Previous Exhibitions
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TOHOKU, JAPAN. Exhibition Space - Level 2 This exhibition shows the impact of the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami on the Tohoku region of Japan and the region’s large efforts to rebuild. It includes images of the devastation that coastal communities in eastern Tohoku suffered and the people who came to assist the affected areas with rescue and rebuilding efforts. A selection of photos also illustrate some of the region’s attractions which have long been a source of pride for the area. It is hoped that visitors to the exhibition will see the strength of the people as they work to rebuild their region for a better tomorrow. For more information see www.sydney.au.emb-japan.go.jp. Image: Dandelions flower from cracks in the mud that lies everywhere
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ReKindling Venus: In Plain Sight Ground Floor Shown worldwide, Australian artist Lynette Wallworth’s interactive video environments lead visitors to transcend the everyday and connect with universal themes, showing how we are connected to one another and to nature. This work invites you to join a global network of people connecting to the plight of coral ecosystems around the world. Opening a virtual porthole to coral reefs and connected to real-time data, ReKindling Venus is an ongoing project that culminates with the next Transit of Venus in June, 2012. This exhibition is part of a broader public art program, We Make This City, initiated by the City of Sydney and curated by UNSW College of Fine Arts (COFA). For more information see www.rekindlingvenus.com or www.cityartsydney.com.au. This exhibition will now finish in early April. Image: Lynette Wallworth
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Dragon to Dragon Ground Floor, & Exhibition Space - Level 2 The City of Sydney Chinese New Year (CNY) Parade has crept into Sydney’s heart, and is now the second largest CNY parade outside of China. As part of the Sydney Chinese New Year Festival each year the parade produces spectacular performances, where artists from various provinces in China and the Sydney community share and celebrate the remarkable culture. Image: Sharon Hickey
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CONNECTIONS Brazil-Australia exhibition Exhibition Space, Level 2 CONNECTIONS Brazil-Australia is an exhibition of art, photography, drawings, maps and artefacts. Brazil is well known for football, beaches and samba but did you know that Brazil and Australia share historical links from a time when they were joined by the ancient Gondwana supercontinent? This exhibition takes us on a journey from ancient times to the present day to experience varied connections between Australia and Brazil moving towards a shared environmentally sound future. Special Event - To celebrate the exhibition opening on 25 November you are invited to a Music in the Museum event, a performance by a trio of Brazilian classical musicians - João Carlos Assis Brasil, Paulo Pedrassoli and Karla Bach - featuring the music of Villa-Lobos and Gonzada. This concert will see Music in the Museum in Australia for the first time! Image: Film Projects
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Open Agenda 2011 exhibition Exhibition & Library Lounge, Level 1 The winners results of the Open Agenda 2011, Research Architecture, competition will be on exhibition at Customs House as part of the launch of the Sydney Architecture Festival. An initiative of UTS, Open Agenda is an annual competition aimed at supporting a new generation of experimental architecture. Open to recent graduates, this national competition is focused on developing the possibilities of design research in architecture and the built environment. For further information see www.utsarchitecture.net/openagenda. Image: UTS |
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Curating Cities: Sydney-Copenhagen exhibition Presented by National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA), COFA, UNSW Ground Floor This exhibition highlights the fundamentals of sustainability: carbon reduction, consumption, and food production. It launches a 5-year research project, founded on the idea of deploying art and design to curate (literally 'care for') the city. It focuses on the use of creative strategies to meet the challenges of making eco-sustainable urban environments. Curating Cities: Sydney-Copenhagen will feature the works of Co2penhagen, DUL, Haque Design + Research, Natalie Jeremijenko and Superflex, and coincides with the campaign to promote Danish green energy technology - State of Green. Curating Cities Conference 22 November - for further information see www.curatingcities.org. Image: Haque Design+Research, Natural Fuse, 2008
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Monolithic photography exhibition Exhibition Space, Level 2 As part of his travels after having received a Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship, Marcus Trimble’s exhibition Monolithic features drawings, plaster models and large scale photographs of the monolithic structures he visited in 2010 including The Luxor Pyramid, Monument Valley Butte, Donald Judd untitled work in Concrete, The Luxor Pyramid, Las Vegas, The monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Bruder Klaus Chapel, The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and The Great Pyramid of Giza. Image: SAF
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STREET WORKS exhibition Ground Floor - 30th September to 11 November 2011 STREET WORKS is a competition to create temporary installations that transform public spaces into vibrant places. Five installations selected by the STREET WORKS design jury from submissions by architects, artists and designers around the world are being launched in Sydney as part of SAF in October for a period of up to three months. One of the selected installations will feature at Customs House Square, and an exhibition of all entries is hosted on the ground floor of Customs House. Vote for your favourite transformed space by filling in the STREET WORKS postcard at Customs House! Special Event Meet the STREET WORKS designers at Customs House - 22 October, 12pm. For more information see www.streetworks.org.au. Image: AILA
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Pappi-flung installation Atrium, Ground Floor This exhibition is inspired by a flower structure known as ‘pappus’. Like a dandelion it’s feathery bristles making up parachute formations that break free and drift unencumbered in the wind. This idea has been realised by suspended umbrellas in the Customs House atrium by multiple ropes. Recycled umbrellas have been stripped back of their membrane and entwined with white rope from their ribs to their crook handle, creating a parachute form. Further rope is wrapped around the atrium columns creating a 3D sculptural piece. By day experience the shifting shadows created by the installation, and by night watch it come alive in vibrant glowing colours! Image: City of Sydney
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NSW Students & Graduate Awards 2011 exhibition Media Wall, Ground Floor The NSW Students and Graduate Awards will be featured at Customs House during SAF. A video display of the student works will be shown during the 10-day celebration of architecture. The Awards include the highly coveted Australian Institute of Architects NSW Design Medals for Masters of Architecture and Bachelor of Architecture prizes, Structural Excellence in Architecture Prize, the new Digital Innovation in Architecture Prize, and the NSW Architects Registration Board’s Architects Medallion. Image: SAF
