MPavilion

Crossing species lines and national borders, COVID-19 has swiftly foregrounded the interconnected state of all life, human and otherwise, illuminating the myriad ways human culture is entangled with and dependent upon the well-being of more-than-human ecologies.

As relentless change and unpredictability become ‘the new norm’, how might those other worlds, beyond the human, help to envision possible futures that centre care, hope and collaborative resilience?

And how might they help reimagine periods of instability as periods of transition, or even sites for transformation?

Reflecting on worlds beyond the human, this panel of interdisciplinary practitioners explore themes of adaptation, emergence, symbiosis, ecological stewardship, and storytelling for collaborative survival.

As Amazon and other logistics-based companies further establish themselves as household names, their increasingly automated operations continue to redefine our cities and our lives. Behind faceless big-box facades, vehicles, workers and robots follow intricate choreographies to ceaselessly circulate goods.

In this talk, panel members will discuss how design can illuminate logistics—that largely opaque science of ‘moving stuff around'.

When logistics networks break down, they become visible, and their fragility is made evident—a scenario perfectly illustrated by the recent Ever Given fiasco, and even Australia’s vaccine rollout. Taking advantage of this recent visibility, the speakers shed light on an urgently important topic that, for the public, exists largely in the dark.

Torres Strait Virtual Reality (TSVR), is a virtual reality game that was created to raise awareness of one of Australia’s First Nations people, Torres Strait Islanders. The game is an exemplar of how cultural traditions and knowledge can be used to anchor cultural reproductions and research in new mediums and offers an Indigenous framework for developing culturally sound and culturally centred games.

Join Rhett Loban, designer of ‘Torres Strait Virtual Reality’ as he speaks with Jen Zielinska, creative director of MPavilion, about community engagement and playtesting, and the role of Indigenous cultural influences in game design.

Join collective being for a series of guided meditations designed to orient you to the present moment, ground your feet on Country, and connect you to your own body, to those around you, and to the more-than-human world.

In the first meditation of this series, you are invited to open your senses to the sounds, sensations and beings that surround you. This is a meditative gesture of orienting through present moment awareness.

Each meditation is invitational, mental health aware and facilitated by trained collective being team members. We invite your reflections, experiences and responses to this offering.

Join collective being for a series of guided meditations designed to orient you to the present moment, ground your feet on Country, and connect you to your own body, to those around you, and to the more-than-human world.

Each meditation presents an invitation.

In the second meditation of this series, you are invited to notice the ground underneath your feet, and the solidity and support provided by gravity and place. This is a meditative gesture of grounding and acknowledging.

Each meditation is invitational, mental health aware and facilitated by trained collective being team members. We invite your reflections, experiences and responses to this offering.

To celebrate the launch of MPavilion 2021, MPavilion 2021 architects Francesco Magnani and Traudy Pelzel of MAP studio (Venice) will be in conversation with MPavilion founder Naomi Milgrom AC, hosted by architect and much-loved host of Grand Designs Australia Peter Maddison.

The talk will explore the minds, design and extraordinary story behind MPavilion 2021—the pavilion that will defy all pandemic setbacks to become the seventh iteration of Melbourne’s favourite cultural laboratory.

Join Kate Rich—founder of grocery business and public experiment Feral Trade—in conversation with designer, writer and architect Rory Hyde.

Linking their discussion to MPavilion’s November theme ‘Island Life’—a theme that considers the literal places and figurative spaces that exist between others—Kate and Rory will talk about the groundbreaking ways that Feral Trade is challenging capitalist economies with the joyfulling subversive trading of goods, ‘passed by hand’.

Join collective being for a series of guided meditations designed to orient you to the present moment, ground your feet on Country, and connect you to your own body, to those around you, and to the more-than-human world.

Each meditation presents an invitation.

In this third and final meditation of this series, you are invited to connect with the moving aspects of your body—your breath, your heartbeat, your thoughts and your feelings, and to gently bring all aspects of your being towards momentary stillness. This is a meditative gesture of centring.

Each meditation is invitational, mental health aware and facilitated by trained collective being team members. We invite your reflections, experiences and responses to this offering.

Exploring unique approaches to percussive performance, artist and composer Matthias Schack-Arnott’s work has been presented by Melbourne Festival, La Comete (France), Spor Festival (Denmark), Arts House, Supersense – Festival of the Ecstatic (Arts Centre Melbourne) and beyond.

In conversation with Creative Director and CEO of Melbourne Fringe Simon Abrahams, Matthias discusses Groundswell—a large-scale sound installation and public sculpture that directly involved the citizens of Sydney. Ahead of the work’s 2021 premiere, Matthias and Simon talk about the inspiration behind it, the process for developing an audience-led experience, and ongoing creative pursuits.

Groundswell was commissioned and co-produced by Melbourne Fringe and Sydney Festival with support from the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. Artists in Conversation was supported by Monash University Centre for Theatre and Performance.

This conversation is presented in partnership with Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Join Parlour for Women Transforming the City, a lively discussion about the many roles women play in actively making the Australian built environment – as grass-roots activists and as elected representatives, as policy-makers and public servants, as philanthropists and clients, as journalists, writers and historians, as architects, landscape architects, planners and other professionals. How have women shaped the spaces, places and policies of Australian cities? What What actions are underway now? What of the future?

This is the third session exploring this topic – the first was held at the MPavilion in 2015. Join us as we extend the conversation.