Global Creative Industry Leaders And Practitioners Invited To Take Part In ‘Vivid Ideas’ 2014

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Stoner has called for expressions of interest from the world’s leading creative industry thought leaders, businesses and practitioners to take part in next year’s Vivid Ideas, the industry and business events pillar of Vivid Sydney.

Vivid Sydney is the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest annual celebration of light, music and ideas. Vivid Sydney next takes place from 23 May to 9 June 2014.

Vivid Ideas offers a program of creative industry talks, conferences, workshops, panels, showcases, exhibitions, creative product launches, award presentations, and social and networking functions.

“Vivid Sydney is a must-attend event on the international creative calendar,” Mr Stoner said.

“It is renowned the world over as a key platform for members of the creative industries from both Australia and across the globe to collaborate, foster business connections and showcase new ideas.

“In 2013, more than 800,000 people attended Vivid Sydney across the 18 days of the festival. The Vivid Ideas program showcased 122 unique events across 25 Sydney venues, including The Vivid Ideas Exchange at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, and a wealth of creative local and international talent.

“Vivid Ideas provides an excellent opportunity for creative industries practitioners and businesses to align with this globally recognised event, right here in Sydney, the creative hub of the Asia-Pacific.”

Vivid Sydney Creative Director, Ignatius Jones, said Vivid Sydney is about turning inspiration into action and attracts the world’s best creative practitioners in the fields of design, lighting, architecture, music, fashion, film, visual arts, advertising and more.

“In 2013, Vivid Sydney cemented its position as the leading creative industries event in the Southern Hemisphere, with more than 6,000 people attending Vivid Ideas across its signature program and associated events,” Mr Jones said.

“Vivid Sydney is growing every year – in reputation, size and appeal – and 2014 will be the year for the creative industries to really engage with Vivid Ideas.

“There are many ways to get involved in Vivid Ideas, from developing a forum or workshop and hosting a networking function to launching your latest innovation or running a think tank or debate session.

“So far, more than 1300 creative industry practitioners across the world have registered interest in submitting designs for Vivid Light, the centrepiece of the Vivid Sydney festival, which closes on Friday 4 October. We’re expecting a similar high level of interest in the Vivid Ideas program, with more opportunities to participate than ever before.”

Expressions of Interest to participate in Vivid Ideas 2014 will close on 4 November 2013. The Vivid Ideas Expression of Interest form is available via www.vividsydney.com.

‘Vivid Sydney’ Draws Record Crowds

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade & Investment Andrew Stoner today announced Vivid Sydney 2013 an unprecedented success, with preliminary estimates showing record attendance of more than 800,000 people across the 18-day event.

Visitors flocked to the biggest Vivid Sydney ever, which included the largest Vivid Light Walk expanding into North Sydney with the lighting of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Darling Harbour showcasing Australia’s first spectacular water show performances.

The Vivid Music program also expanded into new venues and Vivid Ideas featured more than 180 events with over 6,000 tickets sold. Over 40,000 tickets were sold for Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House.

Mr Stoner said, this year, Vivid Sydney achieved record results for NSW, with crowds significantly larger than last year.

“Vivid also reached audiences in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide through extensive media coverage. I am confident Vivid Sydney will have delivered this year well in excess of the estimated $10 million in economic impact,” Mr Stoner said.

“Vivid has huge appeal and has been successful in attracting visitors not only from this state and across Australia – where domestic travel packages were up 8% – but also internationally, with over 11,000 travel packages sold, including 7,200 from China.

“Bringing so many visitors into Sydney for this festival also delivered terrific results for local retailers who all embraced Vivid. Some of the waterfront restaurants at The Rocks saw a 300% increase in diners, with reports of their capacity last seen during the Olympics. Many Darling Harbour restaurants also experienced similar growth.”

The Southern Hemisphere’s biggest annual festival of light, music and ideas is a signature event in the NSW Events Calendar, owned and managed by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency.

Destination NSW CEO Sandra Chipchase said the most successful Vivid Sydney yet was great testimony to the way the festival has been embraced by Sydneysiders and visitors alike, and the creative services industry.

