Bundanon Trust today revealed the Masterplan design for Arthur Boyd’s iconic Riversdale property in regional New South Wales created by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA), following their unanimous appointment in November 2016 from a shortlist of six Australian architecture firms.

The Masterplan design of Riversdale situated on the 1100-hectare property gifted to the Australian people by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd in 1993, includes a world-class creative learning centre for school students, a contemporary visitor hub, accommodation and a 380m2 light-filled contemporary art gallery – partially buried into the landscape – that will house the Trust’s $37.5 million Arthur Boyd art collection.

Prioritising the existing landscape and its ecology, and responding to the current and future climatic conditions of the site, the design draws on the distinctive Australian native bushland and rural Australia’s flood ‘trestle’ bridges as points of inspiration. The new facilities are housed within a new 140-metre-long by 9-metre-wide structure that at one end abuts the art gallery within the sloping hillside, continuing along to bridge an existing gully.

IMAGE: A gathering of 100,000 men and women in The Domain on a Saturday during the Great Strike of 1917 (Sydney Mail, 15 August 1917, p. 22. Courtesy National Library of Australia)

Carriageworks and the City of Sydney co-present a free public exhibition, 1917: The Great Strike, to commemorate the centenary of one of Australia’s largest industrial conflicts. Taking place at Carriageworks from 15 July – 27 August 2017, the exhibition brings together historical objects such as union banners, badges and certificates, archival photographs, film and oral testimonies, alongside commissioned artworks by contemporary artists Raquel Ormella, Tom Nicholson and Andrew Byrne, Will French, Franck Gohier and Sarah Contos. On Saturday 5 August, The Great Strike Community Day commemorates the centenary of this important historical moment and explores its contemporary resonances through artist talks, panel discussions, performances and workshops at Carriageworks.

Co-curated by City of Sydney Historian Laila Ellmoos and Carriageworks Curator Nina Miall, the exhibition examines the Great Strike which originated at the Eveleigh Railway Workshops (now Carriageworks) and the Randwick Tram Sheds on 2 August 1917, against the backdrop of World War I. Around 5,790 employees downed tools in protest against the card system, a new way of monitoring worker efficiency. During the six-week strike, an estimated 77,350 NSW workers across a range of industries walked off the job. Many railway and tramway employees never got their jobs back, or were demoted in their role.

Australasia’s international art fair, Sydney Contemporary, today announced it will become an annual event from 2017 onwards, responding to gallery and artist demand for a premium art fair held yearly in Australia. Formerly a biennial fair, Sydney Contemporary will be held annually commencing with its third edition in 2017, presented from Thursday 7th until Sunday 10th September, across the entire Carriageworks multi-arts precinct in Redfern, Sydney.

The 2017 edition of Sydney Contemporary will feature more than 80 leading Australian and international exhibitors from around the pacific rim and further afield including China, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Singapore, Chile and New Zealand. Works spanning a diverse range of mediums, from established through to emerging artists will be showcased in museum-quality booths across seven large-scale exhibition spaces at Carriageworks, complemented by a robust curated program of talks, performances and events.

Sydney Fringe Festival, New South Wales’ largest independent arts festival, today announced its most ambitious program yet including a proposed 7000m2 new hub for the Festival adjacent to the spectacular Sydney Park in Alexandria. Presented from 1 until 30 September, for the first time in 2017 the Fringe is proposing to transform a large-scale warehouse, roughly the size of an airport hangar, at Sydney Park to create the dynamic HPG Festival Hub.

The result of a major new partnership with local property developer, HPG Australia, the proposed HPG Festival Hub will see the space enlivened by Fringe with monthly events starting this May and continuing through the month of September with multiple performance spaces, a circus hub, exhibitions, creative offices, installations and immersive art experiences.

Highlighting the city’s vibrant culture, Fringe will activate Sydney suburbs with a diverse program spanning theatre, music, comedy, visual art, film, musical theatre, dance, circus, literature and poetry. The 2017 program will again take over the streets, shop fronts and venues across the city this September inviting audiences to engage with ‘what’s new’: new art, new activations, and new, young artists (60% under the age of 30). More than half of the productions in the 2017 program are world premieres, whilst 63% of productions will be Australian premieres and a further 83% Sydney premieres.

Image: Caroline Rothwell’s Equilibrium

The XIII Bienal de Cuenca, presented at the Salon del Pueblo in Ecuador last year from 22 October until 31 December 2016, for the first time included a satellite exhibition featuring four Australian artists; Reko Rennie, Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Janet Laurence, and Caroline Rothwell, alongside Latin American and European artists. Curated by Natalia Bradshaw, Frágil consists of four installations that related to the Bienal’s overall theme of ‘Impermanence’. The works will be on display for Australian audiences at Kronenberg Wright from 2-24 June 2017 as Fragil II.

The National Art School Gallery presents EuroVisions from Saturday 3 June until Saturday 5 August, a new exhibition of contemporary European artworks drawn from the family collection of Lisa and Danny Goldberg OAM. Featuring 64 works by more than 30 leading contemporary artists from Europe, EuroVisions presents a vibrant cross-section of recent developments in international art showcasing the diversity and exuberance of innovative practices and contemporary culture. The exhibition offers Australian audiences an introduction to, and a unique opportunity to directly experience, these rarely seen, significant works.

The Other Art Fair Melbourne launched its inaugural edition last night at The Facility in Kensington with over 100 of the very best emerging artists selling their art directly to Melbourne audiences over the weekend. The Other Art Fair is the world’s leading artist-led contemporary art fair and a dynamic four-day public program accompanies the fair including workshops, daily talks, activities for kids and families, art tours by The School of Life, Virtual Reality story-telling, live performance art by Chili Philly and Friday Night Late with The Harpoons.

Carriageworks and Vivid Sydney today announced the line-up of chefs and creative team for Sydney Table, a series of bespoke dining experiences staged over four nights from 14-17 June at The Clothing Store located within Carriageworks’ multi-arts precinct.

Sydney Table will pair some of New South Wales’ leading chefs with elements of contemporary music, art and design, promising an unforgettable creative dining experience. Curated by Carriageworks Farmers Market Creative Director Mike McEnearney, the participating chefs are: O Tama Carey (Lankan Filling Station); Clayton Wells (Automata); James Viles (Biota); and Ben Sears (Moon Park).

Following a sold-out series of Sydney Table in 2016, McEnearney joins forces with creative director Tony Assness to curate a fresh line-up some of Australia’s most respected chefs with artists, designers and musicians, up close and in their element at The Clothing Store, home to Carriageworks’ recently announced Artist Studio Program. Against the backdrop of an industrial heritage setting, diners will feast on the talents of some of NSW’s top chefs and creatives, drawing inspiration from fresh, locally sourced produce to create a sensational menu with matched wine and premium beverages by Scotchmans Hill, Asahi Super Dry, VOSS water and Archie Rose Distilling Co.

Image: Bathing in love, oil on canvas, 123cmx153cm

Jonathan Crowther’s latest collection of work references the changing landscape of image consumption and the way we engage with imagery through our digital devices and social media feeds. Utilising imagery from his own device and feeds Crowther has constructed a series of paintings that traverse this digital landscape. Continuing the contemporary conversation between photography and painting Crowther creates hyperreal images that explore our relationship with the screen, touch and the world around us. The exhibition Feed will be on display at Palmer in Woollahra from 24 May until 13 July 2017.