Containing engineer drawings, costume designs, story boards and photographs, this archival material represents the development of the Opening Ceremony for the Sydney Olympic Games. Led by the Director of Ceremonies, Ric Birch, and Artistic Director and Producer, David Atkins, the ceremony celebrated Australian culture, landscape and history and set an energetic, youthful tone for the following two weeks of competition. This documentation records the design processes that shaped the event, particularly the work that took place at the Ceremonies and Costumes Workshops at Eveleigh, Sydney.

Described by the NSW premier Bob Carr as 'the greatest spectacle Australia has produced', the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games took place at Stadium Australia, Homebush Bay on Friday 15 September 2000. Though the ceremony featured anthems, speeches, oaths, flags, pop singers and a marching band, its daring conceptual sequences ('Deep Sea Dreaming', 'Awakening', 'Nature', 'Tin Symphony', 'Arrivals' and 'Eternity') will be remembered as the major imaginative works. Each segment commenced without interruption, following on from the last to form an overall narrative. The purpose was to project a national image to a worldwide audience, to form the world's vision of Australian culture. This image embraced tolerance, social progress, multiculturalism and reconciliation, as well as nature, history and creativity. Designed to stimulate emotional responses from the audience, these segments delivered a refreshing mixture of youth, naivety and larrikinism.

The creative team comprised 13,000 artists and performers, including designers, choreographers, circus artists, costume makers, set builders and painters, singers, composers, writers, arrangers, dancers, musicians. Even more than the high quality costume design, choreography and music, the props were talking points, with the Endeavour cycle and the Ned Kelly horse attracting the most attention.

Teams of composers, choreographers, costume designers, set designers, set builders, painters and seamstresses contributed to the Opening Ceremony for the Sydney Olympic Games. Some of their work is recorded in this archival material, which includes engineer drawings, costume designs, story boards and photographs.

This archival material was made in 1999 and 2000 to supplement the development of the Opening Ceremony for the Sydney Olympic Games.

This archival material was collected and used by the Ceremonies and Costumes Workshops during their work on the Opening Ceremony for the Sydney Olympic Games.

Made for and owned by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and donated to the Powerhouse Museum after the Games.

Documentation (design drawings, design concepts, photographs and engineer plans), paper, Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games, Sydney, 2000, used at the Ceremonies Workshop, Sydney 2000

Documentation relating to the Opening Ceremony including folder of early version storyboard copies, Photo album of Costume Workshop, Photo album of post- Olympics workshop, and a folder of costume drawings by Kristan Fredrikson, Engineers drawings (19) of Stadium Australia and of Eveleigh carriage works.

Made: 2000

2001/84/544

2000