Previous Exhibitions
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IDEA09 exhibition & lounge Red Room, Ground Level As part of Idea Week 2009, an exhibition of all 275 shortlisted entries into the IDEA09 interior design excellence awards will be on display at Customs House. The exhibition will include background and past winners of Australia’s most prestigious interior design awards, as well as a temporary exhibition lounge specifically created for Customs House. Image: Niche Media |
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Remodelling Architecture: Architectural Places - Digital Spaces Exhibition Space, Level 2 Five years after the first Australian Architecture Association (AAA) Young Architects exhibition at Customs House, curator Gerard Reinmuth revisits this theme but with a focus on Sydney practitioners exploring the potential for digital technology in architecture and urban design practice and installations. Image: Australian Architecture Association
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Testing Reality: The Architect and the Model Red Room & Media Wall, Ground Level The exhibition explores the changing role of the model in today’s architectural practice. The focus of the presented material is shifted from the usual static display of abstract objects to an interactive exploration of the processes, techniques, materials and people involved in the creation of architectural models. A modernist building designed in the late 1940’s by the iconic Australian architect Harry Seidler – the Marcus Seidler House – becomes the focus of a series of architectural models produced especially for the exhibition. The exhibition is supplemented by insights into the behind-the-scenes design process of some of Europe’s leading offices. Images and movies of the work of Jean Nouvel, Bolles+Wilson, EMBT and Delugan Meissl among others reinforce the importance of the model in today’s globalised digital environment. Image: Mark Szczerbicki |
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Ulterior Motives exhibition Exhibition Space, Level 1 University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) architecture students propose a sustainable future for the Ultimo Precinct. With it's significant educational, cultural and media institutions the precinct of Ultimo is a strategic location for growing Sydney’s ‘innovative capacity’ and creative economy. This exhibition by architecture students from the UTS Master of Architecture program suggests that Ultimo could be transformed into a vibrant and sustainable place for tourists and the local student, residential and business communities alike. Image: UTS
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ATTLA (snow that makes beautiful pictures as it falls) exhibition Ground Level & Exhibition Space, Level 2 Dr Lisa Anderson spent six weeks in the High Arctic in 2007 as artist in residence on a Russian ice breaker. The work explores the hard edges of climate change in the High Arctic and disappearing landscapes of these isolated and extraordinary places. This multi-layered exhibition includes iceberg sculptures over the City Model glass floor, images, video and sound works to highlight concerns and increase understanding about what changing weather patterns can mean both to our own community, as well as fragile environments such as the Arctic. Image courtesy of the artist.
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Michael Jackson: Prodigy to Superstar exhibition Red Room, Ground Level This special commemorative exhibition, held on what would have been Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday, celebrates the life of one of the most popular recording artists of all time. It features photographs at once thrilling, enthralling and poignant, all drawn from TIME Magazine’s superb tribute edition. The show also includes a multi-media presentation featuring images and quotes compiled by TIME magazine. Image: TIME Magazine |
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Transclimatic exhibition Red Room & Digital Media Wall, Ground Level The Transclimatic exhibition at Customs House is part of the Sydney Design 2009 festival, the 13th year of this international festival involving more than 70 events. Transclimatic explores how climate change has altered the way we design and live, and demonstrates how climate change drives us to address new objectives. Image: NOX Cloud Iron Museum
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The Burning Season exhibition Digital Media Wall - Ground Level, Exhibition Lounge - Level 1, & Exhibition Space - Level 2 19 June – 26 July 2009 Orangutans are gracing the walls of Customs House as part of an exhibition that highlights the destruction of their natural habitat in Indonesia. The multimedia exhibition coincides with the release of The Burning Season, an Australian film about the deliberate lighting of fires across Indonesia which destroys pristine rainforest, endangers orangutans and contributes to climate change. Customs House is screening unseen footage from the Nyaru Menteng orangutan centre in Borneo which rescues, cares and rehabilitates traumatized orangutans for release back into the wild. The exhibition also displays many compelling images of orangutans featured in the film. The Burning Season will be screened at the Dendy Cinema Newtown from Thursday 9th July, with a special session at Dendy Opera Quays on 24 July. Further information about orangutans can be found through the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS). To view the 10 things that you can do to make a difference click on www.tenthingsyoucando.com. To see some monkeying-around click here! Images: Hatchling Productions
