Potager is a kitchen garden on a 10-acre farm located at Carool in the Tweed Valley that celebrates fresh, locally sourced ingredients. You'll often find the kitchen staff picking lettuce, herbs and veggies from the garden while eager patrons take their seats in the cosy dining room. Potager's long lunches and degustation dinners are only held every few months which makes them very sought after — so much so they're usually fully booked within 48 hours. As part of the North Coast Festival of Flavour, Potager will be welcoming guests for another one of its renowned 'Meet the Locals' lunches. Local producers alongside Potager's gardener and head chef will welcome you with refreshing cocktails and delicious canapes in the garden followed a three-course lunch.
If you lived in Sydney throughout your 20s, you've no doubt been to Ivy at least once. Located in Merivale's massive George Street precinct, the bar is renowned for its nightlife, hosting everything from deep house DJs to drag queen performances. Basically, this multi-level bar knows how to throw one helluva party. If you'd prefer to soak in the sun over getting down on a dimly lit dance floor, you'll want to head up to Ivy Pool Club. The space is inspired by Italian Riveria, making it the perfect spot to kick back in summer. Here, you can lounge poolside, splash some serious cash and indulge in a whole bunch of Italian-themed festivities. Appears in: The Best Rooftop Bars in Sydney
The combination of Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos is one of 21st-century cinema's best, and long may it continue beyond The Favourite, Poor Things and now Kinds of Kindness. The mix of the two-time Oscar-winner, the Greek filmmaker, plus Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley in the last two of those movies has also been working out swimmingly. There's another winning blend in Kinds of Kindness, though, and one deserving of earning the third Lanthimos lead in as many features an Oscar: the writer/director and Jesse Plemons, who has already collected the 2024 Cannes Best Actor award for his trio of roles in this black-comedy triptych. He gives not one, not two, but three exceptional performances. First he plays an employee who loses his boss' faith, then a husband whose wife is lost, then a disciple trying to find a woman with an extraordinary ability. Sweet dreams are made of this, as the Eurythmics' thumping 1983 hit tells Kinds of Kindness' viewers when it blasts through the movie at full blare from the get-go. There's little that's delectable for the film's characters, or kind for that matter, but Lanthimos back at his darkest, spikiest, and most sinister and cynical — back among the vibes of Dogtooth, Alps, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer — is indeed a delicious reverie. As Annie Lennox sings about anthemically, this is a picture about desire. It's equally about everyone looking for something that fulfils those yearnings and stirrings. Using and abusing, wanting to be used and abused, holding and keeping your head up in this cycle of pleasure and pain: so also goes the words of one of the best dance-floor fillers of the past four decades, and now so goes the feature that makes its sentiments a filmic reality as well. Plemons (Civil War), Stone (Cruella), Qualley (Drive-Away Dolls), Dafoe (Asteroid City), Hong Chau (The Menu), Joe Alwyn (Stars at Noon), Mamoudou Athie (The Burial): they're Lanthimos' troupe in the three tales of his ninth movie. Joining them is Poor Things' Yorgos Stefanakos as RMF, who is driving the car pumping out "who am I to disagree?" and "I travel the world and the seven seas" when the anthology's opening chapter commences. The repertory cast is stunning, on paper and on the screen. So is the filmmaker's knowing playfulness in enlisting them, with some of the most-famous faces who routinely represent humanity — that's acting, after all — toying with being humane's utter absence. Sometimes they're demanding that each other commits murder. Sometimes they're getting cannibalistic. Sometimes they're lopping off their own body parts. Often they're fixated to the point of delusion. La Chimera is already taken as the name of an excellent and unique auteur-helmed 2024 cinema release in Australia, skewing figurative, but the three-headed creature of Greek myth that originated a term for illusions feels like the spirit animal for Kinds of Kindness in more ways than one. Among actual critters, dogs and cats feature here, more reminders of domesticity taken down startling paths. Neither are crucial to the debut chapter, but that's still the narrative's route, as Plemons' Robert, a salaryman with a spacious home, doting wife (Chau) and slick business job, has the facade of his comfortable existence shattered. His employer and sometimes-lover Raymond (Dafoe) dictates his every move, plotting out instructions on daily handwritten cards. Wardrobe choices, what to eat, who he married, when to have sex: everything is covered. After ten years of willing and eager compliance, Robert then refuses a task, then suspects that optician's assistant Rita (Stone) also has the same control-and-subjugation arrangement. Making Plemons and Stone competitors will pop up again, but next they're husband and wife in the movie's second instalment. He's police officer Daniel, she's marine researcher Liz, and he's distraught about her going missing at sea until she's rescued against everyone else's expectations. Is the woman now sharing his home really his spouse, though? And what lengths will he push her to to test his fears? In the last of Kinds of Kindness' trilogy of tales, Dafoe's Omi and Chau's Aka steer a cult that's looking for a healer who fits an exacting list of criteria. Doing the searching on their behalf, and being rewarded with sex, plus drinking water purified with their gurus' tears, are Plemons' Andrew and Stone's Emily. In this section as in each before it — and across Lanthimos' entire filmography — how brutal, domineering, selfish and cruel people can be is firmly in focus, as are the beliefs that we cling to to pretend that's not the case. These notions were all a part of The Favourite and Poor Things, of course, as scripted by The Great's Tony McNamara, yet the mood gets stormier when Lanthimos works with his Dogtooth, Alps, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer screenwriter Efthimis Filippou. Gone are the whimsy and empowerment that also colours Poor Things, for instance. Still, his work with Filippou remains grounded in heightening everyday traits and patterns, however dystopian or nightmarish they get. Watching this duo's collaborations always means recognising the impulses that spring from the mix of water and flesh that comprise humans, as well as witnessing those relatable urges and compulsions being gleefully and cannily taken to extremes. Adding to a resume that continues the opposite trajectory to people en masse in Lanthimos and Filippou's view — that'd be getting better and better — Plemons is impossible to peer away from as Robert, Daniel and Andrew alike. Each is an everyman plagued by a need for purpose and belonging, and quickly willing to get vicious to grasp it. But amid the meticulous imagery that always characterises a Lanthimos film, with cinematographer Robbie Ryan (The Old Oak) a master in emphasising new views and angles on what'd be typical sights in other hands, Plemons isn't playing the same character over and over again. As his hair gets shorter chapter by chapter, the Killers of the Flower Moon, Love & Death and The Power of the Dog actor does far more than make his lost, lonely, searching, awkward and angry Kinds of Kindness figures thematic clones or even siblings. That said, there's a three-sides-of-the-same-coin statement to the picture overall: people are unkind, then people are unkind, then people are unkind once more. The specifics of their personalities and circumstances change. What they're desiring shifts as well. Kinds of unkindness remains the end fresult. As Hunter Schafer (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) rounds out the ensemble, just in one segment, Stone has the same gig as Plemons, and is equally committed. She's in terrain, aka unpacking the savagery that flows through humans like blood, that she's also tapped into in her recent small-screen appearances in The Curse and Fantasmas, 2023's best new TV show and 2024's best in the same field so far. She's on message for Lanthimos, then, even when he's not her director. With him, Stone summed up the Greek Weird Wave great's prevailing perspective on life best when she was earning her second Best Actress Oscar for Poor Things as Bella Baxter: "I have adventured it and found nothing but sugar and violence".
