Underbelly Arts: Public Lab + Festival

Overview

Chippendale is a former underbelly of Sydney with a sordid past of crime, drugs and prostitution, once home to a slaughterhouse and brewery — a brewery where the owner encouraged all manner of fun and games, including the unexpectedly dangerous sport of catching a greasy pig. Continuing the fun and games in July, Chippendale will be home to 100 of Sydney's emerging creative talents as the new digs for Underbelly Arts: Public Lab + Festival. Expect to roll up your sleeves and get your hands greasy as 15 new projects unfold from July 8 to 17.

Ella McInnes and Natalia Ladyko of Umbrella Theatre invite the curious to F*&K Rhianna — Come Under Our Umbrella, Justin Harvey lures you in for a potentially perverse game of chat roulette, Reef Knot rely on your arty skills to create a series of modest, sustainable works along Kensington Street, and other visionary projects abound.

In the lead up, FraserStudios is running free tours of the Lab at 6pm and 7.30pm where you can watch and learn as the projects emerge, transform and bubble toward boiling point. Or, if you fancy drawing and game-playing, join a free public session and help I Can Draw You a Picture create an on-site, souvenir publication.

Saturday, July 10, is the halfway point for artists and audiences to cross paths in a wild, free day of art-making and debate. Finally, July 17 brings on the Festival from 2 to 10pm, a choose-your-own-adventure day of exciting performances, installations, burlesque, theatre, puppetry and sound. Don't let the greasy pig slip through your fingers; pre-sale tickets are available now.