WATCH: Local artists ‘paint’ the Opera House with light

RHONDA Roberts and Karla Dickens' work will be seen by millions of visitors and Sydney-siders from tonight.

SONGLINES: Artwork by local artist Karla Dickens as it may look in the Sydney Opera House during the Vivid Sydney Festival 2016. Picture: Contributed

Update May 27: MILLIONS of Sydney-siders and tourists will gather from tonight around Sydney Harbour to enjoy the work of Northern Rivers aboriginal artists projected in the sails of the Opera House.

This year, Vivid Sydney is set to be bigger than ever, with the program now spanning 23 days between today and June 18.

The center-piece of the festival is, of course, the light around the harbour and, particularly, the Sydney Opera House.

Click here for details of the Sydney Opera House light show. 

Earlier: TWO locals artists will be 'painting' the Sydney Opera House with indigenous motifs and designs during the Vivid Sydney Festival 2016.

Local artists Rhoda Roberts and Karla Dickens will be part of the project, announced today.

Rhoda Roberts will be in charge of Songlines, one of the most iconic parts of the festival.

The sails of the world-heritage listed Sydney Opera House will celebrate the rich and diverse work of Australia's Indigenous artists through the projection called Songlines .

This work of art is directed by Sydney Opera House Head of Indigenous Programming, Rhoda Roberts, a member of the Bundjalung nation, Widjabul clan of Northern NSW and South East Queensland.

Songlines will bring together six indigenous artists' work to the Opera House.

On her Facebook page, Ms Roberts said the artists featured will be Lismore's Karla Dickens, plus Djon Mundine, Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi, Reko Rennie, Donny Woolagoodja, and the late Gulumbu Yunupingu.

Karla is Wiradjuri, her parents are from Mascot, Sydney.

Their works will illustrate the extraordinary connections between indigenous astronomy and the natural world, the celestial and terrestrial Songlines that weave through time and distance, earth and sky.

Vivid Sydney will shine for 23 nights when it illuminates Sydney Harbour and other Sydney iconic precincts and hosts music performances and big ideas talks, from Friday, May 27 to Saturday, June 18.

Vivid Sydney 2015 broke records of attendance as the world's largest festival of light, music and ideas with more than 1.7 million people attending, according to numbers released last year by the NSW Government.

Sydney's MCA coloured by Huseyin Sami and Danny Rose, artist impression for artwork called The Matter of Painting. Picture: abellemare

Vivid 2016 highlighhts

• At Garden of Light, visitors will take a glittering journey through the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney as part of its 200 th birthday celebrations. Grand installations will dazzle and delight including the impressive 60-metre long Cathedral of Light , made from hundreds of thousands of white LEDs which radiate gentle but brilliant light from all angles.
• Taronga Zoo will be illuminated by larger-than-life multimedia sculptures of ten critical species ranging from the magnificent Asian elephant to the vividly coloured Corroboree frog, encouraging visitors to Be the Light for the Wild in Taronga Zoo's centenary year and beyond.
• Vivid Music will pulse through the city with new sounds and venues with highlights including the world premiere of Bjork Digital , a new virtual reality project from the international avant-garde artist and the inaugural Curve Ball - a large scale live music and art event from Fuzzy Music, both held at Carriageworks .
• Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House will unleash a series of incredible acts including synth-pop legends New Order , indie folk band Bon Iver , jazz artist Esperenza Spalding and the Australian premiere of Anohni's astonishing multimedia show.
• The Sydney Conservatorium of Music will present The Sound Gardens: Vivid New Music performed by talented students with guest artists Natasha Anderson , Anthony Pateras and Clayton Thomas . Aussie hip-hop will be celebrated at Come Together @ Luna Park and One Day Sundays at The Factory in Marrickville. ARIA Hall of Fame inductees and 80s trailblazers the Models will join fellow chart-toppers the Machinations and a stripped down version of Dave Mason's The Reels to present The Models, Machinations & The Reels for one night only at the Enmore Theatre.
• Vivid Music venues joining the line-up in 2016 include Newtown Social Club , brand new venue Cake Wines Cellar Door and returning favourites including Oxford Art Factory , Freda's and The Basement .
• At Vivid Ideas, the Game Changers Talk Series will be headlined by storytellers shaping the creative landscape including acclaimed director and producer Spike Jonze , House of Cards creator Beau Willimon , the creative force behind Orange is the New Black Jenji Kohan , and one of Australia's most influential new creatives, Margaret Zhang.

For details visit the Vivid Sydney website.