Expanded Vivid Sydney line-up shines in 2016

SYDNEY, Australia – The longest ever Vivid Sydney will shine for 23 nights when it illuminates Sydney Harbour, new and much-loved precincts, and hosts vibrant music performances and big ideas talks, from Friday 27 May to Saturday 18 June.

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer Vivid Sydney, Sandra Chipchase said, “This year Vivid Sydney is back with an incredible program where art, creativity and innovation meet, and are celebrated by local and international visitors.”

“Vivid Sydney delivers the world’s leading light artists in Vivid Light, cutting-edge musicians in Vivid Music, and creative innovators in Vivid Ideas. In 2015 the festival attracted a record 1.7 million attendees, and this year visitors to Vivid Sydney will have longer to experience the wonder of Vivid Sydney, and enjoy our biggest year yet.”

In a Vivid Sydney first, the sails of the world-heritage listed Sydney Opera House will celebrate the rich and diverse work of Australia’s Indigenous artists through the projection, Songlines. This exceptional work of art is directed by Sydney Opera House Head of Indigenous Programming, Rhoda Roberts of the Bundjalung Nation of NSW, and brings together six Indigenous artists whose work illustrates the extraordinary connections between Indigenous astronomy and the natural world – the celestial and terrestrial Songlines that weave through time and distance, earth and sky.

Vivid Sydney’s brilliant light also returns to Chatswood, Central Park, Darling Harbour and the Australian National Maritime Museum, Martin Place and new precinct The Galeries, which becomes the festival’s first indoor precinct. Treasured attractions, the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and Taronga Zoo, will light up during Vivid Sydney in celebration of the monumental anniversaries both celebrate in 2016.

At Garden of Light, visitors will take a glittering journey through the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney as part of its 200th birthday celebrations. Grand installations will dazzle and delight including the impressive 60-metre long Cathedral of Light, made from hundreds of thousands of white LEDs which radiate gentle but brilliant light from all angles.

Taronga Zoo will be illuminated by larger-than-life multimedia sculptures of ten critical species ranging from the magnificent Asian elephant to the vividly coloured Corroboree frog, encouraging visitors to Be the Light for the Wild in Taronga Zoo’s centenary year and beyond.

Vivid Music will pulse through the city with new sounds and venues with highlights including the world premiere of Bjork Digital, a new virtual reality project from the international avant-garde artist and the inaugural Curve Ball – a large scale live music and art event from Fuzzy Music, both held at Carriageworks.

Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House will unleash a series of incredible acts including synth-pop legends New Order, indie folk band Bon Iver, jazz artist Esperenza Spalding and the Australian premiere of Anohni’s astonishing multimedia show.

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music will present The Sound Gardens: Vivid New Music performed by talented students with guest artists Natasha Anderson, Anthony Pateras and Clayton Thomas. Aussie hip-hop will be celebrated at Come Together @ Luna Park and One Day Sundays at The Factory in Marrickville. ARIA Hall of Fame inductees and 80s trailblazers the Models will join fellow chart-toppers the Machinations and a stripped down version of Dave Mason’s The Reels to present The Models, Machinations & The Reels for one night only at the Enmore Theatre.

Vivid Music venues joining the line-up in 2016 include Newtown Social Club, brand new venue Cake Wines Cellar Door and returning favourites including Oxford Art Factory, Freda’s and The Basement.

At Vivid Ideas, the Game Changers Talk Series will be headlined by storytellers shaping the creative landscape including acclaimed director and producer Spike Jonze, House of Cards creator Beau Willimon, the creative force behind Orange is the New Black Jenji Kohan, and one of Australia’s most influential new creatives, Margaret Zhang.

Across the city, creative conferences will dive into the business of innovation and imagination with highlights including The Sunrise which delves into Australia’s start-up culture, an exploration of how technology and digital media can shape exciting, liveable cities at the Media Architecture Biennale 2016 and Conscious Change Makers, a dynamic summit exploring the idea that ‘good business’ is good for everyone.