Harvest Festival returns to leafy Parramatta Park on 17 November and is bringing a lineup sure to make even the most nonchalant of festivalgoers suffer a pang of time clash panic. This years Harvest ticketholders will be treated to one of the more eclectic lineups on the festival calendar, with a myriad of exciting national and international acts gracing five musical stages, while a “Campfire” stage (think Erotic Fan Fiction and a Comedy Picnic) keeps things sufficiently eccentric. Euphonic wizards Beck, Sigur Ros and Beirut will head up a mass bliss-out session on The Great Lawn with the assistance of The Dandy Warhols, Los Campesinos! and Winter People. The Windmill Stage will welcome Santigold, Grizzly Bear, Ben Folds Five and Dexy’s, while Crazy P, Fuck Buttons and Chromatics will be sending out groovy astral vibes from The Big Red Tractor. An amped up arts explosion adds to the excitement this year, and did we mention that sightings of fist pumping and/or general trashiness are notably less frequent than at other major music festivals? Get your tickets here.
Brooklyn's El-P is one of the most prolific voices in hip-hop in both senses of the word. He's contributed productions and guest rhymes to albums by everyone from Dizzee Rascal and Das Racist to Beck and Cat Power, and as a rapper he eschews the commercial to the extent that you hesitate to even call him a rapper. Many of his tracks are marked not by blatant lyrics but by future-dystopian Philip K. Dick post-9/11 themes. He's also a white guy of Irish-Cajun-Lithuanian descent, and doesn't try to pretend he's anything else. El-P's latest release is the labyrinthine Cancer 4 Cure. "The Full Retard" (a reference to Tropic Thunder) is one of the album's catchier songs, but you can't call it simple. Other tracks you can't describe as anything other than a convoluted mix of militant vocals, Gameboy-era lo-fi aesthetics and heavily distorted beats. Things that are smart aren't usually easy to unravel. Nevertheless, El-P inspires motion. You might not be rhythmically gyrating but you certainly won't be sitting still if you're luckily enough to be in his audience this festival season. https://youtube.com/watch?v=OZptOs8Gu9k
Hey Geronimo, the Frankenstein creation of Brisbane’s indie scene, is a mish-mash of assorted talents that have come together for the love of the catchy tune. The five-piece are assertively carving a name for themselves as an all-pop delight, one that demands to be sung along to in full voice. They will be taking their Special Best Tour to The Zoo for what is sure to be a wholly fun show that’s not to be missed. Along for the ride are special guests The Griswolds, who are equally as infectious with their dance-demanding beachy tunes. Together these bands will deliver a party packed with the unabashed enthusiasm their live shows are known for.
Locals may know the Petersham Bowling Club is no ordinary bowlo, but they didn't know it was this extraordinary. According to the folks behind Phantasm #3, unexplained "electronic media aberrations" have been reported from deep in its basement for many years. Now a pair of inquisitive investigators, led by new media artist Alex Davies, are conducting experiments to try to unearth the truth beneath these phenomena. Assist the dedicated researchers in their quest to solve this mystery and ensure that their endeavours are not in vain by taking part in the enquiry. Phantasm #3 is presented by Performance Space as part of the Halls for Hire series, which is taking place from August 28 to October 7. Artists have been invited to create site-specific works which are inspired by and staged in community spaces around Sydney. Also check out Brown Council's durational baking project, Mass Action: 137 Cakes in 90 Hours; the one-evening-only awakening of Newtown's St Stephen's Cemetery, Nighttime: Twilight; the appropriately post-Olympian Opening and Closing Ceremony; the September equinox celebration Spring Cursive; and the proletarian live sewing event The Making of the Flag: Give Us Back Our Unions (held on the 'World Day for Decent Work' at the Sydney Trades Hall). Phantasm #3 is open 12-6, Wednesday to Sunday.
Saturday, September 29, sees the closure of William Street to cars and the spilling of fun and frivolity onto the tar for the annual William Street Laneway Festival. All of the shops along this strip have events, special prices, drinks, food and deals galore to lure you away from the mega-complexes and back to the simple joy of wandering and shopping in Paddington's home of unique boutiques. The prohibition on vehicles won't apply to food trucks, of course, of which Eat Art and Veggie Patch will be present. The day is a great opportunity to show your support to boutique shopping districts outside the all-powerful Westfields, all while enjoying some sun.
This American Life no longer requires any introduction. You and your youngish, globalised, culture-hungry friends are probably all over this podcasted hour of digestible journalism and storytelling. What's slightly less well known is the producers' experiments in translating the show's trademark style to visual media, including through a Showtime TV show and stage show The Invisible Made Visible. They're playful, inventive forays for our cross-platform age. Now comes phase (approx.) four: the movie. Co-written and produced by Ira Glass, Sleepwalk with Me is the feature-length adaptation of Mike Birbiglia's very memorable extreme-sleepwalking/relationship-breakdown stand-up routine, which was included in the TAL episode 'Fear of Sleep'. He has to preface this story with an assurance that it's true, because as he goes from fighting an imaginary jackal to falling off a shelving unit he's climbed in the belief it's a winner's podium to waking up bloodied on a hotel lawn, it increasingly doesn't sound like the cute, ha-ha version of sleepwalking we know. As Mike (or 'Matt Pandamiglio' as he's known in the movie) tells it, his sleepwalking gets worse as his girlfriend of eight years, Abby (Lauren Ambrose), starts to hint at marriage, babies and other grown-up things he's not ready for. He starts using the relationship concerns he can't vocalise to her in his stand-up, getting laughs for the first time. If you've heard the comedy routine that underlies Sleepwalk with Me on TAL, you'll know its engrossing, winningly self-deprecating and very funny. But it's as if the creative team felt that to make it worthy of a feature film they had to emphasise the relationship element, and that's just not the story's strong point. The idea of the man-boy who can't commit is rather '90s, and neither the narrative nor style brings it forward two decades, to where it should be. Sleepwalk with Me is still funny, but nothing in its bones suggests the creativity, forward-thinking or immediacy that This American Life has cultivated as its brand. And that dulls the experience of watching it. Birbiglia certainly makes some adorable, true-ringing observations about life and love. Just be prepared that the laughter-to-irritation ratio may not be one you find favourable. https://youtube.com/watch?v=u9tRN7bok4o
Founded in 1989, Sydney-based group Stalker have a long history of innovative, challenging physical theatre work. The latest show from this Carriageworks resident company promises immersive digital environments that react to the performers' movements. We're talking light projections on bodies in motion. If that all seems a little hard to wrap your head around, feast your ocular units on this clip, but keep in mind that was from when the show was workshopped — over a year ago! Which means it will be way more dazzling and highly developed when Encoded premieres November 28.
There are a lot of similarities between Wild Nothing and fellow chillwave pioneers Toro Y Moi and Washed Out. All three are bedroom recordings by one-man bands, and all three men are from the southern U.S. Freaky! All make dreamy, lo-fi music with breathy vocals and steady beats that you can a) dance to at an underground disco, or b) listen to alone in your room while you stare at your posters of '80s indie bands. In the case of Wild Nothing's Virginia-born Jack Tatum, the posters he's staring at belong to The Cure, The Smiths and Simple Minds. Tatum puts a sunny disposition on their '80s gloom pop with chiming guitars and soothing vocals. You can chillax to his latest LP Nocturne in your room alone, or join some other shoegazers for a little boogie at Oxford Art Factory when Wild Nothing visits Australia for the first time in March. I hope he plays Chinatown. https://youtube.com/watch?v=zm636VSQXUU
Envision the music of Bach in dance form and what you get is probably not a 9-headed b-boy crew pulling off head spins and power moves. But that’s what Artistic Director Christoph Hagel and choreographer/mastermind Vartan Bassil have done with Red Bull Flying Bach: An explosive streetdance driven by the music of the visionary 18th century composer. The dancers are Berlin-based breakdance crew Flying Steps, formed by Bassil and Kadir “Amigo” Memis almost 10 years ago. While their moves are normally driven by urban sounds, this time head spins are inspired by piano keys and b-boy freezes by Bach’s fuges. Though that might be putting it too simply: What they’re really doing is interpreting Bach’s music rather than dancing to it. Different dancers represent different notes, and electronic beats fuse the gaps between the two disparate worlds without at all bastardising the original score. If there was any way Bach could have seen this coming 300 years ago, he'd no doubt approve.
