Sydney Contemporary brings over 85 galleries to Carriageworks

Sydney Contemporary will bring more than 85 of Australia’s best galleries to Carriageworks for an extensive showcase in early September.

Each year, the wide-ranging arts event takes over the Eveleigh institution with a dynamic and extensive program designed to showcase what’s new, hot and trending in the local art scene. In addition to giving prospective buyers a chance to shop for affordable art across various mediums, there’s always a variety of talks and performance works, curated by Artspace’s Talia Linz and Sydney Opera House’s Curator of Contemporary Art, Michael Do, as well as a special kids program.

The entire program, stretched across four days (September 5 — 8), is divided into four strands: Installation, Performance, Talk, and Kids.

Each pillar will present a deep investigation into the constantly evolving world of Australian and international art, featuring talks from Mona’s Kirsha Kaechele, a new site-specific performance dedicated to the late Seini ‘SistaNative’ Taumoepeau, and Shanghai-born multimedia artist Lu Kang.

While the bulk of Sydney Contemporary is made up of booths curated by some of the country’s best galleries, there will be a chance this year to explore innovative and interactive installations shaped specifically to work with the unique architecture of Carriageworks and its many spaces.

From a survey of spear-making across generations from senior men and women of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, to a “constellation of hand-built ceramics” by artist Cybele Cox, Sydney Contemporary’s Installation program looks to be the most diverse (and interesting) to date.

One of the most salient features is a giant 20-metre wide Skywalker Gibbon by renowned artist Lisa Roet, installed on the roof of Carriageworks (feature image).

Southeast Asian artist Yeo Kaa, for example, will create a life-sized avatar (Takits) to explore social constructs and taboos. Meanwhile, late artist David McDiarmid will be represented with large-scale text works that reframe cultural discourses over time, Melbourne-based filmmaker Daniel Agdag is planning a work (Sets for a film I’ll never make) marrying architectural nostalgia with film sets and fantasy, and Darren Sylvester will present a unique steel archway (Transformer) housed with 40-metres of blue neon lights that flicker according to movement.

On the discussion side of things, Talk Contemporary will host panels mostly concerning the intersection of art, design and architecture, drawing on the minds of artists and curators like Kaechele, as well as gallerist Cassandra Bird, The Australian Ballet’s David Hallberg, and First Nations journalist and writer Daniel Browning.

Friends with Strangers director Sam Watson-Wood has curated two special performances for the four-day event. The first, a dedication to the aforementioned SistaNative, will see two Sydney artists, Sereima Adimate and Kilia Pahulu, explore themes of grief, death, and how they can be transformed into joy. While ESSSENSSSE will see ten performers built an “aquatic ecosystem” to explore the strength of the human spirit under the guidance of multidisciplinary artist HOSSEI.

Participating galleries this year include Sullivan+Strumpf, MARS Gallery, Roselyn Oxley9 Gallery, Artereal Gallery, OLSEN, and more.

Sydney Contemporary is also one of the most kid-friendly arts events in the city each year. for 2024, the Kid Contemporary program will be headlined by artist Lara Merrett, who created an immersive installation called The Blue Room. For this, Merrett asks audiences to bring their own “pocket size natural object” to the custom-built space, where they will be transformed into a print using coated Cyanotype paper and UV light boxes. Guests will receive a print to take home, and one they can leave behind to become part of an ongoing artwork across the four days.