Sunday Arts Magazine

As with all Science Gallery exhibitions, BREAK THE BINARIES has been developed together with a panel of young people and an academic advisory group and features a range of interdisciplinary projects across video, sound, sculpture and multimedia, each presenting a playful, welcoming and kaleidoscopic view of the topic.

Science Gallery Director Dr Ryan Jefferies said the subjects explored in BREAK THE BINARIES have been consistently raised as of interest for young people.  “We work closely with young adults from a range of backgrounds to discuss potential topics for exhibitions, and gender and identity continue to be themes of personal and universal relevance.

“This is a bold and compelling exploration of the subject, where a spectrum of perspectives and personal histories are shared, and social norms and binary frameworks about gender, identity and cultural representation are challenged,” he said.

The University of Melbourne secured the rights to the first and only Australian node in the internationally acclaimed Science Gallery Network. The gallery offers over 3500 sqm of exhibition space, a dedicated teaching learning space in partnership with the Victorian Department of Education and Training, a theatre, an artist residency lab, and social spaces, designed to inspire young adults through art, science and innovation.

 

The Science Gallery Network embeds galleries in leading Universities around the world, with proven success at engaging 15-25-year-olds in STEM subjects and pathways – the key being the presentation of immersive and experimental exhibitions that blend scientific theory and new technologies with contemporary themes and creativity.

 

Penned by acclaimed international writers, Elvis: A Musical Revolution is a new bio-musical exploring the extraordinary life of the award-winning cultural icon and rock ‘n roll superstar, Elvis Presley.

The Australian premiere will open at Sydney’s State Theatre from July 2023, before rocking into Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre from September 2023.

Join the ticket waitlist now via elvisthemusical.com.au for first access to the best seats when they are released on 1 March.

Led by award-winning producer David Venn, this brand-new production will explore pivotal moments in Elvis’ life from his childhood in Tupelo, Mississippi through to his triumphant ‘68 Comeback Special. Featuring over 40 iconic Elvis Presley hit songs, audiences of all ages will have the chance to connect with the music of a generation that continues to have an undeniable cultural impact.

“Elvis’ unique voice, legendary hip swing and good humour have inspired many, as did the humility he is known for. With over one billion records sold worldwide, and a name that needs no introduction, Elvis is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. It’s incredibly exciting to bring new life to his story and celebrate the man, the icon, – the King of Rock ‘n Roll and the impact he made. We can’t wait to welcome audiences to the theatre to have a great time and get all shook up in their blue suede shoes!” says producer David Venn.

This production will be brought to life by a soon to be announced Australian creative team, providing employment opportunities for home-grown arts workers. Set to feature dazzling choreography, incredible costumes and sing-along songs, this sensational new show will provide audiences with an unforgettable theatre experience.

Discover the dimensions of FRAME: A biennial of dance.

Fox galleries presents ‘Target Aim, Miss Hit’, a new series of works that explore an understanding of what it means to move freely, with autonomy in an increasingly complex interconnected world.

South African – born, artist Eddie Botha, who resides in Melbourne, playfully narrates: how do you live a meaningful life? Disrupted concentric rings that reference the relational movements of our identities; colourful, scrolling figures that intricately roam his mixed media paintings. With more questions than answers, with each step taken, the call to action is the expression of agency, and more importantly, targeting the things in life that truly give value.

Eddie Botha States:

We are targets in many ways, our identities are being stolen, our personal information, marketing companies target us hourly, and the world faces military threats. But we are told to be happy. What keeps us going? Our togetherness, our unity as a human race, our friends and families. We are all in this together.

Over three star-filled summer nights, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will continue its more than 90-year

tradition of performing free concerts at the landmark Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

The 2023 summer program features Carlo Antonioli conducting the MSO for A Tchaikovsky Spectacular, before

Benjamin Northey takes the helm with the MSO Chorus and special guests performing Carl Orff’s monumental

Carmina Burana, and Mosaics – a celebration of up-and-coming contemporary artists Ag Johnson, ELAURA,

Nomad and HVSH, the world premiere of a new work from Melissa Douglas, and a new work co-created with

South Asian arts platform Sangam.

