In 2026, the State Library of NSW continues its 200th Anniversary celebrations with a six-week festival of performances, talks and live music across September and October, featuring extraordinary new work from some of Australia’s leading creatives.
The State Library of NSW is Australia’s oldest Library with a history as rich and layered as the collection it holds. These new works emerged from a series of creative residencies over the past two years drawing inspiration from the Library’s collection and spaces.
Commencing the 200th Anniversary performance program, Nunukul and Munaldjali man and former artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre for 32 years, Stephen Page AO, will reawaken First Nations stories within the iconic Mitchell Library Reading Room. In a series of connected vignettes, RECLAIM: A Contemporary Ceremony combines dance, spoken word, poetry and music to survey a cast of First Nations characters from First Contact to the present day in a continuum of resilience and presence. Through compelling re-enactments of the knowledge held within the Library, and a powerful recalibration of how that knowledge is understood and celebrated, Page and the award-winning team behind Wudjang: Not the Past and Baleen Moondjan reclaim the stories that haunt our Library and the site on which it stands.
Stephen Page says, “Spending time in the archives talking to long-term librarian and Bundjalung woman Melissa Jackson has both educated and inspired me. Never short of a story, Melissa has connected me deeply to the wonder and spirit of Sydney’s Koori ancestors, tracing our history across this place from the ancient to the contemporary.”
Responding to the Library’s two centuries as keeper of stories, Kalkadunga composer and yidaki (didgeridoo) master William Barton presents Earth Flow in the Mitchell Library Reading Room. A work honouring the living systems of memory, Earth Flow reimagines the Library as a forest, holding rings of interconnected knowledge from the books that line the shelves to the people who move through the space each day. Featuring Aunty Delmae Barton, Jack Thompson, Ray Martin and the Sydney Street Choir alongside guest musicians and performers, Barton’s performance spans poetry, movement, sound and song. Earth Flow also marks the premiere of ‘Song Book’ — a new piece composed by Barton and dedicated to the Library.
William Barton says, “I have always been inspired by the idea of libraries as living organisms, and touring regional libraries in NSW and performing with local communities this year reaffirmed this. I am excited to bring some of the stories from communities in Tamworth, Dubbo, Gosford and Nowra back to the State Library of NSW in September. My new piece ‘Song Book’ responds to the Library’s role as a keeper of stories over two centuries — the holder of a vast archive reflecting the lives that link us to each other and networks that light the pathways to our futures as well as our pasts.”
Created by Skye McIntosh (Artistic Director of the Australian Haydn Ensemble), The Scott Sisters: Pioneers of Science and Art is inspired by the lives of 19th century illustrators and naturalists Harriet and Helena Scott and their acclaimed ‘Butterfly Book’, Australian Lepidoptera and their Transformations. Presented in the Library Auditorium, this immersive multimedia work blends animations by Studio Gilay, theatrical performance and live classical music performed on period instruments by the Australian Haydn Ensemble. Drawing on the Library’s collections of original artworks, letters, books, manuscripts and family papers, the production travels across close to a century, following a family whose legacy helped shape Australia’s scientific, artistic and cultural history.
Skye McIntosh says, “The exquisite illustrations of the 19th-century naturalist artists Harriet and Helena Scott have fascinated me for years. It is my hope that through this work audiences will experience their extraordinary artworks in a new way while discovering the wider history preserved within the Library’s collection. Bringing these works to light in this way has been an incredible privilege.”
To round out the performance program, Australia’s national Shakespeare company, Bell Shakespeare, invites adventurers young and old on an epic quest through the Library, connecting with the human stories behind its vast collection. In A Night at the Library, written by Joanna Erskine, a young student who is not a fan of reading or libraries spends one memorable night ‘stuck’ in the Library. They meet historical figures and characters from literature and learn that there is far more to discover than they ever imagined.
RECLAIM: A Contemporary Ceremony
Dates: 11 – 12 September 2026
Location: Mitchell Library Reading Room
Earth Flow
Dates: 18 – 19 September 2026
Location: Mitchell Library Reading Room
The Scott Sisters: Pioneers of Science and Art
Dates: 25 – 27 September 2026
Location: Library Auditorium
A Night at the Library
Dates: 20 September, 29 September – 1 October 2026
Location: Library Auditorium
This is a strictly limited season. Tickets are on sale now at sl.nsw.gov.au/200festival.