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Smart Light Sydney @ Customs House Customs House Square & Red Room, Ground Level Smart Light Sydney is a major part of Vivid Sydney, a festival of music, light and ideas. The highlight of Smart Light Sydney will be a free nightly Light Walk, showcasing beautiful and dynamic light art sculptures using innovative, smart technology on a self-guided walk around Sydney’s iconic harbour front precincts including Customs House. Light sculptures - Lumenocity and Doves that Cry - and installation Green Void feature at Customs House. Lumenocity is an abstract installation, which the public can walk through and explore at Customs House Square forecourt, illustrating energy consumption in the Sydney CBD. The colour of the cubes, illuminating in the evening, making up the miniature city correlate to the amount of energy consumed and light pollution emitted by each city block. Designed by Sean Bryen, Sascha Crocker and Andrew Daly. Doves that Cry - Created by Mary-Anne Kyriakou and Joe Snell, this installation uses the ephemeral qualities of light and sound. Suspended white LED lit vessels glow as a beautiful gloss black piano is played in the Red Room, ground level of Customs House. Smart Light Fields - A live mapping of festival movement will also feature at Customs House and at Anarchi.Org. Eight nodes along the path are tracking Bluetooth signals, and feeding the entire festival activity into a central graphical visualisation of minute-by-minute fluctuations. By Joanne Jakovich and Jason McDermott in collaboration with Metropolis Connecting Cities. The Vivid Sydney Hub at Customs House will also host various Smart Light Symposia events, exploring the future of lighting design and innovation. Find out more here. And the Vivid Sydney information and merchandising marquee is located at Customs House Square. Images: Peter Murphy |
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Green Void Atrium, Ground Level A futuristic yet organic structure is the result of the latest collaboration between the progressive architecture think tank Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) and architectural structures creator MakMax Australia. It is derived from nature, realized in lightweight fabric, and uses the latest digital fabrication and engineering techniques. There is 3,000 cubic meters of space connected with a minimal surface area of 300 square metres, and only 40 kilograms of material! The work illustrates how past and present co-exist and provides an intense visual contrast to the beautifully restored heritage interior. The five “funnels” of the sculpture reach out and connect the different levels of Customs House. The installation floats above the City Model on the ground floor, to the backdrop of a digital rainforest soundscape by David Chesworth. The Digital Media Wall on the ground floor will display the making of the installation and international projects by LAVA, during some of the exhibition period. A new technology autostereoscopic display plays 3D Green Void visuals, without the need for 3D glasses! To view 360 degree panorama by Peter Murphy click here. To view essay by Matteo Cainer click here. To view essay by Dr Anuradha Chatterjee click here. Image: Peter Murphy
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Invisibility Exhibition Space, Level 1 Image courtesy of the artist. |
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Luis Bunuel: Amigos y Peliculas (Friends and Films) Red Room & Digital Media Wall - Ground Level, & Exhibition Space - Level 2 On the 25th anniversary of his death, the Spanish Film Festival 2009 in Australia pays tribute to Luis Buñuel, recognised as the founder of surrealist cinema, with a selection of photographs, posters, letters and moving images from the Centro Buñuel de Calanda in Spain. The photographs on level 2 show the importance of his friends, including the renowned visual artist Salvador Dali, and their commitment to surrealism, as well as his career milestones (awards at the Cannes Film Festival for Los Olvidados and the Venice Film Festival for Belle de Jour). The posters in the Red Room focus on the little-known Mexican phase of his career, during his exile; while the audio-visual component over the Media Wall provides a fascinating overview of some his most important films such as Un Chien Andalou, Nazarin, and Viridiana. To view related media articles click here. Image: Spanish Film Festival
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Spirit Digital Media Wall, Ground Level Spirit depicts one man’s journey of the spirit rising. This digital installation is based on an urban corroboree that took place at Customs House in September 2008, when everyday Australians came to participate in a modern ritual symbolic of a greater collective - awakening the hope for a multicultural spirit akin to a human Noah’s Ark. This installation builds on the vision of Customs House as a gateway to information, ideas and inspiration by engaging all who see it to consider where do we go next after Sorry Day? Stills by Tania Lambert from the Spirit installation will be exhibited at Customs House Exhibition Space, Level 2. Image courtesy of the artist.