On Wednesday 8 February, audiences at the Bowl will experience the passionate and exhilarating music of the

great composer Tchaikovsky. Set against the majestic backdrop of the city skyline, A Tchaikovsky Spectacular

features some of the composer’s best-known works from opera (Eugene Onegin) and ballet (Swan Lake) to the

climatic 1812 Overture.

On Wednesday 15 February, Mosaics – Contemporary Sounds of Melbourne opens with a fanfare

commissioned for the occasion and composed by the 2023 Cybec Young Composer in Residence, Melissa

Douglas.

The MSO will be joined on stage by four dynamic artists from Melbourne’s outer suburbs, each performing one

of their original works, developed in partnership with GRID Series. These inspiring performances will showcase

the diversity of Melbourne’s thriving music scene – from Ag Johnson’s authentic and heart felt African

storytelling, and Nomad’s Pasifika-Māori soul, hip hop and jazz influences, to HVSH’s multi-faceted, genre-

crossing sounds and distinctive tenor, and Elaura’s neo-soul and alt R&B vocal stylings.

Mosaics culminates in the world premiere of an MSO Commission Agam. Presented by Sangam, Agam

comprised three intertwined ancient, contemporary and futuristic stories of Tamil Australians who live and work

on the unceded lands of the Kulin Nation. Weaving together an anti-colonial perspective, this intercultural

performance frames music as dance, visuals and storytelling to explore marginality, home, and belonging,

created by Priya Srinivasan, Hari Sivanesan, Uthra Vijay, Sridhar Chari and Alex Turley with Sri Andal and

Tulsidas Goswami.

On Saturday 18 February, the final concert for the Summer Series, Carmina Burana opens with Hannah Shin,

winner of the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, performing Prokofiev’s most acclaimed Piano Concerto No.3,

under the baton of Benjamin Northey.

Then, like great crashing gods bursting through the skies, Northey and the MSO will bring Carl Orff’s thundering

Carmina Burana to glorious fruition in the spectacular setting of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Featuring Kathryn

Radcliffe soprano, Paul McMahon tenor, Warwick Fyfe bass-baritone, and the MSO Chorus under director

Warren Trevelyan-Jones.

Also part of proceedings on Saturday 18 February, is the annual Curtain Raiser by Melbourne Youth Orchestras

conducted by Brett Kelly. MYO will perform Bernstein’s Candide Overture, Alan Silvestri’s Suite from the film

Forrest Gump, Marquez’s Danzon No.2 and, alongside the MSO Chorus, Borodin’s Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances.

The brainchild of session musician Sean Donehue and writer

Nick Waxman, Bearded is set to hit Frankston Arts Centre’s

Cube 37 stage on March 1st for an extremely limited run.

Bearded has been in development since 2019 with support

from The Australian Music Theatre Festival, The Victorian

College of the Arts, Home Grown Theatre Company and

Proudly supported by Frankston City Council’s Artist Project

Grant program.

What is it?

So what’s it like figuring out you’re queer in 2023? Well for

best-friends Bet and Ace, it’s not great. In order to appease

the masses, escape the spotlight, and just be seen as “normal”

for once, Bet and Ace decide to “date” one another; be each

other’s beards. However, living comfortably in their lie can

only last so long. The cracks begin to form as Ace falls for an

older boy and Bet learns things about her family that have

long been hidden. No matter the lie they live, it would seem

the truth will always find a way to reveal itself. Despite the show’s Queer context, Bearded is ultimately a story

about family, given and chosen. This passionate and hilarious new musical is like reading the diaries of two Aussie

queer teenagers; it is intellectual but it sounds and speaks like the youth of today. Bearded is biting and satirical and

poses the idea that despite our society being inherently more progressive, there actually hasn’t been all that much

progression. Through a campy, self parodying music theatre lens, Bearded seeks to challenge opinions on sexuality,

gender, religion and privilege.

