Art & About to Transform City with Mirrors, Snails

While it wasn't all that long ago that public art involved a lot of extra planning permissions or basic illegality, Art & About has lent an aura of city-loved authority to Sydney street art for some years now. This year's program has yet to be revealed in full, but a good chunk of the upcoming art-on-the-street excitement has just been laid out for our delectation.

This year at Art & About? It's all about you. Opening night kicks off with Shaun Tan's The Arrival migrating to Martin Place's big screen, with live soundtrack, and followed by music from the Break (whose roster includes members of Midnight Oil and The Violent Femmes). Snailovation, by Cracking Art Group, sends 24 giant snails across Sydney landmarks, while interactive installation I Think I Can lets you be a train, with some help from Performance Space and friends.

A maze of 400 mirrors takes over Hyde Park with FIELD by Fresh Concept architects, while Sydney Lives — the Sydney photo competition — will be ritually upstaged by the junior photographers of Little Sydney Lives. Most intriguing of all is the prospect of a dive into the history and family of the mysterious (and seemingly adrift in time) Elizabeth St caf Oceanic Cafe, in Little Lightning Stories.

Art & About takes over Sydney from September 10 to October 10, 2013.