piece @ Art Guide Australia artguide.com.au?p=210147
My piece @ Art Guide Australia artguide.com.au?p=210147
March 30, 2025 at 9:15 PM
James Tylor's black-and-white photographs of landscapes on Country include large holes cut to reveal an “absolute black shadow”, symbolising gaps in the historical record as a result of the systemic removal of Indigenous people from Country.
My piece @ Art Guide Australia artguide.com.au?p=210147
My piece @ Art Guide Australia artguide.com.au?p=210147
Top choice: Matt Lutton appointed Adelaide Festival’s artistic director.
Perth-born Lutton, until recently artistic director of Melb’s Malthouse Theatre, once told me he finds literature, spoken word, architecture, psychology and music interconnected: “All those forms allow an expansive dreaming”.
Perth-born Lutton, until recently artistic director of Melb’s Malthouse Theatre, once told me he finds literature, spoken word, architecture, psychology and music interconnected: “All those forms allow an expansive dreaming”.
March 2, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Top choice: Matt Lutton appointed Adelaide Festival’s artistic director.
Perth-born Lutton, until recently artistic director of Melb’s Malthouse Theatre, once told me he finds literature, spoken word, architecture, psychology and music interconnected: “All those forms allow an expansive dreaming”.
Perth-born Lutton, until recently artistic director of Melb’s Malthouse Theatre, once told me he finds literature, spoken word, architecture, psychology and music interconnected: “All those forms allow an expansive dreaming”.
When JS Bach’s great sacred oratorio was first presented in colonial Melbourne and Sydney, the performances were panned as more comically grim than grand.
In Limelight's March issue, I consider what has made Bach so popular in Australia 150 years down the line limelight-arts.com.au/features/a-p...
In Limelight's March issue, I consider what has made Bach so popular in Australia 150 years down the line limelight-arts.com.au/features/a-p...
February 23, 2025 at 10:08 PM
When JS Bach’s great sacred oratorio was first presented in colonial Melbourne and Sydney, the performances were panned as more comically grim than grand.
In Limelight's March issue, I consider what has made Bach so popular in Australia 150 years down the line limelight-arts.com.au/features/a-p...
In Limelight's March issue, I consider what has made Bach so popular in Australia 150 years down the line limelight-arts.com.au/features/a-p...
"Beware."
Struck by this program note by director Neil Armfield for Andrew Bovell's profound new play Song of First Desire, on now at Belvoir.
Spain after the Franco dictatorship had a formalised pact of forgetting trauma. Perhaps Australia, too, formalised its forgetting by voting down the Voice?
Struck by this program note by director Neil Armfield for Andrew Bovell's profound new play Song of First Desire, on now at Belvoir.
Spain after the Franco dictatorship had a formalised pact of forgetting trauma. Perhaps Australia, too, formalised its forgetting by voting down the Voice?
February 20, 2025 at 9:48 PM
"Beware."
Struck by this program note by director Neil Armfield for Andrew Bovell's profound new play Song of First Desire, on now at Belvoir.
Spain after the Franco dictatorship had a formalised pact of forgetting trauma. Perhaps Australia, too, formalised its forgetting by voting down the Voice?
Struck by this program note by director Neil Armfield for Andrew Bovell's profound new play Song of First Desire, on now at Belvoir.
Spain after the Franco dictatorship had a formalised pact of forgetting trauma. Perhaps Australia, too, formalised its forgetting by voting down the Voice?
“We live in an absurd time,” says Austrian artist Erwin Wurm. “We thought there was this big positive point, which is America, but maybe America was never as positive as we all thought."
I interview Wurm about fat cars, thin houses and human sculptures in Vault [$]: www.vaultmagazine.com/ISS49/wurm
I interview Wurm about fat cars, thin houses and human sculptures in Vault [$]: www.vaultmagazine.com/ISS49/wurm
February 20, 2025 at 3:25 AM
“We live in an absurd time,” says Austrian artist Erwin Wurm. “We thought there was this big positive point, which is America, but maybe America was never as positive as we all thought."
I interview Wurm about fat cars, thin houses and human sculptures in Vault [$]: www.vaultmagazine.com/ISS49/wurm
I interview Wurm about fat cars, thin houses and human sculptures in Vault [$]: www.vaultmagazine.com/ISS49/wurm
Oh look, someone's finally awake
February 19, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Oh look, someone's finally awake
Australia's 2026 Venice Biennale advisory panel calls on Creative Australia to "provide support to and stand with Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino ... Any failure to do so would not reflect the expectation of integrity ..."
Panel "deeply concerned" about agency's failure to communicate decision
Panel "deeply concerned" about agency's failure to communicate decision
February 17, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Australia's 2026 Venice Biennale advisory panel calls on Creative Australia to "provide support to and stand with Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino ... Any failure to do so would not reflect the expectation of integrity ..."
Panel "deeply concerned" about agency's failure to communicate decision
Panel "deeply concerned" about agency's failure to communicate decision
“I could not live with the level of violation I felt against my core values - that the artist’s voice must never be silenced.”
Artist Lindy Lee’s statement after her resignation from the Creative Australia board, following the dumping of Khaled Sabsabi as Australia’s artist at the Venice Biennale.
Artist Lindy Lee’s statement after her resignation from the Creative Australia board, following the dumping of Khaled Sabsabi as Australia’s artist at the Venice Biennale.
February 16, 2025 at 8:45 AM
“I could not live with the level of violation I felt against my core values - that the artist’s voice must never be silenced.”
Artist Lindy Lee’s statement after her resignation from the Creative Australia board, following the dumping of Khaled Sabsabi as Australia’s artist at the Venice Biennale.
