Kensington Street and Spice Alley will be transformed into a night time oasis that ripples with light, colour, movement and sound. A vespertine plot in the heart of the city, BABYLON is part refuge, part sparkling realm that invites you to cut loose a little.
On Saturday 14 September from 6pm until late, Chippendale’s Kensington Street will become BABYLON – a free, all-ages night time event with light sculptures, performance, live music, dancing, lighting installations, soundscapes and projections, creating a sensory, evocative world cast with delicate beauty. Babylon is presented for free with the participation of over 30 of Sydney’s best and brightest independent performance and multi-media artists with food and fortune-tellers.
Sydney Fringe Festival Director Kerri Glasscock welcomes this collaboration, saying: ‘We are thrilled to be working again this year with the Kensington Street precinct and with the talented artists at Tortuga Studios. Sydney Fringe Festival is in its tenth year and we are excited to present a jungle realm in the heart of the city that is not to be missed!’
Visitors are invited to feast their senses on light and performance installations and to wander down to Silk Road, to sample all the goods from food hawkers from Asia and beyond, smoke a shisha under the stars, have their fortunes told, and sip on exotic mocktails from the team at Trolley’d. They might even find a life partner at the Marriage Market.
If needing an escape from the sensory overload, wander into Babylon’s Lair, sip on a cocktail and paired Shisha by Gin Lane, wine by handpicked Wines or mingle in the Marriage Markets where you can meet someone the quaint old way – talk to someone in person and if you find that spark, then the first round of drinks are on Kensington Street when you dine or Drink at Olio, Eastside, Mekong, Gavroche, Gin Lane or Handpicked Wines.
Babylon is presented by Tortuga Studios and Kensington Street for Sydney Fringe Festival, and featuring the work of over 30 artists, including:
· Mekazoic: A master robotics and mechatronics engineer, Dillon MacEwan specialises in large-scale installation, kinetic sculpture, pyrotechnics and special effects for the film industry. He forges wild beauty from hardened steel, sculpting curlicues of curiosity. Mekazoic
· La Galerie Mobile: Walks of art. Designed and created by Andrea Davies and Sid Sidlow, professionals in the world of circus and performance for over 25 years. La Galerie Mobile’s mobile artistic beauty comprises unique and individual characters orchestrated to suit any occasion. lagaleriemobile.com
· Cult of EVERYTHING: A collective of visual and sound artists who create live oil projections featuring live art, music + vibes. Cult of EVERYTHING
· Dollar Bin Darlings: Providing deep jungle grooves and lots of dancing! Andreas and Jonny are the Dollar Bin Darlings; larger than life, welcoming, warm, cheeky, generous, accommodating, flirty and hugely energetic. dollarbindarlings.com
· Rhiannon Hopley: Rhiannon Hopley’s photography and video installation work is both ethereal and hauntingly beautiful. Her imagery transgresses the fluidity of dreaming to abstractions of moments in time. rhiannonhopley.com
· Sam Rowlands: Uncle Uncel is Sam Rowlands’ more creative alter ego, a self-described illustrator, maker and bad speller. Her light-based work is sparkling delight infused with deep melancholy, its beauty sublime. samrowlands.com.au
· Kris Perry: Perry’s exquisite attention to detail is on full view with The Cube, a hand-wound mechatronic installation just waiting for you to play…
· Pete Strong: Vectorpunk is a screenprinting, art and design service offered by Sydney based artist Peter Strong. vectorpunk.com
· Phillippe Vincent PV1 is the niche end of the industrial sewing market offering customised, bespoke sewn solutions. The work is highly specialised and designed to order. pv1.com.au
· Porcelain Alice: Alice knows all sorts of circus folk, showgirls and musicians and has curated over 200 local and international acts including working with brands Lelo and Port a Vie, curated and co-produced the intimate Champagne with Dita Von Teese (2018) event. www.porcelainalice.com
The full program for the 2019 Sydney Fringe Festival is at www.sydneyfringe.com