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 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. In 2025, the program will be supported by Australia’s leading organisation for the presentation and development of experimental art, Performance Space. Kudos Live will be hosted at Carriageworks on the 14th of August and is a one-night-only event.
Owen Redmond at Kudos Live: Cosmic Beings
Genesis at Kudos Live: Retellings (Revisions)
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.
On the 14th of August, artists will have the opportunity to present their work to a live audience at Carriageworks, one of Australia’s most significant creative industry hubs, housed in a historic railway workshop on Gadigal Country.
Artists will receive a fee of $200 for their performance. This fee is paid per act. If your proposal involves more than one performer, the $200 will be paid to the group collectively, Kudos will not be responsible for the division of the fee amongst individual performers.
Key dates
Sunday 22/06/25 11:59PM: callout closes
These are the days that Kudos Live artists must be available:
- Monday 07/07/25: promotional photo and video shoot
- Monday 30/07/25: mentorship day from Performance Space artistic director Kate Britton and a member of their programming team
- Thursday 14/08/25: rehearsal during day time and performance in evening
“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 Carriageworks?
“Carriageworks is one of Australia’s most significant creative industry hubs, renowned for its dynamic cultural events, performances, and exhibitions. Housed in a historic railway workshop in Sydney on Gadigal Country, Carriageworks offers a vibrant platform for contemporary art, theatre, music, dance and more, collaborating with leading local and international artists to foster innovation and creativity in its distinctive industrial setting.” — from Carriageworks