Kudos acknowledges and pays respect to the Gadigal and Bidjigal people of the Eora nation. They are the traditional custodians of the land Kudos operates on. We create, design, share, and exchange our work and knowledge on this important meeting place. We pay our respects to elders past and present and extend that respect to any First Nations people who engage with Kudos. This is and always will be Aboriginal land.
What is G R / N D?
G R / N D is a stand in for the values that drives our times: Grind and Ground
Grind: to hustle, to pulverise, to labour
Ground: to connect, to stay balanced, to maintain spiritual fulfilment
G R / N D occupies the space between two competing promises of fulfilment: success at the hands of never-ending hustle or transcendence beyond this cartesian plane. It’s the algorithm oscillating between Instagram reels of tech-bros ‘optimised’ lifestyle and woo-woo wellness culture tarot readings TYPE YES TO CLAIM. It’s Bryan Johnson smiling a Buddha’s smile after a day of fervently tracking his body composition.
G R / N D is the dawning of the age where grinding and grounding creep eerily close, where endless overtime and ashwagandha retreats rub up on each other.
How do artists respond to this spiritual unease? How are they reconciling with a suspended, heightened sense of self? Is this really living? By whose standards?
What is Kudos Live?
Kudos Live is our annual performance art showcase giving emerging performance and live art practitioners a platform to present work to an audience. Kudos Live will be hosted at Artspace in Woolloomooloo and is a one-night-only event.
Owen Redmond at Kudos Live: Cosmic Beings
Genesis at Kudos Live: Retellings (Revisions)
Wen Pei Low / 刘雯佩 at Kudos Live: JADE/D
Who can apply?
Applications are open to performance practitioners who are students or recent alumni of UNSW, SCA, NAS or other Australian art schools.
What is performance practice?
We use the term ‘performance’ and ‘live’ expansively and invite all applications that could engage with an audience through active and ephemeral forms. Think endurance performance, movement, performance lecture, relational aesthetics, hybrid dance, anti-theatre, body art, experimental reading, spatial explorations, bodily improvisation, live sound art, experimental DJ practice, living sculpture, voice-based art, ritual-based performance, socially engaged art. Practitioners of these forms or other expansive performance forms are invited to apply.
What do I get out of it?
Successful applicants will receive mentorship from Performance Space artistic director Kate Britton and a member of their programming team to develop a performance for Kudos Live JADE/D.
Artists will have the opportunity to present their work to a live audience at Artspace, one of the leading institutions for contemporary and experimental art in the Asia Pacific.
Artists will receive a fee of $250 for their performance. This fee is paid per act. If your proposal involves more than one performer, the $250 will be paid to the group collectively, Kudos will not be responsible for the division of the fee amongst individual performers.
Key dates
Sunday 28/06/25 11:59PM: callout closes
*Now extended until Thursday 02 July
These are the days that Kudos Live artists must be available:
- Friday 10/07/26: promotional photo and video shoot
- Thursday 6/08/26: rehearsal during day time and performance in evening
Please note that there is one additional day required, date to be confirmed.
What is Performance Space?
“Performance Space is the crucible for risk-taking artists. Emerging 40 years ago in response to artists’ articulated desire to explore and investigate new forms of art, Performance Space has consistently identified, nurtured and presented new directions in contemporary practice. We champion risk, experimentation, and new modes of creative expression. Performance Space continues to evolve and renew to meet the needs of the independent sector and explore new models for developing and presenting the most critical and important new work.
Supporting artists for 40 years, Performance Space was established in the early 1980s as a space for artists to explore contemporary performance practice at the cutting edge. Originally located at 199 Cleveland Street in Redfern, Performance Space was created by artists for artists as a space to explore practice driven by ideas and politics, an exploration of form as well as content. In 2007 Performance Space relocated to Carriageworks as an anchor-tenant of the multi-arts cultural precinct. Across the decades we've supported thousands of artists to develop ambitious new work and have shared this work with hundreds of thousands of audience members.” — from Performance Space
'Rhetorical Chorus' by Agatha Gothe-Snape, part of Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art, 2017. Photograph by Document Photography.
'The Stance' by Liesel Zink, part of Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art, 2016. Photograph by Heidrun Löhr.
What is Artspace?
“Artspace is one of the leading institutions for the production and presentation of contemporary art in the Asia Pacific. Artspace is where artists of all generations test new ideas and shape public conversation. Embracing risk, experimentation, collaboration and advocacy, Artspace’s mission is to enhance our culture and support community vibrancy through a deeper engagement with contemporary art.” - from Artspace