To celebrate the end of Liz’s mid semester
exams (and the beginning of our mutual week-long holiday), we decided to
explore Sydney’s Art and About Festival. Art and About showcases the talent of
our local artists, from children to adults, who express their “private lives in
public places” through Sydney’s main thoroughfares.
Art and About have an extensive array of exhibitions that range from day to
night, exclusive to every day and free to paid. Although, the one thing they all
have in common, is their amusing and eclectic expressions on the strangest of canvases. The first art display we saw, was “Sydney Life”, a photographic
display in Hyde Park where the vast landscapes and diverse community of
Sydney were publicised.
The next display we saw, is probably the
most iconic one of Art and About 2013, called "Snailovation". This exhibiton
included 24 huge neon snails, sliding into Sydney’s most iconic and public
spaces. We saw the snails at the Queen Victoria Building, Hyde Park, Pitt
Street Mall and Martin Place and they promised to bring a few smiles and
embarrassing photos (we decided not to upload).
The last
exhibition we decided to visit, was “Little Sydney Lives” in Hyde Park,
featuring 20 images taken by kids under 11 years of age. Not only did this
exhibition make us feel extremely subordinate in talent to children half our
age, but also brought us great insights into the perspectives of
our youngest citizens.
After all the meandering through Sydney’s streets and parks, we headed back to
Pitt Street to stock up on Frozen Yoghurt at Moochi in Westfield. We then
headed back through the mall and (typically) stopped to take in the local
talent of Sydney’s buskers. Today, Everything After were performing their rendition of Vance Joy’s, Riptide, pulling in copious amounts of people,
including ourselves. Their Indie Roots sound and resemblance to a young Mumford
and Sons is aided by their quirky use of a Mandolin and good humour. They are
definitely worth a listen, with our favourite summery sounding track, Heart and
Mind, perfectly matching a day on the beach with Bulmers and friends.
After this long day, we headed back to Hyde
Park to unwind by Sydney War Memorial’s Lake of Reflection.