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The Analogue Crusader exhibition Media Wall, Ground Floor The Analogue Crusader is a short animation that tells the story of Alex, a roving poetry and story collector who has spent his life traversing the globe in search of the perfect poem. The landscape of The Analogue Crusader is made out of poems composed by the participants in the Stacks poetry workshops run in City of Sydney libraries in 2011. Featured poets include Judith Bishop, Eileen Chong, Toby Fitch and Andy Quan. For more information see www.redroomcompany.org. Image: The Red Room Company
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Awards exhibition Exhibition Space, Level 2 Customs House Library present Awards, a photographic exhibition showcasing a selection of award winning projects and buildings of the City of Sydney. The awards cover the period 2007 to 2011, and include Surry Hills Library and Community Centre, Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Sydney Town Hall, Pirrama Park Pyrmont, Redfern Park and Oval, Sydney Park Amenities and Playground, Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre and St Johns Church Glebe. For further information see www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au. |
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Contested Landscapes gallery Customs House Square forecourt Art meets science at Customs House Square during Art & About 2011. Curated by Leo Robba and produced by Anthony Papp, this unique exhibition showcases artistic responses to the science informing current debates on topics such as water, land usage, urban development, transport and food security. This outdoor gallery will show work by artists such as Reg Mombassa, Robert Guth and Leo Robba. For more information please see www.artandabout.com.au. Image: Leo Robba |
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Off the Page - Poetic Text as Public Art exhibition Library & Exhibition Lounge, Level 1 As part of Art & About 2011, Customs House will showcase a selection of work from local artist, poet and academic, Richard Tipping. He explores the physical qualities of written language, making art with words and getting poetry off the page and into the streets. Tipping describes his art-poems as "a hybrid, made between word and image, between text and context, between verbal graphics and signs, a mix of poetry and art". He has published five books of poetry and held over twenty solo exhibitions in Australia, Europe and the USA. Image: courtesy of the artist
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Emergency Shelter exhibition Customs House Square - 1 to 3 September 2011 In response to Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Australian and international architects create an exhibition highlighting the need for simple emergency shelters in disaster zones and the role the design and construction industry plays. This exhibition proposes shelters that could not only protect people from the elements but also provide a space of safety and comfort, fundamental to the recovery process. Customs House Square will exhibit nine emergency shelters designed, while Customs House ground floor will display models, further information and a selection of shelter proposals. Image: Emergency Shelter Australia
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A Dalai Lama Portrait photography exhibition Red Room, Ground Floor It was during the Dalai Lama’s visit to Australia in 2007 that he agreed to a private photographic portrait sitting for the first time in many years. David Roberts was the photographer given this amazing opportunity. To celebrate the Dalia Lama’s upcoming visit to Australia on 9–20 June, Customs House will be showing this exhibition in the Red Room on the ground floor. This is an opportunity to experience a private audience with the Dalai Lama surrounded by six large-scale, beautifully printed black and white portraits of one of the great spiritual leaders of our time and a man who has had enormous influence throughout the world in his advocacy for Peace. To view Roberts' work click here. Image: David Roberts
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Ice Bear Project sculpture Customs House Square, Forecourt It has been to Copenhagen, London and Toronto, now it's Sydney’s turn to host the Ice Bear Project. Renowned British sculptor Mark Coreth’s bronze and ice sculpture of a life-sized polar bear will make it's debut in Sydney as part of World Environment Day in a free public event on 5 June. The Project raises awareness of the need for action on climate change and the plight of the polar bear, an endangered species with a habitat diminishing due to ice melt in the Arctic Circle. Over several days the ice sculpture will melt to reveal the bronze polar bear skeleton. The public is invited to touch the ice sculpture, becoming part of the sculpting process and bringing attention to the impact of humans on climate change. Various activities will be held during the exhibition period, so come down and get involved! To view the SMH Ice Bear timelapse click here. To view a panorama of the Ice Bear click here. For more information visit www.sydneyicebear.com. Info booths will also be situated on the square. Follow Ice Bear on facebook and enter the Sydney Ice Bear Competition. Image: City of Sydney
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Galapagos photography exhibition Ground Level & Level 2 Currently living in New York, Chauvin began his photographic career early. At 17 he won his first National Prize in Ecuador. He has worked as an international fashion photographer, taken on architectural assignments, has taught at the International Center of Photography in New York and the Pobre Diablo gallery in Quito, and has had work published in the United States and Ecuador. This exhibition showcases Chauvin’s work in the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador. He reveals “…in my many trips to the Galápagos, I became fascinated with the landscape itself, the raw beauty and almost surreal surroundings that these animals call home… The Galápagos is a harsh and unforgiving environment that at the same time forms a paradise for many species of birds and wildlife; it is this seeming contradiction that forms the body of my work.” Image: Fernando Espinosa Chauvin
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Out of the Comfort Zone art exhibition Ground Floor As part of Art Month Sydney, 15 leading artists go out of the comfort zone to bring kids in from the margins. Out of the Comfort Zone is an innovative bi-annual art fundraiser by Virginia Wilson of Virginia Wilson Art , this year supporting Midnight Basketball. Artists from around Australia have been asked to submit a work that takes them out of their comfort zone. Painters are producing sculptures, textile works and ceramics, sculptors are drawing for us, others are doing a video work. While the primary objective is to raise funds for Midnight Basketball, the exhibition has enabled the creation of some remarkable works of art that add to the artists’ oeuvre. Artists include Lionel Bawden, Del Kathryn Barton, Ah Xian, like Bawden, Sarah Smuts Kennedy, Nell, Ben Quilty, Tim Maguire, Sam Leach, Susan Norrie, Mitch Cairns, Michael Zavros, Sodajerk, Kathy Temin and Tim Moore. The works will be sold during the period of exhibition at Customs House. To view article by Owen Craven click here. Image: courtesy of Out of the Comfort Zone
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Eye of the Dream: Video Art from China exhibition Digital Media Wall - Ground Floor Eye of the Dream presents video works by five Chinese contemporary artists - Cao Fei, Wang Qingsong, Yang Guangnan, Pei Li, and Wu Junyong. The works are arranged in a continuous 40 minute program over the Digital Media Wall. Today video is thriving among China's artists. The five artists in this exhibition have very different things to say, but each shows a fascination with what a moving image can do and a message from China's newest voices. Image: Cao Fei