Recent years have seen the rise of musical comedies making their way back to the big screen. Enchanted, The Muppets and even the selection of High School Musical films have led music back to being a key feature in cinema. Throw Glee into the pop culture mix, and spontaneous singing in public is once again normal. In the middle of this comes Pitch Perfect. Beca (Anna Kendrick), is a college freshman and far too cool for any college society. With a not very well-written inciting incident, Beca ends up joining the Barden Bellas a capella group and finds a collection of rag tag gals to become bosom buddies with. While the sentimental scenes are corny and the plot drivers are crazy obvious, this is still a hilariously self aware, sharp and perfectly harmonised film. Rebel Wilson hits heights not seen in previous Hollywood flicks as Fat Amy, and despite Anna Kendrick's terrible posture (for acting classes on not giving a crap, just slouch), she plays college age well. And she can sing. They all can sing. America (and Tasmania, as Fat Amy claims to originate from) must train their kids in the womb to hit the high notes. With a collection of playful winks at the audience (an Australian audience particularly will get a few kicks — stay for the credits) and some good old competition movie fun, this film was a surprisingly raucous rendition. I'm getting the soundtrack. https://youtube.com/watch?v=siEHekc-1oE
Watch this video. A young woman is walking through a park, purposefully. Slowing down, she sees a white note tagged on a sandstone monument. She pauses to detach the card, and peers down carefully at it. Her back slumps a little, she laughs to herself. She turns around suddenly, looking for the prankster responsible for the card. She continues turning then strides toward a man sitting on a bench nearby and introduces herself as Batman. Had she picked up a different card, she might have spoken in a robot voice or started the conversation with a line from a movie. It's the old game of Truth or Dare. The new incarnation started in New York City as a way to break down the barriers between people in public places. Those opting for the 'truth' side of the card these days tweet their responses using the appropriate hashtag. Truth or Dare Sydney had its first game at Jurassic Lounge in August of 2012, and now it will return for another round at Bondi Beach over Australia Day weekend. Look out for the little white cards on streets, in cafes and shops, and along the beach. It's a great concept and an experiment in courage and goofiness. Here's hoping enough people have the guts to hug a stranger or quack loudly for 10 seconds or work the lyrics of Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' into their next conversation.
Oh, the things that creative couples can do! Jon Hamm and his partner Jennifer Westfeldt may be the latest amazingly talented pairing on the Hollywood scene, hopefully with a lot less drama than those we read about in the gossip rags. Hamm, the loveable face we've come to know from Mad Men, once again gets to show off his comedy chops in Friends with Kids, not to mention also take a producer credit on the film. But it's Westfeldt who steals the show, writing, directing, and starring in this very interesting rom-com about having children that manages to leave out the schmaltz. Julie (Westfeldt) and Jason (the very funny Adam Scott) have been friends since college days and share absolutely everything with each other, except themselves. While all their friends are coupling up and deciding to have children, they are continually searching for 'the one' that they can finally settle down with and procreate. After seeing their friends' marriages deteriorate at the arrival of children, however, they decide to go for parenthood as friends so as not to kill the romance. While the path to your typical Hollywood rom-com is crazy clear with this plot description, the journey there isn't. The characters are witty, real, and very well-crafted for screen. Relationships in pain and the reality of having children and how it changes you are very clearly and thoughtfully portrayed without always going for the easy comic route. While this film may only particularly reach an audience at the time in their lives when all their friends are having children, there's enough fiery banter along the lines of a slightly more crass Chandler Bing coming from Scott and Westfeldt that most viewers will find something to laugh at. The film is not without fault; it is slightly long in places, and it's unclear why they get Chris O'Dowd to do an American accent when he quite clearly can't. But with a spectacular support cast that might as well be a reunion special for Bridesmaids, this could be the Bridget Jones's Diary meets Knocked Up of the teens. Read about the history of relationships on screen, and what they say about us.
Here’s the lowdown for Art & About 2012: art doesn’t belong in galleries. It belongs in our cities and streets and in our everyday lives. Streets aren’t just for street artists, but all artists. And maybe all artists could be considered ‘street artists’, not just the ones with a graffiti vibe. Ripping art out of the territorial zone of the hushed gallery - it’s an exciting concept and one that could transform our city. In September and October, it will transform our city. Art & About festival puts art in unusual spaces, marshalling artists out of the silent white cube gallery and into stairwells, intersections, billboards and building facades. The artists are photographers, installation artists, sculptors and everything in between. The locations are everywhere: Taylor Square, Green Square, Martin Place, Glebe Library, Hotel Australia and the Rocks Pop Up studios and a whole bunch more. Check out our handpicked selection of festival highlights, opening night street party, closing night moveable feast and night noodle markets, as well as the full exhibition program. Image: Paired Gold by Stephen Collier and Kim Connerton.
If Rainbow Chan is playing a show you know it’s going to be worth seeing. But if Rainbow Chan is playing a free show that also features a crazy mélange of sounds ranging from deep southern country to wash basin bass-heavy ragtime, it definitely falls into the category of “unmissable”. Cowboys in the Amazon is one such show, and the headline event from the Sydney Fringe’s festival hub Five Eliza. In the space of four hours six acts will take you from the Deep South of Country through the Mississippi Delta, stopping over in Tinsel Town before teleporting you to an exotic Amazonian rainforest thumping with the textural beats of our aforementioned electro goddess. Helping out with the transportation will be deep American blues country band The Boy Outside, 1950s sweethearts Lily So & Co and the clankering Rusty Spring Syncopators (with kazoo, washboard, wash basin bass and saw in tow). The best things in life aren’t always free, but when they are you should probably take advantage.
The John Fries Memorial Prize at Gaffa Gallery features 20 emerging artists competing for a $10,000 prize. It's a 'pick and mix' of young contemporary visual artists — a spot of installation here; an abstract painting, a sculpture there — and worth visiting just to see the work of Philjames, who overpaints on the kind of daggy landscapes you might find for $15 at an op shop. In …(to the tune of The Simpsons) he combines this style with installation to bind art history and contemporary pop culture in one long continuum. Bart Simpson appears to be inserted, regal and statue-like, into a traditional modernist painting. A fibreglass sculpture of Chairman Mao Zedong is cast in the shiny style of a Simpsons character, who looks onto the painting adoringly. In swapping the roles of cartoon icon (Bart Simpson) and newly merchandised historical figure, Philjames exposes the ways consumer culture creates and venerates unlikely heroes. Make sure you drop into the excellent Gaffa gallery shop while you're there. It houses the wares of local contemporary sculptors and jewellery-makers, the kind of one-off stuff you just don’t see elsewhere.
