[photoblog]

This weekend, I finally made it down to The Rocks to check out the Smart Light Sydney exhibition, on its last night. Despite the freezing weather, there was a terrific atmosphere with lots of kids, families, and photographers grabbing their last chance to snap the displays.

Even Books is a regular night that combines literature, music, art, theatre and booze to be one of the most unusual book clubs around. Each night is themed around a different book, and last week’s theme was Miranda July’s collection of short stories, “No-one Belongs Here More Than You“.

The vibe was kinda like a chilled house party, with some activities and live music thrown in.

There were interactive projects, based on Miranda’s writing and web art.

Sui Zhen, Daisy M. Tulley (Bridezilla) and The Maple Trail played some folk tunes for the gathering.

The “positive message table”.

Sui Zhen even made a diorama inspired by Miranda July, especially for the night.

The winners of the inaugural SMAC Awards (Sydney Music, Arts & Culture) were unveiled to the world on sunday night, at a party held down at the Sydney Opera House. The awards, presented by Timeout Sydney & FBi 94.5, were thought up as a way to honour Sydney’s cultural innovators with traditional categories such as “Best Music Performance” mixed in with other more unusual ones, such as the “Remix the City” Award, rewarding the person or team who have used the city’s space in the most creative way.

Fergus Linehan took out the SMAC of the Year Award, for his sterling work directing the lineup of the annual Sydney Festival for the last three years.

• SMAC OF THE YEAR AWARD – FERGUS LINEHAN
• SMAC REMIX THE CITY AWARD – BIENNALE AT COCKATOO ISLAND
• SMAC IN YOUR FACE AWARD – RAISE THE BAR
• BEST MUSIC EVENT – SYDNEY FESTIVAL BECKS BAR/SPIEGELTENT
• BEST MUSIC PERFORMANCE – DAPPLED CITIES
• RECORD OF THE YEAR – THE PRESETS Apocalypso
• BEST MUSIC NEWCOMER – CLOUD CONTROL
• BEST ARTS EVENT – UNDERBELLY PUBLIC ARTS LAB AND FESTIVAL
• BEST VISUAL ARTIST – KILL PIXIE
• BEST ACTOR/ PERFORMER – BRENDAN COWELL – Hamlet
• BEST ARTS NEWCOMER – GREEDY HEN

Last night, the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House was transformed for Pierre Huyghe’s A Forest Of Lines. It was magical.