Artist Lindy Lee’s statement after her resignation from the Creative Australia board, following the dumping of Khaled Sabsabi as Australia’s artist at the Venice Biennale.
Khaled Sabsabi’s work “misrepresented” by “right-wing political figures”, says National Association for the Visual Arts.
“The distortion of his use of an image of Hassan Nasrallah demonstrates a profound lack of engagement with artistic practice … Sabsabi’s work does not glorify; it interrogates.”
“The distortion of his use of an image of Hassan Nasrallah demonstrates a profound lack of engagement with artistic practice … Sabsabi’s work does not glorify; it interrogates.”
February 14, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Khaled Sabsabi’s work “misrepresented” by “right-wing political figures”, says National Association for the Visual Arts.
“The distortion of his use of an image of Hassan Nasrallah demonstrates a profound lack of engagement with artistic practice … Sabsabi’s work does not glorify; it interrogates.”
“The distortion of his use of an image of Hassan Nasrallah demonstrates a profound lack of engagement with artistic practice … Sabsabi’s work does not glorify; it interrogates.”
“An outrageous overreach that threatens the very foundation of independent arts funding.”
National Association for the Visual Arts comes out swinging after Khaled Sabsabi was dumped as Australia’s artist for the 2026 Venice Biennale.
National Association for the Visual Arts comes out swinging after Khaled Sabsabi was dumped as Australia’s artist for the 2026 Venice Biennale.
February 14, 2025 at 4:05 AM
“An outrageous overreach that threatens the very foundation of independent arts funding.”
National Association for the Visual Arts comes out swinging after Khaled Sabsabi was dumped as Australia’s artist for the 2026 Venice Biennale.
National Association for the Visual Arts comes out swinging after Khaled Sabsabi was dumped as Australia’s artist for the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Creative Australia’s advocacy for freedom of artistic expression lasted in this case less than a week. #VeniceBiennale #Australia #Sabsabi
February 13, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Creative Australia’s advocacy for freedom of artistic expression lasted in this case less than a week. #VeniceBiennale #Australia #Sabsabi
In Sunday Life today I talk to US actor Kaitlyn Dever about playing Australian cancer fraudster Belle Gibson in Netflix’s new series Apple Cider Vinegar.
“To say this story is personal would be an understatement. It runs very deep for me.”
www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...
“To say this story is personal would be an understatement. It runs very deep for me.”
www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...
February 1, 2025 at 7:47 PM
In Sunday Life today I talk to US actor Kaitlyn Dever about playing Australian cancer fraudster Belle Gibson in Netflix’s new series Apple Cider Vinegar.
“To say this story is personal would be an understatement. It runs very deep for me.”
www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...
“To say this story is personal would be an understatement. It runs very deep for me.”
www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...
Sydney Festival kicks off today. Had a yarn with Tongan-born festival artist-in-residence Telly Tuita, who flipped a rough childhood to a life colourfully examined.
Pop maximalism meets raffia regalia. In Jan/Feb Art Guide Australia.
Pop maximalism meets raffia regalia. In Jan/Feb Art Guide Australia.
January 2, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Sydney Festival kicks off today. Had a yarn with Tongan-born festival artist-in-residence Telly Tuita, who flipped a rough childhood to a life colourfully examined.
Pop maximalism meets raffia regalia. In Jan/Feb Art Guide Australia.
Pop maximalism meets raffia regalia. In Jan/Feb Art Guide Australia.
In 1954, hundreds of spectators, many of them women, queued to see model Shirley Beiger go on trial for killing her boyfriend with a rifle. I talk to the makers of new play A Model Murder at Sydney Festival about why the public was so fixated on her plight. www.theguardian.com/culture/2024...
December 29, 2024 at 8:04 PM
In 1954, hundreds of spectators, many of them women, queued to see model Shirley Beiger go on trial for killing her boyfriend with a rifle. I talk to the makers of new play A Model Murder at Sydney Festival about why the public was so fixated on her plight. www.theguardian.com/culture/2024...
Proof Australia in the 60s struggled to shake the 50s.
Angela, a “pretty, hippie-looking bird” (age not mentioned) who found a flat in Paddington, Sydney with two unnamed men, 26 and 23, after being turned away by “dozens” of “muttering” landlords.
PIX magazine exhibition at State Library of NSW.
Angela, a “pretty, hippie-looking bird” (age not mentioned) who found a flat in Paddington, Sydney with two unnamed men, 26 and 23, after being turned away by “dozens” of “muttering” landlords.
PIX magazine exhibition at State Library of NSW.
December 11, 2024 at 11:57 PM
Proof Australia in the 60s struggled to shake the 50s.
Angela, a “pretty, hippie-looking bird” (age not mentioned) who found a flat in Paddington, Sydney with two unnamed men, 26 and 23, after being turned away by “dozens” of “muttering” landlords.
PIX magazine exhibition at State Library of NSW.
Angela, a “pretty, hippie-looking bird” (age not mentioned) who found a flat in Paddington, Sydney with two unnamed men, 26 and 23, after being turned away by “dozens” of “muttering” landlords.
PIX magazine exhibition at State Library of NSW.
Don’t worry, real-life avarice will write the script. For sub-plots, there is Prudence’s elevated shoes.
December 10, 2024 at 5:56 AM
Don’t worry, real-life avarice will write the script. For sub-plots, there is Prudence’s elevated shoes.
I’ve spoken to casting and the best they can offer is a retired Russian biologist and a Texan once linked to [checks notes] Mick Jagger.
December 10, 2024 at 5:26 AM
I’ve spoken to casting and the best they can offer is a retired Russian biologist and a Texan once linked to [checks notes] Mick Jagger.