Tkay tops
With her smart sassy attitude, emcee Tkay Maizda drew comparisons to MIA and Banks when she burst onto the scene with Brontosaurus and Switch Lanes. Now after storming the Falls, Southbound and Laneway festivals stages, she takes her debut album Money over Bitches and new single M.O.B on the road, stopping in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Tkay Maizda plays Flyrite in Perth on 10 April, then Jive in Adelaide, Goodgod Small Club in Sydney, Woolly Mammoth in Brisbane, and Northcote Social Club in Melbourne
Sydney v Melbourne
The legendary Sydney / Melbourne rivalry takes a cultural twist with almost simultaneous productions of Samuel Beckett’s classic play Endgame in both capital cities. Both star giant Australian talents: Hugo Weaving will play the central role in the Sydney theatre company production while Colin Friel stars in the Melbourne theatre company productions. No winners, of course, but surely no losers either.
Endgame, Melbourne Theatre Company, from 21 March to 25 April; Sydney Theatre Company, from 31 March to 9 May
Light it up
From high-tech LEDs to a single spotlight, lighting exerts a very particular pull on audiences. The Hayward Gallery’s recent major light art exhibition sold out in London, and there were record-breaking attendances when it opened at the Auckland art gallery. Now it’s Sydney’s turn to see American Dan Flavin’s pioneering fluorescent tube sculptures, French artist François Morellet’s neon works and Carlos Cruz-Diez’s colour saturated installations at Light Show at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Light Show, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 16 April to 5 July
Feast of fire
The feasting, the cult films, the fire. Dark Mofo returns with another Bacchanalian festival in time for the winter solstice. June’s estivities will include more large scale public art, more feasting days along the waterfront (five in total), a late-night ceremonial death dance called Blacklist and, of course, the nude swim to herald the return of the sun. Not to be missed.
Dark Mofo, Hobart, from 12 to 22 June
Yolngu style
Their original Zorba the Greek Yolngu-style clip won them fans around the world. Now, as part of the Adelaide fringe festival, Djuki Mala return to tell their story, how six Arnhem Land dancers mixed traditional Indigenous dance with pop culture and went from the basketball courts of Elcho island to playing concert halls around the world.
Djuki Mala, Garden of Unearthly Delights, Adelaide, 10 and 11 March
Films that count
Sometimes film is about more than popcorn and choc tops. The Human Rights film festival sets out to inspire debate about issues that actually matter. This year’s program includes documentaries such as Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case, which follows the detention of the Chinese activist artist; the investigation into the widespread practice of marriage abduction in Ethiopia in Difret; and Ivory Tower, which investigates the US’s spiralling student debt crisis. Sounds better than transformer trucks and talking dogs.
Human Rights film festival begins at ACMI and Bella Union, Melbourne on 7 May, then Palace Electric Cinema, Canberra; Dendy Cinema Newtown in Sydney, Deckchair Cinema in Darwin; Brisbane Powerhouse; Cinema Paradiso in Perth and Totem Theatre in Alice Springs
