Concrete Playground

art free Sydney Design 09 Events at Object Gallery

Friday, 7th August - 2AM
@ Object Gallery

There’s nothing indecent about a bit of exposure, which is exactly what Object contributes to the overall fanfare of Sydney Design 09. Fashion, no stranger to partial nudity, is represented in the form of MATERIALBYPRODUCT’s range, which plays literally on the age-old term ‘fashion house’. Their ‘curtain gowns’ - which...

film free Grind House Alley

Friday, 14th August - 3AM
@ CarriageWorks

A new experiment in the world of bio-art is guaranteed to appeal to all of us who couldn’t quite look away from Dali’s cow’s eye; but there’s much more to this performance than sadistic appeal. In a wild collision of freak show, pornography and film theory, not to mention blood...

art free IKEA Home Project

Wednesday, 29th July - 4AM
@ CarriageWorks

The deal with sharehouses is that those sharing don’t always agree on their vision of the ideal home. As a result, most houses come out looking a little flustered, if not downright chaotic. The solution? One new sofa, clean and fresh from IKEA. Few housemates will argue with new, comfortable...

film music Battleship Potemkin

Saturday, 1st August - 1PM
@ Sydney Opera House

It seems unlikely that David O. Selznick, the legendary Jewish filmmaker who produced Gone With The Wind, and Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, would agree on much. That both were avid fans of Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin is a testament to the film’s raw emotional power. A pure slice...

film Che (Part One): The Argentine and Che (Part Two): The Guerilla

Friday, 2nd October - Thursday, 31st December
@ Various cinemas

Possibly the only person whose diaries have been read and analysed as often as Anne Frank’s, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara is no stranger. His face alone is one of the most world’s most recognisable images. Who he was, exactly, depends on your point of view: revolutionary, fanatic, hero, guerilla, theorist, poet,...

art Eat Green Design

Sunday, 2nd August - 3AM
@ Powerhouse Museum

If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, then could it also be the gateway to a conscience? Cilla Madden of Collaborate believes so, and this forms the premise of her Eat Green Design project, a sure highlight of Sydney Design 09. As the assumption that there...

music Elvis Costello

Friday, 16th October - 2PM
@ Enmore Theatre

As far as I’m concerned, there is just nothing sexier than a man in glasses. This is why there are only two musicians in the world for me: Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello. Considering that one is sadly deceased, there can be little confusion as to who I’ll be following...

music Lost Valentinos

Sunday, 2nd August - 1PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

As a child, there is one animated series I was obsessed with above all others: The Mysterious Cities of Gold. Visions of ships sailing into storms, ancient Incan medallions and brightly woven ponchos have haunted my dreams to this day. Lost Valentinos were apparently fans of the series too. Their...

art film Shutterbug

Wednesday, 22nd July - 1PM
@ Chauvel Cinema

These days, exhibition openings aren’t too shoddy when it comes to luring you in. Most of us have been known to submit to the temptation of a free drink or two, and maybe even a couple of canapés on the side. One young photography festival, however, has discovered a new...

film The Age of Stupid

Thursday, 20th August - 11AM
@ Sydney Theatre

It was with no small sense of trepidation that I dragged myself to a screening of The Age Of Stupid. Not because I didn’t want to see the film – far from it. More because it’s difficult to resist the pull of arguments coming from a filmmaker like Franny Armstrong....

film Ponyo - TEN DOUBLE PASSES TO BE WON

Tuesday, 18th August - 11AM
@ Various cinemas

There are few things in this world more appealing than the little creatures, epic adventures and magical universes created by the god of anime, Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle). His latest film follows the story of a young goldfish on her quest to become human, through the challenges...

play A Woman In Berlin

Wednesday, 26th August - Saturday, 5th September
@ Old Fitzroy Theatre

This play one that you are never quite sure you want towatch until you do – and then you wonder how you could have consideredmissing it. A soleactor occupies the stage for one taut hour, conveying the story of a Germanwoman’s attempt to survive the occupation of Berlin post-WWII. Whatmakes it...

