Sydney Festival

Day 1 | Wednesday 13 January
Arrive Sydney | Outsider
In the mid-afternoon, we gather at our hotel for introductions and an opening lecture, accompanied by a glass of wine or bubbles. An early dinner together at Restaurant Leo follows before we make our way to The Cutaway at Barangaroo for our opening Festival performance, Outsider. Created by Franco-Algerian choreographer Rachid Ouramdane, this extraordinary production brings together 20 dancers from the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and four extreme sports athletes in a high-wire ballet set to the music of avant-garde composer Julius Eastman. Amid a network of suspended cables and tightropes, the performers explore the boundaries between dance and acrobatics. Overnight Sydney (D)

Day 2 | Thursday 14 January
Takashi Murakami at AGNSW | Game. Set. Match. and The Shawshank Redemption
Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami is celebrated for his distinctive Superflat aesthetic, which draws together traditional Japanese painting, anime, popular culture and commercial imagery. Our morning begins at the Art Gallery of New South Wales with a guided tour of When the Mountain is High, the Moon Rises Higher, an exhibition tracing the development of Murakami’s work. Following our guided visit, there is time at leisure for lunch at the Gallery or to independently explore Nolan: Origins, an exhibition examining the early career of Sidney Nolan. We then make our way to Belvoir St Theatre for Game. Set. Match. by Gamilaroi playwright and performer Megan Wilding. Set on the evening of a celebrated tennis player’s funeral, the story follows her son Josh and the mysterious Ray as they navigate a night of memories and unexpected revelations. Later, we gather for an early dinner at China Lane before continuing to the Theatre Royal for The Shawshank Redemption. Adapted from Stephen King’s celebrated novella, this gripping production by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns stars David Berry (Outlander) as Andy Dufresne alongside Bert LaBonté (Colin From Accounts) as fellow inmate Red. Overnight Sydney (B, D)

Day 3 | Friday 15 January
S. H. Ervin Gallery & MCA | Deaf Republic
One of Australia’s most significant contemporary artists, Emily Kame Kngwarreye began painting on canvas in her late seventies, producing an extraordinary body of work inspired by her Country, Alhalker, in Central Australia. Her paintings, often compared to those of Monet, Pollock and Rothko, brought international attention to the artistic traditions of the Eastern Anmatyerr people. This morning we visit the S. H. Ervin Gallery in Millers Point for Emily in Sydney, an exhibition drawn largely from private collections and returning her work to the gallery where her paintings were first exhibited. A private viewing with exhibition curator Christopher Hodges, before the gallery opens to the public, provides insight into Kngwarreye’s artistic development. We then make our way to the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia at Circular Quay for lunch together at Canvas, the gallery’s rooftop restaurant overlooking the harbour. An afternoon at leisure follows, with a chance to explore the MCA or the surrounding harbour precinct. In the early evening, we reconvene at our hotel for a lecture before making our way to the Roslyn Packer Theatre for Deaf Republic – a theatrical production by Irish company Dead Centre, based on the acclaimed poetry collection by Ilya Kaminsky. Set in a town where the killing of a deaf boy sparks an extraordinary act of collective resistance, the work combines aerial performance, puppetry, live cinema and poetry. Overnight Sydney (B, L)

Day 4 | Saturday 16 January
Depart Sydney
Our tour concludes after breakfast this morning. (B)