From 31 July to 10 August, the annual BLEACH* contemporary arts and culture festival returns to the Gold Coast with over one hundred events, including three world premieres created in the coastal city as well as five Queensland premieres.
Under the creative direction of artist Michael Zavros, this year’s program is set across three festival hubs – Emerald Lakes, HOTA and Kurrawa Beach – featuring a blend of art, music, spectacle, storytelling and food-driven experiences. On 31 July, Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhale, 2013, and Skywhalepapa, 2019–20, take to the skies at sunrise for First Light | Skywhales Across Australia. Taking flight together, Piccinini’s monumental hot-air balloon sculptures are, in the artist’s words, “connected by a bond of care.”
Patricia Piccinini, Skywhale, 2013. Image supplied
At Emerald Lakes, David in the Studio presents a faithful replica of Michelangelo Buonarroti’s David, 1501–04 – carved from the same Carrara marble as the original. The uncanny recreation invites audiences to consider what replicating genius means in an age of digital reinvention and mass reproduction. Jeff Koons – In Conversation with Alison Kubler on 31 July is another highlight. Known for big and bold sculptures and an unorthodox approach in the art world, US artist Koons is expected to have much to say on creativity and the power of art.
Closing the festival will be Cavalcade on Kurrawa Beach. Directed by Gavin Webber and from the imagination of Zavros, it’s a dance between horse and human to an operatic soundtrack – with a twenty-four-piece orchestra – on the sands of Broadbeach. Dress code is black tie and boardshorts. BLEACH* includes free and ticketed events.
