Up and About ‘Art & About’

The Golden Mile? Think again, one of Sydney’s ‘Art & About’ installations.

Sydney’s cultural fringe got active recently with the successful running of the Sydney ‘Art & About’ festival, a public art festival, utilizing the public spaces of Sydney as Artist canvas. During the exhibitions citywide, public domains, streets, laneways, parks and gardens served as gallery spaces, installations, impromptu performance spaces and wall hangings.

It was a unique lens to witness the beauty of Sydney through, and exhibits the cities willingness and appetite for artistic and cultural initiatives and innovations. The City of Sydney was the principal partner of the festival and further reinforces the notion that the City of villages is on board, along with Lord Mayor Clover Moore in broadening the arts and cultural avenues by which to promote the city in tourism and iconography.

Strangely noted however, was the distinct lack of events, exhibitions or public installations around the Potts Point Kings Cross precinct. One would draw the conclusion, that from observing the utilisation of other Sydney icons adorned in pop up art galleries and installations, Kings Cross would feature to some extent. However you would be remiss, as no actual public art found its way to the precinct. Strangely, the work of  Caroline Rothwell and her bronzed sculpture installation of hooded youth (seemingly linking to the social welfare of teens, an occasioned sight in the Kings Cross precinct) was installed down the annals of Martin Place instead of the steps of the El Alamein memorial fountain.

It’s an interesting case to consider, as the cultural tendencies and planning of these events would not have been easy, and no doubt they were exercising the CBD as defined by city, as the principal (and as evidenced) canvas to be used in the installations. Nonetheless, there is growth in this initiative spreading to other, inner-city spaces that also make up the city of villages that is Sydney. Kings Cross should easily be able to sustain its own ‘Art & About’ within its own laneways and streets.
Just a matter of time?