Sydney Contemporary is back for its third edition this September, and the program is an all-out fanfare of Australasian creativity. Syphoning an immense program of art, dance, music, comedy and general creative thinking into Sydney’s Carriageworks and broader inner-city precinct, the 2017 offering is the largest from Sydney Contemporary thus far, and pushing to be one of the city’s most fevered artistic events.
The event kicks off with a buoyant opening night, setting the pace for things to come and transforming the industrial Carriageworks site into a wash of colour and giddy activity.
The night will exposé works from Performance Contemporary. Creative duo, The Huxleys, will roam in glistening garb as part of their Born to be Alive showpiece. Caroline Garcia will reimagine the choreography of the female dance troupe. Hayden Fowler invites visitors into his post-apocalyptic virtual reality universe. And Justene Williams’s work, developed with the help of a local choir, creates performing bodies through the use of sound and costume.
Conducting the musical landscape for the total seven artists performing on the night is a musical program curated by VICE, including live performances from local talent Marcus Whale and Ginger and the Ghost.
The festivities continue with Sydney Art Week and Talk Contemporary, taking over venues across the city in talks, panel discussions parties, installations and workshops. The Talk Contemporary program will feature the “sharpest minds exploring some of the ideas currently infusing art practices,” says Sydney Contemporary Director Barry Keldoulis.
Discussions will amass fashion designers, artists, entertainers, architects and media personalities to explore themes spanning whether art can realistically survive in the ‘real’ world, the pursuit of creative invention and post porn art in the age of the Internet.
Artist and host of Colour Theory, Tony Albert, will be hosting a live edition of the show. And a screening of art documentary Whitely will be followed by a live conversation with Wendy Whitely and Alec George. Japanese-Australian artist Hiromi Tango has created an immersive kids plays space in an environment of heavy colours and textures, with workshops of children ages one to 10.
The Night Cap series will return for three nights to end off the day’s activities with even more fantasy and entertainment. From the 6th to the 8th, the Birmingham Street Studio artists submerge Chippendale’s Old Clare Hotel into a delightful mess of paintings, ceramics, performance and video works.
Sydney Contemporary opens on September 7th and extends to the 10th. A short period of time when you consider the volume of outrageous talent and work that is being offered. Every variation of art comes together in an event that transcends exhibition, to rather unfurl a world of exploratory creativity.
Sydney Contemporary
sydneycontemporary.com.au