What makes a nation? What makes a national identity? What makes a national cinema? Hopefully the AICE Israeli Film Festival will answer these questions and a few more and give us a chance to learn about this country and culture, which many of us mainly know through the news. Returning for the ninth year, the festival is bigger than ever, with twice the number of films and reaching out beyond Sydney and Melbourne to take in Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth for the first time. The program will be showcasing the best in Israeli cinema over the last 12 months and a cinema industry which, whilst still somewhat in its infancy, finally has a chance to grow and compete on the world stage, thanks to substantial injection from the Israeli government. There are feature films and documentaries covering topics as diverse as family, tradition, gender identity, the Middle East conflict, and religious life, and several of the films are prize winners from prestigious festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Karlovy Vary, Jerusalem, and San Sebastian, as well as winners from the 2011 Ophirs (Israeli 'Oscars'). A highlight of the festival is the provocative and touching family drama The Other Son (Le fils de l'autre) by French director Lorraine Levy. Two young men on the cusp of manhood — one Israeli, the other Palestinian — have their worlds turned upside down when they learn that they were accidently switched at birth. In the turmoil that follows, questions of identity and nationhood are raised, opening up a veritable can of worms, which Levy handles with thoughtfulness and sensitivity. It is a sentimental tale, which questions notions of identity against the volatile backdrop of the divided lands of Israel and Palestine. The festival kicks off on August 15 at the Palace Verona with Restoration, a touching story about generational conflict and fatherhood.
He has been called "the great dissenter" by some, a "judicial activist" by others. But perhaps the most accurate description of Michael Kirby is his official moniker: "the Honourable". Since his retirement from the High Court of Australia, Kirby has been bold enough to speak out on the big issues that confront us: sexual equality, same-sex marriage, religious conflict, and international human rights. His legal career has turned on the idea that justice and judging is not a cold, mechanical affair but a matter of the heart and the mind, and that progress belongs to the bold. Kirby will be speaking about all these big ideas, "On Law, Love and Life", this month at the Opera House with his biographer, filmmaker Daryl Dellora. It's a unique chance to overhear a conversation with one of Australia's most respected and outspoken thinkers, a public figure who speaks sanely and cuts through the PR 'blah blah blah' factor that dominates most of this country's national conversation. It's also the release of his authorised biography.
It is a dark, alternate world that Antony Hamilton and Melanie Lane manifest in their Spring Dance double-bill, Clouds Above Berlin. This pair of Australian expats have combined two pieces — Lane's solo Tilted Fawn and Hamilton's duet Black Project 1 — unifying them with a shared attention to detail and tight control of their palettes. In Tilted Fawn, Lane composes a sonic architecture using masked tape recorders, building up a score by UK electronic artist Clark. Rafael Bonachela, artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company and curator of Spring Dance 2012, calls this work intense and cerebral, so expect abstract movement poetry here. While also abstract, Black Project 1 links Hamilton's popping movements with Olaf Meyer's light projections to create a world of primitive — or, suggests Bonachela, post-apocalyptic — creatures illustrating their existence. Both pieces that compose Clouds Above Berlin are more than dance dressed with set, sound and lights; they are sculptures in time, and eager to be viewed as such. https://youtube.com/watch?v=5Z4Bd90puQE
Serial Space is not your usual deathly quiet, hermetically sealed, white cube gallery; it is somewhere new things happen, where strange and wonderful things that didn't exist before come into being. It's an art space where boundaries merge and genres are thrown into question. And in the crush for affordable studio, exhibition and performance space in Sydney, it's a place where artists are given free reign to experiment and, if need be, fail. The ability to fail and experiment is more crucial than it sounds, because it is a precursor to creative growth, and a necessary one at that. In short, it is often simply too expensive to fail in Sydney; we run the risk of pricing creativity out of the picture. Serial Space's latest project is Time Machine, a wave of performances, exhibitions and participatory nights by experimental artists who create live excursions into sound- and time-based art. It's an adventurous program across several inner city venues, and here are a few highlights: - A workshop on how to build your own solar-powered analogue synthesiser by Samuel Bryce. - The Great Man Debate: That men can't be feminists. - Six degrees of Ned Kelly, a performance lecture about the number of degrees of separation between Ned Kelly and you by Melita Rowtson. - Video Hits: three musos and three video artists rip apart and reconstruct the conventions of the music video. Includes Marcus Whale of Collarbones and Oscar Slorach-Thorn of oscar+martin. - Step Back dance party of electronic glory with Cliques (a duo featuring one half of Seekae), Tyson Koh, Four Door and Tuff Sherm. - The official Time Machine bar at Freda's Bar & Canteen (107-109 Regent St, Chippendale) with daily drinks specials.
Though he cavorted with Garry Shead a little here in Sydney, star Australian artist Brett Whiteley spent most of the sixties in London. In London he found an intellectual climate that suited him, got shown in the Whitechapel Gallery, the V&A and the TATE, not to mention married Wendy. Surry Hills' Brett Whitely Studio is pulling together some of the artistic results for The London years 1960-67, including work that shows Whiteley's preoccupation with the convicted murderer John Christie. And if you like some rolling syllables with your curvy art, the Studio continues its regular program of poetry readings on the fourth Sunday every month to give this London ex-pat exhibition some added rhythm. The Brett Whiteley Studio is open Saturdays and Sundays, 10-4. Images: Brett Whiteley Small Christie painting no 2 1965, Brett Whiteley Studio © Wendy Whiteley. (left) Brett Whiteley Woman in bath 1963, reworked 1964. © Wendy Whiteley (right)
So. You consider yourself a culture freak. You frequent the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and every new small bar within five kilometres of the city. But have you frequented a venue or gallery that is run, not as a small business, but as a not-for-profit space by everyday artists or musicians? Alongside the behemoth that is the Biennale of Sydney runs a smaller, humbler and more intimate art event. It doesn’t attract the crowds, the funding or the press that BOS does, but SafARI is a dynamic and important contribution to Sydney’s art community. SafARI is the unofficial fringe event that parallels the Biennale, and it spotlights unrepresented and independent artists. Across a broad selection of contemporary art practice - painting, installation, video - and three venues - the Rocks Pop Up, Alaska Projects in a Kings Cross carpark, and numerous public non-gallery sites - SafARI bridges the shadowy region between the big art institutions and the grassroots of Sydney’s self-made culture. A few highlights: Dara Gill will be render his own versions of religious medieval instruments to investigate the nature of fear and anxiety. Melbourne artist Julia Holden will traverse painting and film to create hand-rendered stop-motion portraits of artists in movement. And Kurt Sorensen’s painterly approach to analogue photography explores the impact of Australian landscape, in all its post-colonial devastation and beauty, on the human psyche. This is Concrete Playground’s challenge to you this winter: check out an art gallery that is run by artists rather than art dealers. Go to a place that is purely about artists supporting artists, rather than a retail art space. Talk to the person minding the gallery. Take a tour. Go to opening night and ask the artist something about their work, anything. There’s an entire world, a community, of often-ignored art in Sydney. Be part of it.