film 4th Sydney Latin American Film Festival

Thursday, 3rd September - 3AM
@ Various venues

The Sydney Latin American Film Festival - it can take you to far away lands, in your own city. More importantly, it not only takes the finest cinema from Latin America, but also gives back through its diverse community support program. Saving the Ecuadorian Amazon is just one good reason to...

art free Nice Dreams

Saturday, 5th September - 4AM
@ Black & Blue Gallery

A not-so-sleepy mining town known as the ‘capital of the outback’, Broken Hill has many stories waiting to be uncovered.Nice Dreams centres around one true story known as The Battle of Broken Hill: a tragic and bizzare event involving a persecuted halal butcher, his neighbour, a marijuana-peddling ice-cream vendor, and...

art free performing TRACE Collective Displaced (Post-Colonial-Cluster-Fuck) and Deborah Petrovich Solace In Black Sun

Sunday, 30th August - 4AM
@ Artspace

Tucked away in a picturesque and seemingly peaceful corner of Woolloomooloo is an experimental energy waiting to be unleashed at Artspace, with two equally brilliant but new exhibitions.TRACE Collective hail from Cardiff, and are as self-reflexive as they come. They approach art as a performative process, reusing and re-examining the records...

play One long night in the land of Nod

Wednesday, 9th September - Saturday, 3rd October
@ Old Fitzroy Theatre

From plot summary alone, it may not be easy to understand why this script would be awarded the Most Original Work at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Playwright Duncan Graham draws on one of the great industry standards – money-motivated businessman from the big smoke vs wild country boy – in...

art free Outfield and FEMMZOIL

Friday, 18th September - Saturday, 10th October
@ Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery

Two distinct visions lifted from the endless possibilities of science fiction invade Roslyn Oxley9 gallery over the next month. These concurrent exhibitions feature totems and armour, letters from the dead and cardboard boxes, money plants, dirt and reclaimed materials in affirmations of strength and attempts to survive the future.Mikala Dwyer’s...

performing The Bougainville Photoplay Project

Wednesday, 14th October - Saturday, 31st October
@ Old Fitzroy Theatre

I have a friend who will claim, every time he sees you, that "the craziest thing happened to me today". This sounds like it could be irritating, but it's not at all — he always has crazier and crazier stories to back it up. While I'm sure that these ridiculous...

music Emiliana Torrini (Iceland/UK)

Tuesday, 5th January - 7PM
@ Enmore Theatre

Quirky and fun is all very well, you may say, but give me the melodies! Pair a song with that adorable image! If it's good enough for the Beatles and Björk, it's certainly good enough for you, modern day pop artist!Thankfully, Emiliana Torrini knows the score. Quirk, fun and songs...

free music performing play Newtown Festival

Sunday, 8th November - 10AM
@ Camperdown Memorial Rest Park

Yes, Newtown, we know all about you. Op shops, music, food, terraces, hairdressers, art, retro furniture, pubs, experimental locals... And oh how we love you. So much so that we will sacrifice a whole day of our time to wander, celebrate and bathe in your atmosphere. Our ears will happily...

art free Wilderness

Friday, 5th March - Sunday, 23rd May
@ Art Gallery of New South Wales

Let's begin by admitting that we, Australians, have a bit of a complex about being on the edge of things. Convicts, immigrants and the dispossessed, so far from the centre of the map that we could topple over the side at any moment. We're surrounded by strangely shaped trees bearing...

art free Armament and Bird Brain at Gaffa

Thursday, 11th March - Tuesday, 23rd March
@ Gaffa

Putting birds beside guns may seem a dangerous move, ripe for violence. Actually, it makes for quite a nice dialogue between two new solo exhibitions at the recently relocated Gaffa space.Dan Simon likes playing with guns. Canons, bombs, axes and chainsaws also feature in past and present work. The obvious...

