Ten Commandments of Creative Practice and more at Vivid Ideas

Vivid Ideas, part of Vivid Sydney which runs from 24 May to 10 June 2013, features an expanded program of talks, workshops and networking events, with the aim of turning ideas into action and creating commercial opportunities for the year ahead.  Now in its fifth year, Vivid Sydney is owned and managed by Destination NSW with the NSW Government as the major investor, and is one of five signature events on the NSW Events Calendar.

Tickets are now available to the complete Vivid Ideas program, which attracts creative professionals from across the globe to Sydney each winter.

“In its short five year history, Vivid Sydney has become the Southern Hemisphere’s largest meeting platform for creative industries professionals, and is firmly established as a must-attend event on the global creative stage,” said Mr Stoner.

“With over 120 creative industries businesses from design to technology and publishing to education taking part in Vivid Ideas, the industry and business event pillar of Vivid Sydney continues to expand at a rapid pace, celebrating our city as the creative industries’ capital of Australia.”

Curated by Festival Director Jess Scully, Vivid Ideas brings Australian and international creative industries leaders together in the iconic harbourside city of Sydney for 18 dynamic days. Vivid Ideas offers a world-class program of free and ticketed talks, collaborations and discussion panels held across Sydney with the Vivid Ideas Exchange returning to Level 6 of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia as the buzzing creative hub of Vivid Sydney.

“Vivid Sydney shines a spotlight on our creative riches and highlights Sydney’s strengths as a place of big ideas, not just natural beauty. The city’s creative industries have really embraced the spirit of Vivid and I can’t wait to see what amazing collaborations and big new ideas result from this year’s gathering,” said Jess Scully.

“Today’s announcement completes the line up for The Ten Commandments of Creative Practice for 2013. This is our universal guide to tackling the challenges faced by emerging talent and creative professionals and making the best of opportunities in the rapidly-shifting global creative sector.

“Presented by an all-star talent of the world’s best creative professionals and thought leaders, the Ten Commandments are: #1 Build a Movement, #2 Demand More from Design, #3 Co-Create the Experience, #4 Connect with Science, #5 Produce Purpose, #6 Prioritise Creativity, #7 Make Data Beautiful, #8 Embrace Mutations, #9 Transform your City, and finally, #10 Keep it Real.”

Paul Bennett (USA), Chief Executive Officer at IDEO, the organisation that the world’s biggest companies turn to for human-centred, design-led innovation, will discuss how to implement design thinking to transform your business in an exclusive keynote, Demand More from Design.

In an exploration of the near future, interaction designer and the founder of Superflux, Anab Jain (India/UK), will discuss how hacker and maker culture will transform manufacturing and creative culture, and how the business world must Embrace Mutations. Wearable technology designer Dr Trish Flanagan (Australia/Hong Kong) and Oribotics founder Matthew Gardiner (Australian/Austria) will join Jain for a panel discussion.

Jane Chen (USA/India), founder of Embrace, a revolutionary incubator for babies in the developing world, will share her experience of creating a world-changing, life-saving innovation, and together with renowned product designer and innovator, Richard Seymour (UK), they will discuss how innovation can have a significant social impact in Produce Purpose.

Intel anthropologist Genevieve Bell (Australia/USA) will explore how and why people must remain at the centre of the vision for the future in Keep it Real, and representatives from each level of Australian government will come together in a rare and unique session to discuss how Australia can Prioritise Creativity.

“The jobs of the future will be built on imagination. We have incredible creative thinkers and makers in Australia and it’s so exciting to be able to share their work and ideas with the rest of the world while at the same time bringing the world’s best to them - all made possible through the platform of Vivid Sydney,” said Jess Scully.

“Vivid Ideas is about turning inspiration into action. It’s an opportunity to learn how to build a career or a business in the creative industries, to hear personal stories and advice from the best creative practitioners in the world, and go behind the scenes to see how games, TV shows and theatre are made,” she said.

THE MAKING OF… series now features six fast-paced late night sessions, where creatives from across the world take audiences behind the scenes to reveal how huge productions and projects are made. The Future of Performance, A Mobile Game and A Blockbuster Game join previously announced sessions, An Animated Series, Transformative Theatre and A Hit Song, to complete the vastly popular event series.

“There really is something for everyone this year - with events covering fashion, design, theatre, film, photography, publishing, gaming, animation, music, technology, lighting, architecture, education and even gastronomy,” said Jess Scully.

For his second Vivid Ideas appearance, Chris Ying (USA), Editor-in-Chief of culinary bible and iconic independent magazine Lucky Peach, will share his recipe for preparing the perfect publication and tips for crafting delicious food writing with Australian television chef Adam Liaw, in Lucky Sydney, a free session presented in collaboration with Sydney Writer’s Festival.

With a greater focus on film this year, Vivid Ideas has collaborated with Sydney Film Festival to bring Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker, Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia), director, animator and visual artist Jeff Desom (UK), senior humanities researcher Joshua Oppenheimer (USA) and acclaimed producer Signe Byrge Sørensen (Denmark) together for Vivid Screen Trends. Vivid has also partnered with Screen NSW and Screen Australia for a lively panel session on female storytelling in collaboration, Let’s Talk About the F Word.

Each weeknight the Vivid Ideas Exchange lounge will hand over to different networking savvy hosts for Evenings in the Lounge. Creating the perfect place to mingle and connect with like-minded people, the series of free themed networking events will feature collaborations by COLAB, Belvoir, Metro Screen, #scribbleSYD, GreenUps, Spoonful Magazine and Freelancer Fridays.

Vivid Ideas will also take over The Rocks Pop-Up Initiative spaces with renowned streetwear entrepreneur Johnny Cupcakes temporarily opening his first Australian store, i-Manifest STUDIO presenting a working playground for student teams to put their Vivid Ideas workshop learnings into practice and an exhibition of cult indie magazine COLOURS.

Featuring The Digital Playground, a three-day event celebrating the creativity, innovation and self-expression of photography, as well as SPARC International Lighting Event and the 2013 Australian International Design Awards, The Overseas Passenger Terminal will join a number of Sydney’s premium venues to host Vivid Ideas in 2013. Other venues include the Museum of Contemporary Art, Customs House, Overseas Passenger Terminal, Powerhouse Museum, Carriageworks, The Seymour Centre, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Museum of Sydney and the Australian Centre for Photography.

Destination NSW CEO Sandra Chipchase said the Vivid Ideas program is part of what makes Vivid Sydney, the city’s major winter event, a unique platform for global creative industries to come together in a striking harbourside city to network, share ideas and do business.

“Vivid Sydney is like no other event in the world. Destination NSW is proud to present this platform to highlight Australia’s global city to local and international audiences and deliver a forum for the creative industries to collaborate, foster business connections and showcase new ideas,” said Ms Chipchase.

The full Vivid Sydney program is available at vividsydney.com

Media contacts

Olivia Deskoski, Destination NSW
02 8114 2407 or 0400 225 751
olivia.deskoski@dnsw.com.au

Emily Walkerden, Avviso PR
02 9368 7277 or 0450 084 511
emilyw@avviso.com.au