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Hubei - Home of Wonders exhibition Red Room - Ground Floor, & Level 2 As part of Hubei China's participation in City of Sydney's Chinese New Year 2011 Festival, Hubei - Home of Wonders exhibition showcases the region's highlights including it's amazing forests, canyons, lakes, culture, and monuments that take us to the beginning of Chinese civilisation. Image: Hubei Tourism |
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Open Agenda exhibition Exhibition & Library Lounge, Level 1 The works exhibited are the winning entrants for the inaugural Open Agenda competition. The intention of the competition is to create a tension between three points of view, while acknowledging the breadth of issues in contemporary architecture and the value of different approaches to design research. The 2010 Open Agenda cohort address issues of representation, materiality and fabrication, and contemporary urban planning and computation, and offer a bold critique of the others. Image: UTS |
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Knockout – Grassroots Aboriginal Rugby League in NSW exhibition Exhibition Space, Level 2 Photographic works by Amanda James, photo-documentary artist, who was awarded the Highly Commended Prize by Sydney Life - Art & About Festival 2009. These images were taken during the 2004 to 2010 Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnivals held in Sydney, Tweed Head and Woy Woy NSW. The Carnival, now in its 40th year, gathers men, women and children from over 60 different Aboriginal language groups to take part. Initially established to recognise Aboriginal sportsmanship, over the decades the Carnival has become an important way to unify people within the communities. Image: courtesy of the artist
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Lights for the Blind exhibition Digital Media Wall & Red Room, Ground Level Braille signage has been revolutionized thanks to innovative Sydney engineer Rob Caslick. When Caslick discovered that 90% of people diagnosed as blind could sense light, he began to wonder at the value of lights for the blind. By designing out of this conundrum, he created a new form of signage using LED’s to write the braille language. Caslick’s Lights for the Blind is a pioneering application of LED’s for braille signage. The exhibition will feature 16 panels of LED braille quotes about light and the experience of blindness. It will be a visual and sensorial treat that is expected to stimulate engagement with the blind community and raise awareness among sighted people of the challenges that blind people face on an everyday basis. Image: courtesy of the artist |
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IDEA10 exhibition Red Room, Ground Level The Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) showcase the best of Australian design. First held in 2001, the prestigious awards program receives hundreds of submissions from across Australia each year and is recognised by the design community as the country's pre-eminent design awards program. IDEA promotes and rewards recent work in interior design and product design across 14 different categories, as well as recognising emerging young talent and designers whose work demonstrates exemplary sustainable objectives. Shortlisted entries are published in (inside) magazine throughout the year, and the winners are announced at the IDEA gala and exhibited at Customs House again this year. Image: Niche Media |
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The Shape of Things To Come – Sydney in the Year 2030 exhibition Digital Media Wall & City Model, Ground Level, & Exhibition Space, Level 2 The year is 2030, and the city’s population has just exceeded 6 million. The metro carriages are due for replacement, Central Park’s tri-generation plant is operational and the new broadband network is reaching peak speeds of 9 gigabytes per second. Using recent projects by architecture students from UNSW, UTS and the University of Sydney, along with key visions included in City of Sydney's Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan, we follow in the footsteps of imaginary city dwellers as they explore Sydney in 2030 through a variety of graphic and video media. Image: Mark Szczerbicki |
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Ch4 Competition installation Customs House Square forecourt The first of its kind in Sydney, this contemporary installation is a showcase of student architecture giving them an opportunity to design and construct a temporary pavilion in the forecourt of Customs House for the Sydney Architecture Festival 2010. The focus for the competition has been an exploration of recycled materials and their transformation into exciting new event spaces. Click here for a panorama by Peter Murphy. Image: Peter Murphy |
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From Form to Formless exhibition Digital Media Wall & Red Room, Ground Level Please note, Media Wall exhibition now ended. This exhibition explores modern architecture and design spanning the last five decades. It is a review of works by Australian designers at the forefront of 3D spatial exploration. The work of five generations celebrates the advent of space travel, science fiction and the study of dynamic systems and advancing technological capacity in the last 50 years. The designers have taken the geometrical discoveries of scientists and interpreted them ambitiously, expressing the aspiration of these technologies to create endless spaces, unknown boundaries and a sense of the infinite, melding science fiction and reality. To view essay by Dr Anuradha Chatterjee click here. Image: Patrick Keane |
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World Expo Shanghai 2010 exhibition Exhibition Space, Level 2 Coinciding with the moon festival, Customs House will hold an exhibition of the World Expo Shanghai 2010. The Shanghai World Expo is the largest event of its kind in history, with 192 countries and 50 international organisations participating. Held between 1 May and 31 October 2010, the expo will have attracted over 80 million visitors from inland and abroad. Themed Better City, Better Life, the World Expo Shanghai 2010 conveys a common wish of mankind for a better future and urban life. This exhibition will present a series of photographs, showcasing the expo and the vibrant cultural epicentre that it has become. Image: courtesy of The Chinese Consulate |
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Sydney’s Italian Fruit Shops -The Original Green Grocer - photographic exhibition Library & Exhibition Lounge, Level 1 Reminisce and celebrate the cultural and historic contribution made by Italian fruiterers to Sydney at the Sydney's Italian Fruit Shops exhibition, leaving a lasting record and legacy for present and future generations. Photographs of smiling fruiterer families eager to present a picture of respectability, family unity and migrant success, belie the 18-hour days, physical labour, and social sacrifices that had to be made for their ‘shop full of dreams’ to succeed. These shops changed Australian eating habits and made a tangible impact on the cultural landscape of our streets and suburbs. To view a clip about the exhibition click here. Image: Co.As.It. |
