Brisbane's cultural magnetic pull is getting stronger every year. As a long-standing arts partner to many not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations, we've been onboard to see our city's art scene attract exclusive global artists, performances and exhibitions creating a don't-miss-this vibe that travellers from around Australia and the globe flock here for.
More importantly, we've watched our Brisbane-based art community elevate their practice to the world stage, marvelled at their increased commitment to connect Queensland's regions with their programs and deliver phenomenal cultural development to our city that our community loves.
Every year, our arts partners deliver a bigger and bolder season of thought-provoking, world-changing and deliciously fun events and we're proud to support their full theatres, teeming galleries and creative ideas.
We'll be in the audience showing our support, will you?
Focus Shift
Museum of Brisbane
Open daily
Focus Shift showcases Museum of Brisbane Collection works that celebrate Brisbane from completely different perspectives, reflecting the dynamism of our encounters with the city. A selection of panoramas depict an intriguing Brisbane and track its growth from a modest town nestled in the river’s curves to the bustling metropolis we know today. Alongside these works, local artist Carl Warner shifts our focus to the micro aspects of the city through closeups of one of Brisbane’s most iconic structures, the Story Bridge.
Perspectives of Brisbane
Museum of Brisbane
Open daily
Perspectives of Brisbane offers a captivating insight into the people, events and changing landscape that is our city. The evolving life of Brisbane, its history and its culture, is revealed through stories, photographs and film. The place we now call Brisbane has a rich history going back 65,000 years and beyond. Situated on Traditional Lands, it remains home to some of the world’s oldest living cultures. Since European settlement began in the 1820s with the Moreton Bay penal colony, Brisbane has experienced conflict, growth, innovation and celebration.
Today, Greater Brisbane is home to more than 2.5 million people from diverse backgrounds. The city continues to transform, its cultural landscape shaped by the ongoing care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, waves of migration and powerful social change. Museum of Brisbane respectfully acknowledges ‘Warunghu’, Aunty Raelene Baker, for her insight, conversation and participation in writing the text presented in this exhibition.
Vertigo Brisbane
Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm
Available Friday - Sunday
Step over the edge where gastronomic excellence meets heart pounding adrenaline.
Experience the first vertical restaurant as you dangle from the precipice of Brisbane Powerhouse. Push your limits. Dine on the edge.
Your exclusive locally sourced Vertigo menu includes a two-course meal from fine dining restaurant Bar Alto and a matching wine to be enjoyed while you’re suspended from the edge of Brisbane Powerhouse.
Symphony Fantastic Love Lust and Madness
Concert Hall, QPAC
17 May 2024
Death has never sounded more alive than in Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, where a violin charms skeletons from their graves so they can dance until the break of dawn. Then, allow yourself to be lured to the depths of a crazed composer’s mind in Symphonie Fantastique.
Our Chief Conductor Umberto Clerici will energise the orchestra with Berlioz’s evocative cocktail of opium and desire and actor Eugene Gilfedder will set a nightmarish scene. Between these killer works you’ll hear Ravel’s Tzigane, rapsodie de concert, as Hungarian violinist József Lendvay will hold you in the clutches of this spellbinding solo infused with a gypsy spirit.
Festival of Outback Opera
Various locations – Winton & Longreach
Available until 20 May 2024
Join music lovers from around Australia and the world who make the annual pilgrimage to the Outback to indulge in big voices and big skies blended in beautiful harmony.
This is the Festival of Outback Opera.
Unlike any other music event you have experienced. Your destination delivers a series of outdoor concerts in iconic locations set on a backdrop of insta-worthy sunsets and scenery on a grand scale. Frock up for the Gala or join us in the pub for a casual singalong. Gather with us under the night skies for Dark Sky Serenade or enjoy an afternoon of beautiful singing and fine dining at the Long Lunch.
With a flexible itinerary, the program allows you to immerse yourself for a long weekend or completely give in to a full week of activities. This is song and scenery on a grand scale. And while the space is vast, the feeling is intimate, leaving you with a smile on your face and a swag of new friendships.
It’s an experience the city cannot match. Start making your plans today. As with previous years, the festival will sell out quickly.
Camerata & Karin Schaupp: Serenade
Concert Hall, QPAC
22 May 2024
Featuring Australian guitar virtuoso, Karin Schaupp, “one of the world’s most accomplished classically trained guitarists” (Sydney Morning Herald) this performance showcases two exquisite pieces of music for guitar and strings.
Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, usually for solo piano, will be performed here in a delightful new arrangement for guitar and strings. You’ll hear some of Mendelssohn’s most favourite tunes in this lyrical music, imbued with feeling – music in its most pure and simple form.
Brisbane Comedy Festival
Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm
Available until 26 May 2024
Get ready for lots of LOLs and a good time as Brisbane Comedy Festival returns with the world’s best and brightest comedians from Friday 26 April to Sunday 26 May 2024.
