VIVID SYDNEY 2019 ENTERS A NEW DECADE OF INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY

MEDIA RELEASE: 11.30am, Tuesday 19 March, 2019

             VIVID SYDNEY 2019 ENTERS A NEW DECADE OF
                     INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY
         ARGYLE CUT IN THE ROCKS RETURNS WITH PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS,
         CAMPBELLS COVE AND HICKSON ROAD RESERVE REJOIN LIGHT WALK,
      GAME CHANGERS SPIKE LEE AND ESTHER PEREL HEADLINE VIVID IDEAS PLUS
       THE CURE, RÜFÜS DU SOL, FKA TWIGS & UNDERWORLD ROCK VIVID MUSIC.
   2019 PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO CONTENT AND IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE AT:
                          www.vividsydney.com/media-centre

Vivid Sydney, the largest festival of light, music and ideas in the Southern Hemisphere, will
ignite the Harbour City this winter from Friday 24 May to Saturday 15 June 2019 as it
enters a new decade of innovation and creativity with an inspiring and star-studded program
of events.

Destination NSW CEO and Executive Producer - Vivid Sydney, Sandra Chipchase said,
“Australia’s most loved and awarded festival, now in its eleventh year, will bring together light
artists, music makers and brilliant minds to showcase Sydney as the creative industries hub
of the Asia-Pacific.

“This year’s Vivid Sydney program is bold, exciting and diverse, offering something for
everyone so I encourage those who want to experience this unmissable event to start
planning their trip now.”

Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW
Government’s tourism and major events agency, and in 2018 attracted 2.25 million
attendees, delivering $172.9 million in visitor expenditure into the NSW economy.

“I am proud to say our marketing activities saw a record 185,887 travel packages sold to
domestic and international visitors for Vivid 2018 - an increase of 37 per cent over the
previous year. Vivid Sydney is a must-attend event for travellers and motivates people to
visit Sydney and beyond,” Ms Chipchase said.

“It doesn’t matter your age or interests, whether it is your first time to Sydney or if you are a
local - Vivid Sydney has universal appeal. The Vivid Sydney 2019 program offers inclusive
and accessible installations, events and experiences that you can enjoy for one evening or
over 23 nights.”

Ms Chipchase also announced the inaugural Vivid School for High School students in
years 9-12 to assist students to learn more about the creative processes involved in
imagining, designing and delivering light-based artworks for this huge global event.

“This initiative will enable students and their teachers to meet the professionals behind Vivid
Sydney’s iconic building projections and light walk installations, and to hear from artists,
designers and technicians about their career paths and how they harnessed opportunities to
build their skills for future projects and employment,” Ms Chipchase said.

VIVID LIGHT

This year’s Light Walk sees over 50 radiant works curated into the largest outdoor gallery of
its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, stretching for more than three kilometres.

In a partnership first, Academy-Award winning Pixar Animation Studios will illuminate
Sydney’s heritage-listed Argyle Cut in The Rocks with a creative light projection that will
delight visitors of all ages as they are transported through a visual feast of behind-the-
scenes artwork and the evolution of iconic animation. The return of the Argyle Cut to the
Vivid Light program will be a huge drawcard for festival goers featuring the captivating
characters of Pixar films, including the beloved duo of Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

For this year’s eagerly anticipated Lighting of the Sails, Los Angeles-based Chinese
American artist-filmmaker Andrew Thomas Huang presents Austral Flora Ballet. This
hypnotic tribute to Australia’s exquisite native plants and flowers incorporates a dancer’s
movements in response to the sensuous arcs of the Sydney Opera House’s silhouette.

Visitors can once again weave their way through the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney for
close encounters with illuminated artworks that reflect and refract both light and nature.
Glowing, darting, hovering above the ground, Firefly Field is a mesmerising installation of
500 flying light points that simulate the aerial ballet of these tiny nocturnal lampyridae.

Viewers are encouraged to look beyond the night sky and wonder what secrets lie beyond
the stars through KA3323, a retro-futuristic satellite dish overgrown with alien plant matter
that has mysteriously landed in the Botanic Garden. While at I Hear You (But Do You Hear
Me?), an array of LED light poles generates a space between two people with their voices
starting a conversation of light and sound, questioning inequality in the digital era.

Across the Quay, the imposing art-deco façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art
Australia will be transformed by award-winning Australian-Columbian artist Claudia
Nicholson who, together with light veterans Spinifex Group, reimagine her vibrant artworks
into Let Me Down, an animated cycle of creation, destruction and regeneration underscored
by the cool and contemporary sounds of Lonelyspeck.

