Things to do in Sydney today

At the centre of Laka, an artistic collaboration between S. Shakthidharan and Rosalee Pearson, is a feature-length film telling the story of Lily, a Yolngu woman from the Northern Territory, and her husband Siddhartha, a Sri Lankan Australian. The pair are preparing for the birth of their first child when they reach a crossroad and Lily has to make a decision between her family and country. But the film is part of a bigger exhibition that draws in sound and video installation as well as a virtual reality film that finds commonalities between the social structures and spirituality in Yolngu and Hindu culture. Those commonalities might seem surprising, but scientists have discovered DNA matches between First Nations Australians and South Asians from 4,000 years ago, suggesting a system of travel may have existed between the two regions.

In 1997, Madarrpa clan leader Djambawa Marawili discovered the head of a crocodile in a dumpster, the head of a sacred animal in the North East Arnhem Land area. It sparked a campaign by Marawili to stop illegal fishing in the area, which resulted in Yolŋu artists from 15 clans and 18 homeland communities creating sacred bark paintings of the Indigenous peoples’ connection to the land. The Yirrkala bark paintings were later deemed the equivalent of title deeds to the sea rights of coastal waters and in July 2008 the High Court of Australia confirmed what the people of the Blue Mud Bay region had known for thousands of years – that they were the traditional custodians and owners of the waters in North-East Arnhem Land. In the free exhibition, there are 40 sacred bark paintings displayed alongside the history of the momentous sea rights win, as well as oral histories, aerial photography and traditional and contemporary Indigenous objects, such as Mokuy (spirit) carvings and Larrakitj (mortuary pole paintings on hollowed trees).

Bark painting is among the most recognisable Aboriginal art, but you mightn’t know that it was only popularised in the 1930s. Until then, the familiar imagery was used as body paint and in caves. Occasionally the patterns were painted onto bark as a record of the designs, but it’s only relatively recently that the bark has been considered its own canvas. One of the greatest exponents of bark painting – and one of the greatest exponents of Aboriginal art in general – is John Mawurndjul, who rose to international fame in the late 1980s and ‘90s. The Kuninjku artist, based in Arnhem Land, is getting a major career retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art, made up of 165 works. They’ll take over the third level of the MCA this winter, the same space where English artist and provocateur Grayson Perry presented a blockbuster show in 2015. At the time, Perry sparked debate when he controversially said Aboriginal art should not be considered contemporary art. Clothilde Bullen, one of the curators behind Mawurndjul’s exhibition and a Wardandi (Nyoongar) Aboriginal woman, strongly disagrees. “I think all Aboriginal art being made here and now is contemporary, and I’d absolutely stand by that,” she says. “But it’s OK that [Perry] is given the opportunity to say those things at the MCA, and we have this kind of rebuttal.” Not only is Mawurndjul one of the major pioneers of the bark medium, he has evolved and pushed traditional practices, like rarrk, which refers to a close an

The MCA's collection hang is where you go to get an overview of Australian contemporary art – and it's less daunting than it sounds. The last time they curated the hang was in 2012 (MCA Collection: Volume One), for the launch of the re-designed building, so there are a whola lotta new eye-candies to wrap your brain around.  Although several works in the first room of the exhibition do take 'time' as their theme (including Stuart Ringholt's giant clock) curator Natasha Bullock, who masterminded the new hang, says the theme is more broadly connected to the ways in which the works in the show connected to histories of different kinds.  Bullock deliberately messed with the Western linear notion of time in the exhibition's title, and explains that the indigenous concept of time would be better visualised in a circular pattern, in which present, future and past are connected. Artists in Today Tomorrow Yesterday include: Vernon Ah Kee, James Angus, Barbara Cleveland Institute (formerly Brown Council), John Barbour, Gordon Bennett, Daniel Boyd, Pat Brassington, Bob Burruwal, A.D.S Donaldson, Mikala Dwyer, Dale Frank, Marco Fusinato, Matthys Gerber, Kevin Gilbert, Julia Gorman, Fiona Hall, Robert Hunter, Robert MacPherson, Sanné Mestrom, Frank Malkorda, Linda Marrinon, Elizabeth Mipilanggurr, Callum Morton, Barayuwa Munungur, John Nixon, Kerrie Poliness, Stuart Ringholt, Joan Ross, Super Critical Mass, Gareth Sansom, Sally Smart, Ricky Swallow, Kathy Temin, Imants Tillers, Tjanpi D

