Geelong After Dark (GAD) 2019 Friday 3 May: Artist Expression of Interest closed

Pixel Alley, Little Malop St, John Fish Collective; Photographer: Christina Francis

Now in its sixth year, GAD is an exciting celebration of art, our artists and the role they play in making Geelong unique.

GAD is a curated event that may include projections, interactive activities, underground or street performances, music, installations, exhibitions and more.

Geelong City Council is now calling for submissions from individual artists, groups and artist collaborations for GAD2019.  

We invite artists to view Central Geelong – its laneways, intersections, cultural facilities and hidden spaces – as a stage to bring us together with artworks that extend boundaries of form and function.  

Working across multiple platforms and genres, artists will reveal new places, new connections and new perspectives.

The GAD EOI process encourages:

  1. Exploration, discovery and going further

  2. Great artworks and practice development

  3. Connections between people and place

  4. Visitation and active participation

  5. Cultural vibrancy and variety

GAD2019 Theme: Heighten Your Senses

We all use our senses – be it through sight, hearing, taste, touch or smell – to navigate, explore and interact in our everyday lives.  And then there is the sixth sense – our intuition or “ESP”, acquired through past experiences, surrounding influences and natural instinct.

Under the cover of dark, which heightens our senses, GAD2019 invites you to explore one or more of the senses via evocative art interventions that inspire and transport audiences to a different world.  

Application Categories

Category 1: $200 - $500
(up to 20 projects will be selected)

Category 2: $1,500 - $2,000
(up to 10 projects will be selected)

Category 3: $3,000 - $5,000
(up to 7 projects will be selected)

Submission

Artists are invited to submit proposals responding to the GAD2019 theme, and the following:

  • Less than 15 minutes duration

  • (installations will be considered for the full duration of the event).

  • Able to be repeated no less than 2-3 times between 6.00pm -10.00pm.

  • Site specific, where possible. (If your preferred site is not available, we will assist you to find an alternative site.)

  • Artists are asked to consider unexpected places in their proposals. See event map on next page.

EOIs CloseD: Midnight Sun 23 Sept 2018.

Successful applicants will notified mid-Oct 2018.

2019 Geelong After Dark Event Precinct

Selection Criteria

  1. Proposals will be evaluated according to:

  2. Creative approach reflecting event theme

  3. Use of public/unusual space

  4. Calibre/experience of artist/s/team

  5. Audience engagement/interaction and experience.

  6. Budget

  7. Special consideration will be given to applications that look at the city through a local lens, and reflect Geelong’s designation as a UNESCO City of Design (geelongcityofdesign.com.au)

  8. and/or the City of Greater Geelong’s vision for a Clever and Creative Future (geelongaustralia.com.au/clevercreative)

Submission Details

All submissions must include:

  1. Contact details (name, email and phone).

  2. Artwork statement (200-250 words max) describing the proposed artwork, concept, project or performance.

  3. Detailed budget and nominated application category.

  4. Preferred site or GAD Event Zone (refer map above).

  5. Bios/CVs of artist/s, including any web/social media links, and detailing total number of individual artists who will participate in the project.

  6. 1-3 quality images reflecting either your concept or your arts practice. (Jpegs must be uploaded separately - they may not be embedded in the proposal document).

  7. Summary of your proposal (50 words max) to be used for event program and other marketing channels if successful.

Successful artists will be required to:

  • Hold their own Public Liability Insurance – certificate of currency must be provided.

  • Develop a Risk Plan for their proposal once a site has been allocated.

  • Register on Council’s Preferred Supplier system.

  • Submit all Invoices prior to commencing.

All proposals to be submitted online. 

For more information contact the Arts & Culture Department on 03 5272 6186.

Geelong After Dark; Immersive, Interactive, Engaging

Photographer: Reg Ryan

On Friday night, Geelong After Dark transformed the City from the ordinary into the extraordinary. Now in its fifth year, this multi-sensory event has evolved into a unique celebration of the arts, an experimental space in which artists converge to explore new technologies and ways of seeing.

