This summer school holidays, children and families are invited to explore a world of art, nature and play at the new Hive Festival. Part of Sydney Festival 2024, Hive Festival is created in partnership with the Art Gallery and Blacktown Arts in collaboration with creative producer Claudia Chidiac. Presented over two weekends, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on 13 & 14 January 2024 and then The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre on 19 & 20 January 2024, the free event will see both venues buzzing with interactive artworks, hands-on workshops, performances, storytelling and more.
A centrepiece of the festival is a new collaborative artwork designed by Noa Haim, director of Collective Paper Aesthetics, Rotterdam, titled Be at the Hive. Art Gallery visitors will contribute hexagonal cardboard prisms to a growing ‘beehive’, culminating in the assembly of giant hive-like structures in the North Building. The structures will be adorned with affirmations, translated into Braille, and scratch-and-sniff scent, a first for any project created by Noa Haim, to create an immersive sensory experience for everyone to enjoy.
Art Gallery of New South Wales family programs manager Victoria Collings said the festival is programmed with the goal of inspiring children to contemplate their place and responsibilities within our ecosystem.
’Noa Haim and Collective Paper Aesthetics are experts in designing artworks that nurture teamwork, intergenerational exchange and creative thinking. We are excited to welcome children to Hive Festival and see them explore big ideas about our planet and our community through age-appropriate and enriching encounters with art,’ said Collings.
Hive Festival also marks the premiere of Trains by The Kids – an app-based audio ‘train journey’ revealing exciting sounds and stories from several ‘stops’ between St James station and Blacktown station. Hive Festival co-creator Claudia Chidiac will draw on her background as a theatre maker and creative producer to work with a team of artists and children from children from primary schools based in the inner city and Western suburbs to produce the project, highlighting common ground between children from different corners of Sydney. Best enjoyed travelling between the two festival venues, listeners can take a self-guided journey with Trains by The Kids at any time following the festival launch.
‘Trains by The Kids amplifies the voices of children as artists and creative thinkers, and celebrates creativity from an abundance of origins. We hope audiences enjoy the thrill of embracing something new, are open to absorbing and appreciating the kids’ stories, and relish the opportunity to travel to places, both physical and creative, that they may not have ventured to before,’ said Chidiac.
Festival attendees can also take part in several hands-on experiences at the Art Gallery:
- Performance artist Emma Maye Gibson will revive her wildly popular Embodied art tours, where audiences are encouraged to look and listen with their bodies and explore movement and sensations inspired by the Art Gallery’s collection.
- We Are Studios will present a Living family album workshop, inviting children and families of all kinds to celebrate the power of connection and relationships.
- Join artists Latai Taumoepeau and Paris Taia for MPower Generator, a physical obstacle course filled with playful drills in emergency preparedness.
- Create a DIY symphony inspired by everyday sounds and polyrhythms in a body percussion workshop with Lucky Lartey and friends.
- Connect with the energy and spirit of our plant ancestors and respond in creative ways in Nicole Barakat’s workshop Your presence is a gift.
- Explore the 4000-year history, science and techniques of pickling with artist Marian Abboud, the Seed of Hope Collective and friends and learn to make jars of pickled hand-picked seasonal vegetables.
- Practise the art of poetry with the Master Storytellers from creative writing centre The Story Factory.
The children’s activity space Point and Line to Plane, created by artist Desmond Lazaro in the Art Gallery’s major Kandinsky exhibition, will also be open daily in the South Building from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free for children under 12 who are accompanied by an adult Kandinsky ticketholder.
Hive Festival takes place at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 January 2024, and The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre on Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 January 2024. Entry and all activities are free.
For more information about Hive Festival, visit the Art Gallery of New South W ales website.
