Mr Vivid - Brenton Kewley
Brenton Kewley, City of Sydney's executive producer of Vivid Sydney, gets ready to light the fuse on the city's bold new winter festival.
With Vivid Sydney just a fortnight from ignition, one of the key architects behind the music, light and ideas extravaganza overtaking the city from 26 May to 14 June has spoken of his dream to turn Sydney into the creative hub of the Asia-Pacific.
Brenton Kewley is the man behind the magic that is City of Sydney's New Years Eve celebrations. But Vivid Sydney 2009, he says, could be the firework that never fades.
"Sydney is Australia's creative capital," said Kewley. "From music to literature to architecture to urban light design, this is where the great 'imagineers' live and breathe and Vivid Sydney is where, once a year, they'll all come out to play."
Kewley has been at the vanguard of event management in Sydney for over a decade. He was Head of Marketing for the Sydney Olympics Arts Festivals and a Segment Producer for the Opening Ceremony. H's been involved in staging Sydney's NYE since 1997. He even worked in Egypt lighting up the Pyramids of Giza and setting the Nile on fire.
But Vivid Sydney is his greatest challenge yet, and it shapes as his greatest triumph too. "I know about the disciplines of delivery and how to communicate a message," Kewley says. "And after many years in the theatre, I also know how to meet a deadline.
"With Vivid my job was to deliver a global event that was attractive to locals as well as interstate and overseas visitors. And with the line-up of talent we've been given by Events NSW, and Sydney Harbour still the best landscape in the world to base a festival, that vision has not been difficult to sell."
The key challenge, says Kewley, was basing a creative festival in the normally events barren mid-year period. "Sydney is traditionally thought of as a summer town but Vivid Sydney is an incredibly clever concept for a winter festival.
"A 19 degrees average is hardly inhospitable to outdoor activities and Smart Light keeps people outside and walking. Fire Water lights up the harbour and tells a uniquely Sydney story and Luminous gets the blood pumping at our creative heart, the Sydney Opera House, while Creative Sydney is all about planting seeds for 2010 and 2011."
And although the Harbour will again be the hub for all the action, Kewley's also keen to spread the action through Sydney's other "creative villages" in future years. "Places like Parramatta have lots of wonderful cultures worth celebrating but, as New Year's Eve proves, the Harbour is our entertainment hub. It's where all the city's communities and creative people gather together to make a very Sydney brand of magic." AF
For the full Vivid Sydney line-up go to Vivid Sydney.
Brenton Kewley's Top 5 Tips for Vivid Sydney!
1. See the lighting installation 'Cycle'. A part of the Smart Light Sydney Light Walk, 'Cycle' is located at west Circular Quay and allows people to jump on an exercise bike and power up the lighting installation. I'll be down there every evening using it as a stress relief tool!
2. Visit the '77 Million Paintings' exhibition in The Studio at the Sydney Opera House. Random, original and constantly evolving, this exhibition is truly marvellous with the imagery appearing 77 million times throughout the festival. Some lucky staff member of mine is going down there to count them!
3. Spend some time at Creative Sydney at the MCA. Their program is topical and entertaining and a who's who of the creative industry will be there. It'll also be a great opportunity for anyone wanting to become involved with this industry to mingle and chat to those who are. In this town, it's who you know.
4. Get out amongst it and make a day and a night of it. Take in the afternoon show of Laraaji's Meditation and Laughter workshop at the Sydney Opera House, have an early dinner in the Rocks and go on the Smart Light Sydney Light Walk Guided Tour and end up in the Creative Sydney Salon Bar at the MCA. That's were we'll be!
5. Definitely go and see Fire Water - a three-day festival recreating our past in a theatrical context. The performance includes the fiery demise of The Three Bees (this version is minus the cannon balls though!).
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