Black Capital Family and Culture Day - CarriageWorks - 8 Jan 2012

The official opening ceremonies for Black Capital Family and Culture Day start at midday with a Welcome to Country, kicking off a colourful and fun-filled program of storytelling, music, art, performance and food.

Be entertained by highlights from Erth's latest puppet and multimedia spectacle, I Bunyip. Discover the latest music sensations from the Gadigal Music label - Marcus Corowa, Jess Beck and Duke Box. Sample delicious Indigenous fusion cuisine from Yaama Dhiyaan and keep your eyes peeled for members of the South Sydney Rabbitohs who'll be around on the day. To everyone, that's a big Black Capital welcome to Redfern.

This is a free event.

The doors also open on two Free Exhibitions at CarriageWorks on 8th January 2012 that you can visit. These are:

Travelling Colony - January 8 - March 4 10am-6pm daily and open late on performance nights.

Travelling Colony is a major new work by Brook Andrew, whose interdisciplinary arts practice travels internationally. For two decades this celebrated artist has been creating astonishing interventions into history through installation and interactive monuments, playfully seducing audiences into new ways of seeing compelling issues of race, consumerism and history.

Inspired by his Wiradjuri tradition, the circus and pop culture, Andrew has created a cavalcade of dazzling handpainted caravans in the huge industrial foyer of Carriageworks. Enter each of the caravans in Travelling Colony and immerse yourself in the stories of Redfern - its personalities, struggles and community.

Through this whirling zig-zag of caravans, archival footage, reflections and projections, visitors will be inspired by the histories of Redfern. Brook Andrew appears as part of our free talks program Microscope: Festival Artists in conversation with Caroline Baum.

181 Regent St: Addressing Black Theatre Exhibition - January 8-29, 10am-6pm daily

In 1972 the National Black Theatre emerged from Regent Street, Redfern with an explosion of plays, dance, activist poetry, biting satire and street theatre, giving new voice to the struggles of the 1970s and the Redfern Aboriginal community.

During its five years of operation, this astonishing cultural renaissance spawned landmark playwrights such as Kevin Gilbert, Robert Merritt and Jack Davis, as well as the careers of remarkable actors such as Bob Maza, Lillian Crombie and Justine Saunders, cultural activist Gary Foley and director Brian Syron.

Curator Rhoda Roberts, one of Australia's leading arts practitioners and from the first generation of actors to reap the benefits of the early years of National Black Theatre, creates a compelling program of work celebrating the past and future of black theatre in Australia.

The pervasive legacy of 181 Regent St and this extraordinary time is explored in a special anniversary exhibition that draws on personal archives, film and photographs to tell the story of the National Black Theatre and the people who were involved. 

Covering pioneering works such as The Cherry Pickers and The Cake Man the exhibition considers where it all began and the ongoing influence of the National Black Theatre on contemporary Aboriginal theatre today.

Presented by Sydney Festival and Carriageworks in association with ABC. Symposium: January 14, 10am-4.30pm

I Am Eora - January 8, 14 at 5pm January 10-14 at 8.30pm

Fifty Aboriginal musicians, performers, creative artists and technicians from across the country come together for one of the most thrilling collaborations ever commissioned by Sydney Festival.

Writer/director Wesley Enoch, co-writer Anita Heiss and their team create a dynamic fusion of storytelling, dance, performance and film featuring a cast of iconic and emerging performers including Jack Charles, Wilma Reading, Frank Yamma, Stiff Gins, Radical Son and a rockin' live band.

At the centre of the work are three heroes of Aboriginal Sydney whose enduring spirits still inspire: the protest and resistance of the warrior Pemulwuy; the female embodiment of resilience, Barangaroo; and her controversial husband Bennelong, the gifted interpreter who sought reconciliation.

I Am Eora (I am of this place) breaks new ground in contemporary Australian performance, telling the stories of Sydney's Aboriginal continuity in a celebration of its heroes.

Walk a Mile in My Shoes - January 8 & 11 at 3pm and 8 - 11 at 7pm

The Barefoot Divas are six soulful singers and songwriters from Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea - each a star in her own right, together a force to be reckoned with.

Helpmann Award winner Ursula Yovich (Serbia/Burarra)and Black Arm Band favourite Emma Donovan (Gumbaynggirr) are joined by their sisters Whirimako Black (Maori), Maisey Rika (Maori), Merenia (Maori/Roma) and Ngaiire (Papua New Guinea) to share hilarious stories of diva life on the stage and on the road, fortified by deep connections to their land and Indigenous cultures.

Directed by Vicki Gordon, written by Alana Valentine and with music directed by Adam Ventoura, Walk a Mile in My Shoes is an uplifting expression of shared culture, community and the power of song.