What better place to throw a party than the palatial Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens? Last August, Now or Never, the brand-new festival of art, music, technology and ideas transformed the building into one heck of a soiree spot.
Now, the hot new festival is returning to warm up the city for another year. Now or Never is back from August 22-31 with a fresh new theme. In a quest to unlock the doors of our imaginations, the festival will have a theme of ‘Look Through the Image’.
Now or Never bills itself as a festival of art, sound, ideas and technology. What does that actually mean? It’s a choose-your-own-adventure kind of situation, consisting of everything from talks and dance performances to immersive installations and late-night DJ sets.
Now or Never is a multi-venue festival taking place across the city, with key venues including Melbourne Town Hall, the Royal Exhibition Building, the State Library of Victoria and Melbourne Recital Centre.
The program for this festival is absolutely packed, so here’s what’s caught our eye so far. Listen to writer, professor and cultural commentator Roxane Gay speak on the importance of holding complex views in complex times, or watch a giant ephemeral being move through the Melbourne Museum plaza with the aid of a free augmented reality app.
Head down to the Yarra to see 'Constellations', a celestial formation glowing above the water’s surface after dark, or catch 'Silent Symphony', where eight kinetic sculptures will cast light and sound throughout a darkened room. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when artificial intelligence calls the shots for a group of dancers, grab a ticket for Plagiary, a dance work that’s completely improvised according to computer-generated directions each night.
Last but not least, the Royal Exhibition Building will once again turn into arguably Melbourne’s coolest rave venue across four packed nights. Just like last year, you can expect epic large-scale visuals to accompany the banging tunes. Ferociously glamorous dance artist Coucou Chloe will make her Australian debut at the REB, with Italian techno DJ Donato Dozzy, dark electronica artist Naretha Williams and avant-pop romancer Eartheater all making appearances at the world heritage-listed venue on separate nights. Each night has multiple artists on the line-up, so check out the website to see all the goods.
Learn more about Now or Never at the festival website.