Golden Square 2022

Overview

Lighting up Chinatown as part of citywide arts festival Rising, is the elaborate Golden Square pop-up, transforming Lonsdale Street's multi-level carpark into a multi-faceted homage to creativity and big ideas.

For the festival's duration (Wednesday, June 1–Sunday, June 12) the building's normally stark concrete storeys will be reimagined as a dynamic art gallery space, showcasing new commissioned works by legendary artists including Scotty So, Atong Atem, Patty Chang and Paul Yore. Expect everything from performance art to sculptural pieces, speaking to themes of ritual, mythology and digital spirituality — including an extravagant parade of performers marching bi-nightly in honour of the moon (Parade for the Moon) and Lu Yang's giant inflatable head that reflects on the ways the digital age impacts our concept of self (Power of Will — Final Shooting).

From the rooftop, you'll get to feast your eyes on I Conjure — a large-scale work by New York icon Jenny Holzer that's being splashed across the facade of the Queen Victoria Woman's Centre. And while the creative juices are flowing, the drinks will be too, with Golden Square's pop-up bars slinging everything from cocktails, to new-wave wines curated by Blackhearts and Sparrows.

Golden Square will be open nightly Wednesday to Sunday from 5.30pm–late, with entry times every 15 minutes.

'As She Float', Scotty So, photographed by Christian Capurro

Top Images: by Remi Chauvin.