Talk Contemporary
Talk Contemporary is the engaging forum of curated talks that explore topical ideas and controversial themes in contemporary art and culture for all audiences. Talk Contemporary 2024 was curated through two strands.
Micheal Do, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Sydney Opera House, drew on culture movers and thought shapers across Australia for a series of conversations that examined art today through the lenses of fashion, theatre, community building, collecting and current affairs.
Stephen Todd, Design Editor of the Australian Financial Review, curated a series of talks focused on the latest trends in design with leading figures in the industry.
Talk Contemporary is supported by Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
2024 Program
Weave and Weft: Art and Fashion
Fashion transcends mere commerce. Our approach to clothing and adornment has cultural and historical implications. It has the potential to communicate facets of our identity, class, histories and worldviews. But is this seriousness and complexity undermined by commercial and brand aspirations? This panel considers the idea of fashion as a cultural narrator. How are artists, designers and institutions addressing barriers that have separated art and fashion? How can fashion be a tool for self and communal expression, political commentary and cultural identity?
Atong Atem | Speaker
Lisa Havilah | Speaker
Kaylene Milner | Speaker
Darren Sylvester | Speaker
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran | Moderator
Programmed by Micheal Do
The New Taste Makers on the Future of Collecting
Jesse-Jack de Deyne | Speaker
Jordan Gogos | Speaker
Stephen Todd | Moderator
Programmed by Stephen Todd
Kirsha Kaechele In Conversation with Pippa Dickson
Kirsha Kaechele is an artist, curator, and Mona’s better half—or Mrs. Mona (Museum of Old and New Art). She’s founder of Material Institute—a non-profit social project with branches in New Orleans, USA, and Lutruwita / Tasmania. She is interested in the space where complex problems exist, and places transformation at the heart of her work—turning flaws into features, shit into gold. For Kaechele, problems become the medium through which art emerges.
Programmed by Micheal Do
My Favourite Things: Collecting, Here and Now
With the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history underway, new guards of collectors and philanthropists are emerging, challenging the status quo. These collectors are socially aware, data-driven, and passionately local in their thinking. How are collecting habits shifting from a form of high-level shopping to a means of social commentary and change? What are the long-term implications of changing collecting tastes on the art market? A look into how the boundaries of collecting are being redrawn.
Tom Crago | Speaker
Nikita Le Messurier | Speaker
Billy Maynard | Speaker
Naomi Tosic | Speaker
Micheal Do | Moderator
Programmed by Micheal Do
New Frontiers in Interiors and Design
An entrepreneurial surfer, an automotive designer, an artist and an interior designer explore the many ways in which material innovations – from carpet made from recycled fishing nets to algae-derived plastics and furniture grown from fungus – are changing our lifestyles and our interiors.
Hayden Cox | Haydenshapes Surfboards
Nahum Escobedo | Polestar Senior Design Manager
Fiona Lynch | Fiona Lynch Office
Emily Medbury | Anemoia Studio
Stephen Todd | Moderator
Programmed by Stephen Todd
So you want to be an artist? Building a creative career in 2024
Katrina Strickland, editor of Good Weekend magazine, engages in a stimulating conversation with prominent artists Alex Seton and Laura Jones. Laura Jones, born in Sydney in 1982 and currently based there, channels the intricate relationships between humanity and nature in her paintings and monotypes. Her art captivates with its loose yet profound exploration of these themes, exemplified by her recent win of the 2024 Archibald Prize. Meanwhile, Alex Seton utitlises sculpture, photography, video and installation to give tangible form to complex ideas. His works, marked by careful consideration and playful engagement with concepts, challenge viewers to confront their own perspectives and beliefs.
Laura Jones | Artist
Alex Seton | Artist
Katrina Strickland | Moderator
The Good Weekend Quiz: So You Think You Know About Art?
What’s better than doing Good Weekend‘s The Quiz in bed on a Saturday morning? Doing it with hundreds of fellow quiz-lovers at Sydney Contemporary, which has teamed up with The Sydney Morning Herald‘s Saturday magazine, Good Weekend, to bring the cult trivia test to life. Quizmaster Brian Yatman has penned a special, art-themed quiz for the occasion.
Richard Glover | Quizmaster
Glenn Barkley | Contestant
Michael Reid | Contestant
Jess Scully | Contestant
Sam Watson-Wood | Contestant
How to Curate an Eye-Catching Interior
Three masters of contemporary architecture and design share their tips for conjuring up artful interiors. Hint: consider art from the start, build up a rapport with your favourite creatives, and don’t be afraid to call upon the services of a consultant when required. We find out how.