performing Death in Bowengabbie

Thursday, 11th March - Friday, 26th March
@ Old Fitzroy Theatre

There is something in the water in Adelaide. Strange things are happening with theatre there: it's hilarious and down to earth, but somehow revealing and vibrant at the same time. By all accounts, playwrights are venturing out of their dark, lonely rooms and collaborating with actors. Whatever it's about, the...

performing play S-27

Wednesday, 17th March - Saturday, 10th April
@ Griffin Theatre

A pure slice of classic sci-fi, S-27 could easily be a reworking of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Instead of Hitler, this particular version of dystopia employs a more contemporary phantom, referencing the Khmer Rouge's S-21 prison. Here the civil servant protagonist is female, chosen to work as a prison photographer...

performing Love Me Tender

Thursday, 18th March - Sunday, 11th April
@ Belvoir St Theatre

Adaptations of ancient Greek plays are scarce in the landscape of contemporary Australian theatre. While Shakespeare productions continue to flourish, the earlier classics attract less excitement. That said, Love Me Tender is no straightforward re-staging. Playwright Tom Holloway, while inspired by Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis, has twisted contemporary images and...

art film free White Rabbit Film Club

Sunday, 4th April - 2PM - Sunday, 4th July - 2PM
@ The White Rabbit

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Chippendale, the White Rabbit Gallery is impossible to miss: just follow the bicycles of Sydney's cool kid art crowd which constantly flow to and from its doors. Filled to the brim with celestial and provocative treasures, this four-level art space is currently the...

performing play The Chronic Ills of Robert Zimmerman

Friday, 22nd October - Saturday, 6th November
@ Seymour Centre

Actually, that title in full is The Chronic Ills of Robert Zimmerman AKA Bob Dylan (A Lie) — A Theatrical Talking Blues and Glissendorf. Complex, yes — and an appropriate clue as to the whole experience (the key being 'Bob Dylan'). Through a combination of monologues, duologues with the veteran...

art music play Lost in the Romantics

Sunday, 18th April - 12PM
@ Vaucluse House

No longer must you while away the hours in dark, ornate rooms, whispering the words of Keats, Byron and Shelley to yourself like a mantra. Closet Romantics, now is the time to confess. Shroud yourself in mystery and prepare for your hair to be gorgeously windswept: your chance for irrational...

performing Mike Daisey: The Last Cargo Cult

Tuesday, 18th May - Sunday, 23rd May
@ The Studio, Sydney Opera House

For those of us who aren't anthropologists, a 'cargo cult' is a kind of ritual practice that emerges in some tribal societies following contact with a 'technologically advanced' culture. Participants, believing that the 'cargo' (or materials possessed by the foreigners) is actually intended for them by their gods or ancestors,...

performing The End

Tuesday, 20th April - Sunday, 9th May
@ Belvoir Downstairs

The End is the story of the demise of a man. Alone, without purpose, this unnamed man is contained within the existentialist void, nothingness, hovering around the (literally represented) light of his existence. He is difficult, insane, unlikable and resists all attempts at kindness. At the same time, he is...

performing Way To Heaven

Monday, 19th April - Saturday, 8th May
@ SBW Stables Theatre

This is a story stranger than fiction: of a concentration camp, Theresienstadt, that was held up to Jewish prisoners as a reward for good behaviour and to the world as a solution to the "Jewish problem". The centre of life and the means of survival in this camp was the...

music Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio

Sunday, 30th May - 7PM
@ Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, first released in 1975, is an enigma. Sonically, its a blend of electronic sounds, loops, tapes and feedback, a pure expression of industrial punk and an avant-garde statement of noise. It pushes the listener beyond the edges of endurance: no matter how much this is...

performing The Shipment

Tuesday, 8th June - Friday, 11th June
@ Playhouse, Sydney Opera House

I imagine The Shipment to be a little like watching Eddie Murphy's Raw: hilarious and uncomfortable in the extreme. The difference is that the writer in this case, Young Jean Lee, is no black stand-up comedian but a Korean-born, Brooklyn-based, experimental theatre-maker. A self-described avant-garde artist, Lee's method of working...