“So much enthusiasm and passion is invested in making Vivid Sydney a wonderful winter event by not only the creative practitioners involved in the festival itself, but the hundreds of thousands of people who attended. To be able to hold an event which attracts so many visitors, not only domestically but also from all over the world is very special, and of course is an important contributor to the goal of doubling overnight expenditure by 2020. During Vivid Sydney we hosted 76 media and 284 international travel buyers,” Ms Chipchase said.

“There has been excellent collaboration with key partners and sponsors as well as hundreds of local  businesses and communities to make Vivid Sydney a success, and something that is looked forward to every year. It’s a hallmark event for Sydney and Australia, and is also increasing its fan base”

Vivid Sydney also saw success digitally, with almost 40,000 downloads of the free Vivid Sydney application, more than 1 million people who visited the vividsydney.com website from May 1, a 200% growth in Vivid Sydney Facebook fans and a huge 2,800% growth of Vivid Ideas Facebook fans.

Vivid Sydney 2013 Highlights

Stepping into the history books with Sydney Harbour Bridge: The western façade was lit for the first time by Vivid Sydney partner Intel Australia and 32 Hundred Lighting, with North Sydney Council. It captured the imagination of everyone and even supported the NSW Blues ahead of the first State of Origin Game when Minister for Tourism and Major Events, George Souris, turned the bridge blue with NSW State of Origin vice-captain Robbie Farah.

Extending into Darling Harbour for the first time: More than 200,000 people enjoyed the dancing water fountains and dazzling light and water shows. The show was created especially for Vivid by French artists Aquatique Show International, and staged in collaboration with Destination NSW, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and the Darling Harbour Alliance. The event was supported by Citibank, which hosted customers at its Pop-Up Bar.

The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the world’s most iconic space traveller, ‘Doctor Who’: Legions of costumed fans attend the one night only 3D-mapped projections on the façade of Customs House on Saturday 1 June. The projections, created by Sydney’s own The Spinifex Group, saw ‘Doctor Who’ travel through space and time, pursued by some of his greatest enemies. The Spinifex Group also created the projections on the Sydney Opera House called ‘Play’, and ‘Collaboration #3′ with renowned artist Gemma Smith at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

Vivid Ideas cemented its position as a champion of Sydney and Australia’s creative industries: It showcased Sydney as the place to collaborate, foster business connections and showcase new ideas – Headquartered on the sixth floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia with events at more than 25 venues across Sydney, Vivid Ideas grew in 2013 from 100 to 122 unique events and boasted a wealth of creative local and international talent including keynote talks by UK artist and Turner Prize nominee, David Shrigley; IDEO’s chief creative officer Paul Bennett; street wear entrepreneur Johnny Cupcakes and big data artist Jonathan Harris.

More than 6,000 people attended 18 days of talks, workshops, panels and meet-ups at The Vivid Ideas Exchange with thousands more attending key creative industry events as part of Vivid Ideas including Semi-Permanent, AMPlify, Australian International Design Festival, Reportage Photography Festival, ISEA 2013, SPARC International Lighting Event, Mumbrella360, X|Media|Lab and more.

Over 40,000 tickets were sold to the 10-day music celebration Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House: Audiences were attracted by a stellar line-up that included the world premiere of ‘Empire of the Sun’’s highly anticipated second album, ‘Ice on the Dune‘, in addition to the eight sell-out ‘Kraftwerk‘ retrospective 3D shows, ‘The Catalogue: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8’, and the Australian debut of R’n’B soul legend Bobby Womack.

Vivid Music, a new addition to Vivid Sydney sold more than 5,400 tickets: A program that featured leading-edge electronic dance and house music at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, a two-day program of innovative and experimental music at the Seymour Centre, dance music at The Argyle and the sold out performance of ‘Datamatics 2.0′ by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikdea at Carriageworks for ISEA 2013.