With more than 130 acts including festival favourites and fresh new faces in a diverse program of more than 300 events, you're sure to find something that tickles your fancy!
Blue
Roundhouse Theatre, La Boite
Available until 1 June 2024
Blue, a tender and exquisite monologue written and performed by Logie Award-winner, Thomas Weatherall (also known as Malakai from Heartbreak High), makes its Queensland debut at La Boite in 2024, following its premiere season at Belvoir as part of Sydney Festival 2023.
Blue is a “very personal fiction”, drawn from Weatherall’s experiences as a teenager and young adult, finding his place in the world and overcoming an onslaught of emotional circumstances.
Departure
Museum of Brisbane
Available until 7 June 2024
An evolving installation of community kites and recollections.
As Artists in Residence at Museum of Brisbane (MoB) for BrisAsia Stories, Christine Ko and Louis Lim will extend upon their ongoing project Departure. In this iteration of the project, Christine and Louis will lead a series of informal conversations and workshops with various members from Brisbane migrant communities. Participants will be encouraged to share their stories of migration and create paper kites using photographs from their family archives.
Medea
Billie Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre
Available until 8 June 2024
10-year-old Jasper and 12-year-old Leon are like most brothers you know. They fight. They laugh. They play games. Their bedroom is their fortress: home to Cornelius (their goldfish), watched over by Hercules (their teddy bear) and adorned with a ceiling of glow-in-the-dark stars.
But today something feels different. Their door is locked shut. Their parents’ shouting is getting louder. And, unbeknownst to them, at some point in the next hour, their iconic fate will ensure they enter mythology as two of the most tragic siblings of all time
Told entirely from the perspective of Medea’s young sons, this internationally celebrated version of the Ancient Greek tragedy by Kate Mulvany (Jasper Jones) and Anne-Louise Sarks, is directed by the incomparable Daniel Evans (Drizzle Boy, The Almighty Sometimes).
Tender, surprising and bittersweet: this is a reimagining of history’s most misunderstood mother in an unforgettable pressure-cooker performance that is not to be missed.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra Winter Events
Various Locations
- The Lost Bird: Sublime Vocal Theatrics, 8 - 9 June 2024.
- Chamber Players 2, 16 June 2024.
- Brahms & Rachmaninov: Master Composers, 21 - 22 June 2024.
- Denis Kozhukhin Piano Recital, 24 June 2024.
- Australian String Quartet, 27 June 2024.
- Violin Virtuoso, 28 - 29 June 2024.
- A Heavenly View, 26 - 27 July 2024.
- Heroic Tales, 2 - 3 August 2024.
- Chamber Players 3, 11 August 2024.
- Dreams & Stories: Imagination Takes Flight, 18 August 2024.
- Blaze of Glory: A Cathedral of Sound, 23 -24 August 2024.
Making Place: 100 Views of Brisbane
Museum of Brisbane
Available until 7 July 2024
Place, in Brisbane, is not a static thing. We are at a crucial point in Brisbane’s urban development, with extreme changes to the city predicted over the next decade. With the city we know shifting so rapidly, this is the ideal moment to ask — what makes a place? Which sites are significant for individuals and communities and why? Are the landmarks we recognise as characterising the city today the same landmarks we’ll see in the future? And can memories make a place? With these questions front of mind, Making Place presents more than 100 historical and contemporary depictions of the Brisbane region from Museum of Brisbane’s Collections.
Artist in Residence: Hiromi Tango
Museum of Brisbane
Available until 11 August 2024
花弁 Hanabira (Gentle Petal) is a community-led project that will transform Adelaide Street Pavilion into a vibrant sanctuary, inspiring healing and social connection.
Communities from across Brisbane and visitors alike will be invited to create beautiful blooms and buds inspired by flowers found in Meanjin/Brisbane from upcycled textiles and local materials. Visitors are encouraged to participate in facilitated workshops, or simply drop-in and engage in self-guided activities.
As the seasons change, the handmade flowers will be added to the walls of the gallery, creating an abundant garden reflecting community engagement.
MoB respectfully acknowledge Warunghu, Aunty Raelene Baker’s insight, conversation and participation in developing this project. MoB thank Molly Green for her commitment, generosity and contribution. Hiromi would also like to personally thank Professor David Craik, Wendy Mansell and The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) for their ongoing support.
MoB’s Artist in Residence program is supported by Tim Fairfax AC.
Rearranged: Art of the Flower
Museum of Brisbane, Level 3, City Hall
Available until 29 September 2024
Still life takes on new life in this celebration of the art of the flower. Brisbane has a strong culture of artists using floral imagery to tell stories of this place. In a space reminiscent of a quintessential Queenslander house, Rearranged: Art of the Flower invites visitors to stroll through a lush collection of paintings, textiles, sculptures, ceramics and new media.