art film free Small Worlds

Tuesday, 27th April - Sunday, 4th July
@ Customs House

The very large building that is Customs House is currently filled with a number of very small worlds. The first of these is the city model: covering the centre of the ground floor, this is an unavoidable part of your visit. Accurately reconstructed, the city of Sydney is splayed out...

film Animal Kingdom

Thursday, 3rd June - Wednesday, 14th July
@ Various cinemas

Although reincarnation seems appealing if you were to you come back as, say, a lion, it's perhaps slightly less so when you consider that you might end up a cockroach. This is the story of Animal Kingdom: a pitiful tale of someone who had the misfortune to end up where...

performing play Nyuntu Ngali (You We Two)

Friday, 7th May - Friday, 14th May
@ Wharf 2, Wharf Theatre

It's a familiar tale: a pregnant girl and her boyfriend, still almost kids themselves, running away from home and family to escape punishment for their forbidden love. With not much knowledge, few skills and a fledgling dependence on each other, they attempt to learn what they're missing and raise their...

art free performing Slave Pianos

Sunday, 16th May - 3PM
@ Cockatoo Island

I'm not quite sure that I'd be ethically comfortable with slaves of my own, but I think I could overlook these concerns if my slaves were pianos. They seem big and strong enough to do the heavy jobs, and it would be nice to have an occasional sonata around the...

art film free performing Le First Ever Sydney Readers' Festival

Friday, 21st May - Sunday, 23rd May
@ Various

While it is possible that Even Books might be wrong about this being a 'first', they've definitely gotten everything else right. This well-timed weekend extravaganza focuses on the essential element in all writing: the reader. Friday kicks off with a loving home, in the Clubhouse at Performance Space, for your...

art free performing Momentum:Sydney

Wednesday, 12th May - Saturday, 15th May
@ Various Sydney venues

Like the evil twin of the Biennale, Momentum:Sydney will be lurking around your neighbourhood this week. You'll find him in all your favourite warehouses, galleries and bars, trying to start trouble. This guy's not into gold, ornate frames — we're talking contemporary video, new media, performance and sound art here....

performing Parlour Song

Tuesday, 18th May - Wednesday, 16th June
@ Belvoir Downstairs

Parlour Song is an exercise in suburban surrealism, the stuff of American Beauty and Desperate Housewives. Exploring the tangled web between three neighbours in two couples, the plot swerves between the utterly unbelievable and the eerily relatable. Dale is a lovable larrikin, responsible for a car wash chain and the...

art free music performing play think Creative Sydney 2010

Saturday, 5th June - Sunday, 13th June
@ Museum of Contemporary Art

Not quite the picture of a fledgling festival, Creative Sydney is only turning two but already wise to the game. Part of Vivid festival's 'light, music and ideas' masterplan, Creative Sydney will enliven, educate and blow your socks off. All events are at the MCA and all are free, between...

performing 11 and 12

Tuesday, 8th June - Sunday, 13th June
@ Sydney Theatre

11 and 12 tells a modern tale: an accident during prayer leads to a religious debate, then a split which escalates into community conflict. A Western power sticks its nose in, and the story turns truly tragic. Yet this tale is not as contemporary as you might think. The book...

performing W;t

Sunday, 13th June - Saturday, 10th July
@ New Theatre

It's fair to say that I didn't exactly shine in my year of university-level English. I quickly discovered that stern academics and huge reading lists weren't for me and got the hell out of there. Not so for the protagonist of this drama, Vivian Bearing, who possesses both a PhD...

film performing 2009/10 New York Met Opera Season

Saturday, 26th June - Sunday, 3rd October
@ Chauvel Cinema

While publicly we may snub our noses at the silver spoons of high culture, we all secretly desire to dust off our hats, don our coats and march off to an evening at the opera. The only real problem is that it costs a pretty penny. Luckily, the solution to...

