Australia’s premier art fair, Sydney Contemporary, returns to Carriageworks from September 11 to 14 for its largest and most ambitious edition yet, presenting an expanded program of art, performance, and conversation.
In partnerships with Sydney Contemporary and Polestar, the luxury electric vehicle partner of Sydney Contemporary 2025.
Now in its ninth year, Sydney Contemporary has established itself as Australia’s leading platform for contemporary art. Over four days, the fair will bring together more than 500 artists and 114 exhibitors at Carriageworks, supported by long-standing presenting partner MA Financial Group. This year, the program expands its national and international scope with an emphasis on contemporary photography, works on paper, large-scale installations, and live performance.
Photo Sydney, a new sector, offers a curated exploration of the medium — from the quiet lyricism of photographer Paul Blackmore’s The Distance Between, tracing the landscapes of Australia’s interior, to the vivid urban compositions of photographic artist George Byrne’s Synthetica, presented in full for the first time by OLSEN Gallery.
“This year’s Sydney Contemporary is bigger and bolder than ever,” Fair Director Zoe Paulsen says. “It’s a chance to experience boundary-pushing installations, live performance, and thought-provoking conversations, all under one roof at Carriageworks.”
Jonny Niesche with Mark Pritchard, Fat Lava 2025
Moving from still image to immersive scale, the Installation and Performance Contemporary program — curated by UNSW Galleries’ José da Silva — presents works by Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand artists that respond directly to the architecture of Carriageworks.
Among nine installations, artist Lisa Reihana’s kinetic sculpture will animate the building’s exterior. Nearby, artist Jonny Niesche and musician Mark Pritchard present a low-frequency sound and vibration work designed to be felt as much as heard, while sculptor Augusta Vinall Richardson’s stainless steel forms reflect on repetition and variation in space.
On opening night, multidisciplinary artist Dr Christian Thompson AO presents Recital, where voice becomes both instrument and archive. On Saturday 13 September, performance artist Kalisolaite ‘Uhila stages Kelekele Mo’ui (Living Soil), remaining buried to the neck in soil over a day — a meditative act of endurance that speaks to ancestry and belonging.
Shanti Shea-An, Profile, 2021. Oil on linen, 50 x 32cm
Continuing the symposium, the Talks program presents nine curated conversations with industry leaders exploring themes from public art and photography in the digital era to cross-disciplinary collaboration.
On 12 September, Designing Spaces for an Artful Life considers hospitality as a cultural setting, with interior designer Charlotte Wilson, designer and curator William Smart, and architect Kerstin Thompson. The following day, Design Made to Collect: The Art of the Object examines the role of collectible design and its role in enriching interiors, with insights from furniture and lighting designer Don Cameron, Sydney-based interior designer Jillian Dinkel, and industrial designer Adam Goodrum.
Finally, materiality takes centre stage in Radical Materiality, where Polestar Senior Designer Nahum Escobedo explores sustainable design, accompanied by the Polestar 3 and Emily Medbury’s Re: Purpose Collection of recycled-material sculptures.
Sydney Contemporary 2025 promises to reaffirm the fair’s essential role in Australia’s contemporary art scene, offering audiences a unique opportunity to engage directly with the future of creative practice. “Whether you’re a seasoned collector or just curious about contemporary art, there’s something here for everyone,” Paulsen says.
Norman Seeff, Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe NYC, 1969. Archival pigment print
John Gollings, Lake Amadeus, 2015. Fine Art Archival Pigment Inkjet, Canson Platine Fibre Rag, Edition 1/5 92 x 138 cm