Commonly associated with domestic settings and still life compositions, flowers continue to be reimagined and evoke contemporary concerns. Rearranged beholds the beauty of this ever-popular subject and looks beyond to explore notions of place, memory and history. The exhibition illuminates diverse perspectives, always acknowledging that flowers have long been cared for by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as an integral part of Country.
As the seasons change, the handmade flowers will be added to the walls of the gallery, creating an abundant garden reflecting community engagement.
Cost of Living
Billie Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre
15 June - 13 July 2024
Former-carer turned Playwright Martyna Majok won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this play in 2018 and it’s easy to see why. This is a beautifully rendered story about our need to care (or be cared for) no matter the distance that age, race, and disability might place between us.
Drawing on her lived experience, Majok introduces us to four seemingly disconnected characters whose lives are at a crossroads. There’s John — a wealthy successful PhD student with cerebral palsy — who hires the secretive Jess to be his new carer. And then there’s Eddie, an unemployed truck driver, desperately trying to reconcile with his ex-wife Ani, who’s been left quadriplegic after a car accident.
Told with deft humour and enormous heart, the Australian premiere of this highly-lauded work is directed by Priscilla Jackman (The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race) and Dan Daw, also appearing as John, with icon Philip Quast as Eddie, and Kate Hood as Ani.
BPO Metro Series 2: Dances and Dreams
Old Museum Concert Hall
21 July 2024
Welcoming Marco Bellasi as conductor for the first time, the BPO brings you a concert filled with the best of Romanticism.
From the unforgettable opening bars to the explosively chromatic finale, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto, No. 1 combines exquisite musicality with extraordinary technique. The gothic drama of Lord Byron’s works is alluded to in the Manfred Overture, Schumann’s response to the eponymous Faustian drama.
The Symphonic Dances, Rachmaninoff’s last major work, is filled with a vibrant and rhythmic energy. Shifting, restless harmonies give way to unusual tone colours, culminating in an extraordinary finale that has the Dies Irae, representing Death, in battle with the Resurrection.
POTUS, Or Behind Every Great Dumb**s are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Billie Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre
27 July - 24 August 2024
If you think you’re having a bad day, you should talk to the current administration of the White House. Assembled behind a fictitious — but very recognisable — President of the United States (POTUS) is a crack team of highly competent women who are dealing with a highly incompetent boss.
When the world’s most powerful man makes a foul-mouthed four-letter faux pas in front of every major news outlet — and several foreign dignitaries — the expletive lights the fuse on an explosive 24 hours in the Oval Office. Throw in some misplaced hallucinogenic drugs, a sex scandal and an assassination attempt, it’s anyone’s guess who’ll make it to clock-off.
In the spirit of Wag the Dog and VEEP, POTUS is a femme-fuelled political farce that earned three Tony nominations in 2022. Here, in its Australian premiere, POTUS is powered by a star-spangled all-female ensemble, including Amy Ingram (Family Values).
New Light: Photography Now + Then
Museum of Brisbane
Available from 17 August 2024
With the power to freeze and preserve time, photography has captured imaginations for centuries. This August, step into New Light: Photography Now + Then, an exhibition where past and present converge in a mesmerising display of photography spanning 1890 to 2024.
Immerse yourself in the remarkable tale of amateur Brisbane photographer Alfred Henrie Elliott (1870-1954), whose extraordinary images lay dormant for decades until they were discovered in 1983, stored in cedar cigar boxes beneath a home in Red Hill.
Initially thought to comprise 300 glass-plate negatives and a trusty tailboard camera, the collection’s narrative took an unexpected turn in 2014 with the discovery of an additional cigar box brimming with over 400 film negatives and 92 prints.
Drawing on this treasure trove of an archive, seven contemporary Brisbane photographers will debut exciting new commissions responding to different parts of the Elliott Collection. By layering their own perspectives, knowledge and experiences onto the collection, the artists will encourage new ways of looking at our past, our present and this place. Join us in celebrating the ever-inspiring interpretive capacity of photography this August.
Camerata, Lou Bennett & Lior: Ngapa William Cooper
Concert Hall, QPAC
7 September 2024
Not to be missed! Following their moving creation, Compassion, Lior and Nigel Westlake have teamed up with Lou Bennett to create Ngapa William Cooper, the extraordinarily powerful story of Yorta Yorta man, Uncle William Cooper.
Ngapa William Cooper was born out of a rich collaboration between composer Nigel Westlake, singer-songwriter Lior, and performer and academic Dr Lou Bennett AM. In this very special, completely unconducted, world premiere arrangement for chamber orchestra, Camerata and Lior once again join forces, this time with Lou Bennett, for this moving and heartfelt performance.
