The Verge Festival is one of Australia’s biggest student festivals, that celebrates student creativity of all kinds, with artworks, performances and events all over campus! View the complete Verge Festival program and learn more about the artists displaying their works.

WHAT: Festival
WHEN: 10am (runs until 13th October)
WHERE: University of Sydney, Camperdown
HOW MUCH: Free, more info

‘Oh, it’s a horror show’ is a group exhibition that brings together recent works by artists in the early stages of their careers. This exhibition will present bodies and forms that court parallels with the aesthetic stimulations of the campier side of the cinematic horror genre.

WHAT: Exhibition Openings
WHEN: 5-7pm
WHERE: Kudos Gallery, Paddington
HOW MUCH: Free, more info

Three features this month! Incuding: Josh Holms who has stories to tell. Not the fairy tale kind, more the nihilistic and mystical kind of stories, moving your soul, engaging the brain. Following is Kristie Tatton a writer, poet and spoken word performer from Sydney, speaking about child loss, mental health and personal experiences. Finally, Clarissa Mei a singer/songwriter that performs and provides an Electro-Soul sound. With a combination of beats, soft synths, and strong vocals, Clarissa takes you on a journey of wonder, pain, and beauty.

WHAT: Poetry Slam
WHEN: 6:30-9:30pm
WHERE: Shh Space, Parramatta
HOW MUCH: $7, more info

Parramatta’s multi-award winning festival is back with an epic line-up! Explore 12 uniquely themed laneways and hidden spaces showcasing tempting food delights, boutique pop-up bars, live music and cutting-edge art installations.

WHAT: Festival Fair
WHEN: 5pm
WHERE: Parramatta CBD/Centenary Square, more info
HOW MUCH: Free, more info

As the first symposium of its kind, Gender in Southeast Asian Art Histories aims to establish the parameters of current research, and to develop inter-disciplinary and transnational frameworks for future studies in the field. Bringing together a range of scholars working on the pre-modern, modern, and contemporary, they seek to consider new perspectives and methodological approaches brought to the fore in art history through studies that are attentive to gender, or how we might reassess art historical narratives through the lens of gender.

WHAT: Symposium
WHEN: 5pm
WHERE: John Woolley Building USYD, Camperdown
HOW MUCH: Free RSVP, more info

Cassie Workman has returned to the stage to bring two of her most beloved shows to life, in a performance of her acclaimed ‘Love Stories’. In a night of comedy and heartfelt storytelling, Cassie performs ‘Ave Loretta’ and ‘We Have Fun Don’t We’ back to back at Giant Dwarf, to raise money for her medical costs. Cassie began transitioning earlier this year, and this is your chance to support her along the way whilst enjoying two of her most loved solo shows.

WHAT: Comedy/Storytelling
WHEN: 7-9:20pm
WHERE: Giant Dwarf, Redfern
HOW MUCH: $33.50, more info

As part of Sydney Craft Week, TRADE the MARK will be swinging open their studio doors during Craft Up Late and sharing what they’ve been developing and making over the last few months. If you’re keen to see inside a ceramic and textile studio, then come on down, say hi, have a cuppa or something stronger and see where all the magic happens. There will be lots of wares on offer including hand painted tea towels, throws, stretched textiles, hanging planters, ceramic vessels, ceramic wall pieces, platters, leather pot hangers, watercolour art, seconds ceramic pieces and textile samples.

WHAT: Open Art Studio
WHEN: 5-8pm
WHERE: Trade the Mark, St Peters
HOW MUCH: Free, more info

Sport for Jove presents Howard Barker’s No End of Blame; a sublimely playful, dangerous and pertinent political masterpiece. Set over 6 decades of the 20th Century across Europe, the story pits a passionate, provocative pair of artists, one a painter, the other a cartoonist, against the forces of censorship and insidious state control that corrupt and stifle the human right to freedom of thought and freedom of speech. This brutal and savagely funny play could not be more relevant to our modern world and its new brand of war, journalism and self-expression. A visual and aural feast for the senses.

