''What we want to create is a sense of live art and massive murals across this wonderful industrial precinct to show the breadth and scope of the art form,'' says Rubinee Hoyne, executive producer of Outpost. She cites Eddie Zammit, founder of what she says is ''the only magazine dedicated to T-shirt design in the world'', who will curate Next-T - a comprehensive exhibition of 2000 T-shirts inspired by street culture. Another exhibitor, Melbourne artist Buff Diss, specialises in creating works with masking tape. ''We've got a fantastic line-up of artists,'' Hoyne claims.About half are from Australia, the rest from overseas. The biggest attraction will be the privately owned Oi You! collection which includes 23 works by Banksy - the first time so many of his highly prized pieces have been seen in Australia. The New York-based, Perth-born artist Kid Zoom will be there on opening night to unveil a large-scale work inspired by themes of homecoming and Australian suburbia. Likewise, the Belgian artist Roa, best known for giant murals of animals, will create another original work likely to feature Australian wildlife; and the Brisbane-born, New York-based Anthony Lister has created four giant inflatable sculptures that will be displayed around the island.

It sounds a lot of irreverent fun. But why would the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, entrusted with preserving the military heritage on Sydney's largest harbour island, embrace something that conjures images of illegal activities? The trust's chief executive, Geoff Bailey, doesn't expect any controversy. ''We distinguish very strongly between territorial tagging and graffiti and the kind of street art we'll be showing in Outpost,'' he says. ''There's a whole range of genres that are collectively called street art which are doing really interesting things in the public domain. Google 'street art' and you'll be amazed what's there. At its best, it is incredibly creative and inspiring. And the performers are skilled artists.'' It's also incredibly popular, particularly with the young. Bailey says a recent street art exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art broke attendance records, and the National Gallery of Australia held its successful Space Invaders show last year. ''This is an art form that is very accessible and can appeal to people of all ages and at all sorts of levels,'' Bailey says. ''There's the beauty of it, the inventiveness of it, the political content … Not all of it will appeal to everyone, but a lot of it will appeal to most.''

About 11,000 mainly young spectators visited the island for the two hours of the recent freestyle motocross event and 160,000 attended last year's Biennale spread over three months. Bailey hopes Outpost will attract a similar broad demographic, particularly because the island will also play host to Skateboarding Australia's national championships, which come to an end on the final weekend. The island will also be the venue for this year's Australian Stencil Art Prize. The festival, in partnership with Waterloo's aMBUSH gallery, was sparked a year ago when the trust received a proposal from the May Lane Street Art Project, which is based in St Peters. ''We thought, why not make it a much bigger festival,'' Hoyne says. ''We've got huge spaces to work with, and we're on the water. What could be a better way to launch into a Sydney summer?'' Outpost Project will run on Cockatoo Island from November 4 to December 11. Details at outpost.cockatooisland.gov.au.