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A selection from The Regal Twelve Red Room, Ground Level Six images especially selected for Customs House by the artist from her critically-acclaimed The Regal Twelve series feature formidable female monarchs throughout history. Alexia Sinclair meticulously constructs each artwork by combining photographs and illustrations through digital montage. Photographing authentic palaces and ruins, and period-inspired costume and makeup results in a fantastical reflection on the symbolism of power, beauty, and contemporary visual style. To view related media articles click here. Image courtesy of the artist. |
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Emergency Architects Australia Exhibition Space, Level 2 Emergency Architects Australia is a 'not-for-profit' organization, working with professional volunteers, immediately after man-made or natural disasters, providing rapid assessment and sustainable reconstruction to communities which ask for assistance. They have provided assistance to communities in Sigli, Aceh, Java, Mutur in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and are now assisting with both the shelter and school reconstruction programs in the Western Solomon Islands after the Tsunami/earthquake of 2007. This new exhibition covers this work in the Solomon Islands. To view related media articles click here. Graphics courtesy of EA. |
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Global Studio Exhibition Space, Level 2 Global Studio seeks to prepare design and planning professionals to help address the challenges of inclusive and sustainable urbanisation, which also includes emergencies. Global Studio is an international, multi disciplinary program, and is informed by the Millennium Development Goals, especially ‘ensure environmental sustainability’ and the target ‘improve the lives of slum dwellers’. Four years of Global Studio will be profiled through Istanbul, Vancouver, and Johannesburg. Graphics courtesy of Global Studio.
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D_City Media Wall, Ground Level
Atrium, Ground Level To coincide with the D.City conference which proposes a new global network to coordinate data modelling researchers to accelerate solutions for eco-cities, an exciting multi-media installation will be screened over the media wall. D_City is an emerging global online network connecting advanced academic researchers across many disciplines to predict and pre-test simulations for future urban environments. Timed to coincide with the Metropolis “Connecting Cities” conference in Sydney from 22-25 October 2008. |
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Encounters Through Flowers: Hana Installation Atrium, Ground Level Dedicated to the values of harmony and perfection associated with nature, master florist Setsuko Yanagisawa's work expresses a contemporary marriage between the exquisitely refined traditions of Japanese floral art and the vibrant textures and colours of Terra Australis: a synthesis of east and west, man and nature, and the tradition in pleasing company of the new - a delight to the senses. The floral installatio will be dramatically displayed over the City model glass floor.
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Bruce Rickard & the Sydney House: Customs House, level 2 FREE ADMISSION Presented in partnership with the Australian Architecture Association and part of the 2008 Sydney Architecture Festival, Bruce Rickard’s work is presented as the precursor and inspiration of many architectural strategies which are considered as essential components of the classic Sydney house. |
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Beijing Iconic Olympic Architecture Atrium and Media Wall, Ground Level
Customs House, Level 1 The Birds Nest and Watercube models of iconic architecture from the recently-concluded Beijing Olympics by the world-renowned engineering team at ARUPS and leading Australian architect Chris Bosse are on display over the City model. Featuring architectural models of two iconic buildings from the recently-concluded 2008 Beijing Olympics – the Olympic Stadium, more popularly known as “The Bird’s Nest” and the Olympic Aquatic Centre (aka “The Water Cube”) and a video narrating the design and construction work involved in creating these spectacular feats of engineering. |
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Crown & Anchor: Sydney’s Interpretation of Heraldry
FREE ADMISSION Crown & Anchor: Sydney’s Interpretation of Heraldry looks at the history and tradition of heraldry’s use for defining the visual identity and authority of government, and shows these symbols as the precursor for civic logos and corporate branding today. The title of the show is taken from the elements of the City of Sydney’s livery – the mural crown denoting the connection to the British monarchy and the ship’s anchor denoting Sydney’s location as a port city. It also features rarely seen objects from the Town Hall collection that bear the heraldic standards. This exhibition is organized by Town Hall curator Margaret Betteridge for the City of Sydney.