film Farewell

Thursday, 1st July - Wednesday, 18th August
@ Various cinemas

Emir Kusturica stars as a disillusioned KGB colonel in this true story of a Cold War espionage operation that altered the course of history.

art Paths to Abstraction 1867-1917

Monday, 28th June - Sunday, 19th September
@ Art Gallery of New South Wales

This exhibition-cum-art-history-lesson traces the transformation of the art world over a 50-year period. Through some of the world's most famous artists, it details the variety of abstractions and diversions that took us away from the naturalist norm.

performing Cageling

Tuesday, 29th June - Saturday, 3rd July
@ CarriageWorks

The Rabble crack apart Lorca's [i]The House of Bernarda Alba[/i] like an egg and play around in its goo of sexuality and repression, queens and monsters, tradition and savagery.

film Creation

Thursday, 22nd July - Saturday, 28th August
@ Various cinemas

This controversial film lets us see Darwin's philosophy as it emerged: a knot of scientific study, family relations and devastating tragedy.

art Wallpaper

Tuesday, 3rd August - 6PM
@ The Mint

Damask. Gravure. Florence Broadhurst. William Morris. Symmetry groups. Wallpaper is a world unto itself. Therefore justified is the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection (SCL&RC), which has hunted down and brought together fragments of the stuff from merchant's sample books, excess rolls and occasionally straight off walls. Selections from this...

performing Like A Fishbone

Friday, 16th July - Saturday, 7th August
@ Wharf 1, Wharf Theatre

This play digs deep into a contradiction inherent in ideas about diversity, and while it doesn't attempt to reinvent the wheel, its understated execution leads to more insights on its subject than you may initially expect. Prepare to be surprised.

art free music That's Cool But Can You Make It More Sh*t?

Wednesday, 28th July - Tuesday, 3rd August
@ Tom Dunne Gallery

The only logo to rival 'I Heart NY' on the t-shirts of hip kids worldwide is that of DFA: a lightning bolt with three capital letters in the middle, which looks a little bit like your 5 year-old brother might have drawn it.This is the visual aesthetic of DFA records....

art think Tracey Moffatt lecture

Friday, 6th August - 6PM
@ Domain Theatre, Art Gallery of New South Wales

Who better to comment on both the early photographer Alfred Stieglitz and the-artist-who-will-forever-be-known-as-Prince than a world-renowned pop-cultural narrative artist extraordinaire.

art free performing Firstdraft: Four Exhibitions

Wednesday, 28th July - Sunday, 15th August
@ Firstdraft Gallery

The democratic and daring artist-run gallery known as Firstdraft has some extraordinary offerings on hand this month. Diverse exhibitions feature creatures ranging from ambiguous objects to musical monsters.Marc Alperstein's abstractions lie somewhere between object design and colour-field, wreaking havoc with signification and the senses. Patterned material plays with optical illusion,...

film think Lanfranchi's Memorial Discotheque + QandA

Monday, 16th August - 7PM
@ Event Cinema, Bondi Junction

Those crazy cultural experiments that we term 'artist run initiatives' seem to be Sydney's flavour of the month. But with 501 turning legal and Red Rattler playing the game right from the start, where can we turn for the truly marginal? I'm talking artists like Lucas Abela, a musician who...

performing play Winter's Discontent

Thursday, 12th August - Sunday, 22nd August
@ Darlinghurst Theatre

This play is an incredibly honest piece which gives rise to some unpredictable and transcendent moments. Zappa's skill is irrefutable, and you should snap up the chance to see him perform this work at the intimate Darlinghurst Theatre.

film performing play think Between The Lines

Monday, 16th August - Sunday, 26th September
@ SBW Stables Theatre

Reading between the lines is an underrated life skill. Sarcasm or honest concern? Compliment or sexual innuendo? Luckily, Griffin Theatre has chosen to spell it out for us.Between The Lines is ongoing program designed to draw out and dig into the Australian plays that make up Griffin's season. Currently on...

