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.