The world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas, Vivid Sydney, kicked off over the weekend with a wash of colour from more than 90 light installations projecting colourful art on the world-famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and throughout the city.
More than 150 artists from 23 countries have created the light installations and projections that appear in more than eight Vivid Sydney precincts spread across Sydney until 18 June 2016, including work from 195 Vivid Music events and more than 500 speakers appearing at Vivid Idea talks and forums.
The New South Wales Government’s Premier Mike Baird said over the weekend that “thousands of people have visited Sydney to witness the amazing Vivid ‘lights-on’ moment.”
Baird added that over the duration of the event, Sydney’s most iconic landmarks will be lit up in a symphony of colour and movement, attracting visitors from across the world.
This year Vivid Sydney celebrates Australian Indigenous culture with the Songlines projection appearing on the Sails of the iconic Sydney Opera House. The spectacular animation showcases the work of six renowned Indigenous artists: Karla Dickens,Djon Mundine OAM, Reko Rennie, Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi, Donny Woolagoodja and the late Gulumbu Yunipingu.
Co-curated by Destination NSW and the Sydney Opera House, Songlines speaks directly to the spirituality and culture of Australia’s First Peoples, depicting the interconnected sharing systems and the trade routes that weave through time and distance, earth and sky.
With other major 3D projections appearing on the façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, and Customs House, Vivid Sydney showcases Sydney as a hub for the creative industries, with world-first technologies and design used to create the stunning spectacle of light.
Destination NSW CEO and Executive Producer of Vivid Sydney Sandra Chipchase said “Vivid Sydney has again delivered remarkable technical and artistic world-firsts as part of Vivid Light. Our biggest ever Vivid Sydney program will deliver an impressive line-up of music acts from punk rockers to global superstars, up-and-coming homegrown talent, cabaret legends and more. This matched by a diverse program of social trend disrupters, including Jenji Kohan, Spike Jonze, Beau Willimon and Margaret Zhang, who appear as part of Vivid Ideas talks and forum series. Vivid Sydney 2016 is truly a celebration of innovation and creativity.”
Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the State Government’s tourism and major events agency. In 2015 it attracted 1.7 million visitors and delivered more than $63 million in visitor expenditure to the local economy.