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Small Worlds exhibition Digital Media Wall, Ground Floor Sydney-based short film maker and photographer, Keith Loutit is known globally for his Bathtub series of short films, that present Sydney and its surrounds in miniature. His scaled down and sped up realities challenge people's perceptions of scale, helping them to distance themselves from places they know well, and see the ordinary as being worthy of their attention. The photographs and short films were made in places probably not too unlike where you live. Combining a variety of techniques, Loutit aims to encourage people take a second look at places that are familiar to them, showcasing ‘the little things in life’. His latest short film work Small Worlds continues this theme, with it’s international debut at Sydney’s Customs House. Small Worlds will feature on the Digital Media Wall on the ground floor. Image: courtesy of the artist
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Barangaroo South exhibition Red Room, Ground Level Presented by Lend Lease, Customs House will be showcasing the concepts for the Barangaroo South development to the general public. The exhibition will be held in the Red Room on the ground floor of Customs House, and will include models, fly through film clips and a feedback kiosk. It is free and accessible to the general public. Image: Barangaroo Delivery Authority |
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Endangered photography exhibition Red Room, Ground Floor Endangered, an exhibition by Australian world-class photographer Gary Heery will be held in the Red Room of Customs House from 29 April. This exhibition has been brought together from images in Heery’s ZOO photographic collection, which is also part of this year’s photographic Head On Festival. The exhibition is a magnificent visual celebration of the extraordinary animals with which we share our planet in a collection of classic and poignant animal portraits, taken at Taronga and Western Plains Zoos. His magnificent animal images capture a delightful empathy with and understanding of wildlife, including endangered species. Heery has worked extensively as a photographer through Australia, North Africa, Europe, and North America. In 1975, Gary co-founded Indian America, a magazine which chronicled Native American society and culture. During his time in the United States, he worked photographing record covers for artists including Frank Zappa and Madonna, and his portraits of artists and stars such as Andy Warhol and Jack Nicholson appeared in magazines including Life, and Rolling Stone. Image: courtesy of the artist
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Stephen Wiltshire drawing exhibition Library & Exhibition Lounge, Level 1 April is Autism Month and Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) are holding some events during April including Customs House hosting the headline event of the month with an exhibition on level 1 by Stephen Wiltshire. Internationally acclaimed UK artist and autistic savant Stephen Wiltshire will be creating an artwork of Sydney on a canvass live at Customs House, level 1 - click here to view Stephen Wiltshire undertaking his work live on the web. The event will be open to the general public and is sure to engage many onlookers during his Sydney visit. A selection of Wiltshire’s drawings will also be exhibited in the Library & Exhibition Lounge, level 1. Due to popular demand, the exhibition has now been extended to 16 May. (This exhibition was previously on the ground level.) Wiltshire is an artist who draws and paints detailed cityscapes. He has a particular talent for drawing lifelike, accurate representations of cities, sometimes from memory after having only observed them briefly. This exhibition follows a long line of Wiltshire’s exhibitions across the world in the last five years, where he has drawn cities including Rome, Hong Kong, Moscow, Dubai and New York. If you would like to bring a group of 10 or more let Aspect know by emailing fundraising@autismspectrum.org.au. As part of Autism Month, there will also be a conference held and Autism Hour, aimed at raising the awareness of autism. For further details on all events see www.autismspectrum.org.au. To view a panorama of Wiltshire at Customs House click here, by Peter Murphy. Images: Customs House Management, Aspect
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Giant Digital Origami Tigers - 2010 Chinese New Year installation Customs House Square, Forecourt This installation is inspired by traditional Chinese lantern-making methods and zhezhi - the art of paper folding - more popularly known as origami. Developed with cutting-edge design and the latest in fabrication technology, this spectacular installation combines tradition with innovation, bringing East and West together. The lantern sculptures were initiated by Customs House as part of an ongoing exhibition installation program driven by world-class practitioners in the field of architecture and design. These tigers mark the Chinese lunar calendar Year of the Metal Tiger, and help to raise awareness about the endangered status of these magnificent animals. The installation was designed by the multinational architectural practice Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA). Made from an aluminium wire frame with a stretched Barrisol membrane, the sculptures sit 2.5 metres high, 8.5 metres long, and each weigh less than 150 kgs. They are illuminated at night by pulsating energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly LED lights. Win a Digital Origami Tiger designed by LAVA! To view Indesign interview with Chris Bosse click here Image: Peter Murphy |
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ModelCity time-lapse and 3D lenticular exhibition Red Room & Media Wall, Ground Level, and Exhibition Space, Level 2 Sydney photographer Peter Murphy has produced a series of novel kinds of stereoscopic multimedia pieces and panoramic time-lapse videos for his exhibition ModelCity. His latest work exploits breakthrough hardware and software technologies in the areas of auto-stereoscopic (no-glasses-required 3D) image capture and display, and panoramic video stitching and warping. At the same time there is a sense of the city as a toyland. On the Media Wall, Murphy shows a series of 360 degree time-lapse videos of Sydney CBD scenes in a circular ‘little planet’ perspective. These views paradoxically provide a simultaneous experience of god-like overview and immersive panoramic immediacy. In the Red Room, Murphy uses a large 3D screen to show a hologram-like slideshow of Sydney and the City Model, a series of large 3D lenticular prints emphasising the built environment, and an interactive kiosk where users can navigate time-lapse videos. To view Peter Murphy's images click here. Image: Peter Murphy |
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IDEA09 exhibition & lounge Red Room, Ground Level As part of Idea Week 2009, an exhibition of all 275 shortlisted entries into the IDEA09 interior design excellence awards will be on display at Customs House. The exhibition will include background and past winners of Australia’s most prestigious interior design awards, as well as a temporary exhibition lounge specifically created for Customs House. Image: Niche Media |
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NOCTURNAL photography exhibition Library & Exhibition Lounge, Level 1 In this series Peter Solness seeks out an essence of place in every photograph - whether virgin Australian bushland or the stone skin of the land. Each image is shot within 50km of the Sydney CBD, demonstrating how closely we dwell to such a powerful natural landscape. Intricate bushland scrub, towering and sensuous trees, gentle waterfalls, the ocean and Indigenous rock art paintings, are all treated with great passion and respect with Solness' camera. By making the artistic choice to light each vista, he reinvents each scene before him, adding a dream-like nocturnal beauty to every photograph. Yet despite their photographic purity and lack of manipulation, there remains something painterly in this photographer’s approach. Light doesn’t reflect, so much as emit from each subject, in ways that are similar to Surrealist painters such as Paul Delvaux. Image: courtesy of the artist |
