Vivid Sydney: free talk series

This year, Vivid Sydney at Chatswood offers interactive artworks to stimulate the senses, international musicians to touch the heart, and an incredible Vivid Ideas program to provoke the mind.

Vivid Ideas at Chatswood Chase is a free talk series exploring the most pressing topics of our era every day at 11am-12pm. Get ready to be challenged, excited, scared and motivated in equal measure with keynote speakers tackling the big issues. Hear from internationally-renowned experts who are defining our future, get a behind-the-scenes look at Vivid Light installations and projections with artist talks, and explore where changes in technology might lead us.

Keen to hear about innovative ideas being implemented for a technologically augmented future? The University of Sydney Design Lab brings you Design @ Day, a range of talks including:

AI and the Future of Creativity, Thursday 6 June. Is creative collaboration possible between humans and machines? If it is, how do we get there? What will creativity look like when working alongside intelligent machines is the norm? Join this talk to answer these questions and more.

Introducing Biodesign: Living Processes for Innovative Design, Tuesday 11 June. Technology is changing our lives faster than at any other time in history, and at an ever-increasing rate. It is now the century of biology, where mankind is asserting control over life itself. Join Dr Phillip Gough to explore the role of living organisms in our future.

Urban Prototyping and Friendly Robots: The Making of Woodie, Friday 31 May. Autonomous systems will soon enter the urban space – from delivery robots, law enforcement agents and autonomous vehicles. This talk will discuss the myriad of ways urban robots could be implemented in city spaces.

Concerned about the environment? You’re not alone. Vivid Ideas at Chatswood Chase explores eco-friendly topics in its Green Future series, including:

BnB’s for Birds and Bees, Sunday 9 June. Installing airborne pollinator highways in our cities is a great solution to safeguard biodiversity and food security. Join Judy Friedlander from UTS to learn practical ways to combat climate change in your own garden.

Waste Resurrection, Friday 7 June. In 2018, Professor Veena Sahajwalla launched the world’s first e-waste microfactory, bringing practical solutions to the world-wide waste problem. These small-scale microfactories will enable local communities to produce many of the materials they need using resources largely derived from waste.

Plant Based Eating for our Future Planet, Tuesday 28 May. The ‘single biggest thing’ we can do to save the planet is go vegan, according to Oxford University researchers. In a lively panel discussion discover how Australians are embracing veganism in droves, why plant-based eating is the key to our future, and how easy it is to forgo animal products.

Get up close and personal with artists responsible for incredible light installations with Artists in Conversation and learn about their creative process and inspiration.

Meet Limelight – World-Pioneers in 3D Projection Mapping, Saturday 25 May. In a first for Vivid Sydney, six international students mentored through the Limelight Academy have created unique moving art on The Concourse sails. We’ll be hearing from Limelight about how they produced their hero piece Coexistence as well as the students about their own pieces and experiences creating their work in the mentor program.

China Ready: Australian Chinese Artists Spanning the Continents, Saturday 15 June. Australian-Chinese artists Tianli Zu and Simone Chua are spanning the continents. Living and working in Australia, they are influenced by their multicultural heritage. In this engaging conversation they will reveal their inspiration and lift the lid on their experiences working internationally.

Emerging Lights, Saturday 1 June. Discover the future of exciting and innovative art with emerging artists Zara Pasfield, Juune and Gambirra Illume, whose original installations Cascading Harp and Chattie’s Wood light up Vivid Sydney at Chatswood.

Discover how innovation will affect our everyday lives with Future You.

Don’t Aim to Make a Million Dollars, Aim to Help a Million People, Saturday 8 June. Award-winning design director Ram Castillo once believed that having more money would allow him to be more. He discovered the truth is the exact opposite. Join him for an interesting exploration of identity, creativity and collaboration.

Indira Naidoo – The Edible City, Thursday 30 May. Join television and radio broadcaster Indira Naidoo, as she presents a talk about one of the passions in her life: gardening. Hear stories of ‘green guerrillas’ all over the country on a mission to convert wasted urban land into productive spaces to grow food.

Vivid Sydney at Chatswood is run by Willoughby City Council and is supported by Chatswood Chase Sydney, Chatswood Interchange and Westfield Chatswood. The precinct is accessible, easily reached via public transport and there is local parking available. Vivid Sydney in Chatswood runs from 24 May to 15 June and is suitable for all ages and abilities. Find out more at visitchatswood.com.au/vivid-2019

Vivid Sydney is the largest festival of light, music and ideas in the Southern Hemisphere. Celebrating its eleventh anniversary in 2019, Vivid Sydney is continually setting the benchmark for world-class events, creativity and innovation. It will transform the Harbour City into a colourful creative canvas from the 24 May to 15 June, 2019. The Festival features spectacular large-scale light installations and projections; contemporary and cutting-edge music performances and collaborations; public talks by renowned thought leaders, industry seminars, conferences and creativity workshops, all celebrating Sydney’s place as the creative industries hub of the Asia-Pacific. Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, and in 2018 attracted 2.25 million attendees. For more information visit vividsydney.com