If you’ve ever walked the halls of the Art Gallery of NSW and smelt the scents of cumin, turmeric, paprika and cloves wafting towards you, you’ll be familiar with Ernesto Neto’s huge stalactite-like art installation 'Just like drops in time, nothing'. Neto’s creation, alongside those by seven other contemporary installation artists, is on show as part of the gallery’s new exhibition Spacemakers and Roomshakers, which brings together works that create an immersive experience. As well as Neto’s work, watch out for British artist Phyllida Barlow’s colossal 'untitled:brokenupturnedhouse' and Nike Savvas's 'Atomic: full of love, full of wonder', which features thousands of vibrating coloured balls.

Plenty of Sydney art lovers would've discovered the work of Sun Xun this year at White Rabbit's latest exhibition, which features a full floor of work by the Chinese artist, called 'The Republic of Jing Bang'. That work featured a hell of a lot of paintings and drawings splashed across the gallery's walls, but for those wanting to get even better acquainted with the artist's output, the Museum of Contemporary Art is presenting his first solo Australian exhibition. Visitors can see several of his animations, meticulously created with thousands of handmade woodcuts, ink paintings and drawings. He's also making a brand new work for the exhibition: a 40-metre long painting on bark paper and woodcuts. The artist's work is boldly graphic and at once political and personal. Through many of his pieces, he explores the disparity between official histories and personal recollection.

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme celebrates the achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to their community, families, and our nation. In this free exhibition, visitors can see the work of leading female practitioners in their fields of weaving and shell stringing. The innovative works highlight the unbroken practices of First Nations women who have carried their knowledge through the generations for at least 65,000 years. The exhibition includes intricate body wear, which has been skilfully crafted by harvesting and processing organic and contemporary feathers, fibres and shells. It also features domestic fishing implements made from organic material.Artists featured in the exhibition include Lena Yarinkura, Dulcie Greeno, Maryann Sebasio, Muriel Maynard, Ais Bero, Lola Greeno, Mavis Warrngilna Ganambarr and Rosemary Gamajun Mamuniny.

If you don’t want to venture to Auburn for the Cherry Blossom Festival in the Botanic Gardens, you can still celebrate the blooming buds in World Square from August 13-26. The main difference here is that you can play with the cherry blossom via an immersive augmented reality experience. Unfortunately, there won’t be any real cherry blossoms to interact with, but there will be plenty of treats on offer, including limited edition cherry blossom themed desserts from cafe Oh!Matcha and cherry cocktails courtesy of World Square favourites Laughing Buddha Bar and the Bavarian. If you’re in the mood for a feast, Fratelli Famous Pizzeria has been putting together Japanese inspired pizzas for you to sample throughout the festival. Teriyaki, anyone? Other activities include origami workshops, calligraphy performance and martial art displays. We can’t forget the silent cinema, which is where you can watch free screenings of Japanese-inspired films on Thursday and Friday nights. And, best of all, it’s all free.

These pint-sized produce markets take place in Pannerong Reserve just back from Rosebay’s main drag selling bunches of aromatic sage, fennel and mint, miniature organic eggplants and juicy grapefruits. On the Tuesday we visit there’s a jazz guitarist, long tables to sit at and umbrellas to lounge under. There are around ten stalls each week, so it’s more of a snapshot of the Sydney market rotation rather a full spread. Grab an eggy quiche lorraine filled with bacon, caramelised onion, shreds of tasty cheese, cream and milk from Tart by Ursula; or get a taste of the Northern Beaches via Berkelo’s hearty loaves of bread. Fresh blooms including leucadendrons, pineapple lillies and proteas come in buckets (or arrangements) from local florist Sweet Pea and Honey Bee Flowers. You’ll also find Gwydir Grove Olive Oils, who bring drums of olive oil (perfect for refilling bottles) and briny, dense olives. Ultra sweet fire grapes and dried sugar plums from Prickle Hill are also a hit.If all this perusing has you hankering for a snack you’ll be pleased to smell the aromas of Jimmy Liks. The former Potts Point restaurant will serve you up a roti ‘taco’, which see the charred flat bread packed with slow cooked curried chicken, pickled cabbage, chilli and fresh coriander. Find more Sydney markets.