art film free 808.838 / grandfather paradox

Friday, 13th August - Friday, 10th September
@ Artspace

Ms&Mr are a fortunate unity. A two-person singular-entity pursuing a single-minded dual obsession with sentimental film and science fiction. Continuing to write their shared history, lived in the parallel dimension of video art, 808.838 / grandfather paradox enlists the assistance of Richard's deceased grandfather and his 8mm films. This family...

film Reel Anime Film Festival

Thursday, 2nd September - Wednesday, 15th September
@ Dendy Newtown

Those with a passion for anime have something a little more than a passion - obsession is perhaps a better word. Luckily for them, the leading purveyors of anime here in Australia are importing the latest flicks straight from Tokyo to be screened in cinemas in our own backyard.

art free The Indian Empire, Multiple Realities

Thursday, 19th August - Sunday, 7th November
@ Art Gallery of New South Wales

In bringing together both local and outsider visuals and perceptions, this exhibition tells a complex, interwoven and often conflicting narrative about Indian culture and history. It also has a particularly poetic post-colonial resonance in an Australian context.

performing The Trial

Tuesday, 14th September - Saturday, 16th October
@ Wharf 1, Wharf Theatre

Perhaps the best quality of this production is its ability to embody the abstract labyrinth which is fundamental to Kafka's novel and aesthetic. The direction and set design work to deliver a stage which has Josef K literally running circles.

performing Seven Kilometres North-East

Wednesday, 29th September - Saturday, 16th October
@ Old Fitzroy Theatre

Version 1.0's take on the political equals highly engaging and powerful theatre. Their latest offering branches out into new and more personal territory, as performer Kym Vercoe explores her unwitting visit to a Visegrad spa hotel, revealing the seething political history that lies buried underneath.

music performing Synergy Percussion Live House 4: '1,2,3'

Thursday, 7th October - 7PM
@ St Stephens Anglican Church

With new music, instruments and stories from their explorations across the waters over the past year, this dynamic percussion ensemble are out to prove that small does equal beautiful.

music Homeless #1

Wednesday, 13th October - 8PM
@ Home

Sydney's last bastion of the super club scene has been through a number of changes in recent years, their latest offering cleverly catering to the new, educated, left-inclined crowd but with the weight to pull big names. This could finally be an authentic alternative to Subbies.

film music Screen Live #6: Brilliant Journeys

Sunday, 17th October - 5PM
@ The Studio, Sydney Opera House

This left-leaning evening is part of a series of events which meld together stunningly composed films and visionary musicians to create an innovative art experience. The sixth instalment will focus in on Australian art cinema.

music performing Sweat

Tuesday, 19th October - Saturday, 30th October
@ CarriageWorks

Branch Nebula are dedicated to making work which presents a multifaceted take on contemporary culture. They seek to create an inclusive form of performance that celebrates diversity and engages with new kinds of audiences.

performing Liveworks

Thursday, 11th November - Sunday, 14th November
@ CarriageWorks

A crawling, sprawling tangle of contemporary pieces, bundled together into a four-day long festival extravaganza. There's plenty for punters to choose from, with over 20 artists and groups showcasing new experimental theatre, performance, live art, dance and installation. Freshly hatched from their incubation period, these works offer audiences an opportunity to be the first to experience some original and largely untested ideas. From a solo performance in a dressing room to an exploration of suspension in all manners of speaking, these artists and performers push the boundaries to create visually compelling, provocative works.

performing Not In A Million Years

Thursday, 18th November - Saturday, 27th November
@ CarriageWorks

Incorporating disparate forms of dance and a considered use of words and visuals, the work of Kate Champion and Force Majeure is contemporary, relevant and accessible; casual in its presentation but distinct in its content and form.

art music performing play So You Think You Can Draw...(or make other stuff)

Saturday, 13th November - 4PM
@ Firstdraft

Firstdraft are holding their annual 'fun-draiser' and a whole slab of local emerging artists have put pencil, pen and no doubt other things to paper for the cause. The title alone gives you a clue to the sort of fun you might be in for.