2,000 people danced in front of Customs House to ‘Move your Building‘: While thousands watched wild horses run across buildings and engines rev out of walls at the Audi installation ‘Speed of Light‘, the Spinifex Group transformed the historic façade of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company building into a feast of light, colour and speed. Creative light sculptures and installations were selected from around the world, including artists from Germany, England, Italy, France, USA, Korea, Malaysia and New Zealand. Australian light artists featured from Sydney, Queensland, Victoria and regional NSW including Nowra, Wagga Wagga and Tuggerah.

Vivid Sydney’s Illuminating Quick Facts

  • Over 800,000 cumulative attendees
  • More than 200,000 attendees to Darling Harbour
  • Media coverage in over 200 countries
  • Over 40,000 tickets sold for Vivid LIVE
  • More than 6,000 people attended Vivid Ideas
  • Over 5,400 tickets sold for Vivid Music
  • 11,304 international packages sold*
  • 7,200 of these international packages from China*
  • 8% increase of domestic package sales*
  • 284 international trade familiarisation visitors (205% increase on last year)
  • 40,000 people downloaded the Vivid app
  • More than 1 million visitors to www.vividsydney.com
  • 200% growth on Vivid Sydney Facebook page
  • 2,800% growth on Vivid Ideas Facebook page

*package sales over the Vivid period generated via JTG

Must Dos for Final Days of ‘Vivid Sydney’ 2013

With just four days remaining until the Vivid Sydney lights turn off for another year, here’s a Top Ten Vivid Essentials List from festival owners Destination NSW:

1. Colour the Sydney Harbour Bridge, take in some delicious bites and shopping at North Sydney’s Food and Artisan Markets in Bradfield Park also featuring street theatre, then maybe hop on for a ride on Luna Park Sydney’s Ferris Wheel for a unique view of all the lights!

2. See where water, music, lasers and fire meet at Darling Harbour for the Aquatique water theatre show, on the hour, every hour, with fireworks at selected shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

3. Watch wild horses run across buildings and engines rev out of walls at the Audi installation Speed of Light, where the Spinifex Group has transformed the historic façade of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company building into a feast of light, colour and speed.

4. Bring out your inner child and hop on the See Saw light installation at Campbells Cove or tinkle the ivories at The Enlightening Piano – a fantastic interactive light installation that lights up as you play a tune.

5. Got milk? Head into The Rocks and step into a maze of interactive, couloured milk crates dangling above your head, or create your own unique experience of space, light and colour at Polka Kucha in Walsh Bay by simply turning a wheel.

6. Get your groove on at Customs House for Move Your Building, where your dance steps make the colourful light projections on the building move.

7. Hop on the free Vivid Sydney Harbour Shuttle Ferry and catch a view of the city bathed in colour and light from the magnificent harbour. Services depart between Kirribilli, Walsh Bay and Darling Harbour.

8. Get into Vivid Music at the Overseas Passenger Terminal with Finely Tuned presenting some of the biggest names in house music for the Terminal Projekt, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June, 4pm till late (tickets still available at www.vividsydney.com).

9. Go West! (well, Inner West), and experience the Australian premiere of the Test Pattern [No 5] installation by acclaimed Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda at Carriageworks in Eveleigh. Seymour Centre in Darlington is also hosting a two-day explorative music program, New Wave: Sound, featuring national and international talent while New Wave: Light and Design will showcase innovative light installations created by University of Sydney students.

10. Take it all in. Find a spot, settle down and watch the entire projections on the Sydney Opera House called Play created by the Spinifex Group, and Collaboration #3 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, created by renowned artist Gemma Smith and the Spinifex Group. Simply amazing! And don’t forget to grab a drink at The Vivid Ideas Exchange Lounge on Level 6 of the MCA from 7pm.

Vivid Sydney, developed, owned and managed by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, will continue to illuminate the city from 6pm to midnight ending Monday June 10.

The full Vivid Sydney program is available at http://vividsydney.com/

‘Vivid Sydney’ Program Leads With German Electronic Music Legends ‘Kraftwerk’

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Stoner has today announced German electronic music pioneers ‘Kraftwerk‘ as headline act for the Vivid LIVE program at Sydney Opera House during Vivid Sydney 2013.