Frank Hurley lived an extraordinary life in just about every way imaginable. Born in Sydney, he became the official photographer for multiple expeditions to Antarctica, led by Douglas Mawson and Ernest Shackleton, including one in which the party became stranded for two full years, from 1914 to 1916. Just a year later, in 1917, Hurley joined the Australian Defence Force and became a war photographer for both world wars. His photos are among the most enduring images of the wars. But this exhibition at Manly Art Gallery and Museum celebrates Hurley's more domestic side and features mostly images taken while in Sydney at the very beginning of the 20th century and then in the 1950s. Many of the photos haven't been exhibited before and reveal a side of Sydney that most of us wouldn't know: there's Martin Place while you could still drive straight down the centre and a gorgeous photo of Circular Quay in 1960. The exhibition is part of the 9th annual Head On Photo Festival.

Walk under a canopy of pink blossom in the Auburn Botanic Gardens and take photos of the stunning Japanese Gardens for as little as $5. To celebrate cherry blossom season, the botanic gardens runs a ten-day festival of ticketed events including self-guided tours and mid-week themed days for kids and seniors. It all kicks off with a VIP Opening Night party featuring a Japanese ABBA cover band and plenty of premium plum wine, sake and craft beer. There are two Hanami (‘flower viewing’) weekends where visitors can wander around the blossom trees at their own pace and enjoy Japanese snacks from food trucks such as Shiso Fine, J-Dog and Momiji – plus others selling America, Filipino, Greek and Turkish treats. The Hanami weekends also include sumo wrestling matches, a Hello Kitty makeover station, a SMASH! cosplay catwalk show, a zen zone, and free entry into the Peacock Gallery included in the $5 ticket price. Cosplayers take note: you can get free entry if you dress up and reserve your costume tickets in advance. If you prefer serenity, they have special days for quiet walks in the park – tickets are limited, which makes it a popular experience for photographers who like crowd-free shots of the flowers. There’s even a gardening day featuring Costa Georgiadis, host of Gardening Australia, where you can learn how to create a Bonsai garden. Best of all, if you’re a local they let you experience the cherry blossom free of charge. Simply bring proof of your Cumberland address

Note: This review discusses domestic violence and sexual assault. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In 2018 alone, 39 women have died by violence in Australia. One in five Australian women have experienced sexual violence. The numbers – and the behaviours behind the numbers – are disturbing. And in King of Pigs, by actor/writer Steve Rodgers and directed by actor turned director Blazey Best, those behaviours are everywhere. There’s the partner (Mick Bani) who controls and minimises his wife’s interactions with the outside world. The co-worker (Christian Byers) who teams up with his mates to take advantage of a drunk date. The film buff (Ashley Hawkes) who seems like a nice guy, but owns way too many guns. These men are #notallmen, but Ella Scott-Lynch is every woman in this play: the only one onstage, the victim of the full lineup. By stepping into every different scenario, we’re able to see how, just by being a woman, she’s consistently at a disadvantage. Dating and love isn’t safe for women, and King of Pigs doesn’t shy away from this critical, but often avoided, reality. There are two men onstage that aren’t violent – there’s one who works with victims and perpetrators of family violence (Kire Tosevski), and there’s his son Ari (Thom Blake and Wylie Best share the part). Ari is young and not yet lost in the hallmarks of toxic masculinity like bravado and entitlement, but as we

