Lights On - 25th Biennale of Sydney Opening Night

Lights On is the biggest celebration of art and music in 2026, transforming White Bay Power Station into Sydney’s focal point. Marking the opening of 25th Biennale of Sydney, Lights On is the first opportunity to experience the expansive array of visual art curated by 25th edition Artistic Director Hoor Al Qasimi, alongside an invigorating and dynamic array of cutting-edge contemporary music performances throughout the monolithic post-industrial site. A sensitive response to the curatorial frame of Rememory, the music program spans genres, geographies and histories, cohered in dialogue with the surrounding work. Critically acclaimed Baltimore singer-songwriter and producer Nourished By Time (USA) will headline in a Sydney exclusive, alongside performances by world-leading First Nations experimental ensemble Hand to Earth (AUS), DJ, producer and Moor Mother-collabator DJ Haram (USA) ghosted R&B vocalist Niecy Blues (USA). 

At sundown, Yolŋu songs will ring throughout the cavernous chamber of the Turbine Hall. Hand to Earth, a world-leading First Nations experimental project centred around song keepers Daniel and David Wilfred, will recontextualise their 40,000-year-old song tradition in a resolutely contemporary setting with Korean-born vocalist, Sunny Kim, trumpet and electronics maestro, Peter Knight, and woodwind virtuoso Aviva Endean.

Sharing a practice grounded in negotiations with place and history, reverie and return, South Carolinian vocalist-producer Niecy Blues will bring her layered, emotive devotionals to White Bay. In her Australian premiere, Niecy Blues’ gospel-inspired vocals will create sacred and reverent atmospheres, set against enveloping and intoxicating downtempo soundscape of keys, guitar, bass, synth and field recordings.

Later, DJ Haram, Brooklyn-based producer and DJ will awaken the Chimney Yard with an invigorating set of experimental, bass and club music, with Middle Eastern instrumentation, paying homage to her Circassian and Syrian heritage, readying the dancefloor for post-R&B sensation and Lights On headliner Nourished by Time. The project of Baltimore artist, Marcus Brown, will be making its Australian debut on the back of recently released album The Passionate Ones, a competitive candidate for album of the year amongst record collectors and music critics. His emotionally charged blend of post-punk, R&B, and experimental pop explores love, labor, and modern disillusionment, perfectly balancing ennui with a sense of triumphant catharsis.

Closing out the night against the towering smokestacks, Afro-Brazillian collective INBRAZA BAILE will ignite the dancefloor with baile funk rhythms—a genre of dance music first incubated in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro before informing club cultures globally. With exceptional Western Sydney-based selector and FBi Radio’s Mi Gente host Maz at the helm, dancers are in for a roaring conclusion to the night.

Lights On will also feature a limited presentation of one of the 25th Biennale’s flagship performance works, Joe Namy’s Automobile. This love letter to auto-culture sees Namy connect with local car modification enthusiasts, bringing together a host of cars with kitted-out sound systems for a public activation in which the cars are joined in a circle to create the PA for a celebration of sound, music and community.