By bringing together local and international artists, Sydney Festival helps us ‘travel’ as far as the Amazon, the far north of the globe, or even deeper into Sydney, experiencing the city in a way we wouldn’t in the familiar run of the every day. Let this be your travel companion:

1. EXHIBITION & TALKS: What does Sydney…smell like?

If you spend enough time away from home, there’s nothing like a familiar smell to remind you where your roots are. Artist Cat Jones distils Sydney’s stories of landscape, democracy, resistance, competition, and extravagance, to create an ‘olfactory portrait’ of our city.

Installation: 7–29 January

Talks: 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 & 25 January

Cost: Free

2. THEATRE: Immerse into the humid depths of the Amazon

The journey of a National Geographic photographer is recreated in a solo theatrical performance The Encounter, complete with groundbreaking sound design that transports you to the jungle.

18–28 January

Cost: $86+

3. EXHIBITION: A view from space

See the displacement of people, destruction of cultures and natural and human-inflicted disasters through Exit, a 360-degree animated map of the world.

7 January–25 March

Cost: Free

4. MUSIC: Transport to dreamlike Finnish landscape

Experience the vast Finnish landscape through music, in a tribute to Einojuhani Rautavaara, one of the best-loved modern composers.

11 January

Cost: $60+

5. DANCE: Blood on the Dancefloor

Aboriginal choreographer and dancer Jacob Boehme shares his search for community and connection, following his HIV diagnosis.

21–25 January

Cost: $41+

 

BONUS: One of the biggest ways in which we interpret our environment is through language. Indigenous language in Sydney is almost non-existent – so it’s time to become more aware. Darug woman Aunty Jacinta Tobin and Gadigal man Joel Davison introduce you to foundations of local language, among other language-focused events.