Dear Brother
Billie Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre
7 - 28 September 2024
Young men from different corners of Queensland blow into the big smoke burning with unbridled energy, desire and confusion. Each of them filled with the need to escape, to make something of their lives, to defy the hand that life has dealt them. An individual ignition has driven them all to Brisbane but something else — something ancestral — will bring them together.
Caught between adolescence and adulthood, these young fellas will converge and wrestle with themselves, each other, their ghosts and a deep-etched sense of duty to Country. Together they’ll lay themselves bare and bond as brothers over what it means to be a young Aboriginal man in 2024.
This high energy work, presented by Queensland Theatre and BlakDance as part of Brisbane Festival, is all about giving today’s young Murri men a voice, one that challenges the narrative around public perceptions of Aboriginal masculinity.
Using dance, music and poetry, this form-defying work features Girramay and Kalkadoon man Tibian Wyles and Djabuganjdji man Lenny Donahue in a tour-de-force performance that is as physical as it is heartfelt.
Fancy Long Legs
Roundhouse Theatre, La Boite
12 - 22 September 2024
A brand-new glittery and vibrant musical adventure for children, based on a new picture book by Brisbane's international tinsel and craft icon, Rachel Burke.
Fancy Long Legs is the story of Fancy, a spider who loves to create but struggles to stay focused on her creative task of web-building. With the support of her friends, Fancy goes on a beautiful journey of self-discovery to find her own style and make something no one else can.
A wholesome and relatable look at neurodivergence, with a playful and glitter-covered adventure of acceptance, staying true to yourself and finding friends who love you and celebrate your differences.
A world premier presented by La Boite Theatre, Brisbane Festival and The Little Red Company.
BPO Metro Series 3: From the New World
Old Museum Concert Hall
22 September 2024
Little else can be said about the New World Symphony, which boasts one of the most beautiful and well known movements of the entire classical canon. Conducted by the internationally acclaimed Steven Moore, the work blends Dvořák’s European classicism with folk music influence and sweet, lyrical poignancy.
Equally poignant is Wagner’s portrayal of doomed lovers, the Prelude and Liebestod. A searingly profound and intense exploration of longing, the Prelude is followed by Chausson’s song cycle lamenting love and loss.
Round the Twist The Musical
Playhouse, QPAC
12 November - 1 December 2024
The home-grown TV show that raised a generation* is back with all the magic you remember (and that song you can’t forget!) in a brand-new Australian musical by Paul Hodge based on the seminal stories of much-loved children’s book author Paul Jennings.
In an old lighthouse, single dad Tony Twist and his kids Pete, Linda and Bronson are about to embark on a magical adventure to protect their home from the greedy Gribble family who want to turn their piece of paradise into an Aqua-World-Casino-Burger-Joint-Adventure-Park.
With the help of a haunted outhouse, a crystal ball, some friendly ghosts and smelly feet (up the pong!), this family might just have what it takes to save the day!
Whether you’re new to The Twists or a die-hard fan (withoutmypants), this big-hearted musical filled with soaring song and jaw-dropping design is for everyone.
Yoga Play
Roundhouse Theatre, La Boite
7 - 23 November 2024
A sharp comedy that interrogates what it takes to find your authenticity in a world determined to sell enlightenment.
The uproarious exploration of cultural appropriation, exploitation, consumerism, fat shaming and yoga pants at any cost is written by US playwright Dipika Guha and plays at La Boite as part of its Australian premiere season, directed by internationally renowned director Mina Morita.
Camerata & Davide Monti: Baroque Labyrinth
Concert Hall, QPAC
13 November 2024
Baroque violin virtuoso, Davide Monti, who thrilled audiences with the 2018 Camerata smash hit, Viva Vivaldi, team ups with Camerata to uncover a labyrinth of bold, adventurous baroque music.
Baroque Labyrinth sees the long-awaited return of one of Camerata’s favourite collaborators, the Italian Baroque violinist, Davide Monti. A much sought after director, soloist and chamber musician, Davide’s playing possesses incredible freshness, where “all appears extraordinarily spontaneous and organic”. His prize-winning recordings include his Vivaldi’s Four Seasons which has been reviewed as “definitely one of the best versions of the decade”.
BPO Metro Series 4: London Airs
Old Museum Concert Hall
17 November 2024
The BPO’s final concert of the year is a journey of some of the world’s finest British composers, both to their homes and abroad.
Intended as a depiction of Italy, Elgar wrote Alassio while on a family holiday.
“… in a flash, it all came to me – the conflict of the armies on that very spot long ago, where I now stood – the contrast of the ruin and the shepherd – and then, all of a sudden, I came back to reality. In that time I had composed the overture – the rest was merely writing it down.”
Next, Imants Larsens takes the stage as soloist for Walton’s passionate Viola Concerto, one of the instrument’s most celebrated concerti. Finally, Vaughan Williams, in his London Symphony, pays homage to the city that played a large role in both his life and career.