Top 10 Melbourne Culture On this week 14/02/2021
Relax, it’s not a heart attack. It’s just your body telling you you’re out of bacon.
10) The Natives: Exhibition Opening Night
18th February
What: Still-life photographer Ryan Creevey has deviated from his day-to-day artform to capture a photographic portrait series celebrating the diverse range of captivating and wondrous creatures that roam this great southern land.
Why: Signal the start of 2021 by drowning yourself in pictures of non-crispy koalas.
9) MMeets: Signal Issues
18th February
What: Signal issues is a performative, guided installation commenting on our relationship to space in the light of a society increasingly governed by surveillance, power and control. Since COVID-19, cities and communities are faced with new obstacles in determining how we negotiate public space and social interaction. Spatial Practitioners, Athiqah Ahmed and Dasha Tolotchkov, invite you to a performative viewing of a series of experiences that interrogate our behaviour in social spaces. Through choreographed movement blended with objects and dialogue, the performers inhabit and transform the carpark. Questioning issues of surveillance and power, the performance takes the audience on a collection of manipulated encounters that project the question: Who is in control?
Why: In the middle of the performance, drop your pants and take a huge s*** on the floor. It’s up to you whether this serves as a comment on control or lack thereof, but it’s sure to liven things up a bit.
https://on.com.au/search/events/MMeets:-Signal-Issues/166eeab0-6be6-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
8) Come From Away
14th onwards
What: Come From Away tells the remarkable true story of thousands of stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland, Canada that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships. Don’t miss this breathtaking new musical written by Tony and Grammy nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein, and helmed by this year’s Tony winning Best Director, Christopher Ashley with musical staging by Tony nominee Kelly Devine. Newsweek cheers, “it takes you to a place you never want to leave!”
Why: Reminisce about a time when the slamming shut of borders was a simple act of racism rather than a sane response to an apocalyptic pandemic.
https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=59fcfc90-ae41-11e9-b14f-a713526e5192
7) futurefoodsystem Dinner
18th February
What: Enjoy an intimate dining experience at futurefoodsystem hosted by Matt Stone, Jo Barrett & Joost Bakker. “We see the future of food coming from our urban environments. Productive buildings with thriving ecosystems which sustain their inhabitants.” Matt, Jo and Joost would like to welcome you into their home for dinner and a glimpse into the future. A multi-course dining and beverage experience in a building that produces its own food and power.
Why: Spend a day with the worst people you’ve ever met serving you plates of foliage and professing it’s the future of a utopian society. Or save yourself the money and just visit your sister-in-law.
https://on.com.au/search/events/futurefoodsystem-Dinner/f7ed9f00-6be5-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
6) Ballarat Beer Festival
20th February
What: With shade aplenty a cooling respite to the summer heat, this is the perfect day to round up your mates, grab a picnic blanket and take in over 20,000 square metres of lakeside beer action. Two boulevards of brewers will offer a kaleidoscope of tastes and flavours – take your pick from over 150 different brews from across Australia as well as many award winning regional wines plus G&T slushies and Sangria. The year’s Garden Edition is all about celebrating the very best of craft beer culture with beer education classes, blind tastings, trivia games, the popular brewers sack race and plenty more to keep you busy. A great line up of local and Australian bands will be providing the soundtrack to your day, filling the north side of the grounds with good vibes.
Why: There’s no better excuse to get pissed than just being in Ballarat.
https://on.com.au/search/events/Ballarat-Beer-Festival-2021/bdb898f0-6a58-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
5) Victorian Opera: The Sleeping Beauty
20th-26th February
What: The classic fairy tale you know and love. It’s the one about the princess who pricks her finger on a spindle and falls into a deep sleep. For centuries, the kingdom slumbers. The only one who can save them is a handsome prince and his revitalising kiss. Composed in the aftermath of World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic, Respighi’s opera was a tale for a world on its knees. It’s the call for resilience and celebration that we all need right now. Victorian Opera presents this opera as it was intended. Magical larger-than-life puppets and charming music draw you into a wondrous dreamscape in this revival of our acclaimed 2017 production. Embrace the child within and join a resilient community emerging out of dark times with hope. It’s time for reawakening.
Why: Attempted mass murder, rape, puppets. Get all your child’s deep-seated psychological traumas sorted in one easy night. To make absolutely sure, whack them across the head a couple times.
https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=a3e25fb0-6b11-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
4) National Sustainable Living Festival
14th-28th February
What: The National Sustainable Living Festival is the largest and longest-running sustainability-themed event in Australia. The festival aims to inspire and provide solutions to the sustainability and climate challenges currently faced, both now and into the future. The month-long program showcases local and international sustainability and climate thought leaders presenting critical understandings, observations and insights to help inform and guide the stark choices that now stand before all Australians. Cutting-edge sustainability and innovative climate change solutions will be presented in both virtual and in-person formats throughout the month of February, with live-streamed presentations, interactive discussion forums, and digital workshops on a variety of topics.
Why: Assuage your guilt about being a consumptive, wasteful a***hole with a couple of pamphlets and feigned interest.
https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=73813890-61b7-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
3) Imaginaria
14th onwards
What: Are you ready to step into the future? Imaginaria at The District Docklands brings you a celebration of imagination, technology and play. Fully interactive bespoke sounds, scents and lights activate in response to your movement as you walk, slide and glide through the dreamlike landscapes. Walk into a giant inflatable bubble, navigate a futuristic light maze or jump into a cosmic abyss. Check your shoes in at the departure lounge and prepare to venture into another dimension.
Why: If you can imagine something more olfactorily powerful than athlete’s foot it will help.
https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=19119b40-40b3-11eb-96b7-b132cf2a7536
2) Macbeth: Shakespeare Under the Stars
15th February-6th March
What: Out, damned spot! Settle in for a night of murder and mayhem at the Gardens, positioned at the very heart of the action. Bear silent witness to the unravelling doom of a couple who kill together and die apart as you watch The Australian Shakespeare Company’s visceral rendition of Macbeth, Shakespeare’s darkest and most streamlined tragedy. Revel in the warm summer weather as the backdrop of Melbourne Gardens inspires an interplay of shadows that conjures the play’s supernatural tones and evoke the earthy environment of this psychological thriller. The continual seduction of the underworld in this play creates the conflict of morality versus maximum power – what’s done cannot be undone.
Why: Dream of a time when getting a promotion was as easy as just murdering someone.
https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=ab8712d0-5d13-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
1) Melbourne Women in Film Festival
17th-21st February
What: More Than… The MWFF 2021 festival explores the creation of screen storytelling as an expressive art form for activism, acknowledging the past as we envision the future. Film is a powerful medium to tell important stories – it is more than something we just watch on our screens. Film has impact and creates change. MWFF is proud to present a program that showcases bold and socially relevant films and web series from gender diverse Australian, Aotearoa New Zealand and Pasifika filmmakers. With experiences online and in cinemas, MWFF celebrates its 5th edition cultivating a culture of equality and some exceptional filmmaking.
Why: It’s 2021. Just give up on your eyeballs ever being moist again.
https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=ac8ee100-6a68-11eb-833c-8d4622c61372
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