We all know that the arts can change live for the better, but how exactly? Hear from the three of the nation’s leading experts on how creativity can work as a tool for good by attacking disadvantage and providing new pathways.

WHAT:  Discussion – Harnessing the Arts to Empower the Disadvantaged
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: Australia Council for the Arts, 372 Elizabeth St. Surry Hills
HOW MUCH: $11-20, Tickets and info here

What inspires 20 art students to travel from UNSW to Wakayama Japan to walk 60 Km through an ancient forest on a thousand-year-old pilgrimage trail? Kumano answers this by reflecting upon the collective and personal journeys experienced whilst walking the trails of Kumano Kodo and Koyasan, to offer new transformative as well as cross-cultural perspectives.

WHAT: Exhibition Opening – Kumano
WHEN: 5-7pm
WHERE: Kudos Gallery, 6 Napier St. Paddington
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Drinks and mayhem to celebrate the launch of un Magazine 11.1: Murmurs. With performances from Erica Englert, Wart and Rainbow Chan. Edited by David Capra with Sub-Editor Amelia Winata, un Magazine 11.1 reflects on the artist at work in today’s political and cultural climate.

WHAT: Launch – un Magazine 11.1
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, 181-187 Hay St. Sydney
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Armando Iannucci is a satirist, showrunner, writer, television director and radio producer. In this very special event, ‘the hard man of political satire’ talks to Chris Taylor about comedy, politics and ‘Continuity with Change’.

WHAT: Sydney Writers Festival – Writer Talk
WHEN: 8.30-9.30pm
WHERE: Sydney Town Hall – 483 George St, CBD
HOW MUCH: $30+, more info here

The opening night of May Exhibitions at Firstdraft.  Featuring ‘Of All Others’ curated by Kate Britton, ‘Soliliquies from Small Spaces’ by Andrew Varano, and ‘Open Water: The Offering’ by Anna Nazzari & Erin Coates.

WHAT: Exhibition Openings – May at Firstdraft
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: Firstdraft, 13-17 Riley St. Woolloomooloo
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

The opening night of ‘Nocturn’ by Hyun-Hee Lee. An exhibition focusing on cultural and family connections and memories, on spiritualism and the continuum of life.

WHAT: Exhibition Opening – Nocturn
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: Artereal Gallery, 747 Darling St. Rozelle
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Feeling underpaid, undervalued and under-recognised? For this edition of after pARTY Make or Break want to celebrate your invisible labours of love. After pARTY is a monthly official unofficial after party, kicking on from the exhibition opening of galleries in the area.

WHAT: after pARTy ~ Invisible labours of Love ~ ft. Make or Break
WHEN: 8pm-12am
WHERE: Freda’s 107-109 Regent St. Chippendale
HOW MUCH: By donation, more info here

The photographic portrait is the focus and the inherent challenge of Cherine Fahd’s art. Her latest body of work, National Types of Beauty is similarly subversive. It is developed from a set of English cigarette cards produced in 1928 depicting images and loaded texts descriptive of the national types of female beauty and is presciently topical in the contemporary climate of escalating reports of ethnic, gender and religious typing and discrimination.

WHAT: Exhibition Opening – Nocturn
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: Artereal Gallery, 747 Darling St. Rozelle
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Unlimited Support is an artist led project that uses the formal qualities of installation, painting and sculptural work to look at what constitutes a support. The three artists employ supports in their work in diverse and distinctive ways, and in this exhibition they explore points of connection and difference in how they think through the potential of engaging with supports.

WHAT: Exhibition Opening – Unlimited Support
WHEN: 5:30-8pm
WHERE: Verge Gallery, Jane Foss Russell Plaza, City Rd. University of Sydney, Darlington
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Inspired by the words of revered Indigenous leader Vincent Lingiari, ‘that land … I still got it on my mind’, this exhibition considers the ongoing impact of the Gurindji Walk-Off, a seminal event in Australian history that continues to resonate today.

WHAT: Exhibition Opening – Still In My Mind: Gurindji Location, Experience and Visuality
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: UNSW Galleries, Cnr Oxford St. & Greens Rd. Paddington
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

Opening night of May exhibitions at Airspace projects.  Featuring ‘Prolegomena: About filters, codification and domestication’ by Misael M, ‘The Illusion that is Reality’ by Eunjoo Jang, ‘The Facade of Memory’ by Stella Chen, and ‘Review before the Storm’ by Ajay and Vinita Sharma.

WHAT: Exhibition Openings – May at Airspace
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: Airspace Projects, 10 Junction St. Marrickville
HOW MUCH: Free, more info here

SAD by SAD WEST is a fringe festival focused on connecting community and art through shared philosophies rather than genre or medium presented by Lesstalk & Papaiti Records. Their aim is to create events that showcase shared ideas, values, and alternatives that refuse to consider art to be a commodity, but rather a sustainable form that through a communitarian approach can challenge the current climate of modern society.

WHAT: Sad by Sad West
WHEN: 7-11:20pm
WHERE: The Red Rattler Theatre, 6 Faversham St. Marrickville
HOW MUCH: $18.40 Tickets and info here

Do you think people trust a photograph as evidence? Is there a need to be more transparent in revealing the stories behind the taking of photographs? How do we counter the issue of photographs being misappropriated and then used with new captions or headlines to promote a different agenda? What can photojournalists do to try and protect their work? Does the authenticity and authority of the photojournalist still carry weight?

WHAT: Debate – Does photojournalism facilitate or counteract ‘fake news’?
WHEN: 7:30-9:30pm
WHERE: Beauchamp Hotel, 265-267 Oxford St. Darlinghurst
HOW MUCH: Free, register online here