Carriageworks
Carriageworks is the largest and most significant contemporary multi-arts centre of its kind in Australia.[1] Carriageworks engages artists and audiences with contemporary ideas and issues.[2] The program is artist led and emerges from Carriageworks' commitment to reflecting social and cultural diversity. The Carriageworks artistic program is ambitious, risk taking and unrelenting in its support of artists. Carriageworks is a cultural facility of the NSW Government and receives support from Arts NSW and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts.
In 2013 over 400,000 people engaged with Carriageworks programs and in 2014 visitation was on track to rise to 550,000.[3] The institution has a reputation for presenting large-scale immersive programs. Major programs presented at Carriageworks in 2013 included Ryoji Ikeda's Test pattern (No 5) presented in association with Vivid Sydney 2013 attended by over 56,000, FBi Radio's 10th Birthday attended by 8,000 and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia attended by over 35,000. In 2014 Carriageworks presented Christian Boltanski’s Chance, Ganesh Versus The Third Reich by Back to Back Theatre, Tehching Hsieh’s Time Clock Piece, Stones in Her Mouth by Mau and presented by Carriageworks, Concertgebouw Brugge and Tjibaou Cultural Centre, and more.[4]
In 2015 highlights include the majestic Sydney Buddha by Zhang Huan and presented by Sydney Festival and Carriageworks, 24 Frames Per Second a major exhibition of 24 screen-based works of 18 Australian and 6 international artists, Siamani Samoa by Michel Tuffery and the Royal Samoan Police Band, the return of Ryoji Ikeda with Superposition, Xavier Le Roy's Self Unfinished presented by Carriageworks and Kaldor Public Art Projects.
History
The Eveleigh Rail Yards were built on the site between 1880 and 1889, including the now heritage listed Carriageworks site. These arresting buildings are considered one of the best examples of railway workshop complexes and house within them, the history of Australia's major rail network and the thousands of Sydneysiders that worked here during the bustling industrial time of the 19th century.
Train carriages for Sydney's expanding rail network were built from scratch and maintained within the building. Carriages built here include the Royal Carriages constructed specifically for the Governor General and visiting Royalty, the very first electric carriage, and the first air-conditioned train in Australia.
From 1973 productivity at the site declined due to its inefficient older buildings, restrictive union practices and increased privatization of construction and the site was eventually closed in 1988.
In June 2002 the NSW Ministry for the Arts completed the purchase of the Carriage and Blacksmith Workshops at the Eveleigh Rail Yards site. Soon after a construction project on the site commenced under the name of Carriageworks. The vision for Carriageworks being an artistic hub where creative work could be explored, developed, commissioned and presented.
Adaptive reuse of the workshop site began in 2003 with the housing of numerous contemporary arts practitioners, and Carriageworks officially opened in 2007.
Place is important to the practice of art. Carriageworks is a unique place that's a home and inspiration for the development of creative work. And in a place that allows for creativity, we experience adventure, excitement, growth and learning.
More Information:Radio National broadcast a documentary about the history of Eveleigh in 2005. You can listen to or download the podcast from the ABC website.
Resident companies
There are a number of Resident Organisations, all working within the contemporary arts sector: Erth, Force Majeure, Performance Space, Sydney Chamber Opera, Moogahlin, Felix Media, Stalker and Marrugeku.
Erth
Erth have been producing visual theatre since 1990. Complex inflatable worlds are inhabited by stilt walkers, large-scale puppets and flying creatures. Erth tours nationally and internationally to festivals, events and cultural institutions providing theatrical experiences. The Erth Studio Workshop, which is housed at Carriageworks, designs and creates all the puppets, sets, costumes and devices.
Felix Media
The Felix Foundation was set up by film producers John Maynard and Bridget Ikin, to support the development, creation and presentation of significant new moving image projects by artists. Works include CORAL, a work for the fulldome screen, by Lynette Wallworth; three multi-screen works CITIZEN’S BAND, THE CALLING, and IN THE EAR OF THE TYRANT by Angelica Mesiti; and the trilogy of adaptations by William Yang: FRIENDS OF DOROTHY, MY GENERATION, and BLOODLINKS.