Interactive experiences: projections on buildings and walls; installations and street art down laneways; theatre on street corners; music on steps and under balconies; costumed characters in buildings; illuminations in the park; music and dancing in public spaces – over 18,000 people of all ages converged and engaged with art in the heart of our City. 

Seventy percent of the immersive Geelong After Dark experience was presented by professional and emerging Geelong artists. Joining our local artists were a number of nationally and internationally renowned artists, including Baby Guerilla, contemporary artist Kathy Howloko (Spider-Goat and the Insect Electro) and John Fish, the Melbourne-based multidisciplinary creative studio.

Minister for Tourism and Events Hon John Eren launched Geelong After Dark in the forecourt of Barwon Water, the setting for stunning projections from local artist Joel Zika and Sydney-based collective Create or Die.

Photographer: Pam Hutchinson

A highlight of the night was the Gathering of the City in Johnstone Park, part of the biennial Mountain to Mouth (M~M), extreme arts walk. Choirs and lanterns led the procession of walkers and the ephemeral M~M sculpture Canoe along Gheringhap Street to the City. Audiences danced and sang in unison with the walkers and performers as Gathering of the City coincided with Geelong After Dark.

For the first time, After After Dark extended the Geelong After Dark experience from 10pm in the Lt Malop St precinct.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren

“Geelong After Dark is a wonderful opportunity to welcome more visitors to our region, support jobs and generate more business for our restaurants, bars and clubs.”
“Geelong has proved time and time again that it can put on a show, which is why we can’t wait to bring White Night here in October.”   

Quotes attributable to City of Greater Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood:

"Geelong’s reputation as a cultural destination continues to grow through events such as Geelong After Dark. This wonderful celebration gives our community an opportunity to experience its city in a new and exciting way."
"Central Geelong has truly come alive in a fantastic showcase of the depth and diversity of regional talent."
"It’s also been particularly pleasing to see the engagement and involvement of central Geelong’s cultural organisations and businesses."

Media inquiries: Desiree Jacobson Cultural Marketing and Communications Officer media@geelongcity.vic.gov.au

Helping you make the most of Geelong After Dark

Tonight’s the night! After many months of planning and creating, Geelong After Dark arrives tonight to transform Central Geelong.

Artists are finessing and tweaking, venues are ready and activities are being set up in preparation for The Big Reveal.

With more than 70 arts activities taking place inside venues and outside in the streets and laneways, parks and public spaces, Central Geelong is set to come alive.

Here’s a few tips to make sure you get the best out of your night.

  1. Dress for the cooler conditions to fully enjoy all the activities indoors and out.  Layers are always a good idea.
  2. Plan your parking (or find a friend and share the ride). There are more than 4700 off street car parks and 5400 on street car parks in Central Geelong. On street car parking in central Geelong is free after 5.30pm. The Civic Centre Carpark opposite City Hall is free after 6pm and open until 1.30am. Parking is also available at Market Square and Westfield shopping centres, however hourly rates apply and don’t forget to keep an eye on closing times.
  3. Pick up your paper program from the official Geelong After Dark Info Point on the corner of Little Malop and James Sts, participating venues or our plan your visit to by selecting your zone (there are 3 zones this year) or better still, just rock up and go with the flow!
  4. Keep the kids interested with The Amazing Arts Adventure. Collect your card from Geelong Performing Arts Centre, Geelong Library, Geelong Gallery, Courthouse Youth Arts, Market Square, Westfield or the National Wool Museum. There are great prizes to win!
  5. Enjoy a bite or a beverage at one of the city’s many eateries. Little Malop St has a great selection of bars, cafes and restaurants - but don’t linger too long or you might miss something.
  6. Stay for the Gathering of the City in Johnstone Park at 9.30pm. Welcome Canoe and the Mountain to Mouth walkers in to the park for some much needed nourishment and to celebrate the end of the first day. Warning: there will be smoke and fire.
  7. Be a social butterfly! Take photos and share your experience by using the hashtag #instagad2018. Look out for your photos on the big screen in Police Lane, between GPAC and Back to Back Theatre.
  8. Stick around for After After Dark. When the little kids go home, it’s time for the big kids to play. Head to Little Malop St (between Gheringhap and Moorabool streets) to join in the action.

