The best things to do in Sydney for free

The thriving, artist-run creative hub that is warehouse space Join the Dots on Victoria Road is a stellar example of why Time Out named Marrickville one of the coolest suburbs in the world. With the joint housing a dozen studios, it’s home to some of the Inner West’s best artists. And now you can get a sneaky peek at what they’ve been up to without even setting foot in the graffitied brick building. In response to the year that wasn’t and ongoing limitations about how many visitors they can allow inside, Join the Dots has given over one of their street-facing windows to create a brand new gallery space that will showcase the industrious work of its residents, while playing their part in driving the artistic recovery of Marrickville after a long dormancy. It’s sure to become a highlight for art lovers, random dog walkers and passers-by alike, with its plethora of Instagram-ready opportunities. Funded by an Inner West Council grant, the exhibition will present a bunch of Join the Dots heroes, kicking off with the work of photography and video artist Saskia Wilson, running January 27-February 2, then changing hands every week until winding up with the ceramic sculpture, printmaking and painting-focused Billy Bain from March 17-23. In between you’ll be able to admire everything from watercolours to cyber-art, and even window-based live performance from inspiring creatives including Tierney and Bruckner, Ellen Formby, Thea Elder, Tara Burke and Lotte Alexis Smith. “Join the Dots h

Sydney-based Balinese Australian artist Leyla Stevens has won the $35,000 66th Blake Prize, one of Australia’s longest running and most prestigious arts awards. The three-person judging panel of Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Maud Page and Kumi Taguchi selected Stevens’ video work 'Kidung/Lament', tracing of Bali’s histories of political violence and the complex manifestations of these concealed pasts, from a field of 86 finalists. Hazelbrook resident Eddie Abd took home the $6,000 Blake Emerging Artist Prize for her work 'In Their Finest', a video piece combining long exposure Victorian death portraits with the traditional textiles of Greater Syria. Zanny Begg of Bulli was awarded the Blake Established Artist Residency and Exhibition for her video work 'Stories of Kannagi', which looks at the impact that colonisation and civil war has had on Tamil communities living outside of Sri Lanka.  CPAC director Craig Donarski says, “Not only do these winning works speak to the incredible talent we have in Australia, they are also a shining example of how the rich diversity of cultures that make up our society can provide us with unique perspectives and powerfully moving artworks. The whole exhibition is a fascinating snapshot of the state of belief now: passion, anger, ecstasy, reflection, trauma and doubt, leavened by moments of wit, humour, beauty and playfulness.” Now open to the public, the Blake Prize exhibition includes works by First Nations Australians including Redfern-based Bla

One of Australia’s most pioneering and prolific sculptors gets an overdue red carpet retrospective roll out at the Art Gallery of New South Wales with Margel Hinder: Modern in Motion. Presented in partnership with Melbourne’s Heide Museum of Modern, the show spans the late, great sculptor's 50-year career, from early wood carvings right through to later space age kinetic wire works and major public commissions. “Margel Hinder was an agent for cultural change and part of the first generation of abstract artists in Australia,” AGNSW director Dr Michael Brand says. “This important retrospective reveals how vital Hinder was in the making of Sydney’s modernism and for asserting the place of sculpture within it.” Hinder was born in Brooklyn and studied in Buffalo, New York, and Boston, migrating to Australia in 1934 after marrying Australian artist Frank Hinder. It’s here where she truly made her mark. The show is co-curated by AGNSW senior curator of Australian art Denise Mimmocchi and Heide artistic director Lesley Harding, who says the exhibition represents a much-needed exploration of the breadth and depth of Hinder’s fascinating body of work. “Apart from her inclusion in a few surveys of local modernism, Hinder’s vanguard practice and its legacy have largely been overlooked since the 1980s. This exhibition presents her innovative and visually arresting sculpture to new generations and the wide audience it deserves.” Including maquettes (sculptural models or rough drafts), draw

Tattooing our skin is an act of art, of true expression, of being seen. That’s part of the reason the LGBTIQ+ community has embraced the ancient artform wholeheartedly, presenting sexuality and gender-diverse bodies as a beautiful canvas. It's the proud embracing of outsider status.  Skin Deep is an immersive new multi-disciplinary celebration of these ideas at the National Art School this Mardi Gras. It includes a stunning photography exhibition celebrating queer tattooed people as photographed by celebrated Sydney fashion photographer Waded. Curated by Terese Casu, the show explores the history and meaning of tattoos to LGBTQI people and showcases diverse tattooed bodies at Cell Block Theatre until March 7. Heavily tattooed octogenarian bear Geoff Ostling is one of the stars of the show, so you can see close up the tangle of waratahs, orchids, azaleas, strelitzias, poinsettias, daphne, jacaranda and wisteria that trace every inch of his skin. LGBTQI+ visitors are invited to contribute their own body art through an interactive wall of images and stories about their first tattoo. Choreographer Meryl Tankard also presents a series of live dance performances with the aid of aerialist The Amazing Ari, with The Song Company on hand to sing arias of unrequited love. There are more surprises to uncover too, so dive in deeper than Skin Deep. Love queer creativity? Check out the rest of the brilliant Mardi Gras program. 

The late, great Australian artist Pat Larter rewrote the book on female desire and sexuality, throwing out hoary old conventions and busting stupid stereotypes. So much more than the muse of husband and fellow artist Richard Larter, Pat Larter Get Arted is the showcase shetruly deserves. The first solo exhibition of her work to be hosted in a public art museum, it’s long overdue. From her home in Luddenham, west of Sydney, Larter became one of the major voices in the international - and fiercely anti-establishment - mail art movement, coining the term ‘femail’ art. Her involvement in the movement saw her participate in hundreds of international exhibitions. Larter corresponded with artists from all corners of the world, sending them photographs of her performances as well as her films, screen prints and collages. Revealing a collaborative, provocative, humorous and ultimately joyful artistic practice spanning three decades,  Larter’s work centred the female gaze, exploring exciting new angles on gender and the body. Co-curator Lisa Catt says, “This exhibition explores the commitment and energy she brought to her practice, and the generosity of spirit she offered to all those she knew. Pat brought her inimitable brand of feminism to everything she did. From her performances, where the traditions of vaudeville and burlesque theatre meet 1970s gender and body politics, to her transgressive and bawdy contributions to the mail art movement, Pat’s work is both a provocation and a d

Take a look at pictures of placards held aloft during Australia’s Black Lives Matter marches and you’ll see that even in the midst of tragedy, there’s a fierce sense of dark comedy at play too. And even empowered joy. We all need a bit more of the latter in our lives this year. Thankfully the Art Gallery of NSW has you covered. Opening on October 24 and running to sometime in 2021, new exhibition Joy gathers fun art from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creatives from across the Central Desert. Collecting everything from Queenie Kemarre’s cute bird statues carved in wood and painted in brilliant pink hues, to Judith Inkamala terracotta magpie adorned pots, and films too, it’s a celebration of the brighter side of life. As the AGNSW sees it, although it’s important to tell the stories of history and people that are uncomfortable, in need of critical dialogue or deeply embedded in culture and its practices, sharing joy is just as necessary, and we often forget to make space for that in our appraisal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Want more NAIDOC Week suggestions? Read our top tips here.