An inspiring documentary, ‘Island Queens’ sees VICE spending time in the Northern Territory with the Sistergirls of the Tiwi Islands—a gay and trans Indigenous community who make up more than five percent of the island’s population. 80km north of the Australian mainland, many of the inspirational community live publicly as women, observing local Indigenous traditions and looking for love and happiness.

WHAT: Premiere Screening – Australiana: ‘Island Queens’
WHEN: 6:30-8pm
WHERE: The Red Rattler Theatre, 6 Faversham St, Marrickville
HOW MUCH: Entry by donation, more info here

Join us for an in-conversation with internationally renowned curators Yung Ma and Susanne Pfeffer, facilitated by Maud Page, Deputy Director and Director of Collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales. These conversations will span their curatorial methodologies and careers working in some of the most important contemporary art institutions in Asia and Europe.

WHAT: In-conversation | Yung Ma and Susanne Pfeffer
WHEN: 6-7:30pm
WHERE: Artspace Sydney, 43-51 Cowper Wharf Rd. Woolloomooloo
HOW MUCH: more info here

With local and international speakers drawn from all over South Asia, this symposium is led by artists, cultural commentators, scholars and grass-roots workers who understand the real issues which affect art and culture from the region. 

WHAT: When South is North Symposium – contemporary art and culture in South Asia and Australia.
WHEN: 9am-8pm
WHERE: 1 PSQ (1 Parramatta Square), Western Sydney University
169 Macquarie St.
HOW MUCH: Free, registration required, info here

Going up? The Moon landing… A broadcast odyssey. As the Moon launch happens upstairs – we question the landing ~ by staging one. Amateur or auteur? A re-construction of the Moon Landing in a make shift studio, broadcasting in real time from Down/Under – cardboard, cables, paint, video, tape, sound, fabric, words, wood, backdrop, sound, illusion, confusion.

WHAT: Moon Landing ~ Holly Friedlander Liddicoat / BB+Cam / Danny
WHEN: 6-9pm
WHERE: Down / Under Space, 109 Regent St, Chippendale
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

The Absurdist Project was born out of a mutual awareness of each artists’ studio practice. A healthy sense of the absurd forms a common thread for Laerkesen and Cahill. Both artists explore ideas that variously prick/pop/puncture/penetrate presumptions that describe a rational world, enabling a creative freedom – like air escaping from a balloon bouncing around a room, making that familiar “flappity” sound.

WHAT: Art Exhibition
WHEN: 6-9pm (exhibition on until 27th August)
WHERE: 107 Projects Space, Redfern
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Flutter Lyon is hosting a workshop to teach 120 people a fun new way to talk about feelings and emotions. She challenges your preconceptions about what a conversation around mental health looks like. Championing honesty, human connection and emotional intelligence this is an experience that will change the way you think about mental health.

WHAT: Discussion + Art Workshop
WHEN: 6-10pm
WHERE: COMMUNE, Waterloo
HOW MUCH: $25, more info here

Featuring the latest work from Mitch Cairns, Karla Dickens, Newell Harry, Jumaadi, James Nguyen, Addison Marshall, Joan Ross and Justine Varga. Curated by Judith Blackall, ‘Grounded’ showcases a range of unique and courageous approaches in contemporary art, along with experimental attitudes and original thinking.

WHAT: Grounded: Contemporary Australian Art – Opening Night
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: National Art School, Cnr of Forbes & Burton St, Darlinghurst
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

The Arab Film Festival Australia aims to share screen stories and present the voices of the Arab world and diaspora in order to engage, entertain and challenge diverse Australian and international audiences through Arab film culture, and to provide a space for Arab Australian filmmakers to screen their work.

WHAT: Arab Film Festival
WHEN: August 17 – 2o
WHERE: Riverside Theatres, Cnr market and Church Street, Parramatta
HOW MUCH: $18-22 per film, more info here

As a companion to the exhibition Down the Barrel: Indigenous Resistance, we invite any local or visiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander poets to perform their work within the gallery.  Verge wants to hear your words! Come along to speak your truth, or just to see and hear some art.

