A Decade of Art
Sydney Contemporary marked its 10th edition this year with ambitious installations, new exhibitors and a city-wide celebration of contemporary art and collecting.
Sydney Contemporary returned to Carriageworks in Eveleigh in September for a milestone 10th edition, which brought together more than 100 exhibitors and works by 500-plus contemporary artists from 33 countries. Since launching at the same venue in 2013, the fair has welcomed more than 250,000 visitors and generated over $154 million in art sales, tracing its progress from a new addition to Sydney’s cultural calendar into one of the most anticipated art events of the year.
For fair director Zoe Paulsen, however, the anniversary was also about the people and practices that have developed alongside it. “As we hit this milestone moment, it’s most rewarding to look at the careers we’ve watched take shape and the collectors who found their first great artwork on this floor,” she says.
That history was especially realised in the new Collector’s Lounge. Guest-curated by Sebastian Goldspink, the lounge featured works acquired at Sydney Contemporary throughout its 10 editions, drawn from private collections including those of communications advisor Sue Cato AM, YSG founder Yasmine Ghoniem and the studio’s manager Michelle Wicks, collectors Stephanie and Julian Grose, philanthropists Andrew and Cathy Cameron, Andrew Martin of MA Financial Group and Kym Elphinstone, author of Collecting: Living with Art. Rather than just celebrating acquisition, the lounge offered a more personal view of collecting: what happens to an artwork after it leaves the fair and becomes part of someone’s everyday life.
Alongside the many galleries that have been part of Sydney Contemporary since its beginnings, there was plenty of new energy this year, too. Making its debut, Sydney gallery China Heights presented a group exhibition spanning painting, textiles and sculpture. Six artists were brought together through shared themes and a common aesthetic, introducing the gallery’s broader curatorial direction.
Beyond the gallery booths, Sydney Contemporary staged its largest Installation and Performance program to date, with 17 projects curated by UNSW Galleries director José Da Silva. Visitors were greeted by the late New Zealand artist Billy Apple’s monumental billboard The Artist Has to Live Like Everybody Else, stretched across the Carriageworks facade, while a new edition of his Art Free for The Taking print was distributed throughout the fair and ‘receipt of sale’ shirts revisited his Paid series.
Elsewhere, New Zealand artist Mike Hewson brought a very different, playful energy to the industrial halls with his two major projects: a takeover of the fair’s cafe environment and a whimsical frog-pond recirculating fountain tower made from disused construction material, a watering can and lily pads. This curious ecological fantasy was a refreshing addition, becoming a gathering point for many fair attendees. Together, Hewson’s works pushed art beyond the standard booth and into the spaces visitors moved through and encountered almost by surprise.
Emerging and early-career artists also took centrestage through the 2026 MA Art Prize, established by MA Financial Group and now in its fourth year. Australian painter Renée Estée, represented by COMA, received the $25,000 acquisitive award for Empty Nest (we all wait for someone), a three-metre diptych exploring mythmaking, mourning and commemoration, as well as the cycles of leaving, waiting and becoming.
The fair’s reach extended beyond Carriageworks, too. At the Sydney Fish Market, Kamilaroi artist Reko Rennie wrapped the main staircase with Always (2026), an installation on display until September 13. It brings his distinctive geometric patterning and urban iconography into dialogue with the striking harbourside architecture. Meanwhile, Joan Ross presented a large-scale video installation at Pier Pavilion in Barangaroo.
Sydney Contemporary may have been reflecting on a decade of evolution; however, its strongest moments suggested a fair still interested in stretching outwards – into new spaces, new audiences and new ways of encountering art.
