DESIGN Canberra has announced details for the 2020 program that will take over the nation’s capital from 9-29 November. The festival celebrates Canberra as a global city of design and a living design laboratory, and this year’s centrepiece is a major site-specific installation by Australian multidisciplinary artist Hannah Quinlivan. Returning for its seventh year, the fast-growing annual three-week festival will present more than 200 events including exhibitions; talks by industry leaders such as acclaimed architect Michael Dysart, leading social commentator and business analyst Bernard Salt and internationally renowned glassmaker Kirstie Rea; tours and unique access to architectural gems including the iconic Shine Dome, a film festival, workshops and the popular program of artist open studios.

For more detail about the 2020 DESIGN Canberra program please see the festival website: https://designcanberrafestival.com.au/

Image: Artist Hannah Quinlivan. Courtesy the artist and DESIGN Canberra.

The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra will present its special event live concert season Ayres & Graces at City Recital Hall from 27-31 October 2020.  The season of five socially-distanced concerts marks the Orchestra’s first live performances in over six months.

Celebrating chamber music from the English and French Baroque, Ayres & Graces will be directed by Principal Baroque Flute/Recorder Melissa Farrow who leads an ensemble of Brandenburg musicians performing on an eclectic combination of period instruments. This special event marks the Orchestra’s celebratory return to live performance, City Recital Hall will be transformed into a world of colour and sound, with the Brandenburg musicians for the very first time performing before a stage-wide LED screen illuminated with images from both sides of the English Channel. The stunning imagery curated by Australian designer Silvana Azzi Heras will blend with a musical offering of pastoral folk songs, heavenly trio sonatas and intimate chamber music alongside stately works of grander scale.

Australasia’s international art fair, Sydney Contemporary, will present a new, experiential digital initiative designed to support the arts community and respond to the issues resulting from Covid-19. Running from 1 until 31 October 2020, Sydney Contemporary Presents 2020, is a month-long project inviting viewers to engage with more than 450 new artworks created by over 380 artists during 2020, some of which respond to the events of the year.

Image: Penny Byrne, Love in a Time of Corona, Courtesy Gallerysmith

Bell Shakespeare will present a series of debates to take place around the country and available virtually to celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary year. The Bell Debates will bring together high-profile Australians from a range of industries to debate direct quotes from Shakespeare, addressing and tackling ideas from his plays in the context of our modern world. The first debate on Thursday 24 September will be livestreamed at 7.30pm from Sydney’s Carriageworks via Bell Shakespeare’s website on a ‘pay what you feel’ basis.

With two teams of three debating for and against, the debates will provide a forum to demonstrate the enduring relevance of Shakespeare’s ideas and his unique ability to provoke thought and discussion about the human experience. The first debate will focus on the line “We have seen better days” from As You Like It, a particularly relevant idea to discuss in light of the current situation. Debaters will include team captains Benjamin Law and Jane Caro AM alongside Jess Scully, Jan Fran, Jonathan Biggins and Miriam Corowa. The event will be moderated by Bell Shakespeare Board Member Rebecca Huntley, one of Australia’s foremost social researchers, and hosted by Artistic Director Peter Evans.

Image: Bell Shakespeare’s As You Like It (2015) (c) Rush.