Next door, in addition to an incredible experience at Foundation Hall, Samsung Electronics
Australia will create a once in a lifetime experience at First Fleet Park using some of the
most exciting features of the Galaxy S10 to reimagine how you see Vivid Sydney.

Watch your chips! in The Rocks examines the collective behaviour of birds, mimicking the
way gulls sometimes harass humans for food scraps while Nostalgia Above connects the

romance of nature to data-driven climate technology, creating a virtual barometer that
forecasts rain and thunderstorms, clear or gloomy skies.

Campbells Cove is back with Ballerina, an eternal dance solo that shimmers along the
harbour’s edge as if in a dream, while Let it Snow makes it seem that giant snowflakes have
landed at Hickson Road Reserve offering great views from the water.

Celebrating the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the southern pylon of Sydney
Harbour Bridge is set to come to life with Eora: Broken Spear curated by Rhoda Roberts
AO with projection design by The Electric Canvas. This powerful work reminds us to reflect,
to call country, to read country and listen to country.

The façade of Customs House is once again transformed to become an aquatic
wonderland in Under the Harbour by Spinifex Group, sure to delight children and adults
alike. The watery world with neon sea creatures, botanical wonderlands, and unclassified
oddities will provide a playful and exquisite escape into an extraordinary underwater fantasy
certain to inspire audiences and deepen the appreciation of Sydney’s aquatic haven.

VIVID SYDNEY PRECINCTS

Popular precincts Taronga Zoo, Darling Harbour, Chatswood, Barangaroo and Luna Park
also light up in 2019.
On the north shore, festival favourite Taronga Zoo’s Lights for the Wild adds to its
illuminated trail of interactive lanterns featuring endangered species. Joining the star-
spangled Asian Elephant, a family of glowing Silverback Gorillas, the iridescent Marine
Turtle and the Weedy Sea Dragon, is the Sumatran Tiger Cubs marking the birth of three
new tiger cubs and highlighting the Zoo’s commitment to conservation.

In its second year, the ever-grinning Luna Park Sydney dazzles again after dark. This year
adrenaline seekers can get airborne in the new family thriller Volaré studded with thousands
of LED lights which perfectly complements the light-laced iconic Ferris Wheel.

Vivid Sydney at Chatswood, a family favourite, is set to radiate with peace and harmony.
The Concourse will shine with Co-existence, a large-scale projection work by Hungarian
artist collective Limelight while music fans can catch shows by Vince Jones and Lisa
Fischer as well as performances by the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra. Vivid Ideas
weighs in with a festival/conference for girl gamers and free sessions on clean beauty, fit-
tech and wellness.

Barangaroo offers a feast for the senses with Exchange Place set to become a wondrous
Winter Camp each night with the glowing six-metre tall spirit Marri Dyin (Great Woman)
visiting Thursdays to Sundays. Visitors are invited to join her to hunt and gather through
illuminated bushlands and enjoy light-inspired fare at all price-points from over 40
restaurants, bars and cafes.

At Darling Harbour, Robot SPACELand imagines a not-too-distant future where a new
civilisation rises from our post-industrial debris. This is where you will get to meet mind-
boggling electro-automotive super-bots that have been sent to sow the seeds of a brighter,
greener tomorrow.

Vivid Sydney’s inclusive playground Tumbalong Lights is back with the support of Access
and Inclusion partner Cushman & Wakefield. Inspired by the next frontier, playSPACE will
bring together super-scale installations that give intrepid explorers an opportunity to walk
Under the Milky Sky, play with Spaceballs, and share different perspectives with See
What I See. Low-sensory sessions will be catered for too.

VIVID IDEAS

Vivid Ideas brings to Sydney 23 days and nights of talks, hands-on workshops and industry-
shaping forums delving into the meaning of love, loneliness and belonging in our fast-paced,
ever-connected lives.

This year’s Game Changers challenge assumptions on race and relationships. Hollywood
trailblazer Spike Lee opens up about his personal politics, story-craft and tips for making
movies that matter, while iconic psychotherapist and creator of the wildly popular podcast
Where Should We Begin? Esther Perel investigates modern love in the digital age and
looks at the ways relationships are being affected by technology.

The New Horizons series tunes into signals from the future. Highlights include Future of
Sex researcher and podcast creator Bryony Cole charting the frontiers of sextech, Marc
Fennell exploring loneliness and how and why many people in Japan feel overworked and
undersexed, and Eileen Ormsby shines a chilling light into the dark underbelly of the web.
Scientists and researchers from UTS, the ABC and CSIRO will also shed light on what’s
coming next in AI and ethics, space exploration and more.

In The Mark Colvin Conversation: Net Worth, Pulitzer prize winner author Sebastian
Smee, psychologist Jocelyn Brewer and artist and author Holly Throsby look at the value
of an ‘inner life’ and ask what price we’ll pay for our constant digital distraction.