Bark painting is among the most recognisable Aboriginal art, but you mightn’t know that it was only popularised in the 1930s. Until then, the familiar imagery was used as body paint and in caves. Occasionally the patterns were painted onto bark as a record of the designs, but it’s only relatively recently that the bark has been considered its own canvas. One of the greatest exponents of bark painting – and one of the greatest exponents of Aboriginal art in general – is John Mawurndjul, who rose to international fame in the late 1980s and ‘90s. The Kuninjku artist, based in Arnhem Land, is getting a major career retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art, made up of 165 works. They’ll take over the third level of the MCA this winter, the same space where English artist and provocateur Grayson Perry presented a blockbuster show in 2015. At the time, Perry sparked debate when he controversially said Aboriginal art should not be considered contemporary art. Clothilde Bullen, one of the curators behind Mawurndjul’s exhibition and a Wardandi (Nyoongar) Aboriginal woman, strongly disagrees. “I think all Aboriginal art being made here and now is contemporary, and I’d absolutely stand by that,” she says. “But it’s OK that [Perry] is given the opportunity to say those things at the MCA, and we have this kind of rebuttal.” Not only is Mawurndjul one of the major pioneers of the bark medium, he has evolved and pushed traditional practices, like rarrk, which refers to a close an

Ever wanted to see a real human body, from the inside out? This new exhibition coming to the Byron Kennedy Hall features 20 real, perfectly preserved human bodies and 200 anatomical specimens, alongside scientific descriptions and philosophical questions about what it means to be homo sapiens. Visitors can explore ten galleries of anatomical artefacts and plastinates that help explain how humans breathe, eat, think, grow more humans and ultimately die. Real Bodies: The Exhibition aims to connect audiences to a deeper sense of what it means to be alive, asking what we’re made of and why we’re here. Read more about Real Bodies: The Exhibition in our news story.

Ruth Park's Surry Hills trilogy of The Harp in the South, Poor Man's Orange and Missus has been adapted for the screen multiple times before, but now Sydney Theatre Company is bringing the story of the Darcy family to life on stage. There's a lot of story to get through across three novels, so adaptor Kate Mulvany has split her adaptation into two parts that you can watch in consecutive nights or across one day (with a dinner break in the middle). Altogether, it makes up over five hours of theatre, and is the company's big ticket show for 2018. STC has pulled together a huge and stellar cast, including Luke Carroll, Heather Mitchell (Top Girls, Cloud Nine), Tara Morice (Strictly Ballroom), Bruce Spence and Helen Thomson. STC's artistic director, Kip Williams, will be creating the onstage world of Sydney as it once was, with designers Renée Mulder and David Fleischer.

Forget Fallout, the real Mission Impossible is happening right now inside the Reginald, the smallest space inside the Seymour Centre. The brief: take a famously dense novel that not only travels the high seas but the innermost depths of the human condition and condense it to an 80 minute black box theatre production that feels fresh, new and accessible. Who would ever choose to accept?  Enter Sport for Jove, the popular Sydney independent company that specialises in classic texts through new eyes. Under the direction of Adam Cook, they’ve given it a good crack. The script is an existing one by Moby Dick obsessive Orson Welles, which he half-filmed but ended up abandoning when it didn’t live up to his expectations. Here, Sport for Jove take it through to its turbulent ends. It’s still the story you know, if abridged: the one about Ishmael (Tom Royce-Hampton) who boards the Pequod on a whaling voyage out of Nantucket. The captain is still Ahab (Danny Adcock), obsessed with that white whale Moby Dick, the one who tore off his leg. (There are, thankfully, no whale suits.) Welles riffs on Sport for Jove’s beloved Shakespeare by referencing Henry V in the script – inviting the audience to build the ocean in their imaginations. Welles’ script has been pared down from two hours to a run time of 80 minutes, excising its play-within-a-play premise, which saw actors preparing for a performance of King Lear until, under the behest of a tyrannical actor – the Ahab of the group – they a

