Geelong: Lit After Dark

Geelong After Dark 2019
Botanical Lobotomy at the Library
Photo: Matt Houston

On Friday night, Geelong After Dark transformed the City from the ordinary into the extraordinary. The theme for 2019, Heighten Your Senses, was embraced by artists and exceeded all expectations.

One side of the Barwon Water building was transformed with gravity-defying feats from ACTNatimuk/YSpace. Performers floated amongst animations created by students from Barwon Valley School and Barwon Heads Primary.

Nestled on the forecourt of Johnstone Park, the three sensory portals, co-funded by the Arts & Culture Department and Creative VIC were ethereal sensory delights: soft underfoot, surrounded by dancers, soothed with sounds, the portals enabled crowds to have intimate experiences of art.

Connecting Song for 2019 celebrated three unsigned acts, Chloe St Claire, Jack Meredith and Alby Jay mentored by well-known Australian musicians Adalita, Mick Thomas and Mark Wilson with live sets at The Workers Club Geelong and on film in Lt Malop St.

Geelong Mayor Cr Bruce Harwood launched Geelong After Dark in Council Chambers, transformed by artist Anne Wilson PhD Deakin University with her work, If You Stay Where You Are, You’ll Run Into Yourself.

Quotes attributable to City of Greater Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood:

Geelong’s reputation as a clever and creative cultural destination continues to grow, and Geelong After Dark has again shown why it’s such a popular event on our calendar.

It was great to see so many community members and visitors enjoying the light shows, art installations, performances and music on offer. Central Geelong came alive in what was a fantastic showcase of the depth and diversity of our regional talent.

It’s also been particularly pleasing to see the engagement and involvement of central Geelong’s cultural organisations and businesses.

ASSEMBLING A PICTURE OF GEELONG’S PAST

Geelong’s Blink Dance Theatre Company’s latest production Assembly Room is a merging of concepts designed to create visibility around the changing role of women in Geelong.

Assembly Room – a ten-minute, abstract dance piece – will debut at this year’s Geelong After Dark, transporting the audience back to the industrial age and a time when women’s voices were silenced, and their community contributions widely unseen.

Artistic Director and a founding member of Blink Dance Theatre, Lyndel Quick, said the piece – to be performed amongst the brick and bluestone buildings of Shorts Place - reflected the transformation of Geelong while opening people’s minds to how we have also changed our view of women over the past two centuries.

“We’re exploring this idea of Geelong moving from an industrial city to a vibrant more creative city. We’re looking at things like the textile industry, newspaper production and the importance Corio Bay had as a link to the outside world.”

“It’s an abstract movement piece exploring themes like community and the individual and the body as a vehicle to embody both unity and difference.”

The performance involves eleven women from a diversity of backgrounds and ages. The dance will reflect the rhythmic nature of the city’s former industrial printing presses and looms against a background of historical images and videos of Geelong’s past to be projected by the Little Projector Company.

The title – Assembly Room – is itself a marriage of two concepts. In the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for entertainment and one of the few locations where both men and women were able to mingle. From the industrial age onwards, the term took on a new meaning with its connection to factories and manufacturing.

The ideological significance, where both connotations of the assembly room placed women behind a stone or brick façade for recreation or work, is not lost on Lyndel:

“Back in the 18th and 19th centuries women were not seen on the street… home was very much their place and the streets were not. Even the terms ‘you’ll end up on the streets’, ‘she’s on the streets’ or ‘she walks on the streets’ reflected the gendered nature of outside spaces.”

“I like the fact we are out on the streets in an alley going ‘yes, we are here’ and reclaiming that a little bit.”

Established in 2013, Blink Dance Theatre consists of a core team of four women: Lyndel, Jessica Lesosky, Elise Wilkinson and Jane Acopian. They bring together experience in contemporary dance, ballet, theatre and fine arts.

Past work has involved collaborations with Deakin University, City of Greater Geelong and, most recently, the Geelong Regional Library Corporation for the opening of the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre.

Their home base is the former Rutland Street woollen mills in Newtown. Lyndel was one of the first people to set up a business in the old mills some 15 years ago. Undoubtedly, the transformation of the Rutland Street precinct from an industrial heart to a creative hub is a microcosm of the wider transition of Geelong.

Lyndel says the precinct was deserted when she first arrived and is excited about how the area has been reactivated by new and creative ventures.

“Geelong should be proud of its past. It’s got a wonderfully rich history and I’m incredibly proud of that. I feel so deeply connected to my town, but I love to see the changes happening.”

With the increased visibility and role of women in high profile ventures in Geelong, that change goes beyond revitalising the city’s bricks and mortar.

“It’s about quietly stepping into your own power.  There are huge shifts happening in Geelong for women including with the football club. We are more visible across different industries.  There has to be a community shift and it’s happening.”

Assembly Room will be presented at various times throughout the evening on Friday, 3 May.

ART HELPS US IMAGINE HOW WE AFFECT TECHNOLOGY AND HOW IT AFFECTS US

Through the eyes of Dr Anne Scott Wilson, Geelong is a city whose industrial past and imagined future are at the coal face of a digital revolution with culture having an important role in creating new opportunities and experiences.

