Katarina Kroslakova. Photography by Pierre Toussaint. The start of the year is naturally a time for reflection on our destinations in life — the places we’re going, the places we’ve been. So it’s fitting that our first edition of 2024 focuses on the peripatetic theme of “Journeys”. We’ve asked the talented creatives who worked on this issue to undertake all kinds of expeditions — from the sensory to the political to the more typical globetrotting variety. And what we’ve found, amid the dazzling medley of contributions that came back, is that no matter what form they take, our most memorable journeys are often the ones that take us to new, or long-forgotten, parts of ourselves.
In “Playing Paradox” (page 62), our cover star, the Australian actress Sarah Snook, expounds on this topic. She shares her journey — or should we say journeys — preparing to play no less than 26 roles in Sydney Theatre Company’s West End debut of its adaptation of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. “Playing other people brings you closer to yourself,” she tells the writer Emma Pegrum — so we can assume Snook will know herself intimately after this gruelling production.
Snook might be the quintessential T Australia cover star. So many of my friends and colleagues know her personally (columnist Lance Richardson mentioned to me a personal connection: she’d come to hang on his couch in Sydney’s Erskineville 15 years ago), and now she’s the toast of Hollywood (not to mention streaming television), while maintaining her sense of integrity — and Aussie accent. After trying for months to arrange a shoot with Snook, we finally secured a few precious hours with her in Los Angeles on January 10 — between the Golden Globes, where she won the award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series: Drama, and the Emmys, where she was named Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, both for her unforgettable role in “Succession”. Our team fell in love with Snook and her gorgeous baby girl, who accompanied her to the shoot. (In Snook’s Emmy acceptance speech, she dedicated the award to her little one and noted, in typically self-deprecating style: “It’s very easy to act when you’re pregnant because you’ve got hormones raging.”)
Elsewhere this issue, we look at the path to sustainability for Monaco — yes, that Monaco: the Mediterranean playground for the rich and famous — as Tony Davis interviews the principality’s leader, Prince Albert II. It turns out Albert II has a special connection with Australia (see page 72). The writer Luke Benedictus contemplates the innate eroticism of hotel rooms in “Suite Loving” (page 24). We explore Rio de Janeiro’s new wave of pared-back, nature-focused architecture in “Above It All” (page 40) and size up Hong Kong’s booming arts and cultural scene in our travel supplement. And in “A Lick of the Past” (page 56) and “Short and Sweet” (page 32), we examine the nostalgic food trends that are transporting our tastebuds to simpler — but no less delicious — times.
Finally, on the theme of journeys, I have to mention the one we’re on here at T Australia. In 2024, we’re excited to be increasing from six to 10 issues per year. I would like to thank all our supporters, readers, partners and collaborators who have helped to make this happen. Enjoy the issue.
Katarina Kroslakova — Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