Join some of Sydney’s best known cabaret artists for a series of intimate performances at Ensemble Theatre. Pop-up cabaret at Ensemble Theatre is a month-long series featuring the likes of Todd McKenney, Queenie van de Zandt and Mitchell Butel. Kicking off the cabaret evenings is Queenie van de Zandt with her award-winning production of Blue  – The Songs of Joni Mitchell. Over the course of the evening the chartreuse (who has an extensive history working in musical theatre in shows like Cabaret, Les Miséserables and The Boy From Oz) and her live band will take the audience through the songs of the madam of melancholy, Joni Mitchell. The series continues with four-time Helpmann Award winner Mitchell Butel, whose show, Croon Tunes, explores his childhood growing up in Maroubra. Discover how Butel found his voice and learned to sing in a suburb defined by footy and surf culture. Expect to hear lots of songs by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Harry Connick Jr as well as funny anecdotes from Butel’s youth. Todd McKenney rounds out the cabaret series with The Casting Couch With Todd McKenney. The veteran showbiz performer is hosting four relaxed shows featuring show tunes, stories and a special guest. Joining McKenney on the couch will be theatre legend Nancye Hayes, Australian singer and actor David Campbell, celebrated cabaret performer Carlotta and even McKenney’s own mum Peta McKenney. Pop-up cabaret at Ensemble Theatre is on from August 19 to September 23. Ti

If you don’t want to venture to Auburn for the Cherry Blossom Festival in the Botanic Gardens, you can still celebrate the blooming buds in World Square from August 13-26. The main difference here is that you can play with the cherry blossom via an immersive augmented reality experience. Unfortunately, there won’t be any real cherry blossoms to interact with, but there will be plenty of treats on offer, including limited edition cherry blossom themed desserts from cafe Oh!Matcha and cherry cocktails courtesy of World Square favourites Laughing Buddha Bar and the Bavarian. If you’re in the mood for a feast, Fratelli Famous Pizzeria has been putting together Japanese inspired pizzas for you to sample throughout the festival. Teriyaki, anyone? Other activities include origami workshops, calligraphy performance and martial art displays. We can’t forget the silent cinema, which is where you can watch free screenings of Japanese-inspired films on Thursday and Friday nights. And, best of all, it’s all free.

It’s been four decades since the first part of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy (called International Stud) premiered Off-Off Broadway, introducing the world to Arnold, a gay Jewish drag queen living in New York who dreams of finding love and family. He was a character written with the complexities usually not given to queer characters in 1978 and one whose aspirations – for children and a long-lasting love – were pretty unusual at that point. A lot has changed across the world in the 40 years since Torch Song was born – although the fear and backlash triggered by HIV/AIDS in the years following was a significant hurdle. And a lot has changed locally in the five years since Darlinghurst Theatre Company first staged the play; not only has the company moved from its former home on Greenknowe Avenue (now the Hayes Theatre) to the gorgeous Eternity Playhouse, but long-term, committed same-sex relationships are now given the same legal recognition as heterosexual partnerships. Arnold would be thrilled, and not just because he might be finally be able to convince his prickly mother that his life is worthy of her respect. Fierstein’s trilogy of plays – presented across nearly four hours with two intermissions – were brought together in 1981 and finally made it to Broadway in 1982. Fierstein became a star playing Arnold, who falls in love with a bisexual school teacher called Ed. At the end of the first play, Ed has walked out, but he comes back into Arnold’s life in the secon

Note: This review discusses domestic violence and sexual assault. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In 2018 alone, 39 women have died by violence in Australia. One in five Australian women have experienced sexual violence. The numbers – and the behaviours behind the numbers – are disturbing. And in King of Pigs, by actor/writer Steve Rodgers and directed by actor turned director Blazey Best, those behaviours are everywhere. There’s the partner (Mick Bani) who controls and minimises his wife’s interactions with the outside world. The co-worker (Christian Byers) who teams up with his mates to take advantage of a drunk date. The film buff (Ashley Hawkes) who seems like a nice guy, but owns way too many guns. These men are #notallmen, but Ella Scott-Lynch is every woman in this play: the only one onstage, the victim of the full lineup. By stepping into every different scenario, we’re able to see how, just by being a woman, she’s consistently at a disadvantage. Dating and love isn’t safe for women, and King of Pigs doesn’t shy away from this critical, but often avoided, reality. There are two men onstage that aren’t violent – there’s one who works with victims and perpetrators of family violence (Kire Tosevski), and there’s his son Ari (Thom Blake and Wylie Best share the part). Ari is young and not yet lost in the hallmarks of toxic masculinity like bravado and entitlement, but as we