WHAT: Aboriginal Poetry Night Open Mic
WHEN: 5:30-8pm
WHERE: Verge Gallery, Jane Foss Russell Plaza, City Rd. University of Sydney, Darlington
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

‘I don’t want to be there when it happens’ brings together artists who explore the psychology of contemporary trauma. Recent works by Raj Kumar, Sonia Leber & David Chesworth and Adeela Suleman all confront the larger socio-political realities of Pakistan in the era of contemporary warfare. Through video and installation, the artists address the experience of the individual in the midst of a continuous state of war.

WHAT: Exhibition Opening: I don’t want to be there when it happens
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, 181-187 Hay St. Sydney
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

International poets are brought together by Vagabond Press in their Asia Pacific and America’s series at the Gasoline Pony in Marrickville. A pioneering platform for Australian poetry, Vagabond has expanded internationally, dedicated to promoting new voices in the Asia Pacific. Celebrating four new titles in the Asia-Pacific series from Korea, Japan, Vietnam and China, and the first title for Vagabond in the Americas series, sourcing works from Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico. The poetry in this series attacks the vastly diverse present using puns, wit and the emerging voices in contemporary poetry.

WHAT: Vagabond Press Asia Pacific and America Series

WHERE: Gasoline Pony in Marrickville

WHEN: 6pm-10pm

HOW MUCH: Free. More info here.

Charlotte Haywood uses experimental textiles and video to blur the boundaries between tapestry, architecture, landscape and language. Haywood tells stories of the Australian landscape, specifically exploring temporary and sacred shelters of Indigenous Australia, Euro-centric steeples and refugee tents or past, present and future. Haywood has repurposed symbolic items like hospital blankets, high-vis safety gear, life jackets, camo and even baby blankets to create a multithreaded and multi-narrative architectural forms. She aims to explore the diverse cultural and linguistic groups found in Australia and remind us that actions speak louder than words in this multi-disciplinary exhibit.

WHAT: Opening Night for Green Asylum by Charlotte Haywood

WHERE: Australian Design Centre, Darlinghurst

WHEN: 6-8pm. Exhibition on until 27th September

HOW MUCH: Free. More info here.

Frontyard is inviting you to participate and contribute to an experimental dialog-producing project that will result in the publication of a speed book, produced for and during the Hobiennale festival. Relying on images from Frontyard’s online Flickr archive as visual triggers the project will be conducted through a daily ritual of making, walking, cooking, and sharing with Ali, Connie & Julia. The hope is to critique concepts of time, economy, social life and value systems. 

WHAT: Modeling Hobiennale @Frontyard
WHEN: 10am-5pm
WHERE: Frontyard, 228 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville
HOW MUCH: Free, RSVP essential, more info here

A massive night of music, installations, panel discussions music and a giant group exhibition by female, female identifying and GNC artists!

WHAT: Lucky I’m A Lady- Art, Music and Talks
WHEN: 6pm – 12pm
WHERE: The Lord Gladstone, Good Space Gallery, Chippendale, Regent st
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

For the month of August, the Art + Film program focuses on a film choice inspired by our latest exhibition Jenny Watson: The Fabric of Fantasy. Exhibition Curator Anna Davis has selected the cult classic film Dogs in Space (1986) highlighting Jenny Watson’s history with the punk and little band scene in Melbourne in the 70s and 80s. As part of our screening, we will have Dogs in Space director Richard Lowenstein, to discuss the film and its continued relevance today.

WHAT: Art + Film: Dogs in Space
WHEN: 2-4:30pm
WHERE: Museum of Contemporary Art, 140 George St. The Rocks
HOW MUCH: $8-10, Tickets and info here

Literally drink in a night of literary readings performances alongside a range of available books, zines, art and broadsides by local creators.

WHAT: Subbed In Poetry Night
WHEN: 5pm – 7pm
WHERE: The Spunky Bruiser Shop, Foley St, Darlinghurst
HOW MUCH: $5 entry at door, more info here

A poetic and satirical performance where TV soap opera meets art-house film in an expedition for the perfect relationship.

WHAT: Blue Love
WHEN: 7:30 (one performance only)
WHERE: Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, High Street, Penrith
HOW MUCH: $50- $55, more info here