40 years in the moment. Four decades of SIMA in photos and stories - Launch Party

40 Years in the Moment. 

SIMA in sights and sounds. 

An exhibition celebrating 40 plus years in support of jazz and improvised music in Sydney. 

Featuring the images of Jane March, Joe Glaysher, Matthew Sutton and Shane Rozario, as well as live music and recordings from four decades of innovative sound making. This exhibition provides an insight into the deep history of creative music in Australia, introducing a new generation of jazz lovers to the founding mothers and fathers of the Sydney sound.

Like the music that it represents, SIMA (the Sydney Improvised Music Association) has gone through massive changes in the last 40 years. Founded in the tumult of the 80’s, by a small and passionate collective of jazz lovers, the proceeding decades have seen shifts in leadership and focus, expansion and contraction, with each new generation of musicians reflecting the needs of the community around it. 

As we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of this community run cultural institution SIMA once again asks us to focus on the moment of creation. Jazz and improvised music exist in the split second experience, like quantums filled with potential. This exhibition focuses on the work of four witnesses to these rare and fleeting moments of magic. 

Jane March was both the secretary of SIMA and its photographer in residence from its founding until the mid 2000's. Joe Glaysher has been by her side, capturing some of the most esteemed international artists of the era on their SIMA supported visits to Australia. And Matthew Sutton and Shane Rozario have dedicated their eye to the last two decades of this constantly evolving community. 

Four photographers. Four decades. Millions of moments shared in love of the illusive art of the improviser.