In 2013, Australian Book Review broadened its review content to include the arts. Since then we have reviewed theatre, film, opera, music, dance, and the visual arts – not just literature. This development was in response to the decline of arts criticism in our newspapers and in recognition of our readers’ eclectic interests.

Except for the early years of Covid-19, ABR Arts has covered 100 to 150 concerts, productions, and exhibitions per annum – most of them in Australia, but not exclusively. Since 2013 we have published more than 1,200 arts reviews. Australian Book Review is now established as one of the major publishers of expert, lengthy arts reviews.

Hitherto, unlike ABR’s other content, arts reviews have been open access for the first two to four weeks; then they have been paywalled and available only to current ABR subscribers.

This generous practice is no longer sustainable. ABR pays for all its arts reviews; much time and thought goes into the curation, commissioning, and publication of arts reviews. As an organisation without a large bequest or wealthy owner, we must do everything we can to protect and consolidate the magazine. Government funding has declined in recent years; in 2024, ABR received funding only from Arts South Australia. Paid advertising from the arts sector has proved hard to attract since the Covid pandemic.

ABR is committed to maintaining its arts profile and to offering readers and arts professionals high-quality reviews. To keep doing so, changes are unavoidable. Henceforth, as with all our other content, arts reviews will be paywalled from the outset (with occasional exceptions).

Current paid subscribers (print and/or online) will of course continue to have immediate access to every review in ABR Arts – all 1,200 of them in fact. No additional subscription is required.

If you are not a current ABR subscriber, you will need to subscribe to ABR or take up our new subscription model – ABR Arts – to retain access to our arts reviews. A full subscription to ABR gives you access to our entire digital archive going back to 1978 (print and/or online). A subscription to ABR Arts – costing only $50 per annum – gives you access to all our arts reviews the minute they are published online, plus access to all 1,200 arts reviews in our archive.

You will also know that you are contributing to the preservation and indeed extension of ABR’s arts coverage.

Those who have signed up for our free ABR Arts e-newsletter will continue to receive it each fortnight.

Happy reading!