NSW Premier the Hon. Kristina Keneally today announced that Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed would curate Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House. The two-week festival celebrating the world’s best contemporary artists and cultural interpreters will again take over Bennelong Point, from May 28 to June 11, as part of Vivid Sydney.
Chief Executive Richard Evans said Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House will explode into life under the curatorial leadership of two of the most prophetic and innovative voices of the past 40 years. Building on the tremendous success of Vivid LIVE (previously Luminous) in 2009, which attracted more than 40,000 people, Mr Evans is confident this festival will be unlike any other on the Australian arts calendar.
“Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House symbolises our values of imagination, creativity and inspiration. We are committed to presenting the most acclaimed and engaging artists of our generation, so who better to take the helm of our festival than Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed,” he said.
Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed have travelled very different artistic roads but each has had an unparalleled effect on the cultural landscape of their time. Always elusive, always challenging and always honest, their curatorial vision will be driven by their endless curiosity and fierce originality.
While the festival will revisit moments from past works, the primary focus will be on exploration through improvisation and collaboration. Curating together for the first time, Anderson and Reed will draw on different worlds – from music and dance to film, theatre and comedy – working with other artists without a strict script to ensure no two nights are the same.
“Some of the most fun festivals I’ve ever been at have that spirit of one night only,“ Anderson said. “For me the point is to present a lot of things that you wouldn’t normally go to but gives people the chance to jump off their street. It will be kind of like a big crazy menu, it will have the things we like in it but it will definitely be really eclectic.”
Reed added: “I like the idea that it’s bringing people to Sydney that they wouldn’t normally have a chance to see or hear. We are so pleased to have the chance to create and perform in a festival like this at Sydney Opera House and we hope that you will be as thrilled to take part in it as we are.”
Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House is part of Vivid Sydney (27 May-21 June), our annual festival of light, music and ideas featuring the spectacular illumination of the Sydney Opera House sails.
One of five anchor events in the NSW Master Events Calendar developed by the NSW Government through Events NSW, Vivid celebrates Sydney as the creative hub of the Asia Pacific with large scale light installations and projections; music performances and collaborations; creative ideas, discussion and debate.
Head to sydneyoperahouse.com/vividlive from March 29 for the Vivid LIVE program, regular news updates, loads of information and masses of multimedia. Listen to festival music, watch footage and contribute to the blog.
http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com
