Performance Contemporary —
Sydney Contemporary presents a dynamic program of performances throughout the fair, bringing the space to life. Performance Contemporary is curated by Sam Watson-Wood, Director of Friends with Strangers.
HOSSEI
ESSSENSSSE is an aquatic ecosystem that explores the tenacity of the human spirit, stripping away corporeal human qualities and revealing what’s underneath. The performance, featuring ten performers and a vibrant installation, is about letting go and being one with the spirit and embracing its purity and vulnerability. ESSSENSSSE is the next morning, the BODY, MIND, SPIRIT after a big night, looking at the sea for new beginnings. ESSSENSSSE was originally commissioned by Verge Gallery.
GRIEF DIGEST
GRIEF DIGEST by artists Sereima Adimate and Kilia Pahulu is in dedication to the late artist, song woman and orator Séini Sista Native Taumoepeau. “After 100 days of mourning we arrive at a different stage of our grief.” Working with cultural concepts and their contemporary practices, two Sydney based artists Sereima Adimate and Kilia Pahulu collaborate to explore themes of grief, death, and the process of digesting them. This performance invites their audience to process their own constipated grief and allow them permission to dissolve grief into joy.
AGNES CHRISTINA
Meet the Curator: Performance Contemporary
Sam is a highly accomplished multidisciplinary curator and cultural programmer with a diverse background spanning curation, programming, producing, strategy, development, and communication. Her extensive experience includes projects across Australia, Asia, the UK, and Europe, where she has demonstrated expertise in artistic direction, partnership strategy, audience development, and the ideation and delivery of public programs, as well as festival and commercial commissions. She has held key roles as the Executive Producer & Artistic Adviser at Performance Space, Festival Director of Art Month and as Director of Programs and Partnerships at Sydney Contemporary.
In 2022, Sam launched Friends with Strangers, an artist-led organisation dedicated to projects that inspire wonder, connection, and revolution. Here she has delivered a diverse range of creative and curatorial developments, festivals, and large scale events working with leading organisations across the city.