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| THE ISLAND OF THE ANCIENTS: PHOTOGRAPHS OF SARDINIA'S CENTENARIANS BY MAYU KANAMORI Customs House Level 2 FREE ADMISSION September 2008 The Island of the Ancients features photographs of Sardinia’s centenarians by the renowned visual artist Mayu Kanamori. Kanamori accompanied her partner, the writer and journalist Ben Hills, to this small island in the middle of the Mediterranean which is populated by the oldest group of people in the world, recording the secrets of longevity of these “anziani” through sensitive and beautiful photographs. The show, which coincides with the launch of Hills’ book of the same title, runs through 28 September, and is curated by Sandy Edwards, curator of Sydney’s Stills Gallery and ArtHere. Artist talk in front of the exhibition on Level 2. To view related media articles click here. Saturday 6 September, 2 pm – Mayu Kanamori. |
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RESILIENT AFRICA: A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY BY CLAUDE HO Ground Floor and Level 2 FREE ADMISSION Customs House presents “Resilient Africa: A Photographic Journey by Claude Ho”. The exhibition, which runs from 6 June to 6 July 2008, features thirty two black and white photographs on Level 2 and four large scale colour photographs on the Ground Floor. Appearing together for the first time in Australia, these works reveal Ho’s ability to create life-affirming images of Africa, picturing hope in the most desperate of situations. Also on exhibit is a video chronicling the work of Friends of Claude Ho in Thyolo Foundation (FOCHTA), an NGO the photographer established in 2003 to support the AIDS orphans in the Thyolo district of Malawi. |
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| POWER OF 10 10 UTS Architecture Students Envision a New Town Hall for Sydney Exhibition curated and designed by Frank Minnaërt Level 1 13 March - 30 June, 2008 FREE ADMISSION Power of 10 is an exhibition of prospective architecture displaying ten cutting edge architectural proposals designed by third-year students from the School of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney. Through a combination of digital displays and 3-D models, their works respond to a hypothetical challenge: to conceive a new Town Hall for Sydney. The projects challenge the relationship between built form and public space in a global approach to design: mixing contemporary architecture and urban landscape. To view related media articles click here.
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STITCHING THE VOID Ground Floor December 2007 - 15 June, 2008 Consisting of 84 red cubes, "Stitching the Void" fills Customs House atrium and digital animations compliment the installation on the media wall. Suspended over five floors, Patrick Keane teamed up with a kitemaker for this complex installation. Made from lightweight kite materials, these flowing cubes offer a multi-dimensional experience. From any viewpoint the piece constantly reconfigures itself, encouraging the passer by to enjoy the piece in motion, an experience some would refer to as 4th dimensional, and the emergence of "non-static architecture." Patrick has been practicing architecture in New York and Bangkok for the past eight years, he recently returned to Sydney after the successful commission of some new projects, and has set up an office in Sydney. He also teaches design studios at Sydney University and is writing a Masters Course on “Contemporary Aesthetics in Digital Architecture” for the College of Fine Arts in Sydney.
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SUSTAINABLE SYDNEY 2030 Ground Floor and Customs House Square Featured on Customs House Square is Alex Komas’s work Silent Escape, a series of trees enclosed by a heavy metal cage and a cluster of tall trees surrounding the installation work. A vertical garden scales the grand entrance of Customs House while indoors the Media Wall screens videos produced by the City of Sydney that showcase the plans. A series of information panels are on display throughout the ground floor, along with decals over the city model glass floor.
