This September-October, The Art Gallery Of New South Wales will present Volume, a new, unique festival of music, film and performance in Sydney.
The festival will feature a packed programme of Australian and international artists. Headlining the proceedings will be American GRAMMY Award-winning R&B singer-songwriter and multidisciplinary artist Solange. Plus, there’s award-winning Zambian musician, vocalist and rapper Sampa The Great, American songwriter and producer Mount Eerie, Dharawal and Inuit contemporary musician Sonya Holowell, and many more.
The festival will be held in a variety of spaces across the Art Gallery’s new North and original South Buildings, on Gadigal Country, overlooking Sydney Harbour.
Trailblazing musicians, boundary-pushing filmmakers and cutting-edge performers will be brought together, to present a programme of more than 50 music, film and performance events.
In addition to Solange, Sampa The Great, Mount Eerie and Sonya Holowell, the live music line-up features Black Belt Eagle Scout (USA), crys cole (Canada), Datu Arellano (Philippines), Fuji|||||||||||ta (Japan), Hamed Sadeghi (Iran/Australia), Jeff Parker (USA), Joe Rainey (USA), Kim Moyes (Australia), Lonnie Holley (USA), Maissa Alameddine (Lebanon/Australia), Mourning [A] BLKstar (USA), Naretha Williams (Australia), Oren Ambarchi (Berlin/Australia), Sumn Conduit (Australia), TENGGER (South Korea), and Toni Muñoz (Philippines). The festival will also present the world premiere of seven new music recordings by artists Dean Hurley (USA), KMRU (Germany/Kenya), Lea Bertucci (USA), Loraine James (UK), Megan Alice Clune (Australia), R. Rebeiro (Australia), and salllvage (Australia), all commissioned by the Art Gallery.
The Art Gallery’s new SANAA-designed North Building will transform into two unique performance spaces each night from Tuesday to Sunday during Volume. One is the Tank, a former World War II oil tank turned art space, and the other is the 13-metre-high Atrium and sculpture gallery spaces on lower level two. Meanwhile, by day, the spaces will offer free live music, performances and workshops.
“Volume is an innovative, new cultural event for Sydney and NSW,” Minister for Arts, Music, Night-time Economy, Jobs and Tourism, John Graham says.
“I can't wait to see how this festival unfolds at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Having the new Art Gallery building open has been a big boost to our state’s cultural infrastructure, now it's time to fill it with music and film, as well as visual art, and to see it reach its potential.”
“While the visual arts have traditionally been the Art Gallery’s focus, our expansion, through the Sydney Modern Project, has created an exceptional opportunity for us to extend our programming as part of our new curatorial narrative to include more cutting-edge live music, film and performance. Volume is the manifestation of this vision,” Art Gallery Of New South Wales Director Michael Brand says.
“Featuring some of the most compelling artists of our time, Volume sets a new standard for music curation in public art museums and is the most exciting performative live music and art festival to be staged in Sydney.”
Tickets are on sale now.
Volume takes place at The Art Gallery Of New South Wales 22 September-8 October.
