Liveworks 2023
Presented by Performance Space
Liveworks 2023 presented by Performance Space now in its ninth year, is the coveted multi-arts festival to experience this month from 19-29 October at Carriageworks.
The festival’s 40 year anniversary program OF THE TIME acknowledges the legacy of Performance Space, Australia’s leading organisation for the development and presentation of experimental art in Australasia.
“Performance Space is a living, breathing organism of performativity, having birthed and nurtured generations of experimental creativity since its inception. As PSpace turns 40 this year, we reactivate the time machine to consider a history of radical artists, practices and thinking. Liveworks 2023 unpacks the archive to consider the impact of time on art, actions, ideas and the bodies that carry and move culture forward. And while OF THE TIME reflects on the past 40 years of PSpace, we hope the program catalyses and ignites conversations about the next 40 years of this organisation so many artists and audiences have called home.” Daniel Mudie Cunningham and Rosie Dennis, Guest Co-Artistic Directors.
LIVEWORKS 2023 OF THE TIME – FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Liveworks 2023 will bring together the Performance Space community of over 142 artists across dance, performance, music, installation, screen, conversation and celebration, including the presentation of archival works and six new commissions.
DANCE
Reviving a landmark dance platform of the past, Antistatic returns in a new form as Antistatic Redux curated by Rosie Dennis and Martin Del Amo with a suite of works – new and from the archive with artists Lucy Guerin, Branch Nebula, Victoria Hunt and Narelle & Marlo Benjamin. PSpace has championed and supported independent choreographic practice since the eighties. Initiatives such as Antistatic and Next Steps provided necessary platforms for independent choreographic practice. The 2023 Liveworks program presents a suite of new and archival works from some of Australia’s most well-respected and influential choreographers. Thurs 26 – Fri 27 October 8.30pm, Bay 17, Carriageworks. Tickets $45-55.
Voilà! The ‘Mick Jagger’ of Australian dance is back. Dance artist Rosalind Crisp brings us her version of the retrospective with Antistatic Redux: The real time it takes… curated by Rosie Dennis and Martin Del Amo. Still looking ‘wiry, scrapy and dangerously unpredictable’, this demon of contemporary dance has never stopped. One of Australia’s most rigorous and significant dance artists, celebrates 40 years of relentlessly undoing dance. Thurs 26 – Fri 27 October 8.30pm & Sat 28 October 7pm, Track 8, Carriageworks. Tickets $35-45.
Mickey, by dance-artist Brooke Stamp, is a wild trip through the subconscious psychic waste of a dancer with more than two decades of practice. With a live score created by Daniel Jenatsch, Mickey speculates on the rehearsal studio as a place of experimentation and production usually not seen by the public. No two performances of Mickey are the same. New Commission. Thurs 19 – Sat 21 October 7pm & Sun 22 October 5pm, Track 8, Carriageworks. Tickets $35-45.
PERFORMANCE & MUSIC
Nighttime Righttime curated by Rosie Dennis and Lara Thoms reimagines Nighttime, a seminal platform that ran from 2007-2015 and supported hundreds of artists in the presentation of their short-works. For Liveworks 2023, see new and legendary work from iconic artists The Fondue Set, POST, Julie-Anne Long, Kaz Therese, Tei Kim Pok, Wart and Tina Havelock Stevens. Sat 28 October 8pm and Sun 29 October 6pm, Bay 20 and Public Space, Carriageworks. Tickets $45-55.
cLUB bENT bACK uP! For one night only, PSpace has called up a mix of original 90s and new performance provocateurs for a queer conversation across time with performers including Paul Cordeiro, Dean Walsh, Barbarella Karpinski, Jamaica Moana and Fetu Taku. Together, we will devour the work of our prophets, priestesses, renegades and iconoclasts of today and yesteryear to divine what is ‘bENT’ in 2023. Curated by cLUB bENT’s original Euphoria Guardians, Victoria Spence, Groovii Biscuit and Daniel Mudie Cunningham who invite us back into the underworld of our embodied queerness. Sat 28 October 9pm, Bay 17, Carriageworks. Tickets $35-45.
Rainbow Chan 陳雋然 world premiere of an ambitious new performance and music project, The Bridal Lament. Featuring a suite of new songs from Chan exploring an obsolete Weitou ritual, The Bridal Lament is a sumptuous audiovisual experience and song cycle by the award-winning vocalist, producer and multi-disciplinary artist. Co commissioned with OzAsia, Co-Presented with CAAP. New Commission. Thurs 19 – Sat 21 October 8.30pm & Sun 22 October 6.30pm, Bay 20, Carriageworks. Tickets $35-45.
Sharing a delight in the abstract, CrimeWriters … criminal intent with THE oPERA PROJECT Inc is an empowered notion of virtuosic bodies, voices and the profundity of space. Enjoy this exciting new performance work developed by a groundbreaking ensemble of PSpace alumni including artists Andrea Aloise, Kathy Cogill, Regina Heilmann, Nikki Heywood, Nigel Kellaway and Katia Molino. New Commission. Thurs 26 – Fri 27 October 7pm, Bay 20, Carriageworks. Tickets $35-45.
K’AINGA CommonWealth led by artists Latai Taumoepeau and Rosanna Raymond is a two-day event of ceremony, dancing and nourishing kai for the body and the mind. Our K’AINGA Whanau welcome you to hot oceanic Acti.VĀ.tions and mana-full Moana diplomacy in the heart of Gadigal. Ride our wave of live exchanges flowing from the saVĀge to the faiVĀ. The K’AINGA whanau, Kilia Pahulu, Salvador Brown, and Sela Vai; led by Latai Taumoepeau and Rosanna Raymond. New Commission. PART 1: ManuAO – Ceremonial Procession, Thurs 19 October 4:30pm, Offsite and Public Space, Carriageworks, Free. PART 2: K’lub Measina – Night Dance of the Deities, Sat 21 October 8pm, Bay 17, Carriageworks. Tickets $35-45.