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| SYDNEY FUTURE VISIONS An exhibition by the Royal Australian Institute of Architecture (RAIA) Ground Floor and Level 2 Six groups of emerging young architects were chosen as part of the RAIA’s annual conference to create visions of Sydney in the future. This multimedia exhibit focuses on issues such as climate change, urbanisation, wealth inequity and human displacement. The architects provide a range of potential responses to these challenges through engaging digital animations displayed on the media wall on the ground floor and image representations on Level 2. To view related media articles click here. |
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| CHINA DIARIES Ground Floor |
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CHINA DREAMING Level 2 Innovative Australian photographer Olivia Martin-McGuire photographs ordinary people “escaping” from obvious manifestations of China’s economic boom through dreaming. The project provides a re-imagining of the West and a ‘new world’. The show is intertwined with backlit images of people dreaming with other portraits and fantastical images of China’s burgeoning landscape. China Dreaming is a photographic series created during an artist-in-residency in China. |
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SPANNING THE DECADES Level 1 |
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NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA Level 2 27 September - 28 October, 2007 This is the third exhibition by the Australian Architecture Association at Customs House to celebrate World Architecture Day on October 1, 2007. Over the past two years the AAA have revealed the work of over 20 young architects to a wider audience. This year the exhibition reveals the work of a single iconic building by a great Sydney Architect - the National Gallery in Canberra by Col Madigan of Edwards Madigan Torzillo & Briggs. This exhibition showcases the NGA as it was through the photographs of Max Dupain (1980-1) with text by Col Madigan. |
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without frontiers: architecture with consequences Ground Floor - 2 August-1 October, 2007, Level 2 - 2 August - 23 September, 2007
Without Frontiers is an exhibition of drawings, photographs and models illustrating the work of Architects Without Frontiers (Australia). AWF is currently working on 12 projects in 10 countries. Through images, sound and models, this exhibition showcases a diversity of projects. It also tells the remarkable story of three of these projects in detail, the volunteers who work on them, and the communities they are working with. |
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KABUL REVISITED - Images by Eleanor Dearin Level 2 July 3 - 29, 2007 In July a photographic exhibition of images of kabul today was exhibited. Images were taken by curator and artist Eleanor Dearin, who recently was invited to curate an exhibition of contemporary Afghanistanian calligraphic art for the Prince of Wales Turquoise Mountain Foundation, with the exhibition travelling to Beit Al Qur'an Museum in Bahrain. |
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THE SACRED TRACKS OF WARRANE Ground Floor 21 March - July 27, 2007 An interactive lab was displayed on the ground floor of Customs House demonstrating the development of The Sacred Tracks of Warrane. In this virtual world viewers were able to experience a day in traditional Aboriginal life of the Cadigal people that lived in around Sydney Cove before the arrival of the First Fleet. The Sacred Tracks of Warrane exhibition at Customs House presents ‘Virtual Warrane’: a 3D, computer-game–based simulation of Cadigal life, stories and connections with the land, based on the earliest recorded shorelines and landscape. The project showcased the development of the prototype of the project and artistic director Brett Leavy spent time with our audiences explaining the significance of the project and worked with many educational school groups to give them an experience of an alternative reality. |
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DUTCH DECADE Oct 24 - Nov 30, 2006 Dutch Decade is an exhibition of 15 leading Dutch photographers, curated by experienced photo journalist and editor Anya Van Lit. It provides a fascinating insight into the culture, environment and people of the Netherlands. From traditional birthday celebrations, to quirky street scenes, dramatic social change and the constantly evolving relationship with the environment, Dutch Decade provides |
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JON LEWIS PEOPLE PICTURES (portraits from the antipodes) 1984-2006
So there you have it. The people I've met...'People Pictures.' If you see yourself here, for even a moment, I have done my job. I know I'm part of everyone here...these are like my self portraits...recognising what is in me that's in them, and maybe in you too. Believing is seeing. (Excerpted from Jon Lewis's catalogue esay.) |
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E.O. HOPPE's AUSTRALIA A Photographic Exhibition Curated by Graham Howe
8 May - 1 July 2007 E.O. Hoppe's Australia presents rare, little-known photographs made by the German born British photographer during his travels in Australia in 1930. This remarkable collection, seen sixty-five years after it was lost to a dusty archive represents the unearthing of a cultural landmark and an unsung Modernist masterwork. |
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KHUNJERAB PASS, SWAT AND PESHAWAR A Photogragpher in Pakistan
A Selection of Images by Photographer Peter Van Sommers 19 March -15 April, 2007
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YOUNG ARCHITECTS - TAKE 2 EXHIBITION Sept 26 - Oct 22, 2006 Curated by Gerard Reinmuth To celebrate World Architecture Day on October 2, 2006, Level 2 of the library will feature the Young Architects Exhibition. Taking up where last year’s Australian Architecture Association (AAA) Young Architects Exhibition left off, the exhibition this year showcases the work of younger architects who are fortunate to be located inside respected large architecture practices who have provided opportunities for them to excel in the delivery of larger-scale projects. From the smallest projects, which involve a client, architect, engineering consultancy and a team of builders – to the largest where the design team alone may consist of dozens of people - the reality is that buildings rarely emerge from a sole ‘creator’.
