Kaldor Public Art Projects
For over 40 years Kaldor Public Art Projects has created groundbreaking projects with international artists in public spaces, changing the landscape of contemporary art in Australia with projects that resonate around the world.
Project 1, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Wrapped Coast, was an unprecedented initiative and the projects since have continued in this pioneering tradition, from Gilbert & George, Nam June Paik, Richard Long and Sol LeWitt in the 1970s, to Jeff Koons’s giant flower Puppy in the 90s. More recent projects have included major installations by celebrated contemporary artists from around the world such as Ugo Rondinone, Urs Fischer, Bill Viola, Gregor Schneider, Martin Boyce and Tatzu Nishi.
In 2010, Project 20 was created by Stephen Vitiello, transforming the historic Brickworks at Sydney Park with the sound, colour and texture of the Kimberley; we also collaborated with Melbourne Festival and ACMI to present Bill Viola’s immersive video installation Fire Woman and Tristan’s Ascension in Melbourne as Project 21; and Project 22, a new performance by Spanish artist Santiago Sierra, was created in Brisbane. In 2011, we collaborated with Sydney Festival and the Australian Museum to realise Project 23, one of our most popular to date, John Baldessari’s extraordinary new work Your Name in Lights, giving around 100 000 participants their moment of fame. Following this, Project 24 with Michael Landy, Acts of Kindness, shared stories of kindness across Sydney with a 13-metre installation in the city centre and 200 sites.
Sydney Dance Company collaborated with Kaldor Public Art Projects and US artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla in 2013 for the contemporary art exhibition 13 Rooms. It brought together 13 artists from around the world, including iconic names like Damien Hirst, Marina Abramovic and John Baldessari, alongside some of the most celebrated young contemporary artists working today. More than 100 trained performers, including Sydney Dance Company, presented these artists’ works within purpose-built rooms inside Pier 2/3 over the 11-day exhibition.