Can’t wait to meet you after dark!

Here they are - the Geelong After Dark Top 5

One more sleep until Geelong After Dark takes over the city! We’re not the only ones excited about this, in fact people coming from far and wide to experience Geelong’s biggest night of arts.

A big shout-out to all those travelling long distances to be here, we can’t wait to meet you after dark! Wherever you’re coming from, you won’t be disappointed at the wide and varied program.

Top 5 highlights at Geelong After Dark

Feeling snoozy at the end of the week? Get tucked in and take a nap as Joel Carnegie takes you to Dream Town and back. This interactive experience is on the Customs Lawn from every 15 minutes until 9pm.

Not everyone likes the same music right? Come along to the Silent Disco in Little Malop St and dance the night away with headphones or without. Enjoy the effect of everyone singing and dancing to their own beat.

The fascinating story of the Celtic Sea God Mannanon comes to life in Lantunda, a community arts project in Johnstone Park. The rotunda will transform into a glowing lantern from which images with dance and play to create a world of colour, shadow and light.

Pop in to Back to Back Theatre (enter via Police Lane) and hear about the secret hobbies, collections and obsessions of members of the Geelong community. Single Channel Video highlights the value certain objects bring to our lives.

Check out Joel Zika’s disruptive projection Caisson in the Barwon Water forecourt. From key vantage points the work creates a troupe l’oeil that changes the way people view and interact with the space.

There’s also plenty of activity in and around the city’s cultural venues including the Geelong Library, Art Gallery, Performing Arts Centre, Courthouse and the National Wool Museum.

***BREAKING***

The Carousel on the Geelong Waterfront will be open from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

And don’t forget, this year’s Geelong After Dark includes an extended program centred on Little Malop St (between Moorabool and Gheringhap streets). Catering for the big kids, After After Dark extends the Geelong After Dark experience from 10pm including interactive performances, music, projection, street theatre and dancing.
 
So whether you’re a local or a visitor, we hope you discover something new in Central Geelong.

Celebrate Mountain to Mouth at After Dark

Photographer: Brien Cohn

Coming in to the city on Friday night? Don’t miss your chance to be part of spectacular ceremony as Mountain to Mouth (M~M) collides with Geelong After Dark.

M~M is the multi-award winning biennial extreme arts walk, an 80 km journey of discovery. 

In the tradition of the Wadawurrung, M~M creates a contemporary songline across the Geelong and Queenscliffe regions.

The journey begins in the Young Yangs mountain range on Friday morning and crosses Geelong’s industrial heartland at nightfall, arriving in the city centre around 9.30pm for the Gathering of the City during Geelong After Dark.

Soak up the festive atmosphere as a lantern-lit procession makes its way along the waterfront to Johnstone Park where choirs and dancers will welcome the ephemeral Canoe sculpture and walkers.

The festivities begin with a smoking ceremony then participants will follow a “Procession of the Earth”. Geelong After Dark participants are invited to join in the procession.

There will be a massed choir led by Jonathon Welch AM (founder of the Choir of Hard Knocks), along with didgeridoo, dancing plus a few other spectacular surprises (we don’t want to give away everything!)

The Gathering of the City is the second of three important M~M ceremonies and is designed to nourish the participants at the end of day one of the two-day pilgrimage.

So get ready to join in the celebrations and sing your heart out to inspire the walkers for the rest of their journey.

This year’s theme for both M~M and Geelong After Dark is ‘Earth’, honouring our many connections to earth and each other.

For Geelong After Dark artists this has inspired many creative responses and interpretations, from earth-themed projections and installations to creations made from recycled and re-purposed items. Many of earth’s creatures and sounds will also come to life in performances, sculptures and stories.

