Junkee Picks: The Five Best Events At Vivid Sydney 2017
Without a doubt, Vivid Sydney is one of Australia’s favourite winter festivals. In fact, it’s one of our favourite cultural festivals throughout the entire year, thanks to a boundary-pushing musical lineup, cutting-edge talks, and of course, the jaw-dropping lights which make the entire city more photogenic than ever.
The program is incredibly extensive, but here are five of our top picks for must-see events at Vivid Sydney 2017.
The Avalanches
A national treasure in their own right, beloved electronic group The Avalanches returned last year with Wildflower, their first album in sixteen years. This year, they’ll be hosting their own party at Vivid – the Since I Left You Block party, in honour of their groundbreaking 2000 debut album.
The group will perform the entire album live, in its entirety, for the first time since 2001. They’ll also be joined by multi-instrumentalist Jonti, as well as rappers Briggs and Sampa the Great, as well as legendary international guest DJ Shadow, DJ Nett and more.
Sampha
British artist Sampha is heading to Australia for his first solo headline tour down under, including two performances at the Sydney Opera House for Vivid LIVE. Having cut his teeth collaborating with names like Beyonce, Frank Ocean, Kanye West and SBTRKT, the Londoner released his long-awaited debut album earlier this year, to widespread critical acclaim.
If you’re going to see one live performance this Vivid, make it this one. He can reduce you to tears with his piano and send you into a dance-floor frenzy with his beats. He sings like an angel, too, but an incredibly unique one – one that you’ll legitimately remember forever.
All Of The Lights
The Vivid lights are so breathtakingly stunning that they’re worth repeated nighttime trips into, and around, Sydney city.
From the projections onto buildings like the MCA, Customs House and of course the Sydney Opera House, to an illuminated Harbour Bridge, and lights that stretch as far as Chatswood on the North Shore, there’s an endless array of spectacular lights. Many of the light installations are thought provoking and interactive, with sound effects or accompanying music, meaning they’re not only fun to look at but to play with, too. If only the city was lit up like this all year round!
Kings Bloody Cross
Kings Cross has long held a reputation for being the sordid underbelly of Sydney’s nightlife (for good reason). In fact, its history and reputation stretches much further back than many of us might remember – certainly decades before it all came to a halt, thanks to the lockout laws.
Tales of the Criminale and Glitterati is an exhibition and series of “in conversation” events, paying tribute to an “ungentrified” Sydney, harking back to a freer, more hedonistic time for the infamous inner city suburb. Across three raunchy weekends, learn about the sex and sin that put Kings Cross on the map, through photography, live conversation, anecdotes and more.
Human & Machine: The Next Great Creative Partnership
There are literally dozens and dozens of talks to pick from, but Human & Machine: The Next Great Creative Partnership might be one of the most interesting, not to mention informative. Get a better understanding of artificial intelligence, not only as a modicum of futuristic science fiction, but a very real and tangible part of everyday life – quite possibly in our own lifetimes.
Considering the rapidly advancing technology around us, the reality of AI is right around the corner. Technologist Ross Goodwin will deliver the keynote – Goodwin is known for co-creating Sunspring, the first ever film written by an AI bot – and will lead a panel discussion about the many ways AI will change our lives, creativity, industry and technology in the very near future.
_
All images: Vivid Sydney