It’s been four years since Will Smith last appeared on our screens, and a whole 10 years since Men in Black II came out. Generally it's at this point where a whole bunch of people begin furrowing their brows and saying: "Wait … there was a Men in Black II?” before jumping onto IMDb, reading over the synopsis, looking up the cast, checking out the poster, rewatching the trailer and then saying, "oh yeah … yeah … I think I saw that." Why, then, Smith decided that a third instalment of the MiB franchise was the perfect vehicle with which to mark his return is anybody's guess, but if we had to put our money on it, we'd guess someone put loads and loads of money on it (with 'it', of course, being 'him'). That said, Men in Black 3 is not a terrible film. It's not a great one either, mind you, and while it's definitely an improvement on the sequel, it remains a far cry from the wildly creative vision of the original. From the outset, too, it's clear Men in Black 3 is operating at a different pace from the others, most noticeably through the subdued performance of Smith. All the bravado, wisecracking and face-pulling of his previous outings have been significantly dialled back, though it’s unclear whether this was a creative choice or simply the star’s lukewarm enthusiasm for the entire project. After all, it’s not as though the world had been clamouring for another foray into the franchise, and the film was famously plagued by so many problems that at one point production was even suspended for three months while director Barry Sonnenfeld reworked the script. Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) plays the villain in this instalment as the violent and time-travelling alien assassin 'Boris the Animal'. For such a talented comedian, it's a surprisingly unfunny role, and the lion's share of zingers actually go to Josh Brolin in his turn as the younger Tommy Lee Jones. Brolin's impression is at times so eerily accurate you'd swear some CGI wizardry was at play. Emma Thompson comes in to replace Rip Torn as head of the bespoke alien administrators, and Michael Stuhlbarg (Hugo) appears as the most amicable and delightfully original character Griffin — an alien capable of viewing an infinite number of dimensions at any given moment. The bulk of Men in Black 3 takes place in the past, with Smith performing a "temporal leap" back to 1969 in order to save his partner's life. It's an updated (if also less impressive) version of Back to the Future that helps breathe new life into the franchise and provide some diverting insight into the origins of Lee Jones's character's surly demeanour. There's even a twist that, while not terrifically surprising, is somehow surprisingly tender and offers a cute spin on the two previous films. Fun, fast-paced and shorter than the average blockbuster, it’s the perfect film to simply drop into and enjoy.
Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes' latest outing, Tabu, is a beguiling slow burn of love, melancholia and crocodiles. Shot in nostalgic black and white and bisected, Tabu tells the tale of a woman's life filled with romance, longing and a great deal of hand-wringing. Part one: Paradise Lost is preceded by an introduction — a film within a film that sets up the motifs that will reappear throughout. The kind-hearted Pilar (Teresa Madruga) is watching in modern-day Lisbon and despite keeping busy with her human rights work and unwanted advances from a friend, she is becoming increasingly worried about her neighbour, Aurora (Laura Soveral). Frail but bolshy, Aurora has gambled away her life at the casino, suffering from the same curse as her father. Convinced that her maid Santa (Isabel Cardoso) is not just working for her but for the devil, too, she turns to Pilar for help. The disconsolate Aurora asks to be put in touch with a man named Gian-Luca. Part two: Paradise is the story of Aurora and the enigmatic Gian-Luca in their African youth. Aurora’s father has done well for himself in this new landscape, exporting exotic ostrich feather cushions, while the young Aurora (Ana Moreira) has made a name for herself as a rifle-slinging big game hunter, both thriving from colonialism. Described by her tea plantation husband as having a slight "bipolarity", Aurora enters a new state of entitled listlessness when she becomes pregnant. Her langour is soon soothed by noted heartbreaker Gian-Luca, summoned to catch her as-yet-unnamed pet crocodile. Their illicit affair is set against a backdrop of both the fateful Mount Tabu and the burgeoning Portuguese Colonial War. As the white interlopers relax into their own distractions, their African workers tend to their every whim. Paradise is told only through narration, a conceit that unfolds beautifully. Memories, myths and truths all melding together. For a film set in two parts, Tabu sits as a cohesive object, as if a semicolon is dangling between the two, despite the switch from dialogue to monologue. It's funny, melancholic, dark and romantic and its beauty is only ever a stone's throw from the realities of invasion, ownership and war. There are deft anachronistic touches throughout — Gian-Luca's band play a cover of 'Baby I Love You' at a party but it’s the Ramones version — which nicely sets the film apart from being a mere biopic of the time. A rare, dreamy, cinematic excursion, Tabu is a must while it's still on the big screen.
Bangarra is a dance theatre company that uses music and movement from the contemporary urban world to explore the stories of Australia's Indigenous people. Since 1989 they have been creating extraordinarily muscular and beautifully choreographed performances; 40,000-year-old songlines and bloodlines transported to a modern context. In their latest production, Blak, the relationship between old and new — tension and possibility for change — comes under intense and uncompromising scrutiny. Composed in three movements, Blak begins as a gang of seven boys test the constantly shifting boundaries of inner-city life as they prepare for traditional rites of passage and initiation ceremonies. Wearing hooded jumpers and skinny jeans, they appear profoundly disenfranchised within a gritty city of gridlocked boundaries that plays host to their sometimes unpredictable behaviour. In the second movement it’s the women's turn to deal with the recurring conflict between city dwelling and Indigenous connection to country. The female sense of disempowerment is different in that it specifically relates to the difficulty of speaking out on fundamental issues like birth, loss, language and powerlessness. How these 'blak' women can make their voices resonate clearly for future generations is a question that lingers beyond the physical performance. In the final movement all 14 dancers take to the stage to celebrate and pay homage to their heritage to powerful, sensual and utterly compelling effect. The soundscape, composed by internationally renowned choreographer Stephen Page and electro-pop king Paul Mac, links each individual movement of the dancers into a vital whole, visibly transporting the audience. Bangarra is a Wiradjuri word meaning “to make fire” — in Blak, the burning desire for spiritual connection is rekindled. This review is based on the Melbourne run of Blak in May 2013. Image via Bangarra Dance Theatre.
For anyone who's had the distinct displeasure of having to sit through the tedium of a state-sponsored barista course, one of Concrete Playground's favourite haunts is offering budding baristas and coffee aficionados a welcome alternative. The shabby chic Grounds of Alexandria have launched their own coffee classes, focusing not only on how to get the perfect balance and taste to your coffee but also how to make your coffee look beautiful and irresistible, just like the pros do. Head barista and trainer Jack Hanna is certainly the man to listen to on the topic, having won the 2010 Golden Bean Award as well being the World Latte Art Champion. If these sort of barista skills sound like your bag, then check out the Latte Art & Basic Barista Skills Workshop. However, if you fancy yourself as a real coffee connoisseur, then the Roasting & Cupping Workshop provides a more in-depth and holistic tour of what goes into making the perfect cuppa. With tours of the Grounds' remarkable Research Facility, where the roasting machines work their magic, Hanna takes classes through the roasting process and the ins and outs of the coffee selection process. On top of this, the course teaches the art of cupping such that you have a complete understanding of the process your cappuccino goes through to reach its fullest potential in your cup. So if you want an insider look into how to make the ultimate cup of coffee then ditch the dour alternatives and check out the Grounds of Alexandria courses. To register or find out more, email info@groundsroasters.com.
Only two months ago I saw Tame Impala at a packed out Enmore, a sweaty and heavily marijuana scented verification of their legendary status here in the band's homeland. But already they've announced another Australian tour, confirming an exponential increase in popularity that would seem a bit nuts if you hadn't been reading all the end-of-year roundups on all the biggest music sites in the world. The tour is comprised of five shows to coincide with the band's headline appearance at Groovin' The Moo 2013, kicking off late April, and each comes with a big-time venue upgrade. Instead of The Enmore it'll be the Hordern Pavilion, with the Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth shows taking place in the Festival Hall, Convention Centre, Thebarton Theatre and Belvoir Ampitheatre respectively. By then Tame Impala's critically eulogised second album, Lonerism, will have been getting airtime for around six months, so don't put off buying tickets until the last minute. Lyrical introversion and mind-warping psychedelia can be just as enjoyable in big group situations. Tickets go on sale 9am on Thursday, 21 February through Ticketek. https://youtube.com/watch?v=BgK_Er7WZVg
As well as leading you around the inner city's art highlights, Art Month takes you on two easy jaunts outside the city centre. Go West hits most of the major Western Sydney cultural institutions on a single free bus trip led by artist Tom Polo. From Create to Space — A Parramatta Tour is a guided look at Pop Up Parramatta, Parramatta's answer to the Renew Newcastle model. The tour is led by Sydney cultural nexus Jess Scully, a recent SMAC of the Year, the curatorial powerhouse behind Vivid Ideas and probably the single person with the broadest overview of Sydney's creative second life. Tours West is part of Art Month 2013. Check out our guide to the festival's ten best events here.