Vivid Art After Hours returns to the Art Galley of NSW for free Wednesday evenings that
combine art activities, live music and talks by creative thinkers addressing issues of
belonging - including comedian and ‘bad Buddhist’ Meshel Laurie, rapper, poet and author
Omar Musa and artist Abdul Abdullah in conversation about cultural identity, and the team
behind the hit ABC TV show You Can’t Say That celebrating social diversity.

Citizens of the World workshops and other how-to sessions will unlock essential skills for
living a more creative, better informed and fulfilled life and Semi Permanent returns with a
jam-packed program of design goodness featuring vice president of design for Uber,
Michael Gough and other luminaries.

The Vivid Ideas Exchange will once again reside on Level 6 at the Museum of
Contemporary Art Australia with 23 days of stimulating talks and skill sharpening workshops
including future-facing industry forums, deep-dive conferences, panels and showcases
where we brighten up your perspectives and challenge your ideas.

VIVID MUSIC

Vivid Sydney spotlights the city’s live music culture by both bringing in influential overseas
acts and placing a firm focus on local talent, this year’s line-up is set to impress.

Dynamic electronic act RÜFÜS DU SOL and genre-bending popstar FKA Twigs headline
this year’s Carriageworks program while the warehouse party of the year, Curve Ball
curated by Fuzzy Events returns featuring Hayden James, Touch Sensitive and Mallrat.

The City Recital Hall presents four musically diverse highlights including Australian music
legend Paul Kelly and leading Australian composer James Ledger performing thirteen new
songs and soundscapes inspired by birds, pop-darling Kate Miller-Heidke, internationally
acclaimed pianists ZOFO and Concertos on Fire.

Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House celebrates artists at the cutting edge of their genre
and visionaries who create on their own terms. British alternative rock pioneers The Cure
mark the 30th anniversary of their landmark album Disintegration with four sold-out Australian
exclusive performances. Their compatriots, UK electronic titans Underworld are set to
transform the Concert Hall into a euphoric dance floor with four exclusive shows, while rising
American synth-pop star Maggie Rogers makes her Sydney Opera House debut bringing
her singular fusion of melodic folk and percussive beats to showcase her incredible new
record, Heard It in a Past Life. Acclaimed singer songwriter Sharon Van Etten also sails in
for an electrifying one-night-only performance and legendary jazz ground-breaker Herbie
Hancock’s only Sydney show will be unmissable.

2019 marks X|Celerate’s third big year and partnership between the City of Sydney and
Destination NSW supporting the ongoing growth of Sydney’s thriving music scene. 23 inner
city venues including a hair salon, church and brewery showcase emerging grassroots acts
across every imaginable genre, with acts like The Catholics, Set Mo, Carlotta and I Know
Leopard, while Heaps Gay returns for the Qweens Ball at the Sydney Town Hall.

Vivid Art After Hours returns to the Art Gallery of NSW with the fused Vivid Ideas and
Music program on Wednesday evenings. Catch Andrew Bukenya’s Do the Spike Thing,
OKENYO taking a sonic deep dive into the human condition and JZ Lunar Capsule
presenting an Astronaut’s Playlist celebrating the music of space travellers as imagined by
the Apollo 11 astronauts 50 years ago.

VIVID SYDNEY SPONSORS

Vivid Sydney thanks its sponsors for their support of Vivid Sydney 2019.

American Express returns as partner for the third consecutive year with the American
Express Lounge at Cruise Bar as well as supporting the Vivid Sydney Volunteer Program.
Samsung Electronics Australia and official energy partner TransGrid also return as partners
with Pixar Animation Studios joining as partner for the first time.

Supporters include City of Sydney, Sydney Opera House, Technical Direction Company and
32 Hundred Lighting, Property NSW and ICC Sydney.

For the third year, Vivid Sydney’s Access and Inclusion Partner is Cushman & Wakefield and
the festival continues its sustainability partnership with the Banksia Foundation and Informed
365.

Vivid Sydney’s collaborators include Art Gallery of NSW, Australian Museum, BEMO,
Carriageworks, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Event Engineering, Kennards Hire,
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, PropMill,
Spinifex Group, State Library NSW.

The official charity party is the Royal Flying Doctor Service, South Eastern Section.

The full 2019 Vivid Sydney media kit, program announcement and high-res imagery
including 2019 Vivid Sydney light renders and broadcast quality video footage of 2018
festival highlights, are available to download at www.vividsydney.com/media-centre

Media Enquiries

Nathan McIlroy, The Mint Partners
0421 668 440

Jo Hocking, Destination NSW
0429 507 328