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ACCESS ALL AREAS: PHOTOGRAPHY BY MERVYN BISHOP Curated by Tess Allas This is a solo exhibition of the Australia's first indigenous photographer, Mervyn Bishop. Beginning his career as a cadet for the Sydney Morning Herald in the 1960s Mervyn has had a fascinating and well respected career as a photojournalist. This exhibition will highlight some great moments captured in Mervyn's career. This exhibition coincides with Mervyn's other project 'In Living Memory' an exhibition of photographs from the archives of Aboriginal Welfare Board at the State Records of New South Wales. |
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SYDNEY ESQUISSE YOURSELF 5 - 20 August, 2006 |
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HARRY SEIDLER - A TRIBUTE The Harry Seidler tribute ended on Sunday August 5, 2006 and was incredibly popular. Pictured right is Edmund Capon, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and special guest speaker of the opening night on June 29, 2006. Image: Edmund Capon at the opening, photo by Darren Leigh Roberts |
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| MEMORY LANE - RECOLLECTING ROWE STREET January - June, 2006 Level 1 'Memory Lane - Recollecting Rowe Street' was an exhibition that paid homage to Rowe Street, a quaint laneway formerly in the heart of the city, which was demolished in the 1970's to make way for modern development. Image: Viewers at the opening launch, observing the 'Cosmopolitan' showcase of the exhibition. |
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FILM AUSTRALIA - STILLS COLLECTION
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| VIRTUAL CITY - PETER MURPHY 1 April - 31 May, 2006 Ground Floor & Level 2 Virtual City was an exhibition of Peter Murphy’s vibrant exploration of the cityscapes of Sydney using new imaging technologies in photography and new media. In this series, he captures the relationship between human activity, the city's man-made and natural environments and also the beauty of the city ‘resting’ at dusk. His use of multiple and exaggerated perspectives reveals a surprising vision of the CBD. The Customs House City Model is also incorporated, showing the artist’s fascination for comparisons between the real and simulated versions of the city. |
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PORTRAIT OF A CITY - MARCO BOK Marco Bok's exhibition presents a unique range of images capturing moments and people in the life of everyday Sydney. The images span over 20 years of photography on the streets of Sydney, showing the vibrancy, the stillness and various moods of this city. |
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RANDOM - THE OCULI COLLECTIVE OF PHOTOGRAPHERS This group exhibition by the Oculi collective of photographers is the first group exhibition held by this team. The exhibition was a selection of their finest work capturing the unique beauty of Sydney. Oculi formed as a collective of nine award winning photojournalists who formed in 2001 with a common interest in documentary photography. This unique photo agency reveals real lives and real stories that are
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COFFEE CUSTOMS Coffee Customs was an exploration of the social history of cafe Society in Sydney. The exhibition traced the early coffee shops such as the Repins Chain, the Andronicus family and much more. The exhibition traced the introduction of the coffee bean to Australia with the first fleet, the early Coffee Palaces and the influence of Sydney's migrant communities in the development of the Cafe society. The exhibition was officially opened by Deputy Mayor John McInerneyn Tuesday 12 July, 2005. |
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YOUNG ARCHITECTS EXHIBITION - |
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