Blackbird Canberra 2026
Opening new possibilities for art after dark.
Created in collaboration with Blackbird Bar Canberra, Portals in the City explored how luminous art could become part of the rhythm of nightlife rather than simply sit within it. Live painting, light-reactive works and changing illumination turned the venue into a series of visual “portals” – moments of colour, discovery and transformation unfolding throughout the night.
The idea was both artistic and practical: activate the venue, draw curiosity through the door and give people something unexpected to experience once inside. Instead of separating art from hospitality, Blackbird became part gallery, part studio and part live experiment.
The concept was straightforward: give visitors something they didn’t expect to find. Blackbird shifted into a hybrid of gallery, studio and live experiment, pulling the audience into the work rather than keeping them at a distance. Each piece reacted to the mood of the room and the pulse of the night, catching the eye, starting conversations and pulling people back for a second look. It demonstrated that light and art don’t just change how a space appears – they change how it feels to stand inside it.
The project brought together ideas developed over many years, live performance, luminous materials, audience interaction and the transformation of place – in one very public setting. The project was featured in both local and regional media, showcasing the ambitious and future-forward thinking of the artist in challenging times.
Its success would become an important catalyst for the next evolution of that thinking: Light Up The Room.