Laurence, Joan Ross, June Golland and Kenneth Lambert on place, displacement and belonging. ‘Drink & Draw’ offers a cheeky life drawing session at the Great Southern Hotel with Bella Louche.
As a special bonus, OpenField ticket holders receive free entry to Bundanon’s Collection Gallery and historic Homestead on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June.
For Kangaroo Valley residents or visitors looking for an artistic escape just a short drive away, this biennial festival showcases the creative spirit of our region and makes contemporary art accessible in unexpected places.
For more information and tickets, visit www.openfield.org.au.
Program highlights
First Nations Program
A dedicated First Nations Hub, curated by Amanda Jane Reynolds, offers weaving circles, storytelling and art-making exploring connection to Country and totem animals. The festival opens with a Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country by Aunty Delia Lowe and closes with a performance by violinist Eric Avery.
Art in the Streets
Berry’s main street will come alive with musicians, roving performers and students from Berry Public School in a joyful Arts Parade. Alice McAuliffe leads a collaborative, drop-in chalk mural outside the Berry School of Arts, accessible for all ages. At dusk, Joan Ross’s video installation ‘Colonial Grab’ will be projected onto the Berry Showground Pavilion, followed by ‘Nothing More’, a powerful new dance work by AUSTI Dance and Physical Theatre.
Life is a Cabaret
Afterglow Variety Club stars Bella Louche in a sold out night of burlesque, contortion, cosmic juggling and Dreamtime storytelling, paired with French food, wine and champagne on Friday night. Saturday night brings the OpenField Discotheque with DJs Stephen Ferris, Charlie Villas and Electric Ginger, plus cocktails by Henry Clive and yum cha from Pickled Ink.
Intimate Performances and Conversations
Jayanto Tan hosts a drag tea ceremony called ‘Celestial Garden’ at the CWA Hall, blending ritual, memory and migration. Kenneth Lambert’s ‘Without a Trace’ combines traditional sand drawing with robotics in a meditative live performance.
‘RE:Place’ presents a panel discussion led by Bundanon CEO Rachel Kent with Janet
Artist spotlight: Janet Laurence brings ‘The Court Requiem for Nature’ to Berry
From Valley judge to Berry’s historic courthouse
One of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, Janet Laurence, will transform the historic Berry Courthouse into a powerful environmental statement for this year’s OpenField Arts Festival.
Laurence, who served as a judge for our own Sculpture in the Valley in 2023 alongside Michael Snape, has long been recognised for her profound explorations of the relationship between humanity and the natural world. Her work spans photography, sculpture, video and installation, creating immersive environments that invite viewers to reconsider their connection to nature.
For OpenField 2025, Laurence will present ‘The Court Requiem for Nature’, a sculptural installation that reflects on environmental destruction and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The setting of the Berry Courthouse adds a poignant dimension to the work, with its theme of judgment and witnessing aligned perfectly with the historic venue.
As a significant Australian artist, Laurence brings her international reputation to our region once again. Her practice consistently explores the fragility of our ecosystems through what she describes as “an ecological quest”, creating works that are at once beautiful and thought-provoking.
Laurence’s previous ‘Requiem’ installations have incorporated botanical specimens, branches, bird and bat skeletons, burnt wood, and various natural elements to create meditative spaces that serve as laments for environmental loss and calls for greater awareness of ecological issues.
The opportunity to experience Laurence’s work in our region represents a significant cultural moment. Her installations have been featured in major museums and galleries around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, which presented her major survey exhibition ‘Janet Laurence: After Nature’ in 2019.
Those who attended Sculpture in the Valley 2023 will remember her insightful judgments that celebrated works connecting deeply with place and nature, including Akira Kamada’s winning piece ‘Birth’, which she described as “simultaneously physically present and ephemeral”.
With ‘The Court Requiem for Nature’, Laurence continues her exploration of our complex relationship with the environment, bringing global ecological concerns into focus through the intimate setting of Berry’s historic courthouse during OpenField Arts Festival this June.