Vivid Sydney, now in its eighth year is the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas and is owned, managed and produced by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. Vivid Sydney runs from Friday 27 May to Saturday 18 June 2016.

Vivid Sydney 2016 program highlights include:

Where What When

Sydney Opera House Songlines brings together six Indigenous artists whose work illustrates the extraordinary connections between Indigenous astronomy and the natural world – the celestial and terrestrial songlines that weave through time and distance, earth and sky. Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (New Precinct) Celebrating its 200th birthday, the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney will transform into a Garden of Light with 3D mapped projections and massive light installations, creating a wonderland of shimmering trees and dazzling bushes. Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Taronga Zoo (New Precinct) Vivid Sydney’s wildest precinct will light up with Be The Light for the Wild to celebrate its 100th centenary, and raise awareness of special animal species the Zoo is committed to protecting. Nightly from 5:30pm – 9:30pm

The Galeries (New Precinct) Perspectives will bring together some of the most prominent video artists in the world in a dazzling installation spread throughout the complex that will create an immersive galaxy of color, light and movement. Nightly from 5:30pm – 11pm

Customs House Sydney’s Hidden Stories tells the story of an adventurous blue-tongue lizard that spreads a message of sustainability, as he explores incredible landscapes concealed around Vivid Sydney’s home city. Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA, sandstone original building) Western Sydney Artist Huseyin Sami and French artistic collective Danny Rose collaborate to present The Matter of Painting, a grand projection which transforms the MCA into a huge, vibrant canvas that appears to be carved, painted, cut and brushed into a truly multi-sensory experience. Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Circular Quay and the Sydney Harbour Bridge Dress Circle takes the interactive lighting of Circular Quay’s spectacular buildings to a whole new level with visitors able to control the lighting of the city panorama, the Cahill Expressway and for the first time ever, the eastern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Harbour Lights will return to light-up the waterways with illuminated ferries and boats.
Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Vivid Light Walk The Vivid Light Walk, which stretches around Circular Quay to The Rocks and Walsh Bay, boasts over 60 installations including playful and interactive experiences from rocketships to pinball games, an illuminated Love-O-Metre and giant installations, towering over visitors in a marvellous fashion. Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Martin Place Martin Place will again be home to Sydney’s most popular food and beverage purveyors, alongside grand, interactive light installations. Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Darling Harbour The Laser-Dragon Water-Theatre will wow visitors with four video-projected water-screens, 56 fountains, 22 flame jets and 10 powerful lasers, creating awe-inspiring forms and affects including ferocious dragons and laughing clowns. Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Australian National Maritime Museum The journey of Norbert the Nautilus continues with a projection on the rooftop named the Nautilus and the Sea. Characters from the film come to life as giant lanterns in this undersea fantasy. Nightly from 6pm – 11pm

Central Park X Factory will explore technology and the changing human workplace through a projection on the façade of the heritage-listed Carlton Brewery building. The free Silent Disco will return to this exciting precinct, available to dance-loving visitors every Friday and Saturday evening from 5.30pm.

Nightly from 5:30pm – 10:00pm

Chatswood WILDLIGHT — The Bio-kinetic City, will explore the fascinating creatures of Gondwana through a high-tech journey from the Chatswood Interchange to The Concourse. 27 May – 13 June. Nightly from 5:30pm – 10:30pm

Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House Part of Vivid Music, Vivid LIVE features the ever-transforming Anohni (formerly Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons), indie folk band Bon Iver, iconic synth-rock band New Order and jazz artist Esperanza Spalding. 27 May – 13 June

Vivid Music Cutting edge Vivid Music at venues offering an ever expanding array of musical genres from R+B to house, retro revival rock, electronica, queer beats, eclectic and hip hop. 27 May – 18 June

Vivid Ideas The Game Changers talk series with Beau Willimon, Spike Jonze, Jenji Kohan and Margaret Zhang, creative conferences plus the Vivid Ideas Exchange sessions at the MCA. 27 May – 18 June