music Metronomy

Tuesday, 23rd November - 8PM
@ Oxford Art Factory

The purity of their sound is a dead giveaway that this band doesn't mess around with lo-fi posing. And on this tour, they'll no doubt be taking this all to the next level as they debut new material for their fans.

music Yeasayer

Monday, 7th February - 8PM
@ The Metro

Swinging between ambience and hooks, experimental and pop, this Brooklyn band cater to the current craving for tribal rhythms, dark disco and sickly sweet harmonies, whilst providing listeners with a little bit more 'something'.

music Moth

Tuesday, 7th December - 9PM
@ Bangarra Dance Theatre

We tend to typify musicians as a sensitive lot: delicate, emotional and at risk of becoming whiskey-guzzling wash-outs should their dreams fade away. However, there's certainly no post-competition style depression at work amongst the members of Synergy Percussion. Rather than sitting back on their laurels and lazily pointing out commendations...

art free New Acquisitions in Context

Friday, 10th December - Tuesday, 19th January
@ Museum of Contemporary Art

The MCA offers a unique insight into the ways in which this institution develops their collection, as well as the works themselves. A perfect way to celebrate their fifth year of the series.

art free The Gaffa Xmas Show 2010

Thursday, 16th December - Thursday, 23rd December
@ Gaffa

With no less than 172 of their favourite artists involved and knowing the sorts of works these guys typically pull together, we think it's safe to say that there will be a little bit of Christmas anarchy in the air.

film Moonlight Cinema

Friday, 17th December - Sunday, 20th March
@ Centennial Parklands

This season's line up includes more than a few gems with the usual formula of summer blockbusters meets well-oiled classics.

performing Food Chain

Wednesday, 26th January - Sunday, 30th January
@ Seymour Centre

From the newly formed Animal Farm Collective comes a surreal Orwellian vision. This take on the modern tale of power and exploitation features bears instead of a pig dictatorship, sex rather than politics and humans in the farmyard.More specifically, the set up is this: the head of the food chain...

music performing play Trocadero Dance Palace

Wednesday, 19th January - Saturday, 22nd January
@ Sydney Town Hall

For one weekend only, Sydney's legendary Trocadero will rise from the ashes as the Trocadero Dance Palace. And all you need do is step out in your dancing shoes: as if in a dream, the rest has been taken care of. The dance floor has been cleared, the swing bands are booked, the bar is stocked up and the set is, well, set. Your lindy-hopping is not quite as rehearsed as you'd like? Dancers will be on hand to take you through the steps in a pre-evening dance class. All that is required is your attendance.

film music Dracula: Phillip Glass & Kronos Quartet

Friday, 14th January - 12PM
@ State Theatre

Beautiful things come from chance meetings. It is in this serendipitous spirit that Phillip Glass and the Kronos Quartet will embrace Dracula, the original 1931 film. Those petrified of horror films are advised to attend the early evening screening. Braver souls will choose to don their capes for the midnight performance.

art music Power Plant

Saturday, 15th January - Sunday, 30th January
@ Chinese Garden

Five visual and sound artists transform the garden's landscapes into surreal, nocturnal worlds. Subject to timed entry, visitors may wander through a universe of installations. Look out for dancing flower beds, eccentric gramophones and explosions transforming into rich flora.

art free think Microscope: Artists in Conversation with Caroline Baum

Sunday, 9th January - Friday, 28th January
@ Various

Is the program blurb not quite cutting it? Sydney Festival has Caroline Baum on board to take us between the lines. In this Microscope series, Baum will converse with some of the festival's key artists to get behind the processes and ideas at play.

art free Four Solo Shows at Firstdraft

Wednesday, 12th January - Sunday, 30th January
@ Firstdraft Gallery

The year opens at Firstdraft with four solo artists who skillfully sidestep any accusations of navel gazing. More accurately, the focus of these exhibitions is in notions of the beyond. Each artist delves into subject matter which is almost out of their reach, extending themselves in the process.Laura McLean navigates...

