Sydney Contemporary 2022

Overview

Sydney Contemporary is back, once again taking over Carriageworks for an annual celebration of all things art from September 8–11. This year, more than 90 leading galleries are pulling together four days' worth of art, performances, panel discussions, talks and events.

The opening night on Thursday, September 8 will feature a range of art, music, performance, food and drinks, including a new work by acclaimed artist Justene Williams and performances from contemporary artists WeiZen Ho and Rakini Devi.

The art fair will feature works from more than 450 artists hailing from 34 countries. Highlights from the festival include Vincent Namatjira's new solo exhibition This Is No Fantasy, Utopia Art Sydney's retrospective celebrating 50 years of Papunya Tula Artists, works from new graduates from The National Art School, and Talk Contemporary, a curated program of live talks that will be popping up across the four days.

WeiZen Ho, Every Breath, performance. 2020

Day two of the festival will feature Friday Night Art Night. This post-work party will be headlined by a discussion of NFTs, performances by Salote Tawale, Alli Sebastian Wolf and Rakini Devi, and a DJ set from legendary Sydney dance floor-filler Jonny Seymour.

Once you need a break from all that art, head to one of four bars — featuring champagne from Duperrey, Campari and Four Pillars cocktails and Yalumba wines — or to the pop-up cafes and restaurants for snack breaks.

You can check out the fair at your leisure across the four days for $36 while tickets to the opening night will set you back $67.50 and access to Friday Night's festivities costs $57.50. The fair is open from 11am–5pm Thursday, midday–5pm Friday, 11am–6pm, Saturday and 11am–5pm Sunday. Check out the full program over here, and be sure to nab tickets while you still can.

Jacquie Manning

Top image: Jacquie Manning