INSTALLATION
Elvis Richardson’s PERFORMANCE ARTIST 4EVA♡ is a major new installation commission curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham that unpacks and reassembles the rich repositories of the PSpace archive as a site-specific wall work celebrating and remembering the creative work of generations of artists it has supported over four decades. Thurs 19 – Sun 29 October. Varying times daily, 10am-10pm, Public Space, Carriageworks. Free.
Proof by Heidrun Löhr draws on Löhr’s archive of more than 300,000 images to create a large-scale installation in the public space. Featuring images of more than 200 artists, Proof celebrates Löhr’s authentic relationship with body, light, time and space. Thurs 19 – Sun 29 October. Varying times daily, 10am-10pm, Public Space, Carriageworks. Free
Night 1001 is an installation and live re-voicing of the last night of Barbara Campbell’s durational performance 1001 nights cast (2005–2008) and honours all the story writers who kept Barbara and the project alive for its 1001 night duration. Thurs 19 – Sun 22 October and Wed 25 – Sun 29 October, Varying times daily, Bay 19 Airlock, Carriageworks. Free.
SCREEN
ReelDance / Dance (Lens) showcases choreographers, dancers, and filmmakers through the screen Co-presented with DanceHouse. Founded in 2000 and running for over a decade until 2012, ReelDance was a groundbreaking festival of dance on screen. For Liveworks 2023, ReelDance, in partnership with Dance (Lens) returns with films from the archive in dialogue with new national and international films. Artists: Alexandra Harrison, Amber McCartney, Azzam Mohamed, Bboy Hideboo, Bboy Red, Brian Fuata, Cordelia Beresford, Jane McKernan, Julie-Anne Long, Kirk Page, Louise Curham, Lizzie Thomson, Martin Del Amo, Mess Hall, Narelle Benjamin, Prue Lang, Rowan Marchingo, Samuel James, Sean O’Brien, Sue Healey, Yumi Umiumare and more. Thurs 19 – Sun 22 October and Wed 25 – Sun 29 October, Varying times daily, Track 12, Carriageworks. Free.
Channels and Spells curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham is a survey of 14 videos from PSpace’s history, tracing diverse conceptual and technological approaches to the performative in video, casting an archival spell. Artists: Denis Beaubois, Peter Callas, Stephen Cummins, Adrienne Doig, John Gillies & Sydney Front, Derek Kreckler, Tracey Moffatt, Randelli, Eugenia Raskopoulos, r e a, Tony Schwensen, Salote Tawale, Monika Tichacek & Emma Price, Ronnie van Hout. Thurs 19 – Sun 22 October and Wed 25 – Sun 29 October, Varying times daily, Bay 19, Carriageworks. Free.
CONVERSATION
Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon of Liveworks dive into LIVE FUTURES, a series of curated public conversations exploring artists’ pivotal role in the Performance Space world. Conversations include explorations across Archive, Access, Dance and Queer narratives. Reflecting on the last four decades of groundbreaking performances from PSpace artists, this anniversary edition of LIVE FUTURES will look to the future through the lens of the past. Sat 21 – Sun 22 October 4pm and Sat 28 – Sun 29 October 4pm, Track 12, Carriageworks. Tickets $20-25.
CELEBRATION
Liveworks 2023 will launch with a free OPENING NIGHT party to welcome the Performance Space community to Carriageworks as they celebrate the opening of the 2023 festival. Featuring a DJ set by Stereogamous, special performances, food and drink on Thursday 19 October from 6pm-late. The audience is invited to explore Carriageworks to experience free installations Elvis Richardson’s PERFORMANCE ARTIST 4EVA♡, Proof by Heidrun Löhr and Night 1001 as well as screen works Channels and Spells and ReelDance / Dance (Lens) in the public spaces and for the first round of Liveworks performances:
K’AINGA CommonWealth with artists Latai Taumoepeau and Rosanna Raymond will present Part 1 of their two part work with ManuAO – Ceremonial Procession which invites its audience to join its collective of artists, linking the terrestrial with the celestial in their Island finery as they walk silently through the past and future from the University of Sydney at 4.30pm culminating in the Carriageworks public space for the opening at 6pm.
Pre-purchase ticketed events for opening night premieres of performances by dance artist Brooke Stamp with the work Mickey and the world premiere from acclaimed musician and artist, Rainbow Chan 陳雋然with her highly anticipated theatre debut of The Bridal Lament. Tickets moving fast
Performance Space’s 40TH BIRTHDAY KARAOKE PARTY – join the PSpace team as they celebrate four decades of boundary–pushing art, and the artists who’ve made their legacy possible. Whether you’ve been with them since 1983, or you’ve discovered them in recent years, there’s a place for you at this party. The party theme is karaoke and will include music, food and drink with love song tributes from special guest PSpace alumni Georgia Banks, Bec Dean, Salote Tawale, Annette Tesoriero with DJ Gemma. Sat 28 October 6pm, Bay 17, Carriageworks. Tickets $20-25.
Liveworks 2023 OF THE TIME is at Carriageworks from 19-29 October with free and ticketed events ranging $20-55 available now from the Performance Space website https://performancespace.com.
Performance Space welcome all visitors to Liveworks 2023 and are dedicated to making accessible and inclusive events for everyone. You can find out more about their accessible program at https://performancespace.com.
