Helen Mahoney obituary

My wife, Helen Mahoney, who has died aged 45 from breast cancer, was a project manager and consultant. She spent her career working with arts charities across the north of England, with a particular focus on improving access to music and cultural events.Helen was a strong believer in social justice and that everyone should be able to enjoy the arts and creative activities.As well as working with organisations such as Opera North, Drake Music and Live Music Now, Helen also had concern for the people involved in running these projects. In 2022 she completed a master’s in social research at York University, graduating with a distinction

‘We recognise it in this very primal way’: Stephen Fry, Brie Larson, Chris Ofili and more on why we can’t get enough of Greek mythology

Love, death, grief, power, revenge: Greek tragedies get to the essence of the human experience. Here, writers and artists select their favourite plays, music and films inspired by the classics, from The Hunger Games to a Santana hitGreek myth is not a stable thing. There is no such thing as a canonical, “original” version of a Greek myth. The stories that remain to us – the material of classical plays and poetry, and of visual culture from pottery to pediments – are already elaborations and accretions. In the ancient Greek and Roman world, stories were adapted and remade to serve the needs of the moment

From Strictly Ballroom to Sydney’s saviour: how heritage town halls are staging a comeback

It’s been more than three decades since Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom was filmed in Petersham town hall. But earlier this year, the 82-year-old building in Sydney opened its doors to the Inner West Theatre Company’s production of the classic, free of charge.Beautiful brick early 20th-century town halls were once venues for council meetings, award nights and country dances. But in recent decades many have been under-used or left entirely empty as modern buildings serve changing community needs.Sydney’s Inner West council is the product of repeated amalgamations and, as a result, has an unusually large number of former town halls serving no obvious municipal purpose

Rufus Wainwright: ‘I had a great party trick, but it once blew up in my face’

The singer-songwriter on his most memorable fan, his love of Chappell Roan, and his close friend and nemesis Jake ShearsIf you could have a sandwich named after you, what would be on it?I would have a really gross sandwich named after me that nobody would want to eat. The one time I tried to cook – many, many years ago, when I was in college – I decided to make all the things that I love and put them in one dish. And so it was brussels sprouts, macaroni and cheese, merguez sausages, extra blue cheese and broccoli. And it was literally grey. So yeah, it would be something revolting like that, between two pieces of cardboard

Golden bling, ‘sex pot’ ceramics and superheroes: Peruvian empire treasures come to Sydney in new exhibition

The Australian Museum’s record-breaking blockbuster Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs was always going to be a hard act to follow.The great Inca citadel, instantly recognisable as Peru’s world heritage-listed Machu Picchu, is the drawing card for the museum’s major summer exhibition. And while Incan civilisations may not hold the same universal fascination as Egyptology, visitors may be surprised about how little they had known about the complex societies that disappeared with the Spanish invasion, before experiencing Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru.Beneath such sensational fodder as the most opulent collection of gold to ever travel outside Peru, plenty of impossible-to-wear jewellery, and bloodthirsty tales of human sacrifice, the exhibition tracks the existence of six different Andean societies over 3,000 years – Chavín, Moche, Chimú, Nazca, Lambayeque and Inca.While all distinct cultures in themselves, they were united in a worldview where the gods of the overworld and the dead of the underworld interacted up close with the living in daily and spiritual life

The Guide #166: If 2024 is the year of the podcast, here’s what still sucks about the medium

What a year it has been for the podcast, which has a decent shot at being considered the most important cultural medium of 2024. Once the scrappy underdog of broadcasting, podcasts now sell out arenas and set the political agenda. They are inescapable.They are also at times teeth-grindingly annoying. We first shared our podcast pet peeves – from live episodes to paying for pods – a few years ago, but since then the irritations have only piled up further