The H’Art of Haymarket
Image: Radha La Bia (Shahmen Suku). Image: Jess Gleeson
Art in the Heart of Haymarket is a new festival being launched this October at the south end of the city. It’s an initiative of the CBDs Revitalisation Program funded by the NSW Government, and Precinct Activation Grant Program by the City of Sydney aimed at breathing life into local economies.
The diverse and exciting program is being presented by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, which has been at the forefront of supporting and promoting Asian art and artists in Australia since 1996. 4A nurtures emerging artists and advocates for established artists, and has established a two way flow of Asian-Australian culture and artists with international organisations.
Haymarket has long been a hub for Asian communities, with Chinatown at its core and many traditional, the Chinese Garden of Friendship on its verge, and dozens of traditional eateries and businesses throughout the precinct.
This new festival celebrates a history of creativity in the area and within the community. Events take place throughout October and include performance, music, dance, visual arts and unique experiences.
Highlights include: live art window installations by performance artist Rakini Devi, interactive tea ceremony with Jingwei Bu, Filipino street food speed dating with Rosell Flately, music by Shoeb Ahmed, and live performances/food presentations by Shahmen Suku.
The program includes kids activities such as drawing workshops with Korean comic artist, Meg O’Shea; a dance battle in the streets with Destructive Steps Dance Association; and a Queer Haymarket Tour with MaggZ and Michael Sun.
The festival will peak over two weekends. On October 22 and 23, the Haymarket gallery will launch the Bollywouldn’t exhibition and feature two days of exciting free events across LGBTQIA+ and South Asian diasporic performance, music, poetry, installations, workshops and food.
Art in the Heart of Haymarket will have a continuous grand finale celebration spanning October 29 and 30, featuring over 50 artists and performers and a program of arts, live music, tarot, tea, food, live shows, beats in the evening and lots, lots more.
