Investigating the most challenging issues of our complicated times, the expansive Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art will once again take over Carriageworks for 2020 — but it'll look noticeably different to previous years. Run by Performance Space, this year's shortened program (running from October 21–25) will combine socially-distanced live performances with a huge range digital events.
The 2020 festival is divided into three parts, all of which will be presented both in-person and streamed online. These include Live Now performances, Live Futures panel discussions and Live Dreams, which will present artists' works-in-progress.
As part of the Live Now program, Filipinx artist Justin Shoulder is unveiling a new work titled AEON†: Episode 1 that fuses myth, puppetry and queer pageantry; Cat Jones is opening an experimental pharmacy (and hosting hands-on workshops); and a collaboration between choreographer Angela Goh and Sydney artist Deborah Kelly will culminate in a public display of devotion.
A performance ritual broadcast online at sunset each day will also feature a live exchange of love letters between the Koori artist and writer SJ Norman and Cherokee writer and scholar Joseph M Pierce.
As part of Live Futures, thought-leaders will get together to discuss topics like 'Why Risk Gathering' led by Sydney Festival Director Wesley Enoch, 'Caring for Always' with First Nations curator Hannah Donnelly and 'The Future of Work'. Then, the Live Dreams segment will close out the festival offering, allowing artists to present sketches and ideas focused around utopia, impossible catastrophe and wonder.
For the full program, head to the Liveworks website.
Top image: 'Medicament for Your Predicament' by Cat Jones.