Overview
In a year that saw Sydney's cultural ecosystem and the legislative shackling of certain elements of it become a more polarising subject than ever before, the city's most innovative, forward-thinking residents have made outstanding lemonade. With new events abounding, Sydney is more vibrant, playful and fun than it ever has been.
Not necessarily answering to the same restrictions as permanent venue owners, Sydney's event producers have found new ways to celebrate Sydney life, reinvigorating dwindling or hidden spaces, taking the idea of 'immersive' happenings to another level, and taking us on wild adventures in our own home.
At Concrete Playground we encourage exploration and showcase innovation in our city every day, so we thought it fitting to reward those most talented whippersnappers pushing Sydney to be a better, braver city. And so, these six events, launched in 2016, have been nominated for Best New Event in Concrete Playground's Best of 2016 Awards.
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Vivid Sydney really cranked it up this year, with a truly epic program of lights, music, ideas and live events, which, in one heck of a slam dunk, included none other than Björk (BJÖRK!). As part of Carriageworks’ contemporary program, the legendary artist personally launched a huge virtual reality project dubbed BJÖRK DIGITAL — a collaboration with some of the world’s best filmmakers and programmers.
The BJÖRK DIGITAL exhibition ran from June 4-18, including a downright ethereal program of her extensive video, multimedia and virtual reality works, divided into five unique spaces. To celebrate the opening, Björk herself travelled to Sydney to curate a one-off music event at Carriageworks, where she DJed with special guests.
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A collection of Australia’s most talented street artists transformed Centenary Square in Parramatta into a temporary open-air art studio this autumn. Each morning for nine consecutive weekdays beginning on Monday March 14, a different artist produced a brand new, large scale artwork live in front of the public, demonstrating their technique and turning the space into a vibrant artistic hub.
An initiative of the Parramatta City Council and real estate developers Walker Corporation in partnership with creative arts organisation Work-Shop, the Live Walls Project saw a number of notable names to take part. Anthony Lister, Anya Brock, Guido Van Helten, James Jirat Patradoon, Sid Tapia, Georgia Hill, Aidan “Sprinkles” McKenzie, Phibs, Nico and Jumbo all fronted up, each working from 10am to 3pm on their allocated day to create a new artwork on the hoarding in front of the Parramatta Square development. At the conclusion of the event, each work was auctioned off, with proceeds going to the Parramatta Mission. Nice one.
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If you managed to get through a year in Sydney without knowing about the Noma pop-up in Barangaroo, well done you. In conjunction with the super expensive, impossible to get into Sydney Harbour spinoff, Noma chef Rene Redzepi organised a day-long symposium featuring some of the biggest names in food and inspired by the Copenhagen event of the same name.
Taking place at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday, April 3, MAD SYD: Tomorrow’s Meals welcomed a number of world renowned chefs and culinary professionals for “a day of talks and ideas exploring the future of food”. Speakers included Redzepi, David Chang (Momofuku), Kylie Kwong (Billy Kwong) and Massimo Bottura (Italy’s Osteria Francescana), as well as food activist Chido Govera and social researcher Rebecca Huntley.
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Sydney took a trip to Los Angeles in the year 2019, where acid rain falls on crowded streets lit up by neon lights. As part of Art & About Sydney, Golden Age Cinema hosted a special experiential screening of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpiece Blade Runner, complete with music, art, food and a futuristic night market in an inner city carpark.
Taking place on February 20, More Human Than Human: Blade Runner transformed the Goulburn Street car park into a dystopian installation space. Local artists and performers presented works inspired by Scott’s groundbreaking Philip K. Dick adaptation, immersing visitors in the sights, sounds and themes of the film while pondering its ultimate question: what does it mean to be human? The evening concluded with a rooftop screening of the movie itself, and even though a light rain fell, the clear plastic ponchos were well on theme.
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More than 40 food trucks powered into Western Sydney this November, forming the heart of Off the Eaten Truck, a collaboration between Rooty Hill RSL and Knafeh’s Bearded Bakers — and the biggest food truck festival ever to hit Western Sydney. Over 50,000 food enthusiasts beat the heat and graced the gates at this new event, not too shabby for a first-timer.
For two glorious days, guests were invited to do nothing but sample local wares, tucking into burgers from Mister Gee, Neapolitan wood-fired pizzas from Happy as Larry, organic creations from Agape, Mexican snacks from Cantina Movil, Vietnamese street food from Mama Linh’s and so much more deliciousness. Best bit? All gold coin entry donations went to the Movember Foundation.
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Ever been at an outdoor cinema, and wished you could just jump into bed? Well, of course you have — bed is the one thing we can rely on to always be there for us, and we all wish it could follow us around for intermittent lie-downs. That’s presumably why the geniuses at Sydney’s new PicNic Cinema decided to implement beds into their outdoor setup. Well, that, and they were probably aware of the struggles of keeping your head propped up on a packet of chips while lying on a picnic rug trying to drink wine.
PicNic Cinema took over Parramatta’s Prince Alfred Square for 16 nights in April. Instead of just the usual picnic rug and bean bag sitcho, the cinema brought in enough inflatable double mattresses for 100 people to literally lie back and relax on. Guests even got a blankie in case it got chilly.