Carriageworks 2017 Program Preview

cover image by carriageworks

words by josh ives

There’s no doubt that 2016 has been a wild year for Carriageworks. In fact, over the past few years, it has gone from strength to strength. This year, the multi-arts centre has given us fantastic exhibits such as Nick Cave’s HEARD which saw a parade of rainbow horses dance through the streets of Sydney. It also showcased Bjork’s experimental VR exhibition and the awesome K-Pop Party featuring Boyfriend & JJCC.

That’s a very short list of a very successful year.

#springnights @carriageworks

A post shared by Carriageworks (@carriageworks) on Sep 3, 2016 at 1:34am PDT

For those who don’t know much about Carriageworks, let me fill you in. Once a Rail Yard site in the 19^th and early 20^th Century, the building was home to some of the greatest artistic innovations of the time. Train carriages were built from scratch and maintained in the building. These included the Royal Carriages made specifically to house the Governor-General and visiting Royalty, the very first electric carriage, as well as the first air-conditioned train in Australia #RoyaltyProblems.

Though it soon met a period of decline; in 2002, the NSW Ministry for Arts purchased the Carriage and Blacksmith Workshops and the name Carriageworks was born. In honour of the exciting and innovative designs from whence it housed, the mission statement for the new company was simple: it was to represent an artistic hub where creative work could be explored and presented.

So. Now the history lesson is out the way, let’s delve into what 2017 has in store for us!

The year begins with a bang, kicking off with the Sydney Festival. Celebrate the year of the Rooster in Kylie Kwong’s fantastic Night Market which fuses the influences of the best of Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai cuisine and pop-culture. If you’re after something a little different, re-invigorate your senses with Scent of Sydney by Cat Jones which goes back to basics with exploring scents of the city.

That’s January. More than enough to sink your teeth into. But as the year progresses, the exhibitions get more exciting.

March brings with it the MDLSX exhibit, brought to us by Motus. As a challenging, empowering hymn to androgyny, punk goddess Silvia Calderoni utilises her family home videos to blur the fiction of her own story in what has been called a powerhouse performance.

For classical music connoisseurs’, August brings with it a real treat for the ears with Gnarly Buttons presented by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Conducted expertly by David Robertson, this live performance will be sure to bring a tear or two to the eye. September chooses to fair the arts, bringing with it the return of the famous Sydney Contemporary. As Australasia’s premier art fair, this third instalment will be sure to keep any art-lover extremely happy as they showcase the latest curated projects and installations over a 5-day art bender.

We’ve covered Music, and we’ve covered Art. All that’s left to complete the trifecta is Dance! Look out, because November 2017 leaps into action with the explosive New Breed performed by the Sydney Dance Co.

To really get a handle on the entire program, check it out HERE or stay close to QTLife as we’ll be sure to keep you up to date.

#carriageworks2017

A post shared by Carriageworks (@carriageworks) on Nov 17, 2016 at 10:16pm PST