Sydney Contemporary Opening Night
Carriageworks
Sydney, Australia
September 12, 2018
Basics first: If you zone in on Australasia’s Art Fair, Sydney Contemporary is a brightly shining beacon that attracts an eclectic melange of renowned and upcoming artists, local and international galleries, collectors, connoisseurs, aficionados, industry professionals and art loving public on terra australis.
With Carriageworks, the multi-disciplinary art precinct, serving as the stage, a myriad of curated sectors, e.g. installations, talks, workshops and performances in form of a multitude of presentations and media pervading every nook and cranny of the vast venue the previous Eveleigh provides.
Ever since its inception, Sydney Contemporary Opening Night has never not been a highlight of the social calendar and claiming that the evening is condensed with events, performances and entertainment would be an understatement par excellence.. This year was certainly no exception:
A ritualistic performance was staged Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year 2018 dancers in collaboration with Paris-based Australian Visual Artist Mel O’Callaghan: Pervading the crowds, the dancers underwent a breathing ritual fueled by a musical score that serenaded the performance.
The elemental and explosive connections between earth and the air were explored by Emilty Parsons-Lord via a volatile pyrotechnic performance with the fireworks being coloured and merged with minerals.
Lauren Brincat paid tribute to Carriageworks as a venue with a site-specific dialogue between two drummers, who explored the space sonically and percussively.
Not that there was much doubt but he fourth, and now annual, Sydney Contemporary 2018 is a living proof that Sydney has firmly cemented itself as the presenter as Australia’s pre-eminent art fair with local and international galleries and artworks by big names like Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin along locals like Ben Quilty, Tracey Moffat, Reno Rekkie and Patricia Piccinini.
While the event map is a useful and needed resource because of the wealth of exhibits and performances, tumbling down the corridors of Sydney Contemporary at Carriageworks without any guidance is a rewarding and gratifying experience: A voyage of surprise and delight as literally every time one turns a corner, some new and exciting can be discovered – especially from galleries, exhibitors and artists that so far have not been on your radar.
Both the 2017 and 2018 incarnations of Sydney Contemporary were expertly-curated events and borderline overwhelming experience that makes one simmer with excitement for 2019.
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Photos by @k.a.vv