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Remodelling Architecture: Architectural Places - Digital Spaces Exhibition Space, Level 2 Five years after the first Australian Architecture Association (AAA) Young Architects exhibition at Customs House, curator Gerard Reinmuth revisits this theme but with a focus on Sydney practitioners exploring the potential for digital technology in architecture and urban design practice and installations. Image: Australian Architecture Association
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Testing Reality: The Architect and the Model Red Room & Media Wall, Ground Level The exhibition explores the changing role of the model in today’s architectural practice. The focus of the presented material is shifted from the usual static display of abstract objects to an interactive exploration of the processes, techniques, materials and people involved in the creation of architectural models. A modernist building designed in the late 1940’s by the iconic Australian architect Harry Seidler – the Marcus Seidler House – becomes the focus of a series of architectural models produced especially for the exhibition. The exhibition is supplemented by insights into the behind-the-scenes design process of some of Europe’s leading offices. Images and movies of the work of Jean Nouvel, Bolles+Wilson, EMBT and Delugan Meissl among others reinforce the importance of the model in today’s globalised digital environment. Image: Mark Szczerbicki |
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Ulterior Motives exhibition Exhibition Space, Level 1 University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) architecture students propose a sustainable future for the Ultimo Precinct. With it's significant educational, cultural and media institutions the precinct of Ultimo is a strategic location for growing Sydney’s ‘innovative capacity’ and creative economy. This exhibition by architecture students from the UTS Master of Architecture program suggests that Ultimo could be transformed into a vibrant and sustainable place for tourists and the local student, residential and business communities alike. Image: UTS
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ATTLA (snow that makes beautiful pictures as it falls) exhibition Ground Level & Exhibition Space, Level 2 Dr Lisa Anderson spent six weeks in the High Arctic in 2007 as artist in residence on a Russian ice breaker. The work explores the hard edges of climate change in the High Arctic and disappearing landscapes of these isolated and extraordinary places. This multi-layered exhibition includes iceberg sculptures over the City Model glass floor, images, video and sound works to highlight concerns and increase understanding about what changing weather patterns can mean both to our own community, as well as fragile environments such as the Arctic. Image courtesy of the artist.
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Michael Jackson: Prodigy to Superstar exhibition Red Room, Ground Level This special commemorative exhibition, held on what would have been Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday, celebrates the life of one of the most popular recording artists of all time. It features photographs at once thrilling, enthralling and poignant, all drawn from TIME Magazine’s superb tribute edition. The show also includes a multi-media presentation featuring images and quotes compiled by TIME magazine. Image: TIME Magazine |
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Transclimatic exhibition Red Room & Digital Media Wall, Ground Level The Transclimatic exhibition at Customs House is part of the Sydney Design 2009 festival, the 13th year of this international festival involving more than 70 events. Transclimatic explores how climate change has altered the way we design and live, and demonstrates how climate change drives us to address new objectives. Image: NOX Cloud Iron Museum
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The Burning Season exhibition Digital Media Wall - Ground Level, Exhibition Lounge - Level 1, & Exhibition Space - Level 2 19 June – 26 July 2009 Orangutans are gracing the walls of Customs House as part of an exhibition that highlights the destruction of their natural habitat in Indonesia. The multimedia exhibition coincides with the release of The Burning Season, an Australian film about the deliberate lighting of fires across Indonesia which destroys pristine rainforest, endangers orangutans and contributes to climate change. Customs House is screening unseen footage from the Nyaru Menteng orangutan centre in Borneo which rescues, cares and rehabilitates traumatized orangutans for release back into the wild. The exhibition also displays many compelling images of orangutans featured in the film. The Burning Season will be screened at the Dendy Cinema Newtown from Thursday 9th July, with a special session at Dendy Opera Quays on 24 July. Further information about orangutans can be found through the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS). To view the 10 things that you can do to make a difference click on www.tenthingsyoucando.com. To see some monkeying-around click here! Images: Hatchling Productions
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Smart Light Sydney @ Customs House Customs House Square & Red Room, Ground Level Smart Light Sydney is a major part of Vivid Sydney, a festival of music, light and ideas. The highlight of Smart Light Sydney will be a free nightly Light Walk, showcasing beautiful and dynamic light art sculptures using innovative, smart technology on a self-guided walk around Sydney’s iconic harbour front precincts including Customs House. Light sculptures - Lumenocity and Doves that Cry - and installation Green Void feature at Customs House. Lumenocity is an abstract installation, which the public can walk through and explore at Customs House Square forecourt, illustrating energy consumption in the Sydney CBD. The colour of the cubes, illuminating in the evening, making up the miniature city correlate to the amount of energy consumed and light pollution emitted by each city block. Designed by Sean Bryen, Sascha Crocker and Andrew Daly. Doves that Cry - Created by Mary-Anne Kyriakou and Joe Snell, this installation uses the ephemeral qualities of light and sound. Suspended white LED lit vessels glow as a beautiful gloss black piano is played in the Red Room, ground level of Customs House. Smart Light Fields - A live mapping of festival movement will also feature at Customs House and at Anarchi.Org. Eight nodes along the path are tracking Bluetooth signals, and feeding the entire festival activity into a central graphical visualisation of minute-by-minute fluctuations. By Joanne Jakovich and Jason McDermott in collaboration with Metropolis Connecting Cities. The Vivid Sydney Hub at Customs House will also host various Smart Light Symposia events, exploring the future of lighting design and innovation. Find out more here. And the Vivid Sydney information and merchandising marquee is located at Customs House Square. Images: Peter Murphy |
