History & Culture
Top 10 outback pubs
Stop in for a beer at one of Australia’s historic pubs, where you’ll find the hub of many inland communities.
History & Culture
GALLERY: Hill End, NSW
Once brought to life by one of NSW’s largest gold rushes, the now tiny town of Hill End has played a central role in Australia’s art world for generations. From Russel Drysdale to Brett Whiteley, Margaret Olley to John Olsen, Hill End has played muse to the best in the business. Today the tradition continues, with some of Australia’s foremost artists calling the town home. All photos by Don Fuchs. Read more about Hill End in AG#135, out now.
History & Culture
GALLERY: The secret scenes of the Bass Strait
Huddled in the unforgiving Bass Strait is a remote cluster of islands with fewer than 900 residents. The Furneaux Group is a quiet place of ancient rituals, stunning scenery and a violent history. All photos by Cameron Cope. Read more about life on the islands and The Furneaux Group’s history in Sandy Guy’s feature in AG#135, out now.
History & Culture
GALLERY: Jonathan Jones’s barrangal dyara
In 1882, a three-year-old palace at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden was destroyed by fire – and with it, thousands of Indigenous artefacts. The new barrangal dyara (skin and bones) installation is a reminder of what was lost. Read more about the Garden Palace fire and Jonathan’s artwork here.
History & Culture
Why old theories on Indigenous counting just won’t go away
There is plenty of evidence to show Australia’s Indigenous people had ways of counting big numbers, yet the myth persists they couldn’t count more than a handful of things. Why?
History & Culture
Ancient beer brewed from shipwreck yeast
For more than 200 years a shipwreck near a remote Bass Strait island has harboured what is believed to be the world’s oldest beer.
History & Culture
How oral cultures memorise so much information
How an ancient Aboriginal memory technique may uncover the meaning behind archaeological sites across the globe are revealed in a new book, The Memory Code.
History & Culture
Australia’s nuclear tourist hot spot
Maralinga – its very name sounds ominous to Australians. Blasted and battered by nuclear tests in the 1950s and ’60s, this land has finally been given back to its traditional owners. But they don’t want to return – instead, they have opened the gates to paying visitors.
History & Culture
People power
Each year, hundreds of enthusiastic speed racers gather at Murray Bridge, SA, to show off their bravery, skill and sleek machines. But with no engines, this race is a quiet – yet lively – affair.
History & Culture
How do you perform a taxidermy on a 160kg fish?
Ninety years ago, a valuable international contract called for some inventiveness, and even a little coercion, on the part of the Australian Museum.