Songlines, or Dreaming tracks, map the routes of Ancestral beings as they travelled across Australia, creating the land and its people. 

Commissioned by the National Museum of Australia as part of the Aboriginal-led exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters (2017), the installation is a celebration that gives visitors the feeling of walking through a songline themselves. It is suitable for all ages.

WHO: National Museum of Australia & Museum of Sydney
WHERE: Corner of Phillip and Bridge Streets, Sydney
WHEN: Until 17 July, 10 am – 5 pm
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Walcha-based sculptor Myfanwy Gullifer shares Dialling in, her most uplifting work yet, abundant with cherub-faced, rosy-cheeked kewpie doll cuteness. Her joyful and poignant work has been exhibited at the Korean International Art Fair, the New England Regional Art Gallery and the Melbourne Art fair, to name a few. 

WHO: Myfanwy Gullifer & King Street Gallery
WHERE: 177-185 William St, Darlinghurst
WHEN: 12 July – 6 August 

HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Kathryn Queama is a Pitjantjatjara woman from Australia’s Central Desert. Ngura Kulintjaku (Understanding Country) is Queama’s first solo exhibition at Artsite Contemporary. An established punu (wood carving) artist, Queama has been exhibited across Australia as well as in New York City, Venice, and Dakar.

WHO: Kathryn Queama & Artsite Contemporary Gallery
WHERE: 165 Salisbury Rd, Camperdown
WHEN: 25 June – 23 July
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

When her mother dies, a teenage girl is left alone within the four walls of the only thing she’s inherited—a decaying penthouse in the heart of Singapore. To make matters worse, she’s now in the care of her estranged brother, and he’s not exactly up to the gig. For one, he’s only a few years older than her. And two, he’s a gangster. 

WHO: Merlynn Tong & Griffin Theatre
WHERE: 13 Craigend St, Darlinghurst
WHEN: 14-30 July, 7pm
HOW MUCH: $38+, more info here

I feel like a screen. Like a TV screen where everything from the front looks real and alive, but round the back there’s just dust and a few wires.

Martin Crimp’s 1997 masterpiece has been perplexing and inspiring audiences for almost two decades. Written against the backdrop of media saturation, Eastern European conflict and a spike in right wing terrorism the play has never felt more vital. 

WHO: Martin Crimp, Kings Cross Theatre & Montague Basement
WHERE: Level 2, Kings Cross Hotel, 244-248 William St, Kings Cross
WHEN: 15-30 July, 7:30pm
HOW MUCH: $45 Adult / $35 Concession, for more information please see here

This July, Artereal Gallery is proud to present a major exhibition of magical, wonderous and mysterious new paintings and sculptures by Louise Zhang.

Titled Like an infertile python egg, we are trying this latest exhibition unveils paintings and sculptures which continue to explore a range of personal and cultural influences, including Zhang’s religious upbringing, her experiences as a Third-Culture Kid growing up Chinese-Australian, and traditional Chinese symbols and motifs. 

WHO: Louise Zhang & Artereal Gallery
WHERE: 747 Darling St, Rozelle
WHEN: 8 – 30 July
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Under the vast Kimberley sky, the red pindan dust stretches across the desert homelands of the Walmajarri, where the ancient knowledge of People and of Country is preserved through Songlines that have endured for hundreds of generations.

SandSong is a journey into ancient story systems framed against the backdrop of ever-changing government policy and of the survival of people determined to hold strong to their Culture.

WHO: Bangarra Dance Company & Sydney Dance Company
WHERE: Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point
WHEN: 16 July, 1:30pm & 7:30pm
HOW MUCH: Tickets between $49 – $109 (limited seats!!), for more information please see here

Join Bankstown Arts Centre for an afternoon of talks with the Arboreal Narrative artists, discussing their work, practice and how they honour trees.

Arboreal Narratives honours trees and acknowledges their value across cultures through the work of two First Nation artists, Blak Douglas and Badger Bates, and 10 artists from the Tree Veneration Society.

WHO: Tree Veneration Society & Bankstown Arts Centre

WHERE: 5 Olympic Parade, Bankstown
WHEN: 16 July
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Sydney artist Maisie Cohen invites you to join her as she launches MAISIE PRINTS. The artist’s first run of clothing emboldened by bright, bubbly and visually striking prints is set to be shared this weekend. The launch will be accompanied by artworks, music and dance performances so it’s definitely worth sticking around if you’re there early!

In Maisie’s own words: “… come explore, celebrate creativity, buy some cool clothes (yeah!) or just have a bevvy and say hi!”

WHO: Maisie Cohen & 107 Projects
WHERE: 107 Redfern St, Redfern
WHEN: 16 July, 6:45pm
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Feature artworks by new-media American artists Dani Ahrens, Alex Bienstock, Meg Spectre, and collective The Pepperoni Zone, Based in the USA is Gregory Uzelac’s curatorial debut.

Whereas contemporary exhibitions are often loaded with extra context, these works are simply celebrations of humanity’s basic creative instinct without specific purpose, but made in a place where everyone seems obsessed with definitions. There is a freedom in that vagueness; a freedom of possibility and pluralism that, albeit mythic, are deeply American ideals.

WHO: Gregory Uzelac & Puzzle Gallery
WHERE: 21-23 Wellington St, Chippendale
WHEN: 16 July, 1-8pm
HOW MUCH: Free