You don't have to be up all night to get lucky. This month is the debut of LUCKY, part of the 2013 HERE AND NOW series hosted by Carriageworks and curated by Liane Rossler, co-founder of Dinosaur Designs. It follows the previous exhibitions USEFUL and TOTES. The collections featured pieces surrounding their namesake concept, and LUCKY follows right along. LUCKY showcases individual creations by 18 artists from Australia and New Zealand that explore the various social and cultural implications of the term. All of the artists' works will be for sale, which include various talismans, keepsakes and charms that the artists themselves find meaningful. Participating artists include Priscilla Bourne, Rachel Buckeridge, David Capra, Eddy Carroll, Julie Green, Leah Jackson, Kate Mitchell, Kevin Murray, Lyn & Tony, Tanja Binggeli, Sarah Read, Marilyn Schneider, David Sequeria, Rena Shein, Andrew Simpson, Tiffany Singh and Paul Yore. The gallery is open from 10am-6pm daily.
The Korean Film Festival In Australia (KOFFIA) is back for its fourth year in 2013, promising unmissable films and the brightest stars in their latest offerings for the screen. This is your opportunity to experience an alternative movie-going experience. You have the choice of 17 feature and various short films, with 50 screenings in total gracing Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne cinemas. It has been dubbed "a must for fans of Korean culture" although just about anyone is sure to enjoy the films, all of which are subtitled in English. On the bill are 9 Muses of Star Empire, which documents the K-Pop phenomenon from the inside, and Architecture 101, a romance-themed session, ideal for couples. There are also a host of other cultural activities — be sure to check them out when planning your KOFFIA experience. https://youtube.com/watch?v=s3dZhCnV7ik
Marrickville Council presents year two of Open Marrickville, a community celebration of the many cultural pieces that make up this vibrant corner of Sydney. Over ten days and multiples venues, it's sure to tick more than a few boxes with Indigenous dance, Greek pagan water celebrations and many more snapshots of the 'ville on offer. Beeline to Marrickville Park this Thursday for the kick off with Patrick O’Rourke's Collected Visions. Treat yourself to this series of drawings inspired by images from the local library and using found objects to trace a history of the suburb. Proving that the key to multicultural harmony really is our taste buds, Cuisines of the World in Marrickville promises to reveal the secrets of perfecting tabouleh and many other ethnic favourites over six days. Or head over to the Red Rattler and heat things up a bit with the adults-only event Cabaret in the 'Ville by Blackcat productions, a fun-filled ponder on questions of Marrickville — with the promise of some nudity. Get the full details from the Marrickville Council website. Image of Collected Visions (in progress) by Patrick O'Rourke.
The Sun is pretty impressive. Just all by itself. But Penelope Umbrico’s 12,149,179 Suns from Sunsets from Flickr (partial) 4/9/2013 draws down hundreds of them to make a back-wall-spanning collage of crepuscular moments. Her suns are bright, luminous, full. And usually the molten yellow of a movie sunset. They’re very much solar art as found objects, but their radiance still grabs you. Without wanting to belittle her skill, there’s something in common with kitten photos, in that no matter how many, and no matter how small, sun photos make you feel good. This same joy in the everyday, similar pleasure in the essence of things and a bit of collation of found objects are more or less the theme of Stills Gallery’s the Big Picture. Gemma Messih’s I’ve only just realised how important you are (to me) lays an image of a mountain against a very real tiny mountain of grey rock. It’s a juxtaposition of two symbols: an image symbolises a mountain, a little rock pile sympbolises a mountain. She also offers two freestanding landscapes canvases which have been pierced by a thrown rock. Though there’s a thematic unity to that, there’s more of a sense that the images’ subjects have wandered off to have a look at other images on display. Like Hogwarts portraits on a slow day. Patrick Pound’s found photos are a low-key highlight of the show. In Same place different people old, found photos of men and women sit at a cafe. They’re arrayed like a film strip, and playing with the photographer. The images seem tidied and curated, but once again it’s ordinary things that draw you into their little, animate worlds. Here, it’s the smiles. So many, so long past, so happy. Women pause and laugh on their lunch break, men smile and kid about with a luxurious allowance of afternoon joy. Portrait of the wind takes this further, filling a much larger frame with a bit less than 200 black and white, found snaps of people at leisure. And buffeted by the wind. The arrangement is skilled, but it’s the (literal) realness of people themselves that is most compelling. Their leisure is decades old. But there’s a life, a seriousness, a smuggled joy in each face by the bridge, on the beach, in the parade. Along another wall, Tim Webster’s Flow holds a waterfall, flowing mist, flowing video noise. In the print room, Drew Flaherty’s Loading Cycle 1 is a clever loop of video art which joins the everyday cycles of the computer and the moon. Upstairs, Daniel Connell’s Lightless arrays a menagerie of ordinary lights, flickering in a menagerie of places. Stills Gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday from 11-5. Press the buzzer to get in. Image: Loading Cycle by Drew Flaherty.
MEMEBRAIN Art Hackfest will bring together artists, designers, techies and other digital explorers in a 3-day hot house of wild, geeky dreams and schemes. Hackfest participants have signed up online and will converge at The Concourse in Chatswood to collaborate, design, play and build prototype projects that explore new ways of using technologies with augmented reality, video, sound, game design, interactive digital media, locative media, robotics, networked environments; whatever. Mentors and fellow artists will provide feedback throughout the Hackfest, and you can interact with the projects and follow their progress online. Then on the final day, head over to see them for yourself at the closing exhibition and live performances. Memebrain's closing night is open to the general public from 6pm Sunday. Hacking something together all weekend at Memebrain is also open to the general public, but you'll need to register first. Read our interview with MEMEBRAIN host Bravo Child here.
There's a real focus on ethical food consumption this year, and this event by community-minded winemakers Cake Wines (they give 25 cents from each bottle sold to community radio) is a prime example. Their previous pop-up wine bars have been excellent, and this three-course feast promises to take their commitment to ethical production to the next level, focusing on ethically sourced food which is locally produced and minimises waste. Their dining hall in Redfern will be transformed for the event, which includes a cocktail on arrival, a range of craft beers and wines as well as art and music. Check out the rest of our top ten picks of Good Food Month here.
Filmmaking is difficult enough, without officials breathing down your neck, monitoring every scene according to the government's agenda. In Iran, no director can start work before the censors have run their eyes over the script, removed whatever they disapprove of, and given it the green light. Despite such restrictions, however, the Iranian film industry continues to grow. In fact, last year's A Separation won the nation its first ever Oscar, for Best Foreign Language film. The Australian Iranian Film Festival is now in its third year. Starting in Brisbane on October 10, it will travel to Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide, before finishing up in Melbourne. Opening night will feature Snow on Pines, the directorial debut from actor-turned-director and A Separation star Peyman Moadi. Other highlights include The Wedlock from Rouhollah Hejazi, director of the provocative The Private Life of Mr and Mrs M; the Australian Premiere of Mohsen Makhmalbaf's The Gardener; and indie film Parviz, directed by Majid Barzegar.
