A new mini-festival of live performance ushering our city back to life will light up four weekends at Redfern’s artist-run collective 107 Projects. Out of Iso is all about showcasing the work of indie artists who have used the last few months of lockdown creatively, and who are itching to get back amongst it. They’ll take over the joint with a cool showcase of lo-fi but high-five short works.
“[The] multiple spaces, from theatre to galleries to the rooftop garden, will be occupied and transformed by more than 40 artists,” says producer Harley Strumm. “We want to bring people together again to share live performance, in events that are informal, high-energy, and social but safe.”
Running Thursday to Saturday at 8pm every second weekend from October 29, Next Level: A new realm of hip hop is first up. Renowned choreographer Nick Power has assembled a who’s who of Sydney’s street dancers, some of whom popped up in his Sydney Festival work Two Crews. Look out for the likes of Jamie ‘Jahziisoul’ Kha, Anastasios ‘Taz’ Repousi, Omar Kama, KAZ aka Karen Otero, Feras Shaheen, Gabriela Quinsacara and William Mak. Prepare to be blown away as they throw down, while DIOLA keeps the beats coming hot on the decks.
Performance artist Latai Taumoepeau of Troppo Galaktika corals Oasis a fortnight later (Nov 12-14). You might have seen her work The Last Resort during the Biennale of Sydney. This new piece celebrates the countless generations of women who have held us together through hard times, it’s billed as a ‘collective exhale’ and a moment for reflecting on our ancestors.
The penultimate performance is dubbed 107 = The Angel Number, Wings of Desire and Waylaid Works (Nov 26-28) and features works waylaid by the Great Whatthehellery of the last few months that were dreamt up by members of PACT Centre for Emerging Artists. That includes Gabby Chantiri, Jay Gardener and the Lost All Sorts Collective. Artist, writer and performer Malcolm Whittaker curated the line-up, and the event will be preceded by a ceremonial ‘de-weeding’ at PACT’s place at 6pm.
Last but most certainly not least, Helpmann Award-winning pavement performance collective Branch Nebula will dust off their sweet skate and parkour moves for Naked Streets Dirty Sounds (Dec 10-12). They’ll transform every last little corner of 107 and, of course, spill out onto the street outside too, accompanied by the fanfare of Lucy Cliché’s pumping techno. Expect death-defying moves patched together by choreographers Marnie Palomares and Kathryn Puie, and bone-crunching grooves from noise artist Hirofumi Uchino, skater and composer Tristan Still and sound artist Phil Downing, plus so much more.
Up for more out-there performance art? Check out Liveworks.
