C&G Highlight: Melbourne Festival
As we wave goodbye to the Fringe Festival for another year, there’s no need to feel melancholy. In true Melbourne style - there is another wonderful festival ready to take its place! Spanning dance, film, music, theatre, visual and circus arts - the Melbourne Festival runs from the 4th to the 22nd of October. Today, C&G provide you with a few highlights of the Melbourne Festival, sure to reignite your love for our city.
Joseph Kosuth at Anna Schwartz Gallery
Joseph Kosuth is a USA-based artist whose investigations into the relationship between art and language make his work so universal. Incorporating works of neon, imagery and text, his pieces are featured in many modern museum collections across the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia.
Always a favorite of the Melbourne Festival, eight Victorian artists are given Melbourne trams as their canvas and let loose to create! The resulting tram transformations are impressive, allowing us to see our daily commute with fresh eyes – far from the dull and monotonous! Catch them making tracks throughout October and into the New Year.
A 24-Decade History of Popular Music
Week by week, Taylor Mac will chart a complete social history highlighting the music that has scored our rebellions and revolutions, triumphs and tragedies! A highlight of the Festival, Mac enlists the aid of over one hundred local and international performers —from acrobats to marching bands — to join in the musical quest. If you have a favourite era – get in quick to participate!
The festival commences and concludes with two great (and free!) community events. To open the Festival, Federation Square will hold the Tanderrum - representing a gathering of the five clans of the Kulin Nation. This has become an essential element of Melbourne Festival, and a Welcome to Country for local and international artists and audiences.
On closing night - 22 October - the concert Our Place Our Home will feature emerging musicians and artists from refugee and Indigenous backgrounds. This is sure to be a special close to what’s sure to an inspiring annual concert.
This is just a quick C&G snapshot of all the fun to be had this Melbourne Festival. Visit the full program here and prepare to be entertained!