Sometimes the most memorable holidays don't require a passport – or even a long drive. They begin with a shift in perspective and a willingness to explore your own city with the curiosity of a first-time visitor.
Whether revisiting a favourite neighbourhood or discovering somewhere new, a Sydney staycation offers the chance to experience the city differently.
In Redfern, that experience is shaped by creativity. Alive with artistic energy and eminently walkable, this vibrant neighbourhood is home to independent galleries, intimate exhibition spaces and inspired street art. It is a place that rewards deep exploration.
Here, The EVE Journal has compiled a few of our favourite places to begin your journey of artistic exploration in Redfern.
Indigenous- and artist-owned, APY Gallery Sydney is part of a national network dedicated to supporting early-career Aboriginal artists from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, regional South Australia and Adelaide.
With a changing exhibition program, APY Gallery offers a vital platform for artists to share their work beyond remote and regional communities. Across painting, ceramics, punu (wood) carving, weaving, textiles, new media and photography, the gallery presents contemporary Indigenous creativity in its many forms – grounded in culture and Country.
Hidden behind a fire-engine red door in a classic Redfern East terrace house, HOME@735 welcomes seasoned collectors and first-time gallery-goers alike.
Opened by Anthony Bautovich in 2013, the intimate gallery champions unrepresented local and interstate artists alongside recent graduates. By bringing contemporary art into a domestic setting, Bautovich invites visitors to experience work on a distinctly personal level – a vivid illustration of the importance of displaying art outside traditional institutions.
For more than two decades, Sabbia has showcased Australia's leading contemporary artists working across ceramics, glass and fibre art. While it might be small in scale, this Redfern gallery celebrates the breadth of Australian craft practice through a diverse stable of established and emerging artists.
From Susie Choi's playful sculptures exploring her Australian and Korean heritage to Elizabeth Dunn's ceramic vessels reflecting environmental change on Country, the works at Sabbia invite both introspection and connection.
From large-scale murals to public artworks that speak to the neighbourhood’s deep Aboriginal history, activism and culture, Redfern’s creative spirit is a constant presence in the neighbourhood’s streets.
Not to be missed is Welcome to Redfern at the corner of Caroline and Hugo streets, covering an entire terrace house. Created by Kamilaroi artist Reko Rennie with young local Aboriginal artists, the bold mural has transformed the Victorian-era building into a local landmark.
In Wunderlich Lane, Jacob Nash’s Lines on Country offers another expression of connection to land and ancestry, with suspended sculptural forms, integrated lighting and bronze lines set into the ground – an invitation to explore this ever-evolving precinct.
Bar Julius – located in the lobby of The EVE Hotel – offers another way to experience art. Here, the walls are hung in the spirit of a European salon, with works gathered across eras, styles and places.
Among them are McLean Edwards’ bold abstract figure of a woman and dog; Cornelius de Neve’s Portrait of a Young Man (1629); charcoal works by Robert Dickerson; Jean-Paul Goude’s iconic image of Grace Jones; and Chris Levine’s luminous portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, Lightness of Being.
This extensive collection makes Bar Julius more than a place to pause between galleries. It becomes a gallery of its own – best experienced slowly, aperitif in hand.
From Indigenous-owned galleries to collections found in unexpected places, a staycation in Redfern is a chance to explore a different side of Sydney. A place where creativity lives in every corner and every turn offers a new encounter with art.
For those seeking a Sydney staycation shaped by discovery rather than distance, a stay in Redfern is a compelling reminder that sometimes the most rewarding journeys happen close to home.