“Vivid Sydney continues to attract the world’s most outstanding talent, with German legends ‘Kraftwerk‘ set to perform at the Opera House fresh on the back of performances at the MoMA in New York and TATE Modern in London,” Mr Stoner said.

“‘Kraftwerk‘ will present their acclaimed retrospective series in eight unique performances at the Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid LIVE.

“Now in its fifth year, Vivid Sydney, which is owned and managed by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, has become a wonderful platform to highlight Australia’s global city to the world by featuring some of the biggest names in music, lighting artistry and ideas, to local and international audiences.

“In 2013, this 18-day festival of light, music and ideas, the biggest in the southern hemisphere, will take place in Sydney from 24 May to 10 June.”

The performances by ‘Kraftwerk‘, dubbed ‘The Catalogue: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 8‘ will showcase nearly 40 years of musical and technical innovation, including new improvisations, 3D projections and animation.

Commencing with ‘Autobahn’, each night covers one of ‘Kraftwerk‘’s groundbreaking studio albums in full and appear in order of their release — ‘Autobahn’ (1974), ‘Radio-Activity’ (1975), ‘Trans Europe Express’ (1977), ‘The Man-Machine’ (1978), ‘Computer World’ (1981), ‘Techno Pop’ (1986), ‘The Mix’ (1991) and ‘Tour de France’ (2003) — alongside additional compositions from their back-catalogue.

Fergus Linehan, Festival Director of Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House, said: “We are thrilled to have ‘Kraftwerk‘ in residence for Vivid LIVE following the phenomenal reaction to their performances in MoMA and TATE Modern. Book your Sydney flights and hotels now – these eight concerts are a mind-melting feast for the eyes and the ears that are sure to sell out. It is a huge coup for Sydney.”

Mr Stoner said the first announcement for the Vivid LIVE component of Vivid Sydney was a sign of exciting expansion across all tiers of Vivid Sydney in 2013. “In 2012, Vivid Sydney delivered record crowds of over 500,000 people, generated global media coverage in over 150 countries, fostered new tourism markets and opportunities, and saw tens of millions of dollars in new business achieved for NSW,” Mr Stoner said.

“Vivid Sydney has firmly established its credentials as a ‘must see’ global event and continues to highlight Sydney as the creative hub of the Asia Pacific, and will continue to grow and surprise audiences in 2013.

“In 2013, Vivid Light has received unprecedented expressions of interest from lighting artists from across Australia and the world, and the Vivid Ideas program will feature more than 100 creative industry events including the SPARC International Lighting Event and the inaugural Australian International Design Festival (AIDF).”

Destination NSW CEO, Sandra Chipchase, said that in 2012 rising audience numbers demonstrated the events appealed with Sydneysiders as well as interstate and international visitors alike.

“Vivid Sydney raises the creativity bar every year, and in 2013 we will see an expanded program across light, music and ideas to delight festivalgoers. Vivid Sydney provides a truly global canvas and audience for our artistic, creative and business communities. The evolving 2013 program will be our most exciting to date,” Ms Chipchase said.

Vivid Sydney Creative Adviser, Ignatius Jones, said: “Vivid 2013 will see its largest expansion yet: in footprint, in technology and in sheer artistry. We will be presenting several massive installations that have simply never been seen in this country before, a much-expanded program of light art and a far greater proportion of international participation in our public-facing attractions. We will also continue to lead the world in sustainable, carbon-neutral programming—a principle which has always been a founding tenet of Vivid Sydney.”

Vivid Sydney is one of five signature events in the NSW Events Calendar developed by Destination NSW with the NSW Government as the major investor.

How To Book

Sydney Opera House expects demand for tickets will be high for ‘Kraftwerk‘’s unique series of concerts exclusive to Sydney based on recent success in New York and London. To ensure everyone has an equal chance to purchase tickets SOH have put in place an online application process. This will minimise the congestion through sales channels and fairly distribute tickets to fans across time zones, states and countries.

Apply for your tickets anytime between Monday 25th February 2013 (from 9am) and Friday 1st March 2013 (midnight AEST). Tickets will not be allocated on a first come first served basis, all applications received during this period will be equally considered. To apply go to www.sydneyoperahouse.com/kraftwerk.