The season of summing up is upon is. Since Australia is ahead of us in time zones, Andrew Frost deserves the first word in last words for 2008:

It’s hard to escape the feeling that the art world is doomed. I know, everyone is supposed to be talking up the economy and spending their $1000 bonus on Christmas presents, but we end the year feeling nostalgia for 2008’s high points mixed with a creeping sense of dread for what lies ahead.

It has been a tough year. It had high points such as the best-ever-attended Biennale of Sydney, with some 435,000 punters visiting the exhibition’s seven harbourside venues. Home-grown shows such as the Gallery of Modern Art’s Optimism, the National Gallery of Australia’s Richard Larter retrospective and the Museum of Contemporary Art’s way-above-average Primavera were each warmly received.

Wanted: A  Museum of Contemporary Art that Looks Like One Giant Skull (Sydney Morning Herald)