The word Yoga means unity and has been derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Yuj’ which means ‘to join’. Therefore, Yoga is a means of balancing and bringing harmony between the mind, body and soul. Yoga includes asanas, mudras, kriyas, shaktakarmas and meditation. Yoga instructors advise Yoga must be practised for an hour each day for a healthy mind and body.
June 21 is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and has special significance in many parts of the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed this date at the United Nations General Assembly 2014. The first Yoga day was observed all over the world on June 21, 2015. The event created two Guinness world records – one for the largest yoga class, featuring 35,985 people, and second for the largest number of participating nationalities (84 nations).
Yoga transforms the body, mind & leads one on the path to greater self-discovery. International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness about the benefits of practising yoga and incorporating it into your daily life.
Today is #WorldMusicDay 🎼🎙️🎵🎸🎶🥁🎻🎺🎷#Music brings the world closer. Not just words, there are notes, songs, and tunes to express every emotion. To mark its significance, music lovers all across the globe get together to celebrate #WorldMusicDay on June 21 every year. pic.twitter.com/9BUnhq4Xr6
The world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas, Vivid Sydney returns in 2018 with a spectacular new precinct at Luna Park, the return of much-loved Customs House, and a fantastical blend of everyday objects and Australian-inspired motifs on the sails of the Sydney Opera House.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Adam Marshall said, “Vivid Sydney has delighted and inspired people from around Australia and the world. With the Festival now in its 10th year, visitors and locals alike can once again expect to be mesmerised by the Vivid Sydney program, with larger installations and a gripping Music and Ideas offering, so I encourage visitors to start planning their trip early to get the most out of this year’s exciting line-up.
“Over 23 nights from Friday 25 May to Saturday 16 June, Vivid Sydney will paint the Harbour City in the colour and spectacle of Vivid Light, take over Sydney stages with Vivid Music’s electric performances and collaborations, and provide a global forum for thought-provoking debate and creative discussion at Vivid Ideas.”
Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency Destination NSW and in 2017, attracted a record-breaking 2.33 million attendees to Vivid Sydney, delivering an incredible $143 million of visitor expenditure into the NSW economy.
VIVID LIGHT
For the first time, Vivid Sydney’s dazzling Light Walk extends to new precinct Luna Park Sydney, where the iconic amusement park comes alive with a large-scale projection on the facade of Coney Island. The show celebrates the history, magic, creativity, engineering, fantasy and imagination that have come together to create millions of memories on this unique and special site. This year also marks the first time Luna Park’s iconic Ferris Wheel will be lit for the festival following an LED refit, which has included a massive boost in the number of lights adorning the wheel.
Vivid Sydney’s bright lights will illuminate the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney again in 2018, where visitors will follow a pathway that weaves through an exciting nocturnal environment inspired by nature. Here, Parrot Party inspired by the New Zealand Kea Parrot and the Australian Rainbow Lorikeet comes alive as people gather, breaking into song and radiating colourful light. Aqueous will dazzle with its interactive landscape of meandering pathways of light, which will flow and glow in full illuminated interactivity, engaging visitors in collaborative play. The Bloom, a giant electric, metallic flower with petals adorned with mirrors that refract and reflect light, puts you in the centre of the flower capturing the perfect photo moment, and He’e nalu gives the joyous sensation of surfing a wave.
In celebration of their 100 year anniversary, May Gibbs’ iconic and immortal characters, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and their stalwart companions come to life on the façade of Customs House, as they journey through the Australian Bush and encounter the weird, the wonderful, and things quite unknown altogether. This whimsical piece will be narrated by renowned Australian film and television actress Noni Hazlehurst AM, Patron of the Australian Children’s Laureate, and beloved by Play School devotees far and wide.