Casa Gusto, importers of all things delicious, culinary and Italian, have sent a call-out to all local creatives so they can test out their design skills in front of a live audience for a $750 prize, MasterChef style (or what I imagine happens on MasterChef style). If you have seen that elephant balancing on a tomato genius canned tomato packaging design, you have seen Casa Gusto — and don't fret, they want something in the same vein, so competitors should brush up on their '20s carnivale. Fourteen artists and designers, armed with their weapons of choice (sorry, no computers — please direct all digital discrimination complaints directly to the organisers), will endure two hours of bloody design battle to create competing images for the label’s new packaging. From there their fate will be handed over to the judges and audience, so bring your mates — there will be food, booze and DJs, so they can't be too begrudging about it — and the rest of you should just head down to Salt Meats Cheese for Sydney’s first live design night.
Satellite Boy is a truly great Aussie film. It's not just a great film that happens to be shot in Australia; this touching and evocative little fable from first-time film director Catriona McKenzie is a great film that was both born and bred in Australia and whose primary protagonist is Australia herself. And what a protagonist she is! If Tourism Australia had any sense, they would put Satellite Boy on every cinema screen in the world, as it may be the most dazzling advertisement for Australia's natural beauty that has ever been committed to celluloid. The celestial night sky, the pink sunsets and the dry lake beds of the Kimberley region are so gorgeously photographed by cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson that they come to take on an almost otherworldly quality, perfectly befitting the film's fascination with the spiritual wonder of the Australian outback. Much like Terrence Malick's legendary cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, Simpson seems acutely aware that setting always equals character. The film tells the story of two Aboriginal boys, Pete and Kalmain (newcomers Cameron Wallaby and Joseph Pedley). After hearing that a major mining company are planning to tear down Pete's home in order to make way for a massive industrial development, the two boys head cross country to give the company's executives a piece of their mind. Inevitably this path is one of enormous self-discovery, with both boys coming to understand what living in and of the land truly means. Basically, what McKenzie gives us is the Indigenous equivalent of a road trip/coming-of-age film, or perhaps more accurately, a walkabout film. To the film's discredit, the story is at times as hackneyed and overwrought as its premise suggests. Many of the characters' revelations, particularly towards the film's conclusion, are stiflingly conventional and detract from the more subtle and gradual developments of the first two acts. Yet Roger Ebert often wrote that "it's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it", and in this case Satellite Boy manages to transcend its inherent simplicities due to the visual and lyrical flair with which the filmmakers imbue each and every shot. The story itself never pretends to be anything more than a grand allegory for what is essentially the central Aboriginal struggle of the last 200 years: displacement from spiritual home. The beauty of the Australian landscape is contrasted with the rotted and ruined nature of technology. Disused tractors have become heaps of rusted iron, telephones fail to connect Pete with his estranged mother and a single handgun threatens to tear the boys' friendship apart. Ultimately, this story belongs to the two newcomers, Wallaby and Pedley. Their genuine chemistry and naturalistic performances gives the characters an infectious warmth and youthful exuberance that is as compelling as it is endearing. Satellite Boy may well have passed as another Australian "also-ran" if it weren't for these phenomenally mature performances.
Anyone who has ever worked in hospitality has probably watched with horror at the mountain of food thrown away without a second thought. The people at OzHarvest — one of Australia's prominent food-rescue organisations — noticed, and decided to do something about it. On Monday, July 29, between noon and 2pm, they will be serving 5000 people food made from rescued ingredients to help raise awareness of the immense levels of waste presently occurring and show just how easy it is for everyone to do something about it. Working beside OzHarvest volunteers will be a number of Sydney chefs helping to put together dishes such as curries made from 'misshapen' and wonky vegetables (that’s right, something as simple as that stops vegetables from being sold), rescued bread, cheese, chutney and who knows what else. It's all free, but you do need to register, as plates are going fast. So if food waste causes you to lose sleep, or if you just want a free meal, jump online and procure yourself a ticket.
Max Berry's artworks look like they're from another world. A dreamy and surreal world full of small ceramic figures, timber carvings and floating painted houses. Those who live within these spaces are caught in moments of reflection in these desolate yet calm landscapes. It's a world that you're not quite sure if you want to jump into or not. Berry trained at the College of Fine Arts and covers everything from painting, sculpture, jewellery, murals and paste-ups (and everything in between). In all of these various works, look closely at the relationship between the figure and the space around them, as his work acts as a reflection on how we navigate the world around us. His most recent paintings and sculptures, along with a book (64 pages, which acts like a process diary of his work), are on display at
Sussex Lane is turning green for two days only as the City of Sydney looks at ways to create a more sustainable city for us to live in. The laneway will be transformed into a green sanctuary in the heart of our bustling city for Pop Sydney: Sussex Lane, giving you the chance to experience and become inspired by some of the sustainability plans and ideas the City has coming up. Visitors can learn about energy, water and waste plans, and look at innovations in the area of green infrastructure for a better Sydney. During the day you will be able to relax on the green grass or enjoy a game of bocce over lunch. In the evenings, sit back with a casual drink from one of the small bars in the lane and listen to free public talks which will be held by insightful speakers. On the Monday evening, Pecha Kucha (drawing its name from the Japanese term ‘chit chat’) lets you listen to how Sydneysiders are making our city more sustainable from a small to large scale. On Tuesday evening, Green Ups is exploring how to 'green' our city through infrastructure and urban ecology, offering ideas, connections, inspiration and support. To ensure you don’t miss out on one of these free public talks you will need to register at Pop Sydney: Sussex Lane.
Last year, Concrete Playground was psyched to hear about "the rising star of the outdoor scum scene in Sydney": Ghetto Handball. Now, back for a three-hour Anzac Day special of handball and two-up, the Ghetto guys will be chalking out a court at the Pine Street Creative Arts Centre, in Chippendale, from midday on Wednesday 25 April. Lace up your whitest sneakers, stock up at the bottle-o, and bring along gold coins for two-up. Of course, in case you’re not au fait with rules and whatnot, we’ve got them here. Check out this sweet video of the Ghetto Handball event on Queen's birthday last year.
Pyrmont has developed a reputation as one of Sydney's fastest growing dining areas, and the Pyrmont Festival has teamed up with Mudgee Wines for the ultimate taste sensation for lovers of wine, food and art. Pyrmont's top chefs will work with Mudgee's best wine producers for 'Meet the Winemakers', creating lunch and dinner that will be matched with wine. The festival also includes cooking classes, wine appreciation and cheese masterclasses and will allow you to try some of the 120 wines from 30 of the Mudgee region's top winemakers. The high point of the Pyrmont Festival takes place in Pirrama Park on Sunday, May 20. Relax in the park with a variety of cuisines for lunch and listen to live acts and music from local musicians. Artists can also get involved in the 6th Annual Pyrmont Art Prize, which will feature over 300 new artworks with a range of prizes to be won. The theme of the art show is Small Is Beautiful and artworks must be 12" x 12" in size on canvas. You can check out the full event program on the Pyrmont Festival website.
