Who doesn’t love seeing the city streets alight with colour and art? Back for the 15th year running, the much-loved Gertrude Street Projection Festival will be held for ten magical nights from July 27 to August 6.
The theme for 2023 is 'Confluence', which is an act of coming together or a merging of two rivers. This year's event will weave community, art, public spaces and sublime light installations, and feature projections by 11 artists-in-residence alongside special projects, parties, talks and screenings.
The line-up of emerging and established artists involved includes Sarah Aiken, Tahlia Palmer, the Huxleys and Rose Chong, Chantal Bala, Lilah Benetti and Henry Lai-Pyne.
“The 2023 festival is a program that uses civic spaces to share the merging strands of history, technology, experience, materials, politics and emotions through the selected artworks,” said the Centre for Projection Art’s CEO and artistic director, Priya Namana. “GSPF 2023 is a space for audiences to project their subjectivity and reflect with us on our collective worlds, it is a confluence of interlacing sensations.”
The opening night of the festival will be held on Thursday, July 27 at Collingwood Yards and will be curated by the newly formed E.merge Agency – a youth talent agency made up of people that exist within many intersections and are learning and collaborating on a new culture born from their passions. Free to attend, the launch party will include a Welcome to Country by the Wurundjeri Council, food, drinks and live music performances.
Other program highlights include 'I myself ‘am the sun' by Naarm artist Lilah Benetti, who delves into the world of fiction to illuminate lost and obscured narratives, and 'Murnong 2023' by Tahlia Palmer, whose video with accompanying soundtrack speaks to the presence of the past in our present and in our future, the connection of all life and the effects of colonisation.
For the full Gertrude Street Projection Festival program, head to their website.