All eyes turn to the World-Heritage listed Sydney Opera House at the centre of the Vivid Light Walk for Lighting of the Sails, created in 2018 by award-winning Australian artist Jonathan Zawada. Visitors will be captivated by Metamathemagical, a bold and dynamic display of morphing digital sculptures inspired by recognisable Australian motifs across science, nature and culture.
Sydney’s iconic buildings will once again be transformed, including the facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) with Virtual Vibration, a highly-collaborative creative work produced in conjunction with MCA Collection artist Jonny Niesche and composer Mark Pritchard. Interactive lighting display Skylark will let visitors put their own colourful mark on the city, stretching from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the skyscrapers of Circular Quay to the reaches of Sydney Harbour.
Network Ten and MasterChef Australia will bring a magical experience to the facade of the ASN Co. Building in The Rocks, in celebration of both Masterchef and Vivid Sydney’s 10th Birthday with Mystery Gateau. Mini construction-worker chefs will guide you on a journey of fun and wonderment, with the famous MasterChef clock ticking down to the final extraordinary surprise.
Popular precincts Taronga Zoo, Darling Harbour, Chatswood, Barangaroo and Kings Cross will return in 2018.
Festival favourites from last year are back along with a whole new mob of fierce, fantastic, quirky and endearing species for Taronga Zoo’s Lights for the Wild. Visitors will discover some new spectacular animal light sculptures, and learn how Taronga is working to help save 10 species from extinction over the next 10 years.
An art-meets-technology water fountain, light and laser experience takes Darling Harbour visitors into a dream-like dive under the ocean, while the iconic rooftop of the Australian National Maritime Museum will be projected with BBC Earth and Sir David Attenborough’sBlue Planet II, exploring the fascinating world beneath the waves.
A pop-up market inspired by the colourful neighbourhood street markets of Brazil, built from a scaffold and recycled materials and lit by lasers will transform the Chatswood CBD. The Concourse will take visitors on an immersive, deep dive into space featuring NASA’s amazing imagery and 360-degree projection.
Barangaroo glows under layers of light and sound that evoke the surrounding waterways, with the precinct coming to life through the magnificent art of puppetry with a breathtaking, giant luminescent creature venturing along the waterfront in a theatrical display of sound and light.
Precinct contributor Coca-Cola returns to light up the streets of Sydney’s iconic Kings Cross and to support another KX program in 2018. The colourful strip along Darlinghurst Road will be transformed with a spectacular display of light and life. The famous Coca-Cola sign comes alive again in 2018 with an array of flair and a creative colour show. Other Vivid KX transformations include the historic Victorian Terrace; World Bar, which will unfurl a multi-story house party, and the renowned Kings Cross Hotel, which will host cutting-edge artists curated by legendary party-crews.
VIVID MUSIC
Vivid Music ups the ante in 2018 with an electric line-up, from noise to jazz, sonic experimentation to the soul. Highlights include a one-night-only performance by Grammy award-winning rock-goddess St. Vincent, and the return of Curve Ball headlined by Alison Wonderland — a large-scale live music and art event created by the team behind Field Day, Harbourlife and Listen Out — both at Carriageworks.
The City Recital Hall returns to the program, tracking the extraordinary rise in jazz with the Innovators In Jazz series featuring the undisputed king, triple Grammy award-winner saxophonist Branford Marsalis. The world’s finest jazz vocalists including Kurt Elling and chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux will line up alongside Orange is the New Black star Lea Delaria in her musical comedy, jazz interpretation show.
Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House hosts a stellar line-up of Australian exclusives as part of Vivid Sydney, including several Opera House debuts. Highlights this year include American dream-pop icons Mazzy Star, the godfather of West Coast rap Ice Cube, acclaimed 90s indie rock singer/songwriter Cat Power, Grammy award-winning artist Solange, and the long-awaited collaboration between iconic Australian artistsDaniel JohnsandLuke Steele.