music Beach House & Parades

Wednesday, 26th January - 9PM
@ Becks Bar

Listening to the dreamy soundscapes of Beach House is a little like sitting in clouds of cotton wool. As if in a Gondry film, the world slows down, frustrations become gentler, the objects of your focus transform into something unique, kitsch, precious. It will be a singular pleasure then, to...

performing play think TOOLKIT Performance Lab

Monday, 21st February - Friday, 4th March
@ Fraser Studios

Over two weeks, Queen Street Studio will provide participating performing artists with a physical and creative space to refine their skills. The first week will focus on developing useful 'tools' while, in the second, artists will create work for a final evening showcase.

art free music performing Chinese New Year at AGNSW

Saturday, 5th February - Sunday, 6th February
@ AGNSW

With lion dancing, modern Chinese cuisine and film screenings of Chinese classics, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is undoubtedly the best place to celebrate Chinese New Year outside of Chinatown.

performing The Wild Duck

Saturday, 12th February - Sunday, 27th March
@ Belvoir St Theatre

The latest and highly ambitious staging of an Ibsen classic re-inscribes the play with sophisticated ideas about objectivity and blame, suicide and Kierkegaard's thoughts on subjectivity.

performing Don Parties On

Thursday, 17th February - Tuesday, 8th March
@ Sydney Theatre

David Williamson's revisiting of his classic play serves as balm for the baby boomer down-and-out's and tries to make sense of the baffling political climate.

free play Sydney Cellar Door

Saturday, 26th February - Sunday, 27th February
@ Hyde Park, Sydney

Although held in the laid back and lush alfresco surrounds of Hyde Park, the Cellar Door concept has far more to do with content than environment. More than one hundred New South Wales wineries will be bringing along their finest drops, which is an excellent excuse for both experts and the curious to partake. Providores and restaurants will join them, showcasing the best produce that the state has to offer. Add a little chilled entertainment (the words 'laid back jazz' are being thrown around), and you're sorted until sunset. Entry is free, affordable tasting packages are available, and you've got an entire weekend to make the most of it.

art free Four New Exhibitions at Firstdraft

Wednesday, 16th March - Sunday, 3rd April
@ Firstdraft Gallery

The four artists exhibiting at Firstdraft this month transform the gallery into a science class with biological urges, refashioned flora, paranoid communications and volcanic eruptions all making an appearance.

art free performing Constellation

Saturday, 19th March - Saturday, 30th April
@ 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

At 4A during Art Month, four expatriate Korean art stars join forces to explore artists' experiences of diaspora.

performing Night Letters

Friday, 18th February - Saturday, 12th March
@ Seymour Centre

Adapted from Robert Dessaix's novel of the same name, Night Letters follows the escape to Europe of a dying man desperate to understand his own history.

art free Eastern Seaboard

Wednesday, 2nd March - Sunday, 10th April
@ Artspace

No longer limited to land, this project acknowledges the multiple works of independent artist organisations that take these collectives far beyond the concept of a physical space.

performing Julius Caesar

Wednesday, 16th March - Saturday, 9th April
@ New Theatre

It's a tale we've heard a thousand times. Not the plot itself, I mean the 'fresh, relevant interpretation' line that theatres throw in to justify the presence of a classic in their midst. In this case, though, the line seems to have a bit of weight to it.Take one leader:...

music YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011

Tuesday, 15th March - 6PM - Sunday, 20th March - 8PM
@ Sydney Opera House

They are, perhaps, not three words that you would ever expect to meet in the same sentence. 'Symphony' and 'orchestra', sure - but 'YouTube'? Who knew that the power of the internet could be used for good, not evil? Defying expectations, YouTube have, literally, assembled a symphony orchestra. Thousands of...

art music The Glide

Thursday, 7th April - Friday, 8th April
@ City Recital Hall

A stunning fusion of surf and sound, The Glide is unique amongst the multimedia collaborations we've seen of late, in that it's a genuine blend of two exceptional talents