Come along from 6pm and see the city in a whole new light!

Amazing arts experiences for families

Spider Goat

There are many ways to enjoy the awesome FREE family fun in Central Geelong on Friday 4 May - but one of the easiest is to follow Geelong After Dark’s Amazing Arts Adventure.

It’s easy to participate - just pick up a postcard from one these venues: Geelong Performing Arts Centre, Geelong Library and Heritage Centre, Geelong Gallery, Courthouse Youth Arts, Market Square, Westfield Geelong or the National Wool Museum - and start your journey!

Follow the clues to hunt down amazing arts experiences. Collect a stamp at each point and when you reach the final destination, pop your postcard in the collection box for a chance to win some great prizes. Completed cards must be submitted by 9pm to go in the draw.

One of the family-friendly highlights of this year’s Geelong After Dark will be the exhibition Spider-Goat & The Insect Electro at the National Wool Museum.

Internationally renowned contemporary artist Kathy Holowko has created a giant immersive spider web inspired by the spider goat (genetically modified goats that produce spider silk). Yep, the spider goat is actually a “thing”. Google it!

Light-filled cocoons with gentle electro beats will lead you through the installation where you unravel an unusual and thought provoking story about animal fibres. 

Kathy has teamed up with Pierre Proske from Sensory Empire who has brought his sound and lighting magic to this enchanting installation, created especially for the National Wool Museum and Geelong After Dark.

Another must-do After Dark highlight for families is a visit to the Geelong Library. See the Dome come alive at night. Explore the mysterious and illuminating world of bugs, beetles and other creepy crawlies in a whole new way with pop-up performances, artistic installations and interactive happenings. Create your own glow-in- the-dark mini-beast as part of the Amazing Arts Adventure and experience a world of bugs, beetles and bees.

Pop next door to the Geelong Gallery and delve into the world of children’s books with Reimagine - a survey of Australian children’s literature and book illustration over the past 20 years. Keep your eyes open for the owl and stop in at the creative finger puppet station for some crafty fun.

There will be plenty of action across the road too at Geelong Performing Arts Centre. Look out for costumed crusaders, pop-up music performances and tinkle the ivories on the People’s Piano.

But don’t just limit your visit to the main venues when there’s so much more to explore and surprises around every corner. African drumming and dancing, circus performers, sculptures, street art, theatre and so much more.

Bring warm clothes and a sense of adventure. You never know what you’ll discover!

Even more surprises around the corner…

Mx.Red

This year’s Geelong After Dark has plenty of surprises in store for those who like to stay out late. When the family-friendly activities wind up around 10pm, Geelong After After Dark takes over.

Night owls looking for more edgy arts action can explore what’s on offer in Little Malop Street (between Moorabool and Gheringhap streets) with interactive performances, music, projection, theatre and dancing until 11pm.

Among the highlights, Beav’s Bar will become a portal for patrons to express themselves beyond gender lines. Embark on a duet with the mysterious Mx.Red (pronounced Mis Read), but you must be invited! Mx.Red is from another dimension, created by artist Jonathan Homsey using motion capture technology, augmented reality and live performance to create an experience of dance, expression and intimacy.

Homsey is an award-winning artist born in Hong Kong and raised in the United States. He moved to Australia in 2010 and now works as an arts maker and manager interested in the intersection of street dance, visual art and social engagement. Mx.Red is one of two exciting and interactive works Jonathan will present at After After Dark.

Discover the true nature of the gnome with Gnomeless a roving multimedia installation created by Geelong artists David Dellafiora, Sue Hartigan and Teresa Lawrence. Dimly lit, of earth and stone, the gnomes are diseased and despised guardians of the underground. A limited edition of The Small Issue will be offered to those able to see the true nature of the gnome.

Transport becomes art at Geelong After Dark as the The Little Projector Company returns with its much loved Projector Bike - a cinema on wheels. And this year’s program includes a newcomer to the region, BOE’s Audiocycle, an interactive bicycle built from salvaged items that uses people power to share music.

