At the launch of the Sydney Culture Network this evening, David Gonski opens the event at the Calyx in the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens.

The idea behind the Sydney Culture Network is to establish a consortium that will enable Sydney’s Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums to connect with the best of education, business and technology in the city.

As one of the first times in the world that such a group of arts organisations, cultural institutions and academics are coming to work together, Futurecity aims to play a key role in defining the value of culture, and to enhance the international profile of Sydney as a place of creativity and ideas. Sydney Culture Network is all about creating the conditions for a new collaborative ecology.

Futurecity commissioned the Sydney Culture Network brochure, which will be revealed in full on our site soon.

Sydney Culture Network discussions and workshops have taken place against the backdrop of cuts to cultural funding. They have also taken place at a time of unprecedented growth in the city.

Globally, cities are harnessing the role of culture and creativity to define themselves as vibrant, tolerant and attractive places to live and work. Sydney has demonstrated its capacity for and ability to host large-scale festivals and cultural events in the city.

These have attracted huge visitor numbers and cemented the profile of the city as one associated with spectacle and wonder. Meanwhile its wealth of collections, archives, cultural institutions and arts academies are less visible on the global stage. Sydney Culture Network can change that.

Read more about our work in Sydney, here.