About

Not just a bright idea….truly visionary.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lachlan Macquarie’s Governorship of the colony New South Wales, the city’s main ceremonial street, Macquarie Street will play host to an original, visually stunning light festival.

Macquarie Visions examines the significant contribution and the subsequent legacies that both Lachlan and Elizabeth brought to the new colony in a vivid and unexpected way.

Being held 27 May – 20 June 2010, Macquarie Visions is a key component of the Vivid Sydney 2010 festival that will reach hundreds of thousands of people, inviting them to enjoy the city’s premier festive promenade.

The NSW Macquarie 2010 Bicentenary Commemorations Committee has endorsed this exciting project to be the leading public activity to celebrate the Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie’s achievements and showcase their vision and leadership.

For more information on Macquarie 2010 Bicentenary celebrations check out www.macquarie2010.nsw.gov.au

Creative Directors: Anthony Bastic and Carolyn Grant

Macquarie Visions is produced by AGB Events and Avviso with special thanks to the State Library of NSW, Fairfax Photo Library, the Benevolent Society, the State Records Authority of NSW, The Mint, The Reserve Bank of Australia, Royal Botanic Gardens Library Sydney, Historic Houses Trust, Westpac Historical Services and the National Gallery of Australia.

Technical Design and Artwork by The Electric Canvas

Governor’s Speech

Macquarie St

Macquarie Street was designed by Governor Macquarie as a ceremonial thoroughfare. The Governor intended it to be the city’s pre-eminent address, and he initiated the construction of Sydney’s first public buildings on the street – the Sydney Hospital, the Hyde Park Barracks and St James Church.

Today, Macquarie Street is also the location of Parliament House, The State Library, Sydney Mint and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Part of the street is adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the street is book-ended by the Sydney Opera House and Hyde Park.

It has hosted the City’s premier celebrations since its design, including the parade for the inauguration of the Federation in 1901, the decorative arches project for the nation’s Bicentenary celebrations and even today is a stage for the hugely popular Sydney Festival First Night party.

Other components of Vivid Sydney 2010:

Lighting the Sails - Sydney Opera House

Vivid Sydney once again features the spectacular illumination of the Sydney Opera House sails. In 2009 Brian Eno’s ‘Lighting the Sails’, attracted more than 200,000 people to the festival. Images of the Eno’s sails generated extensive global media coverage seen by more than 60 million people globally.

This year Vivid LIVE co-curators Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed will put their own mark on Utzon’s iconic sails.

Lighting the Sails

Vivid Live at the Sydney Opera House

With influential American rocker Lou Reed and critically acclaimed artist and musician Laurie Anderson as co-curators, Vivid LIVE presents contemporary artists from the music, film, theatre and visual arts realms over two sensational weeks.

It kicks off when the majestic sails of Sydney Opera House are illuminated, transforming the iconic building into the world’s largest harbourside piece of art.

Beneath her sails Vivid LIVE’s extraordinary line up of talent awaits, including American pop-rock veteran Rickie Lee Jones, the Australian debut of Maverick New York theatre company Young Jean Lee, and retro garage punk duo King Khan & BBQ Show, just to name a few.

Creative Sydney

Creative Sydney is a unique nine-day celebration where inspiring events and performances meet thought-provoking discussions and stimulating creative industry meets.

This festival highlight brings together local and global movers and shakers across a broad spectrum of industries to engage with their peers. Think advertising, architecture, design, fashion, and film, and you’ve barely scratched the surface of Creative Sydney. It’s all about tapping into our city’s vibrant creative culture and discovering what steers its success.

From posing questions such as the future of communication and consumption through to live performances that push the envelope, this one-of-a-kind event is a melting pot of Sydney’s best creative forces, and offers something for everyone with an interest in the creative realms.

The Rocks Fire Water

Vivid Sydney is ablaze with flame, food, art and culture as The Rocks Fire Water returns to Sydney.

This family-friendly event takes place on four big nights with multiple performance times that don’t defy children’s bedtimes!

Fire Water brings Bollywood edge to Sydney Harbour and Campbell’s Cove as this free performance portrays the voyage of the Sydney Cove tall ship sent from Calcutta in 1797 to our shores by merchant Robert Campbell. Told from the perspective of an 11-year-old Indian-Australian girl, Fire Water shines with tall ships, light installations and colourful smoke that ignites Campbells Cove.

The adventure continues after the show with amazing harbourside fire sculptures and specialty markets at The Rocks!

X Media Lab

X|Media|Lab – the internationally acclaimed digital media think-tank held in London, Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai, Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpa, Los Angeles, Auckland, Wellington and Seoul – curates its first “Global Media Ideas” at the Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Sydney.

This is Vivid Sydney’s must-attend event for entrepreneurs working in digital media and creative industries.

The X|Media|Lab Global Media Ideas will explore: cultural and commercial content in a global world; creative ideas and innovation in media and technology; international media business opportunities; and new platforms, applications, and content.

X|Media|Lab connects local media companies and start-ups with a range of the world’s leading digital media entrepreneurs, technology innovators, creative thinkers and commercialisation experts – the focus is on you and your ideas!

X|Media|Lab Global Media Ideas is made up of ‘Professional Conference Day’ and ‘The Lab’.

Song Summit

Vivid Sydney spruiks our city’s diverse music scene loud and proud with the return of Song Summit.

This three-day conference and music market pulls together the full spectrum of the music industry to network, educate, inspire and to create great cultural opportunities for our home-grown talent.

Ideal for emerging artists and established creatives, this veritable music bazaar invites music creators, managers, publishers, technicians and deal-makers to share, engage and learn from their peers and take their musical aspirations to the next level.

When the sun goes down Song Summit LIVE offers a sensational nightly line-up of live music performances that are spilling over with raw talent – full details to follow. All performances are included in the delegate price, and individual tickets will also be available.