Pixel Alley will be transformed with a dazzling array of colourful patterns and sequences (actually you won’t be be able to miss it). This beautiful installation - the creation of design collective John Fish - features 1344 suspended LED spheres transforming an unassuming alleyway into a mesmerising display of light and colour.

Street art and projection come together in Shorts Place, just off Little Malop St, where an 8m high artwork from highly regarded Baby Guerrilla will be overplayed with projection by Olaf Meyer. Baby Guerilla’s permanent street art project explores the relationship between people and virtual world. Meyer has digitally mapped the artwork and will bring a child to life exploring amazing virtual worlds.

Theatrical experiences will include Bonkel Theatre Company’s The Way We Were, using original music and puppetry to explore the rise of capitalism in the 20th Century while local artist Liz McGrath will bring to life the fascinating true story of Miss Drysdale and Miss Newcomb, lady squatters.

And if that’s not enough, street bands, dancing, installations and even live painting will keep audiences enthralled. Come along and immerse yourself in the diversity of works on offer at Geelong After Dark 2018 - it’s one of our biggest (and longest) events yet - putting the art in the heart of Central Geelong since 2014.

Earth takes centre stage in Geelong After Dark 2018

GAD 2017 Seed by Suyin Honeywell

With just weeks to go, the countdown is well and truly on to Geelong After Dark 2018.

This year’s event celebrates Earth in all its glorious interpretations and creative imaginings.

Now in its fifth year and with more than 70 activities - many of them created by local artists, groups and collectives - this is one of our biggest After Darks yet!

From 6pm on Friday 4th May, city streets, laneways, parks, public spaces, street corners, vacant shops and venues will be teeming with earth-inspired performances, soundscapes, storytelling, music, dancing, illuminations, projections and all things arty.

Geelong’s cultural organisations are gearing up for a massive night, with activities taking place in the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre (the Dome as locals know it), in and around Geelong Performing Arts Centre, the Geelong Gallery and National Wool Museum (just don’t get caught in the web!).

City Hall will be transformed with projections, a giant lantern will illuminate Johnstone Park and Barwon Water’s courtyard will change the way you view a grey brick wall.

And it wouldn’t be After Dark without the The Amazing Art Adventure, taking kids and parents on a journey of discovery, through the city where they’ll find bugs, beetles and bees, make their own glow worm and explore the world of owls.

This year also sees Mountain to Mouth - the award winning 80 km extreme arts walk - intersect with Geelong After Dark. Choirs will sing in the ephemeral Canoe as it travels along Gheringhap St to Johnstone park where the Gathering of the City will take place around 9.30pm.

In fact there’s so much going on, we’ve added an extra hour of activities.  After the main program winds up around 10, head to Little Malop St for another hour of fun - we’re calling it After After Dark (but more about that later).

Program highlights are currently being released on the website and the full printed program will be available very soon to help you can plan out your night. Or if you prefer, just come along and see where the mood takes you.

It’s all free, it’s great fun, so mark it in your calendar and make Geelong After Dark 2018 a great night out in central Geelong.

Volunteer Call for GAD2018

COME VOLUNTEER AND GET YOUR FEET ON THE EARTH AT GEELONG AFTER DARK ON FRIDAY 4TH MAY 2018!

You will be needed on or before 4 May.  We are looking for volunteers to perform the following roles:

  • GAD ZONE WARDEN ASSISTANTS – Help with set up and pack down of sites within the zone, and care for needs and safety of visitors to the zones.
  • GAD EVENT RUNNERS – Act as runner for Zone Warden and artists.
  • GAD PROMOTIONS VOLUNTEERS - Hand out programmes in Central Geelong before and during the event.

WHAT's NEXT?

  1. Submit your details by completing the online form here (We’ll be in touch with you to talk about your role).
  2. Attend a Volunteer Briefing Session (essential) before the event (dates and times to be announced).