Now in its 4th year as part of Vivid Sydney, Heaps Gay struts uptown to Sydney Town Hall for an unmissable experience, the inaugural Queen’s Ball. Other not-to-be-missed events include Young Hearts Run Free and one of Australia’s most exciting breakthrough artists performing at the Enmore Theatre,Vera Blue.
Also returning to Vivid Music in 2018 is X|Celerate, a partnership between Vivid Sydney and the City of Sydney to enliven music venues across town. Showcasing grassroots and emerging local music talent, highlights will include Purple Sneakers 12th birthday at The Lansdowne, a fusion of food, wine and music at Cake Wines Cellar Door, and HAPPY and VISIONS at The Lady Hampshire.
As architects of the future, it’s time to join the masterminds and creative catalysts at Vivid Ideas for inspiration. Vivid Ideas provides a forum to workshop, collaborate and cultivate fresh thinking to drive the creative agenda across tech, design, entertainment and culture. Vivid Ideas returns in 2018 with some of the world’s greatest minds as we explore the future-shaping scenarios that will define our lives.
Vivid Ideas 2018 showcases those who are leading the way in technology, creativity and science. Game Changers and Creative Catalysts this year include film-maker, marine explorer and conservationist James Cameron. In a Vivid Sydney exclusive, James will explore his passion for science and technology, and how it has influenced his work as a film director and environmentalist. James will be joined in conversation by Adam Spencer, while in Sydney to open the James Cameron – Challenging the Deep exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Australian global success story Dare Jennings — founder of Mambo Clothing, Phantom Records and Deus ex Machina — joins his good friend James Valentineto discuss creating cult brands that cut across age and lifestyles as well the joys of throwing out the rulebook.
Futurist and game developer, Jane McGonigal can prove games have the power transform our real world lives. She and Artificial Intelligence expert Kriti Sharma join Vivid Ideas to explore the latest in AI, VR and gaming to ask what kind of society we can create with technology.
Visual strategist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and co-founder of the Museum of Awe, Dan Goods joins the Vivid Ideas Creative Catalysts line-up to explore how creativity and science interplay and why NASA has a virtual strategist.
The New Horizons series explores the mega-trends and micro-developments in technology and innovation and shines a light on experts tackling the biggest issues with creativity in a bid to make our future brighter. Topics include Future Fashion, Algae is the New Black, Blockchain Decoded and Evolving Democracy.
Over three successive Wednesdays, Vivid Sydney will take over the Art Gallery of NSW to create an intimate portrait of our better selves. Our special guests dare to ask if we can improve dying, how we can find common ground when and where there’s conflict, and why we should nudge perceptions around female sexuality. These events will be accompanied by curated music from Gold heist, Air Land Sea and Haiku Hands.
The Vivid Ideas Exchange at the Museum of Contemporary Art returns, boasting a diverse line-up of talks presented by creative experts covering topics including the future of work, the ethics of humanizing technology and how to become agents for change.
VIVID SPONSORS
Vivid Sydney thanks its sponsors for their support of Vivid Sydney 2018. Partners include American Express returning for the second year of partnership, and introducing a new partner, Samsung. Supporters include City of Sydney, Oracle Liquid, Property NSW, Sydney Opera House, TAFE NSW, Technical Direction Company, Transgrid, Transport for NSW and 32 Hundred Lighting. For the second year, Vivid Sydney’s Access and Inclusion partner is Cushman and Wakefield, Coca-Cola returns as Kings Cross precinct contributor and the festival continues its sustainability partnership with the Banksia Foundation. Also new to Vivid Sydney are Vivid Collaborators, CSIRO, Gateway Sydney, Network 10, ATS Logistics, Kennards Hire and Red Balloon.
World Environment Day is the UN’s most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment. Since it began in 1974, it has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated in over 100 countries.
by Ingrid Taylor, Stop Trashing My Ocean …
This year the theme for World Environment Day is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’.
The theme invites us all to consider how we can make changes in our everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on our natural places, our wildlife – and our own health.