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Green Void Atrium, Ground Level A futuristic yet organic structure is the result of the latest collaboration between the progressive architecture think tank Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) and architectural structures creator MakMax Australia. It is derived from nature, realized in lightweight fabric, and uses the latest digital fabrication and engineering techniques. There is 3,000 cubic meters of space connected with a minimal surface area of 300 square metres, and only 40 kilograms of material! The work illustrates how past and present co-exist and provides an intense visual contrast to the beautifully restored heritage interior. The five “funnels” of the sculpture reach out and connect the different levels of Customs House. The installation floats above the City Model on the ground floor, to the backdrop of a digital rainforest soundscape by David Chesworth. The Digital Media Wall on the ground floor will display the making of the installation and international projects by LAVA, during some of the exhibition period. A new technology autostereoscopic display plays 3D Green Void visuals, without the need for 3D glasses! To view 360 degree panorama by Peter Murphy click here. To view essay by Matteo Cainer click here. To view essay by Dr Anuradha Chatterjee click here. Image: Peter Murphy
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Invisibility Exhibition Space, Level 1 Image courtesy of the artist. |
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Luis Bunuel: Amigos y Peliculas (Friends and Films) Red Room & Digital Media Wall - Ground Level, & Exhibition Space - Level 2 On the 25th anniversary of his death, the Spanish Film Festival 2009 in Australia pays tribute to Luis Buñuel, recognised as the founder of surrealist cinema, with a selection of photographs, posters, letters and moving images from the Centro Buñuel de Calanda in Spain. The photographs on level 2 show the importance of his friends, including the renowned visual artist Salvador Dali, and their commitment to surrealism, as well as his career milestones (awards at the Cannes Film Festival for Los Olvidados and the Venice Film Festival for Belle de Jour). The posters in the Red Room focus on the little-known Mexican phase of his career, during his exile; while the audio-visual component over the Media Wall provides a fascinating overview of some his most important films such as Un Chien Andalou, Nazarin, and Viridiana. To view related media articles click here. Image: Spanish Film Festival
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Spirit Digital Media Wall, Ground Level Spirit depicts one man’s journey of the spirit rising. This digital installation is based on an urban corroboree that took place at Customs House in September 2008, when everyday Australians came to participate in a modern ritual symbolic of a greater collective - awakening the hope for a multicultural spirit akin to a human Noah’s Ark. This installation builds on the vision of Customs House as a gateway to information, ideas and inspiration by engaging all who see it to consider where do we go next after Sorry Day? Stills by Tania Lambert from the Spirit installation will be exhibited at Customs House Exhibition Space, Level 2. Image courtesy of the artist.
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A selection from The Regal Twelve Red Room, Ground Level Six images especially selected for Customs House by the artist from her critically-acclaimed The Regal Twelve series feature formidable female monarchs throughout history. Alexia Sinclair meticulously constructs each artwork by combining photographs and illustrations through digital montage. Photographing authentic palaces and ruins, and period-inspired costume and makeup results in a fantastical reflection on the symbolism of power, beauty, and contemporary visual style. To view related media articles click here. Image courtesy of the artist. |
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Emergency Architects Australia Exhibition Space, Level 2 Emergency Architects Australia is a 'not-for-profit' organization, working with professional volunteers, immediately after man-made or natural disasters, providing rapid assessment and sustainable reconstruction to communities which ask for assistance. They have provided assistance to communities in Sigli, Aceh, Java, Mutur in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and are now assisting with both the shelter and school reconstruction programs in the Western Solomon Islands after the Tsunami/earthquake of 2007. This new exhibition covers this work in the Solomon Islands. To view related media articles click here. Graphics courtesy of EA. |
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Global Studio Exhibition Space, Level 2 Global Studio seeks to prepare design and planning professionals to help address the challenges of inclusive and sustainable urbanisation, which also includes emergencies. Global Studio is an international, multi disciplinary program, and is informed by the Millennium Development Goals, especially ‘ensure environmental sustainability’ and the target ‘improve the lives of slum dwellers’. Four years of Global Studio will be profiled through Istanbul, Vancouver, and Johannesburg. Graphics courtesy of Global Studio.
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D_City Media Wall, Ground Level
Atrium, Ground Level To coincide with the D.City conference which proposes a new global network to coordinate data modelling researchers to accelerate solutions for eco-cities, an exciting multi-media installation will be screened over the media wall. D_City is an emerging global online network connecting advanced academic researchers across many disciplines to predict and pre-test simulations for future urban environments. Timed to coincide with the Metropolis “Connecting Cities” conference in Sydney from 22-25 October 2008. |
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Encounters Through Flowers: Hana Installation Atrium, Ground Level Dedicated to the values of harmony and perfection associated with nature, master florist Setsuko Yanagisawa's work expresses a contemporary marriage between the exquisitely refined traditions of Japanese floral art and the vibrant textures and colours of Terra Australis: a synthesis of east and west, man and nature, and the tradition in pleasing company of the new - a delight to the senses. The floral installation will be dramatically displayed over the City model glass floor.
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Bruce Rickard & the Sydney House: Customs House, level 2 FREE ADMISSION Presented in partnership with the Australian Architecture Association and part of the 2008 Sydney Architecture Festival, Bruce Rickard’s work is presented as the precursor and inspiration of many architectural strategies which are considered as essential components of the classic Sydney house. |
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Beijing Iconic Olympic Architecture Atrium and Media Wall, Ground Level
Customs House, Level 1 The Birds Nest and Watercube models of iconic architecture from the recently-concluded Beijing Olympics by the world-renowned engineering team at ARUPS and leading Australian architect Chris Bosse are on display over the City model. Featuring architectural models of two iconic buildings from the recently-concluded 2008 Beijing Olympics – the Olympic Stadium, more popularly known as “The Bird’s Nest” and the Olympic Aquatic Centre (aka “The Water Cube”) and a video narrating the design and construction work involved in creating these spectacular feats of engineering. |
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Crown & Anchor: Sydney’s Interpretation of Heraldry
FREE ADMISSION Crown & Anchor: Sydney’s Interpretation of Heraldry looks at the history and tradition of heraldry’s use for defining the visual identity and authority of government, and shows these symbols as the precursor for civic logos and corporate branding today. The title of the show is taken from the elements of the City of Sydney’s livery – the mural crown denoting the connection to the British monarchy and the ship’s anchor denoting Sydney’s location as a port city. It also features rarely seen objects from the Town Hall collection that bear the heraldic standards. This exhibition is organized by Town Hall curator Margaret Betteridge for the City of Sydney.