Yasmine Ghoniem | Speaker
Blainey North | Speaker
Nick Tobias | Speaker
Stephen Todd | Moderator
Programmed by Stephen Todd
Poetics, Politics and the Personal: A Method
Many artists incorporate social and political dimensions into their work, providing a platform for healing, resistance, and solidarity. This function of art-making can drive social change and foster deep cultural understanding. How can art bridge and mend communities in light of precarious public funding, nationalism, and cancel culture? How can art create an impact that resonates both locally and globally, as a means to offer solace and strength? A look into how art can help navigate the times in which we live.
Luke Letourneau | Speaker
Jazz Money | Speaker
Marikit Santiago | Speaker
Daniel Browning | Moderator
Programmed by Micheal Do
Performing Parallels: Moving Bodies in Art
The body possesses immense expressive power. Across theatre, dance, and performance art, directors, choreographers, and visual artists are experimenting with the body in new and thoughtful ways. How is this experimentation reshaping the once rigid identities of theatres and museums? With audiences increasingly culturally omnivorous, how are they taking to works that resist easy classification? What are the triumphs, challenges, and opportunities in breaking down these artistic boundaries? A look into one of the most innovative areas in the cultural landscape.
Lauren Brincat | Speaker
Angela Goh | Speaker
Phil Keir | Speaker
Rachael Swain | Speaker
David Hallberg | Moderator
Programmed by Micheal Do
About The Curator: Micheal Do
“Looking up, looking around, looking right side up, looking upside down. Sydney Contemporary’s Art Talks is conceived as a series of insights – short, sharp conversations that offer fresh perspectives on local and global cultures.
Through the lenses of fashion, theatre, community building, collecting and current affairs; thought movers are paired with culture shakers to create panels that fizz with possibility.
Chaired by artists, these conversations aim to sideswipe, whiplash and malfunction assumed knowledge – challenging us to look harder, further and deeper into what we understand about art today.”
Curatorial Statement, Micheal Do
Serving as Senior Curator, Contemporary Art at the Sydney Opera House, Micheal has curated projects across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. At the Opera House, he has commissioned site specific performance works by Cherine Fahd, Lauren Brincat, Angela Goh, James Nguyen and Victoria Pham, Mel O’ Callaghan and Frances Barrett. He also led the development of Megan Cope’s monumental public artwork, ‘Whispers’ to mark the occasion of the Sydney Opera House’s 50th Anniversary. In 2022, he curated ‘Primavera: Young Australian Artists’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and his other projects include ‘Soft Core’, which toured twelve Australian galleries, ‘Not Niwe, Not Nieuw, Not Neu’ (2017), ‘Lee Kun Yong: Equal Area’ (2018, co-curated with Mikala Tai), ‘The Invisible Hand’ (2019) at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and ‘5X5: The Artist and The Patron’ (2018) for Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest.
He was the 2023 recipient of the Gordon Darling Traveling Curator’s Grant, the 2018 recipient of The Freedman Foundation’s Travelling Scholarship for Curators and the recipient Museums and Galleries NSW Artist and Curator Residency Grant in 2016. His writing appears in various art publications and artists’ catalogues.
About The Curator: Stephen Todd
Stephen Todd began his writing career in Paris in the early 1990s where his immersion in the worlds of fashion, art, architecture and design saw him well-placed to contribute essays to journals of record including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Australian and Le Monde, and magazines including Wallpaper*, Blueprint, Fantastic Man and American Vogue. Returning to Australia in late 2010, today he is the Design Editor of the Australian Financial Review newspaper and the Head of Publishing at Powerhouse Museum.
Talk Contemporary is supported by Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
IMAGE CREDITS: Weave and Weft: Art and Fashion: Darren Sylvester, Fernanda Ly: 10 Magazine. Courtesy of the artist and Neon Parc, Melbourne. The New Taste Makers on the Future of Collecting: Jordan Gogos, Photo by Lee Oliveira. My Favourite Things: Collecting, Here and Now: Naomi Tosic home. New Frontiers in Interiors and Design: Hayden Cox, Resin Furniture Collection for SP01. So you want to be an artist? Building a creative career in 2024: Laura Jones, Tim Winton. Winner: Archibald Prize 2024. Courtesy of the artist. How to Curate an Eye-Catching Interior: Yasmine Ghoniem home. Poetics, Politics and the Personal: A Method: Marikit Santiago Hallowed Be Thy Name (collaboration with Maella Santiago, Santi Mateo Santiago and Sarita Santiago). Courtesy of the artist. Performing Parallels: Moving Bodies in Art: Lauren Brincat, Tutti Presto fff, 2022/2023 (ongoing), Live sculpture, Commissioned by the Sydney Opera House for VIVID LIVE 2022 & ‘Performances on the Quay’.