Australia's theatre scene didn't have much to smile about in 2020; however, now that 2021 has rolled around, some venues around the country are kicking back into gear with a little help from their friends. Well, with Friends! The Musical Parody to be specific — with the comedic, song-filled satire of everyone's favourite 90s sitcom touring the country. Initially, the show was due to hit local theatres in August and September last year. Then, when the pandemic struck, the musical rescheduled to November and December instead. But it seems that 2020 wasn't anyone's year — and it didn't include anyone's favourite day, week or month, for that matter — so the production has now shifted its entire run to 2021. Scheduled to be there for audiences in Sydney from Thursday, September 2–Saturday, September 4, Friends! The Musical Parody will spend time with Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe, of course. Here, they're hanging out at their beloved Central Perk — and sitting on an orange couch, no doubt — when a runaway bride shakes up their day. Call it 'The One with the Loving, Laugh-Filled Lampoon', or 'The One That Both Makes Good-Natured Fun of and Celebrates an Iconic Sitcom'. Yes, no one told you that being obsessed with the Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer-starring show about six New Yorkers would turn out this way — with on-stage skits and gags, recreations of some of the series' best-known moments, and songs with titles such as 'How you Doin?' and 'We'll Always Be There For You'. That said, no one told us that being a Friends aficionado would continue to serve up so many chances to indulge our fandom 16 years after it finished airing, including via the upcoming reunion special that's gathering the TV series' main cast back together.
If you're missing the bustling atmosphere, guitar-heavy tunes and saucy slices of pizza you'd find on a night out at Frankie's, the CBD favourite is looking to give you a taste of the Frankie's experience at home. The hallowed ovens of the Hunter Street venue have fired up for lockdown, with its full range of pizzas on offer for pickup or delivery via Deliveroo. The CBD institution's menu underwent a revamp earlier this year, enlisting the help of Dan Pepperell (Restaurant Hubert, Alberto Lounge, Bistrot 916) to shake up its food offering. Grab yourself a slice of zucchini pizza with lemon, chilli, garlic, stracciatella and mint; or the Texas, which combines two different cheeses, roasted corn, red onion, jalapeños. Combine your pie with a red hot ranch or Restaurant Hubert dipping sauce for the full experience. A whole heap of drinks are also on hand. You can find Frankie's endless variety of lagers, ales and ciders from local and independent brewers available for pickup or delivery. Swing by the inner city digs and you can also pick up a bottle of red or a frozen margarita. With Frankie's set to close next year, we'd recommend taking any extra opportunities to sample the menu until we can return to the underground bar for a gig and a round of pinball.
The temperature has been dropping. The days are getting shorter. Leaving the house without a jumper is completely off the menu. Yes, comfort food season is upon us, so Salt Meats Cheese is celebrating with one of the most stomach-warming dishes there is — gnocchi, and lots of it. From 5pm on Tuesday, May 25, the Italian eatery chain is hosting Gnocchi Night at every one of its venues. So, you can choose which site suits you best, then pick whichever of the six special pillowy potato dishes takes your fancy. Prices start at $19, and if you'd like to opt for more than one, that's more than understandable. On the menu: creamy salmon gnocchi, complete with broccolini and sugar snap peas; gnocchi alla romana, which is made with semolina and served with a heap of cheese; and deep-fried gnocchi, as paired with prosciutto, plus almond and capsicum pesto. The Tuscan gnocchi includes Italian sausage and sundried tomatoes, while the gnocchi burrata fountain is clearly a must-try. With the latter, your plate will be stacked with gnocchi — obviously — and you'll then lift the cover to let the cheese do its gooey thing. Ever had dessert gnocchi? That's on offer as well, all thanks to SMC's gnocchi churro bites — which come with cinnamon sugar, chocolate chips, cream and custard sauce. Bookings are recommended, as this is a one-night-only affair.
With the Greater Sydney area now in lockdown until Friday, July 9, home cooking and takeaway is back on the menu. Fancy the latter more than the former? Spent too much time baking during last year's similar stint at home? Eager to order in for any reason possible? If you fall into any of the above categories, and you're keen to both support local eateries and keep an eye on your bank balance, Deliveroo is ditching its delivery fees for orders from most restaurants for this week. The delivery service's deal was announced last Friday, June 25, before lockdown was expanded in terms of the areas affected and the duration of the stay-at-home period — so you'l be able to get your meals brought to your door without paying delivery fees until 11.59pm on Friday, July 2. That covers food from thousands of eateries, including the likes of Mary's, Chargrill Charlie's and Gelato Messina. The aim: to encourage Greater Sydney residents to help local restaurants during this stay-at-home period and, because that's the world we live in, to help stop panic buying at supermarkets as well. To ensure that all of the eateries involved aren't missing out on revenue or left out of pocket, Deliveroo is footing the bill for the discounted amount, too. If you're suddenly hungry, you'll need to place an order via the Deliveroo app. There are a few caveats, unsurprisingly, with the free delivery deal not extending to bottle shops, KFC or to places listed in the app as 'delivered by restaurant'. You'll also need to spend at least $10 at most eateries, $12 at McDonald's, Subway and Baskin-Robbins, and $15 if you're purchasing from Red Rooster. Top image: Mary's, Nikki To
In one of cinema's great sci-fi thrillers, an unhappy middle-aged man is offered a new life. It means forgoing everything he currently knows and, naturally, that bargain comes with consequences. At its most basic, that's the premise of John Frankenheimer's 1966 masterpiece Seconds, a Cannes-premiering, Oscar-nominated Rock Hudson-starring classic that serves up a paranoia-dripping nightmare. Unsurprisingly, the hallucinatory film has much to say about both the dream of starting all over again and the follies of unthinking conformity — and it still feels oh-so relevant and chilling more than five decades after it first hit screens. Also unsurprisingly, Seconds is a great pick for the Art Gallery of New South Wales' current film season — a series of free movie screenings that's all about fakes, scams, fabricated realities, doppelgangers, false identities and body swaps. It's just one of the titles on offer at Flim-Flam Redux, with the program screening twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays at 2pm, until Sunday, September 27. Movie buffs can also catch Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Salaam Cinema, which blends documentary and fiction in depicting a casting call for a new film; Mikey and Nicky, Elaine May's gangster flick about a bookie on the run; and Despair, the first English-language feature by the great German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Some titles screen with a thematically linked short, too. While entry is free, you do need to register in advance to attend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K1Mpo8O4rQ Flim-Flam Redux screens on Wednesdays and Sundays at 2pm until Sunday, September 27 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Redfern's much-loved neighbourhood bar is turning three, and to celebrate it's throwing a month-long party. Swing by Misfits any evening in September and you'll find food, booze and good times aplenty. Naturally, the bar is celebrating all the good things that come in threes, so expect a trio of mini cocktails, cheekily dubbed The Bee Gees ($25), three oyster shooters for an affordable $18 and other food specials such as prawn dumplings ($9), ceviche tacos ($12) and barbecue brisket sliders ($18), all served as 'triplets'. On top of that, there'll be cocktail specials — the Paper Plane, Last Palabra and Corpse Reviver No 2 — at $16 a pop. Celebrating your birthday in September, too? Show your ID and Misfits will treat you to a shot on the house. In addition to all this merriment, there'll be live tunes playing every Thursday. Kicking things off will be DJs playing dance-inducing tunes (even if it is in your chair) on September 3. Then, you can catch a live soul performance on September 10, followed by a jazz and blues band on September 17 — our money is on a trio. On September 24, a live hip hop and R&B set will round things up. To make sure you don't miss out on the birthday action, book yourself a table now. Lead image: Steven Woodburn
