Brave new world
de Elena Taylor, Isobel Crombie
Beginning with the Great Depression and ending with the Second World War, the 1930s was characterised by both optimism and despair. Brave New World: Australia 1930s presents a fresh look at this turbulent decade and considers the engagement of artists with the great issues of the time: the Depression and its aftermath; nationalism and the body culture movement; growing calls for Indigenous rights; the celebration of technological progress, and its antithesis in the nostalgia for pastoralism; the 'new woman'; and increasing anxiety at the possibility of another world war. Featuring thematic essays by leading writers, Brave New World considers a broad range of artistic production - painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, decorative arts, fashion, architecture, commercial art, dance, film and design - to show the rich diversity of this fascinating and contested decade.
