Press release: VOUW Lights Up Vivid Sydney 2023 with Two Works Highlighting Colonial Past and Indigenous Culture
Sydney, Australia - VOUW, the Dutch design studio, is excited to announce its participation in Vivid Sydney 2023, one of the largest light, music and ideas festivals in the world. This marks the first time VOUW will be presenting its work in Australia.
As part of the festival, VOUW will be showcasing two works: City Gazing Sydney and Bloomlight.
City Gazing Sydney is a custom work that is inspired by the Indigenous people of Australia and the colonial history of Sydney. The work shows the urban development of the Sydney as seen from space. The animation highlights the contrast between the Indigenous people represented as campfires scattered over the area and the straight roads introduced by the settlers. The animation will be accompanied by a custom soundscape, featuring percussion instruments similar to the traditional Indigenous Australian instruments called Clapsticks and Didgeridoo.
Rhoda Roberts, the First Nations advisor for the festival, has praised VOUW's creative direction, saying "you've hit the nail on the head". She loved how the animation depicted the Indigenous people as "campfires around the cove" and praised its accuracy in showing how the colonialists built the roads based on existing Songlines.
City Gazing Sydney will be the biggest edition of City Gazing ever, covering an area of 25x21m. The work will be located at Dawes Point Park, under the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Bloomlight, the second work by VOUW, will be located at King St Wharf. The award winning work is a street lantern that responds to the passersby like an organic creature. When you approach Bloomlight, it senses your presence and starts bending towards you, whilst the top of the lantern starts to open and unfurl a bloom of soft light. At Vivid Sydney, no less than four Bloomlights will be exhibited.
"We are thrilled to be part of Vivid Sydney 2023 and to have the opportunity to showcase our work in Australia for the first time," said Mingus Vogel, founder of VOUW. "We are especially excited to present two works at the festival, including our newest work City Gazing Sydney, which highlights the Indigenous people and colonial history of Sydney in a beautiful and thought-provoking way."
Vivid Sydney 2023 will take place from May 26th to June 17th.
For more information on VOUW, visit their website at www.vouw.com
Contact:
Email: contact@vouw.com
Phone: +31 6 44227184
Sydney Wars Map 1788-1817
Source: The Australian Museum