Creative capital

“I didn’t realise that you could organise art events, I didn’t realise that you could start your own magazine, and I didn’t know that these were possibilities that you could ever contemplate.”
Creative Sydney curator Jess Scully’s story is classic of those who have discovered Sydney’s hidden world of artistic success.
“I didn’t realise a lot of these things that I’ve ended up doing were actually jobs.”
For years Sydneysiders have readily swallowed the myth that Melbourne is the creative capital of Australia. But earlier this year the NSW Government confirmed what those in Scully’s shoes have gradually come to realise: That’s just plain wrong.
Despite Melbourne’s envied small bar culture, its wealth of artistic and musical venues, and unashamedly experimental architecture, Sydney has been vindicated by figures revealing where the talent really lies.
A report published by the Department of State and Regional Development shows that NSW is home to almost 40 per cent of Australia’s workforce, with three quarters of those coming from Sydney.
Employing five per cent of NSW’s total workforce, over the last decade the sector has grown at twice the rate of other industries.
Now that our city is preparing to flaunt its status in a three-week celebration of Sydney’s innovative potential, Scully reiterates what so many of her peers are saying: “It’s about time.”
A series of forums and exhibitions aimed to draw up-and-comers out of the woodwork, the festival will bring together the full range of creative sectors including music, design, architecture, gaming, photography, advertising and visual arts.
Scully says Creative Sydney is an attempt to give unity to an otherwise fractured demographic, providing opportunities to network which would otherwise be rare.
“The problem in Sydney is that we’re all fractured into these communities. We’re splintered off by the distance between these different cultural centres, and we’re also broken down into these silos of ‘I’m a filmmaker’, ‘I’m a musician’, ‘I’m an artist’, ‘I’m a fashion designer’…” she said.
The program includes Back My Project, a forum where hopefuls will pitch their ideas to a panel of experts, and Epic Fail, an interrogation by The Chaser identity Chris Taylor, in which Sydney’s successes spill their horror stories.
Released on Thursday, organisers were keeping tight-lipped about the identities of Sydney’s Creative Catalysts, an elite group of 100 Australian trailblazers that includes Mambo founder Dare Jennings and home wares design company Dinosaur Designs.
Running from May 26 to June 12, Creative Sydney is a free festival hosted at the Museum of Contemporary Art and The Roxy in Parramatta, and is part of the Vivid Sydney festival of music, light and ideas.