While plastic has many valuable uses, we have become over-reliant on single-use or disposable plastic – with severe environmental consequences. This World Environment Day join in raising awareness and inspiring action to form the global movement needed to beat plastic pollution for good.
Individuals, the private sector and policymakers all have critical roles to play.
• Plastic pollution is a defining environmental challenge for our time.
• In the next 10-15 years global plastic production is projected to nearly double.
• Avoiding the worst of these outcomes demands a complete rethinking of the way we produce, use and manage plastic.
• Individuals are increasingly exercising their power as consumers. People are turning down plastic straws and cutlery, cleaning beaches and coastlines, and reconsidering their purchase habits in supermarket aisles. If this happens enough, retailers will quickly get the message to ask their suppliers to do better.
• While these steps are a cause for celebration, the reality is that individual action alone cannot solve the problem. Even if every one of us does what we can to reduce our plastic footprint – and of course we must– we must also address the problem at its source.
• Consumers must not only be actors but drivers for the behaviour change that must also happen upstream.
• Ultimately, our plastic problem is one of design. Our manufacturing, distribution, consumption and trade systems for plastic – indeed our global economy –need to change.
• The linear model of planned obsolescence, in which items are designed to be thrown away immediately after use, sometimes after just seconds, must end.
• At the heart of this is extended producer responsibility, where manufacturers must be held to account for the entire life-cycle of their consumer products. At the same time, those companies actively embracing their social responsibility should be rewarded for moving to a more circular model of design and production, further incentivizing other companies to do the same.
• Changes to consumer and business practice must be supported and in some cases driven by policy.
• Policymakers and governments worldwide must safeguard precious environmental resources and indeed public health by encouraging sustainable production and consumption through legislation.
• To stem the rising tide of single-use plastics, we need government leadership and in some cases strong intervention.
Show us how you plan to #BeatPlasticPollution as we countdown to # WorldEnvironmentDay
Beat Plastic pollution if you can’t reuse it, refuse it.
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Every year there is a specially designed theme for World Environment Day which is decided by the host country.
Recalling last year’s theme The World Environment Day 2017, ‘Connecting People to Nature’. The motto of 2017 theme was to drive people to step outside and re-connect with the world and nature once again. The UN believes that people need to enjoy nature once again, so they realise the value of the planet and do their bit in bringing about change.
Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us.
In The Sixth Extinction, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines, accompanying many of them into the field: geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. She introduces us to a dozen species, some already gone, others facing extinction, including the Panamanian golden frog, staghorn coral, the great auk, and the Sumatran rhino. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind’s most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.
The environment on Earth has been deteriorating, which is often referred to as the planet is ‘dying’. As the number of trees keeps depleting and the pollution rates reach sky-high, there are simple steps that each person can take to protect and save the environment.
Our cosmic oasis, cosmic blue pearl the most beautiful planet in the universe all the continents and the oceans of the world united we stand as flora and fauna united we stand as species of one earth black, brown, white, different colours we are humans, the earth is our home.
Our cosmic oasis, cosmic blue pearl the most beautiful planet in the universe all the people and the nations of the world all for one and one for all united we unfurl the blue marble flag black, brown, white, different colours we are humans, the earth is our home.
Discovered in the early 19th century in its native Madagascar by botanist Wensel Bojer, Gulmohar is a flamboyant tree in flower – some say the world’s most colorful tree. For several weeks in spring and summer it is covered with exuberant clusters of flame-red flowers, 4-5 in across. Even up close the individual flowers are striking: they have four spoon-shaped spreading scarlet or orange-red petals about 3 in long, and one upright slightly larger petal (the standard) which is marked with yellow and white. The delicate, fern-like leaves are composed of small individual leaflets, which fold up at the onset of dusk. Gulmohar gets 30-40 ft tall, but its elegant wide-spreading umbrella-like canopy can be wider than its height. Gulmohar is naturalized in India and is widely cultivated as a street tree.