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| THE ISLAND OF THE ANCIENTS: PHOTOGRAPHS OF SARDINIA'S CENTENARIANS BY MAYU KANAMORI Customs House Level 2 FREE ADMISSION September 2008 The Island of the Ancients features photographs of Sardinia’s centenarians by the renowned visual artist Mayu Kanamori. Kanamori accompanied her partner, the writer and journalist Ben Hills, to this small island in the middle of the Mediterranean which is populated by the oldest group of people in the world, recording the secrets of longevity of these “anziani” through sensitive and beautiful photographs. The show, which coincides with the launch of Hills’ book of the same title, runs through 28 September, and is curated by Sandy Edwards, curator of Sydney’s Stills Gallery and ArtHere. Artist talk in front of the exhibition on Level 2. To view related media articles click here. Saturday 6 September, 2 pm – Mayu Kanamori. |
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RESILIENT AFRICA: A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY BY CLAUDE HO Ground Floor and Level 2 FREE ADMISSION Customs House presents “Resilient Africa: A Photographic Journey by Claude Ho”. The exhibition, which runs from 6 June to 6 July 2008, features thirty two black and white photographs on Level 2 and four large scale colour photographs on the Ground Floor. Appearing together for the first time in Australia, these works reveal Ho’s ability to create life-affirming images of Africa, picturing hope in the most desperate of situations. Also on exhibit is a video chronicling the work of Friends of Claude Ho in Thyolo Foundation (FOCHTA), an NGO the photographer established in 2003 to support the AIDS orphans in the Thyolo district of Malawi. |
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| POWER OF 10 10 UTS Architecture Students Envision a New Town Hall for Sydney Exhibition curated and designed by Frank Minnaërt Level 1 13 March - 30 June, 2008 FREE ADMISSION Power of 10 is an exhibition of prospective architecture displaying ten cutting edge architectural proposals designed by third-year students from the School of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney. Through a combination of digital displays and 3-D models, their works respond to a hypothetical challenge: to conceive a new Town Hall for Sydney. The projects challenge the relationship between built form and public space in a global approach to design: mixing contemporary architecture and urban landscape. To view related media articles click here.
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STITCHING THE VOID Ground Floor December 2007 - 15 June, 2008 Consisting of 84 red cubes, "Stitching the Void" fills Customs House atrium and digital animations compliment the installation on the media wall. Suspended over five floors, Patrick Keane teamed up with a kitemaker for this complex installation. Made from lightweight kite materials, these flowing cubes offer a multi-dimensional experience. From any viewpoint the piece constantly reconfigures itself, encouraging the passer by to enjoy the piece in motion, an experience some would refer to as 4th dimensional, and the emergence of "non-static architecture." Patrick has been practicing architecture in New York and Bangkok for the past eight years, he recently returned to Sydney after the successful commission of some new projects, and has set up an office in Sydney. He also teaches design studios at Sydney University and is writing a Masters Course on “Contemporary Aesthetics in Digital Architecture” for the College of Fine Arts in Sydney.
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SUSTAINABLE SYDNEY 2030 Ground Floor and Customs House Square Featured on Customs House Square is Alex Komas’s work Silent Escape, a series of trees enclosed by a heavy metal cage and a cluster of tall trees surrounding the installation work. A vertical garden scales the grand entrance of Customs House while indoors the Media Wall screens videos produced by the City of Sydney that showcase the plans. A series of information panels are on display throughout the ground floor, along with decals over the city model glass floor.
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| SYDNEY FUTURE VISIONS An exhibition by the Royal Australian Institute of Architecture (RAIA) Ground Floor and Level 2 Six groups of emerging young architects were chosen as part of the RAIA’s annual conference to create visions of Sydney in the future. This multimedia exhibit focuses on issues such as climate change, urbanisation, wealth inequity and human displacement. The architects provide a range of potential responses to these challenges through engaging digital animations displayed on the media wall on the ground floor and image representations on Level 2. To view related media articles click here. |
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| CHINA DIARIES Ground Floor |
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CHINA DREAMING Level 2 Innovative Australian photographer Olivia Martin-McGuire photographs ordinary people “escaping” from obvious manifestations of China’s economic boom through dreaming. The project provides a re-imagining of the West and a ‘new world’. The show is intertwined with backlit images of people dreaming with other portraits and fantastical images of China’s burgeoning landscape. China Dreaming is a photographic series created during an artist-in-residency in China. |
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SPANNING THE DECADES Level 1 |
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NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA Level 2 27 September - 28 October, 2007 This is the third exhibition by the Australian Architecture Association at Customs House to celebrate World Architecture Day on October 1, 2007. Over the past two years the AAA have revealed the work of over 20 young architects to a wider audience. This year the exhibition reveals the work of a single iconic building by a great Sydney Architect - the National Gallery in Canberra by Col Madigan of Edwards Madigan Torzillo & Briggs. This exhibition showcases the NGA as it was through the photographs of Max Dupain (1980-1) with text by Col Madigan. |
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without frontiers: architecture with consequences Ground Floor - 2 August-1 October, 2007, Level 2 - 2 August - 23 September, 2007
Without Frontiers is an exhibition of drawings, photographs and models illustrating the work of Architects Without Frontiers (Australia). AWF is currently working on 12 projects in 10 countries. Through images, sound and models, this exhibition showcases a diversity of projects. It also tells the remarkable story of three of these projects in detail, the volunteers who work on them, and the communities they are working with. |
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KABUL REVISITED - Images by Eleanor Dearin Level 2 July 3 - 29, 2007 In July a photographic exhibition of images of kabul today was exhibited. Images were taken by curator and artist Eleanor Dearin, who recently was invited to curate an exhibition of contemporary Afghanistanian calligraphic art for the Prince of Wales Turquoise Mountain Foundation, with the exhibition travelling to Beit Al Qur'an Museum in Bahrain. |