WHAT: Theatre Production
WHEN: 7:30pm
WHERE: Seymore Theatre, Chippendale
HOW MUCH: $35-44, more info

Visit the first nighttime Around the Outside event; Speculative Futures, which focuses on alternative conceptions of space and time. Positioning portals, voids and black holes as spaces of resistance and potentiality, the evening will feature talks by Matthew Varnay and Shareeka Helaluddin, as well as a new video work by Anna May Kirk and a guided group discussion (and as always, beers and snags).

WHAT: Talk Series
WHEN: 6-8pm
WHERE: Firstdraft, Woolloomooloo
HOW MUCH: Free, more info

Drink and paint in an unguided session at Art and Chroma in Surry Hills. In this class you can BYO beverage and let your inner artist loose with acrylic on canvas. Explore unusual tools and bring along a picture to inspire your to paint the night away in this intimate session featuring live music. The session goes for three hours and taking away your newest art work when you’re done.

WHAT: Art Class

WHEN: 7pm-10pm

WHERE: Cork and Chroma, Surry Hills

HOW MUCH: $25. More info here.

The second edition of this biennial event features over 70 exhibitors from across Australia and the world, including Amsterdam, Hong Kong, South Korea, France and the United States. Alongside this international line up of publishers, artists, collectives, galleries and distributors is a free program of talks, artist-led workshops, book launches, readings and performances.

WHAT: Art Book Fair
WHEN: Launch 6-9pm
WHERE: Artspace, Woolloomooloo
HOW MUCH: Free, more info

Celebrated French-Albanian artist Anri Sala has created an innovative new installation of sculpture and sound for the 33rd Kaldor Public Art Project, which has been developed over three years ahead of its world-premiere in Sydney. The Last Resort is co-presented with Art & About Sydney.

WHAT: Art Exhibition Opening
WHEN: 10am-6pm
WHERE: Sydney College Of The Arts, Lilyfield
HOW MUCH: Free, more info

A marathon celebration of classic horror films from the 1980s, which was inspired by Stranger Things which was inspired by these films – REVERSE INSPIRATION! The Ritz is screening an awesome selection of four films back to back for ONE NIGHT ONLY on Friday the 13th.

WHAT: Movie Marathon
WHEN: 7pm (480 mins)
WHERE: Ritz Cinema, Randwick
HOW MUCH: $25, more info

For one night only, enter a world of reflections and radical resistance in its most creative form! The MIRROR MIRROR Ball is an immersive and interactive experience where art, vogue, music, and fashion collide. Through drag & gender queer performances, art installations and more the MIRROR MIRROR ball will take you on a visual and sonic journey whilst you explore the equivocality of the word “mirror” because seeing isn’t always believing.

WHAT: Art Party
WHEN: 6pm-12am
WHERE: Camperdown, more info 
HOW MUCH: $35, more info

Neural Knitworks is based on the principle that yarn craft, with its mental challenges, social connection and mindfulness, helps keep our brains and minds engaged and healthy. Join founding artists Pat Pillai and Rita Pearce to make textile neurons in your hands following scientifically informed patterns as you forge new neural pathways in your brains. Hear short talks from brain and mind health experts and neuroscience researchers who will also join the knit-in, giving you a chance to ask questions, share experiences and gain access to expert scientific knowledge about the mind and brain.

WHAT: Collaborative Art Project
WHEN: 11am-1pm
WHERE: Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
HOW MUCH: Free RSVP, more info

An exploration of gender, sexuality and the body in Filipino culture. Internationally renowned contemporary choreographer and dancer Eisa Jocson from the Philippines presents a new performance lecture reflecting on three works that have significantly transformed her practice. Drawn from the artist’s personal archive of research material, this performance-lecture will present a documentation of movement transmission and training, as well as a live demonstration of how different systems of physical exercise can transform the body.

WHAT: Performance Lecture
WHEN: 11am-12:30pm
WHERE: Art Gallery of NSW
HOW MUCH: $20, more info

‘Fun Fair Jalalabad’ is a new work by esteemed photojournalist and filmmaker George Gittoes which follows the three gangs of boys we first met in his 2015 award winning feature film ‘Snow Monkey’. This virtual reality experience takes you on a tour of Gittoes’ adopted city in Afghanistan for an immersive story exploring the desire to create fun and joy within the climate of a war zone.

WHAT: Virtual Reality Experience
WHEN: 10.30am – 4pm
WHERE: Museum of Contemporary Art, The Rocks
HOW MUCH: Free, more info