Unwrapped 2024 full program revealed by Sydney Opera House

This spring, Sydney Opera House’s UnWrapped series will showcase 14 works, including 11 new commissions, from over 20 cutting-edge independent Australian artists and technologists. The season explores notions of identity, artistic ownership and concepts of time via multidisciplinary mediums spanning film, dance, performance, AI-generated choreography, music and installation.

This series of UnWrapped has been co-curated by Sydney Opera House’s Head of Screen, Stuart Buchanan and former Director of Programming Fiona Winning, and features:

AUTO-TUNE, Studio | 4-7 September.

Award-winning writer Mark Rogers and re:group performance collective present a raucous work of ‘gig theatre’, told through the eyes of a teenage Silverchair fan who discovers he can auto-tune moments from his past. Fusing theatre, music and video, the genre-defying work presents as an imaginary album that reflects on life-altering mistakes and their impact.

Plagiary, Studio | 12-14 September.

Contemporary dance technologist Alisdair McIndoe, alongside acclaimed media artist Sam Mcglip, present a live performance experiment championing the human body as one of the final sites untouched by Artificial Intelligence. Bespoke AI will deliver choreography to 10 performers in real time across four purely ephemeral shows.

Shortwave, Studio | 8 September.

A session of new short films from Australian interdisciplinary artists, exploring their relationship with the screen, through themes of resistance, reclamation and renewal.

Hương – Award-winning dance artist and choreographer Tra Mi Dinh explores her relationship with incense and its meditative practice of returning ‘home’.

Mohabat, a Lullaby for a Rising – Lebanese multidisciplinary artists Maissa Alameddine and Narjis Mirza continue their collaborative work interrogating the sacred practice of the lullaby. Curated by Blacktown Arts.

Gatekeepers – A work exploring First Nations musicianship and gatekeeping within the music industry from Kabi Kabi / Gubbi Gubbi / Wiradjuri artist Loki Liddle and producer and Jabirr Jabirr storyteller, poet and musician Alethea Beetson. Curated by BLACKSOCIAL.

If You Can’t Larp, You’ll Cry – A new short film scrutinising the shift in digital media production brought about by the subscription economy from Taiwanese video performance artist Li Yi Fan and Melbourne artists – choreographer and digital artist Harrison Hall; artist and curator Mat Spisbah; and contemporary dancer Nikki Tarling.

Look Intruder – Tahlia Palmer, an artist of mixed settler and Murri descent, confronts the volatility of Australian national identity where narratives of colonial triumph mask harsh realities.

Planetether Kin – Western Sydney-based dancer and physical performer Em Yali investigates human relationships with the earth. Curated by Blue Mountains Propel Projects Emerging Performers Residency.

Tender, Western Foyers | 6-15 September.

An anthology of four immersive documentaries displayed across a 270-degree digital canvas that challenge, examine and subvert Western Sydney-based stigma and stereotypes. Commissioned by the Sydney Opera House and presented in association with Curiousworks, each documentary has been directed by emerging creatives from Western Sydney:

Carielyn Tunion’s meditative video poem explores delicate connections of a personal diasporic family story rooted in the archipelago known as ‘the Philippines’ and Hong Kong.

Mohammad Awad’s music video documentary debunks the myth that queer and trans people need to leave their Western Sydney homes to find love, joy and intimacy.

Diamond Tat’s experimental portrait of her mother finds softness and vulnerability beneath strong exteriors.

Sharon Mani’s joyous investigation maps a range of significant and personal stories to unassuming locations throughout Western Sydney.

New Mountain, Studio | 15 September.

A large scale, real-time video work by experimental artists Rachel Peachey and Paul Mosig, with a live accompanying soundtrack by Gail Priest, Chris Caines, Benjamin Ward and Tilman Robinson exploring human and environmental relationships with ‘deep time’.

Class Act, Studio | 28-31 August.

A tongue-in-cheek comic theatre show challenging the Australian class system, created by writer, performer and co-director of Melbourne’s APHIDS, Mish Grigor.

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