Force Majeure
Led by Artistic Director Kate Champion, Force Majeure produces dance theatre works. Established in 2002, the company is based around artists from varying disciplines who create movement-based theatre. Artists include dancers, actors, writers, visual artists, composers and filmmakers.
Moogahlin
Moogahlin Performing Arts is an Aboriginal theatre company based at Carriageworks Redfern. Moogahlin works closely with emerging and established Aboriginal theatre practitioners and communities. Moogahlin was formed in Redfern, New South Wales in 2007 by a group of Aboriginal performing artists and community workers in honour of the late Kevin Smith’s request and in memory of the founding members of the Black Theatre.[5]
Performance Space
Performance Space is an organisation for the development and presentation of interdisciplinary arts. Performance Space is a creative space in which to explore and experience new forms, new ideas, and new contexts of interdisciplinary arts. Their artistic focus is on arts informed by performance, which draw influences from across the performing and visual arts. Performance Space encourage art which explores the intersections between artforms, questions assumptions about the relationships between artist and audience, and engages with the concerns of the society.
Sydney Chamber Opera
Established in 2010 by Artistic Director Louis Garrick and Music Director Jack Symonds. Noted for innovative programming, musical rigour and focus on theatre-making, Sydney Chamber Opera makes opera with a 21st-century outlook that appeals to a younger audience.[6]
Stalker | Marrugeku
Stalker is an Australian physical theatre company founded in 1989. Stalker has toured outdoor and indoor productions to remote and urban locations across Australia and to Europe, Asia and Latin America. Stalker contributes contemporary physical theatre in Australia across a range of cultural, social and political contexts, regions and nations. Its approach to physical performance draws on contemporary dance, new circus, martial arts, innovative approaches to dramaturgy, and inter-disciplinary and inter-cultural practices and processes.[7]
Eveleigh Market
Eveleigh Market is a Farmers' Market. The Market is home to over 70 regular stallholders featuring seasonal fresh produce including organic, biodynamic foods from farmers and food producers across New South Wales.[8]
References
- ↑ In August 2013, the Carriageworks cultural precinct doubled in size, adding 5,000 square metres to its existing premises in Sydney's Redfern.
- ↑ "Carriageworks". biennaleofsydney. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
- ↑ An extraordinary public response to Carriageworks' artistic program saw a doubling of attendances from 2011 to 2012 and doubled attendances again in 2013 to 400,000 people. Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Arts, George Souris, said the expansion was great news for Sydney's arts and cultural, and events industries with Carriageworks adding 5,000 square metres to its existing premises.
- ↑ Sydney, City. 'Carriageworks 2014 | What's On - City Of Sydney'. Whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au. N.p., 2014. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
- ↑ Redfernoralhistory.org,. 'Redfern Oral History: Moogahlin Performing Arts'. N.p., 2015. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
- ↑ McCallum, Peter. 'Classical And Opera In 2014: Robertson Settles In As Operatic Highlights Come From Companies Big And Tiny Kj'. Sydney Morning Herald 2015: All. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
- ↑ Stalker produces a portfolio of distinct works, ranging from small, mobile street theatre productions to large site specific outdoor work, and includes both intimate and large scale indoor works, as well as a series of on going masterclasses. Stalker produces the works of its Co-artistic directors David Clarkson and Rachael Swain as well as the projects of the intercultural company Marrugeku, creating intercultural performance in indigenous contexts in Broome Western Australia.
- ↑ Eveleigh Market originated to provide a neighbourhood market. Eveleigh Market first commenced trading the Eveleigh Farmers' Market on Saturday 28 February 2009. In March 2009, the Eveleigh Artisans' Market commenced to provide a space for independent designers and artisans to showcase their handmade and unique designs on the first Sunday of the month. The permanent Eveleigh Market site is housed in the custom-renovated blacksmith's workshop at the heritage listed Eveleigh Railyards, an inner-city destination that also encompasses Carriageworks, a facility of the Redfern-Waterloo urban renewal project.