Malthouse Outdoor Stage returns for Summer 2023 with an eclectic program that amplifies bold and experimental voices at Melbourne’s must visit destination outdoor performance hub.

Headlining the program is Australia’s media treasure Libbi Gorr with her new four-partseries Bold Conversations. Libbi is an award- winning radio and TV broadcaster with abackground in journalism and comedy.

Libbi Gorr is known for her boldconversations, her diverse guests, and her creative style; and adored for her brave and bold thinking, her fearlessness, and her aimfor the truth at all costs. Loved by audiences whether it be from her ABC Radio or hericonic TV jaunts—straight talk on provocative entertaining topics with surprising guests is what Libbi Gorr does best, and what she returns to in this live and authentic exclusive

The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) today announces the full program for its 2023 event – including over 40 sessions, more than 120 speakers and 100-plus industry decision makers – taking place in-person at ACMI in Melbourne, from 5-8 March 2023 with an online-only international marketplace 9-11 March 2023.

Responding to the theme Agents of Change, the program features lauded and vital talents from across the fields of screen and digital media, including three directors of 2023 Academy Award®-nominated documentaries, and a screening of Laura Poitras’ Academy Award®-nominated All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. Leading the line-up is American director and producer Sara Dosa, whose Academy Award®-nominated Fire of Love has received over 29 international awards, alongside Indian directorShaunak Sen, whose similarly Academy Award®-nominated All That Breathes has secured 19 awards, including the Cannes Golden Eye and Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Joining them from the Academy Awards frontline is Canadian director Daniel Roher, whose gripping documentary Navalny picked up the 2022 Sundance Audience Award, among 11 others. From the factual programming side, Fatima Salaria, managing director of wildly successful UK production house Naked Television (Grand Designs), will be on hand to provide a masterclass in producing documentary series.

Other notable guests include New Zealand’s David Farrier, responsible for left-field documentary hits like Tickled, Netflix’s Dark Tourist, and Mister Organ; Emmy and AACTA-winning immersive installation artist and filmmaker Lynette Wallworth, acclaimed Aboriginal filmmaker Dean Gibson, director ofIncarceration Nation, Wik vs Queensland, and the upcoming First Weapons; Quechua filmmaker, technologist, writer, and artist Violeta Ayala (Prison X, The Fight), and Australian filmmaker Emma Sullivan, director of true crime documentary Into The Deep.

Rohan returns to talk to the Sunday Arts Magazine team.

Claire Tonti is a Naarm-based singer/songwriter and host of both the award-winning podcast Suggestible and her interview show TONTS, where she speaks to writers, activists, experts, thinkers and deeply feeling humans about their stories including Jessie Stephens, Jamila Rizvi, Benjamin Law, Clare Bowditch, Sarah Wilson and Jane Harper. After putting her musical career on hold to start her family – a common occurrence for women within creative fields, Claire today shares her debut album ‘Matrescence’. Funnelling her experience during this time into 11 beautifully restrained indie folk songs, the album covers love, loss and trauma and the imperfect joys and difficulties that sit inside us as we grow into our power as women.

As the title suggests, Claire’s writing explores how the transition through motherhood / matrescence changes and alters us. Inspired by her own experiences and the stories of women in her life, lyrics are at the forefront of the album. Pared back production by collaborator and producer Ezekiel Fenn allows the concise melodies and Claire’s warm, emotive vocals to take centre stage. Acoustic instrumentation makes up the body of the work, as well as a cameo from Claire’s daughter on her latest single Free, which speaks to breaking away from female societal expectations. The downtempo Self is stripped back with just guitar, drums and bass, and discusses overcoming birth trauma and post natal depression. The roomy Lullaby feels like you’re sitting next to Claire by the piano featuring recordings from her original voice memos, whilst the uptempo and breezy All Kinds of Lovely sees her sing a duet with her own manipulated voice, reminiscent of Feist, Holly Throsby and Lucy Rose.