The Melbourne Festival has 14 free events, including free string quartett concerts
THE Melbourne Festival is on again, featuring performances and exhibitions from a range of Australian and international artists.
The festival has been running since way back in 1986, and has this year attracted artists from Japan, China, USA, Russia, Indonesia, Iraq and India, among others.
Fourteen of the festival’s 55 events are free, and of those that aren’t, some have student tickets going for less than half the full price.
Free and Cheap Events
Intimate Publics is a free video exhibition at Collingwood gallery Fehily Contemporary that explores the way people publicly express their personal emotions through social and other digital media. Artworks include Larissa Hjorth’s CU project, where perfect strangers were asked to reveal intimate moments via saved SMS messages paired with evocative photography.
Intimate Publics will take a look at how mobile media is shaping life, art and politics in the Asia Pacific
The exhibition, which runs from October 13 to November 5, will be complemented by a free public forum at Melbourne University on October 18, where speakers will discuss how mobile media is changing the way people in the Asia Pacific relate to art and politics. Speakers include Singapore Art Museum Director Tan Boon Hui and Sunjung Kim, Co-Artistic Director of South Korea’s 2012 Gwangju Biennale.
For classical music aficionados, string quartets from the Australian National Academy of Music will play free shows in the courtyard of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl from October 16-22. The series of shows, titled Quartetthaus, will play for an intimate audience of 52, so make sure to book to secure a seat.
We Came From The East blends traditional Pupuan dance with contemporary hip-hop
From October 18 at Southbank’s Malthouse Theatre, Indonesian choreographer Jecko Siompo will showcase his own “animal pop” dance style – a fusion of traditional Papuan dance and contemporary hip-hop. Siompo mischievously asserts that hip-hop dance did in fact originate from Indonesia, hence the show’s title – We Came From The East. $25 tickets are available for students – a marked reduction on the $55 full price.
The Melbourne Festival runs from October 6 to 22 at various venues. For more information, or to buy tickets, visit the festival website.