WThe Arts in Australia refers to the visual arts, literature, performing arts and music in the area of, on the subject of, or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australian art, music and story telling attaches to a 40–60,000-year heritage and continues to affect the broader arts and culture of Australia. During its early western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies, therefore, its literary, visual and theatrical traditions began with strong links to the broader traditions of English and Irish literature, British art and English and Celtic music. However, the works of Australian artists – including Indigenous as well as Anglo-Celtic and multicultural migrant Australians – has, since 1788, introduced the character of a new continent to the global arts scene – exploring such themes as Aboriginality, Australian landscape, migrant and national identity, distance from other Western nations and proximity to Asia, the complexities of urban living and the "beauty and the terror" of life in the Australian bush.
WArt, Not Apart is an annual Australian contemporary arts festival held in Canberra, providing an opportunity for artists to display their works and connect with the community.
WThe Big Easel installation art piece, created by Canadian artist, Cameron Cross, is located in the town of Emerald in Central Queensland, Australia. Erected in 1999, and unveiled in October of the same year, the installation artwork depicts Dutch artist, Vincent van Gogh’s (1853-1890), famous Sunflowers (1889) still life painting, which is currently part of the Van Gogh Museum’s collection in Amsterdam. The monumental reproduction of van Gogh’s painting is located on the corner of Dundas Street and the Capricorn Highway, situated in the centre of Emerald’s Discovery Park. Weighing approximately 17,000 kilograms, Cross’ steel easel measures 25 metres in height, with the canvas measuring 7 x 10 metres. The easel’s three legs consist of 30 x 30 square centimetres of steel tubing, which are secured to 10 metre piers by 24-1 metre anchor bolts. To recreate van Gogh’s canvas, Cross has used twenty-four sheets of plywood, laminated together from four panels, each of which is coated with fibreglass and then sealed with a gel coat. The plywood canvas is painted while flat on the ground, using high performance paint, which is both sprayed and hand-painted onto the surface of the plywood.
WCurrency Press is Australia's only specialist performing arts publisher and its oldest independent publisher still active. Their list includes plays and screenplays, professional handbooks, biographies, cultural histories, critical studies and reference works.
WEnlighten Canberra is an outdoor annual art and cultural festival held in Canberra, Australia featuring illuminating light installations and projections, performances from local and interstate musicians, dining and film events.
WThe Northcote Koori Mural is located in St Georges Road Thornbury, Victoria in the City of Darebin. It was designed by former Northcote High School art teacher Megan Evans in collaboration with members of the Thornbury-based Aborigines Advancement League, which owns the mural.
WStuckism is an art movement that began in London, England, in 1999. In 2000, Melbourne artist Regan Tamanui started the first international branch of the movement. As of 2010, there are seven Australian Stuckist groups, who have held shows—sometimes concurrently with UK activities—received coverage in the Australian press and on TV, and also been represented in UK shows. The Stuckists take a strong pro-painting and anti-conceptual art stance, and were co-founded by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish.
WVivid LIVE is an annual contemporary music festival held by Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Sydney. Taking place across all six venues at the Opera House, it features a bill of local and international artists, specially commissioned works and the hallmark Lighting of the Sails. It stands as the centrepiece of the Sydney Opera House's contemporary music program.