MCA ARTBAR Curated by Hoda Afshar

Overview

The Museum of Contemporary Art remains the place to be on the last Friday of the month when MCA ARTBAR takes over the gallery with an adults-only party of art, music, design and performance. Each month is curated by a different artist, making the series an ever-changing yet constant facet in Sydney's after-dark culture scene.

For the final ARTBAR of the year, taking place this Friday, November 30, the museum has enlisted Hoda Afshar as curator. The Melbourne-based artist, who primarily works with photography and moving image, is one of the artists featured in this year's Primavera — the MCA's annual exhibition celebrating young Australian talent. The collection of work investigates identity through a social, political and cultural lens — and the Friday night event will delve even further into this theme.

Elyas Alavi will kick things off at 7pm with his performance art piece I Wish Grapes Would Ripen, which explores his lived experience as a Hazara refugee. And then, you're free to roam around the museum. Video works from Walter Bakowski on spirituality and Payam Mofidi on political power structures will be interspersed with immersive live performances; Léuli Eshraghi will lead a healing ceremony while Alexandra Talamo explores Latin-American migrant experiences through choreography. You'll also have an opportunity to speak to journalist Behrouz Boochani, who has been detained on Manus Island since 2013, via WhatsApp in real time.

And, if all of this art has got your creative juices flowing, there'll be collaborative bookmaking with Isabella Capezio and a portrait drawing workshop with Abdul Abdullah. When you need a breather, head to the terrace for a classic negroni and music from DJ Wael-X, and cheers the end of the work week.

Images: Leslie Liu, Sam Whiteside, Jacqui Manning.