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THE SACRED TRACKS OF WARRANE Ground Floor 21 March - July 27, 2007 An interactive lab was displayed on the ground floor of Customs House demonstrating the development of The Sacred Tracks of Warrane. In this virtual world viewers were able to experience a day in traditional Aboriginal life of the Cadigal people that lived in around Sydney Cove before the arrival of the First Fleet. The Sacred Tracks of Warrane exhibition at Customs House presents ‘Virtual Warrane’: a 3D, computer-game–based simulation of Cadigal life, stories and connections with the land, based on the earliest recorded shorelines and landscape. The project showcased the development of the prototype of the project and artistic director Brett Leavy spent time with our audiences explaining the significance of the project and worked with many educational school groups to give them an experience of an alternative reality. |
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DUTCH DECADE Oct 24 - Nov 30, 2006 Dutch Decade is an exhibition of 15 leading Dutch photographers, curated by experienced photo journalist and editor Anya Van Lit. It provides a fascinating insight into the culture, environment and people of the Netherlands. From traditional birthday celebrations, to quirky street scenes, dramatic social change and the constantly evolving relationship with the environment, Dutch Decade provides |
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JON LEWIS PEOPLE PICTURES (portraits from the antipodes) 1984-2006
So there you have it. The people I've met...'People Pictures.' If you see yourself here, for even a moment, I have done my job. I know I'm part of everyone here...these are like my self portraits...recognising what is in me that's in them, and maybe in you too. Believing is seeing. (Excerpted from Jon Lewis's catalogue essay.) |
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E.O. HOPPE's AUSTRALIA A Photographic Exhibition Curated by Graham Howe
8 May - 1 July 2007 E.O. Hoppe's Australia presents rare, little-known photographs made by the German born British photographer during his travels in Australia in 1930. This remarkable collection, seen sixty-five years after it was lost to a dusty archive represents the unearthing of a cultural landmark and an unsung Modernist masterwork. |
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KHUNJERAB PASS, SWAT AND PESHAWAR A Photographer in Pakistan
A Selection of Images by Photographer Peter Van Sommers 19 March -15 April, 2007
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YOUNG ARCHITECTS - TAKE 2 EXHIBITION Sept 26 - Oct 22, 2006 Curated by Gerard Reinmuth To celebrate World Architecture Day on October 2, 2006, Level 2 of the library will feature the Young Architects Exhibition. Taking up where last year’s Australian Architecture Association (AAA) Young Architects Exhibition left off, the exhibition this year showcases the work of younger architects who are fortunate to be located inside respected large architecture practices who have provided opportunities for them to excel in the delivery of larger-scale projects. From the smallest projects, which involve a client, architect, engineering consultancy and a team of builders – to the largest where the design team alone may consist of dozens of people - the reality is that buildings rarely emerge from a sole ‘creator’.
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ACCESS ALL AREAS: PHOTOGRAPHY BY MERVYN BISHOP Curated by Tess Allas This is a solo exhibition of the Australia's first indigenous photographer, Mervyn Bishop. Beginning his career as a cadet for the Sydney Morning Herald in the 1960s Mervyn has had a fascinating and well respected career as a photojournalist. This exhibition will highlight some great moments captured in Mervyn's career. This exhibition coincides with Mervyn's other project 'In Living Memory' an exhibition of photographs from the archives of Aboriginal Welfare Board at the State Records of New South Wales. |
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SYDNEY ESQUISSE YOURSELF 5 - 20 August, 2006 |
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HARRY SEIDLER - A TRIBUTE The Harry Seidler tribute ended on Sunday August 5, 2006 and was incredibly popular. Pictured right is Edmund Capon, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and special guest speaker of the opening night on June 29, 2006. Image: Edmund Capon at the opening, photo by Darren Leigh Roberts |
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| MEMORY LANE - RECOLLECTING ROWE STREET January - June, 2006 Level 1 'Memory Lane - Recollecting Rowe Street' was an exhibition that paid homage to Rowe Street, a quaint laneway formerly in the heart of the city, which was demolished in the 1970's to make way for modern development. Image: Viewers at the opening launch, observing the 'Cosmopolitan' showcase of the exhibition. |
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FILM AUSTRALIA - STILLS COLLECTION
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| VIRTUAL CITY - PETER MURPHY 1 April - 31 May, 2006 Ground Floor & Level 2 Virtual City was an exhibition of Peter Murphy’s vibrant exploration of the cityscapes of Sydney using new imaging technologies in photography and new media. In this series, he captures the relationship between human activity, the city's man-made and natural environments and also the beauty of the city ‘resting’ at dusk. His use of multiple and exaggerated perspectives reveals a surprising vision of the CBD. The Customs House City Model is also incorporated, showing the artist’s fascination for comparisons between the real and simulated versions of the city. |
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PORTRAIT OF A CITY - MARCO BOK Marco Bok's exhibition presents a unique range of images capturing moments and people in the life of everyday Sydney. The images span over 20 years of photography on the streets of Sydney, showing the vibrancy, the stillness and various moods of this city. |
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RANDOM - THE OCULI COLLECTIVE OF PHOTOGRAPHERS This group exhibition by the Oculi collective of photographers is the first group exhibition held by this team. The exhibition was a selection of their finest work capturing the unique beauty of Sydney. Oculi formed as a collective of nine award winning photojournalists who formed in 2001 with a common interest in documentary photography. This unique photo agency reveals real lives and real stories that are
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COFFEE CUSTOMS Coffee Customs was an exploration of the social history of cafe Society in Sydney. The exhibition traced the early coffee shops such as the Repins Chain, the Andronicus family and much more. The exhibition traced the introduction of the coffee bean to Australia with the first fleet, the early Coffee Palaces and the influence of Sydney's migrant communities in the development of the Cafe society. The exhibition was officially opened by Deputy Mayor John McInerneyn Tuesday 12 July, 2005. |
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YOUNG ARCHITECTS EXHIBITION - |
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