Reviews

Why Traditional Weaving Is Finding a New Place in Fashion
Traditional weaving is reappearing in fashion studios, independent labels and luxury collections around the world. Hand looms, plant fibres, tapestry…
How Literary Festivals Are Rethinking the Author Reading Format
For decades, the literary festival reading followed a familiar script: an author sat behind a lectern, read several pages from a new book, and answered…
What Train Station Platforms Teach Us About Crowd Flow
A train station platform is easy to overlook. It appears to be a strip of concrete beside a set of tracks, furnished with signs, seats, shelter and a few bins.…
The Art of the Museum Gift Shop: Curating Souvenirs That Tell a Story
A museum shop is often treated as the final stop after the galleries, a place to buy a postcard, exhibition catalogue or small keepsake before returning to the…
How Street Photographers Capture the Unscripted Poetry of Daily Life
Street photography begins where plans fall away. A bus brakes beside a kerb, a child drags a bright balloon through a crowd, or two strangers share shelter…
Why Rammed Earth Is Finding New Life In Australian Homes
Rammed earth is moving beyond its image as a rustic building material. Across contemporary residential architecture, it is being shaped into precise walls,…
How Public Murals Shape a Neighbourhood’s Visual Identity
A public mural can change the way a neighbourhood is recognised, remembered and discussed. Painted across a brick wall, railway underpass, shopfront or civic…
How Zine Fairs Are Reviving Print Culture for a Digital Generation
For a generation raised on feeds, notifications and instant publishing, the zine can seem wonderfully impractical. It asks readers to hold a small object, turn…
How sound design builds immersive worlds with minimal tech
A theatre audience does not need a wall of speakers, a moving LED ceiling or a computer-controlled spectacle to feel transported. A carefully timed footstep, a…
The Guide to Appreciating Abstract Art Without Training
Abstract art can seem distant when a painting offers no recognisable face, landscape or story to hold onto. A field of colour may look simple, while a chaotic…