The arts

Australia has a vibrant arts scene that includes the nation’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ cultural traditions. Australian visual and performing artists, including in film, art, theatre, music and dance, are widely acclaimed both in Australia and overseas.

Literature Australia has a strong tradition in literature. This started with the storytelling of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and continued with the oral stories of the convicts arriving in the late 18th century.

Much of Australia’s early writing is about the bush and the difficulties of life in such a harsh environment. Writers such as Henry Lawson and Miles Franklin wrote poems and stories about the bush and the Australian way of life.

An Australian novelist, Patrick White, received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973. Other popular Australian authors include Peter Carey, Colleen McCullough, Sally Morgan, Tim Winton, Tom Keneally and Bryce Courtenay.

Judith Wright (1915–2000)

Judith Wright was an outstanding poet, conservationist and campaigner for the rights of Aboriginal peoples. She expressed her love for Australia and its people in her poetry. She was awarded many prizes, including the Encyclopaedia Britannica Prize for literature and the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry. She was also a member of the Australian Conservation Committee and the Aboriginal Treaty Committee.

Judith Wright is remembered for her skill as a poet and for advancing Australian literature and social and environmental reform.

Theatre and film Australian plays, films and filmmakers are recognised in Australia and overseas. Australian actors such as Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman and filmmakers such as Peter Weir and Baz Luhrmann have won many international awards for their excellence in film.

Visual art The most recognised Australian works of visual art are the iconic Indigenous paintings and the 19th century bush scenes of painters such as Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin and Arthur Streeton. In the mid-20th century, artists Russell Drysdale and Sidney Nolan depicted the harshness of the outback in bold colour. More recently, Brett Whiteley gained international acclaim for his unique and vivid style. Indigenous art, including by Albert Namatjira, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Gloria Petyarre, Rover Thomas and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, is increasingly sought after in Australia and overseas.

Music and dance The most immediately recognised Australian musical sound is that of the didgeridoo, the ancient Indigenous instrument.

Australians have embraced and excelled in all areas of music and are internationally recognised for their contributions to classical, country and rock music.

Well-recognised Australian musicians include Kylie Minogue, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Olivia Newton-John, John Farnham, Nick Cave, and Indigenous artists Archie Roach, Gurrumul and Jessica Mauboy. Australian bands such as AC/DC and INXS have gained followers around the world.

Australian dance has flourished due to the efforts of great dancers and choreographers such as Sir Robert Helpmann, Meryl Tankard, Stephen Page, and Li Cunxin. Bangarra is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company, widely acclaimed nationally and around the world for its distinctive style in dance, soundscapes, music and design.