Geelong After Dark is delighted to welcome back Anne to this year’s event which will again showcase her experimental and immersive works using kinetic sculpture, light, sound and artificial intelligence to heighten our senses.

Anne will bring two new works to the city on Friday, 3 May. One is an exciting collaboration between herself and the internationally-renowned Ars Electronica Australia (ARS EA), an organisation whose philosophy of art and technology she says synergises with hers.

“With a philosophy of collaboration and experimentation, I use tech like a paintbrush and understand the need to explore what is happening to us in our everyday digital interactions. You need specific types of technicians to work with artists, ones who understand tech as a tool to explore ideas.”

Anne’s 2019 installation will be on display in the Geelong Council Chambers off Little Malop Street. Part 1 is a kinetic sculpture using old and new technologies in a work she describes as playful.

“People will see everyday objects re-purposed into a polystyrene sculpture of moving parts affected by how people move in and around it. As you get closer, the work changes, it moves faster or slower, volumes and moving parts accelerate and decelerate.”

Visuals change too. LED light reflects off a shiny CD recalling its history. The CD while still in use is quickly becoming a part of history with many now relegated to op shops and land fill.

Part 2, the collaboration with ARS EA, is about voice. In this case, the voice of the people of Geelong. Disembodied voices of the past will use the acoustic qualities of City Hall’s atrium.  At the same time, participants will be invited to relate their feelings of Geelong’s culture which will be recorded into the ‘beehive’ – ARS EA’s platform for collecting media.

“It’s about encouraging people to voice their experience of Geelong After Dark.  The City Hall is a place for residents of Geelong to have a voice and the beehive will capture a collective response.”

“Our own experiences and background influences how we respond to artworks. It is very subjective. The beehive will capture how people are experiencing the event. The work fills a physical void of the atrium and a non-physical void, that is the collective voice of its people in the City Hall.”

Therefore, not only is the installation a collaboration between Anne and ARS EA, the encounter will also be a partnership between the artwork and each participant. In the same way Anne is using technology as a tool, the artwork itself becomes a way for individuals to create unique experiences.

The movement and musical nature of the piece is reflective of Anne’s previous dance career. A trained ballet dancer, Anne commenced her artistic life with the Queensland Ballet before moving to Melbourne with her family in the 1970s.

After a stint in Sydney with her then partner, artist and composer Ian Hartley, she returned to Melbourne to continue her life in dance. She performed in musicals and contemporary works before establishing her own dance company whose performances included work in television, at concerts and as cheerleaders at sporting events.

The next phase of Anne’s career saw her studying art at RMIT. It was at this time she started experimenting with technology and installations with a focus on performance. This interest continued through to her PhD studies at Monash University.

Most recently, Geelong has been lucky to attract Anne to Deakin’s Waterfront Campus where she now works as a lecturer in Art and Performance.

Anne’s love of Geelong is based, in part, on the sensory experience our city delivers. For her, the sight of the water and the horizon line on the bay generates a sense of moodiness and space. After spending most of her life in metropolitan cities, Geelong also provides a sense of peace. Anne relishes the relative quietness of the city as night-time settles combined with the ability to see the stars on cloudless nights.

Anne’s commitment to Geelong extends to her involvement in the #VacantGeelong research project. Initiated by Deakin’s School of Architecture and Built Environment, the project seeks to explore the architecture of the city’s industrial past with the redefinition of the landscape in a 21st century artistic and technological locale.

For Anne, it is not hard to recognise the link between her Geelong After Dark artworks and her adopted city and the relationship of industry and technology in Geelong’s history and landscape.

“Geelong is in a state of flux and deindustrialisation. It is reimagining itself and technology is a major part of Geelong’s changes, more so than many cities.”

“It is important for people’s voices to be heard and be able to participate in the future … Tech offers a great opportunity to redesign from grassroots people up but we need to listen to each other.”

Anne says this is something at which Geelong exceeds:

“Geelong After Dark is a great support for local artists and gives them room to experiment. That is unusual with a lot of festivals held in bigger cities.”

“Geelong puts its money where its mouth is. It is a strong supporter of the cultural sector and artists are grateful for that. Geelong has a philosophy of looking out for each other.”

Making a Big Impact with Music at Geelong After Dark

Geelong-based musician Tim Hulsman is never one to shy away from a challenge. And the bigger the challenge, the more determined he is to make an impact.

View fullsize

After making his Geelong After Dark debut shrouded in fairy lights while playing slide guitar in the inaugural 2014 festival, Tim will be back this year with his latest big idea.

When you attend Geelong After Dark 2019 on 3 May, it will be well worth your while heading to the Market Square Mall to see Tim unveil and play a bespoke five-metre-long, four-stringed slide guitar which he believes will be the largest slide guitar in world.

Tim says he always likes to think big and this time he took that thought literally: “I still wanted to play slide guitar but why not create the biggest slide guitar that’s ever been created in the world and play that.”

The concept is the brainchild of Tim, his partner Nina Grant and art director Mike Patton. All three agreed there needed to be a visual aspect to the performance to bring the bones of the music to life.

“Instead of magnifying something we create a larger version of it. You can see sound in motion. A vibration that runs along a really long string can actually be seen.”

“I don’t actually sit there and play it. I have to run along it and dance. I actually have to create choreography to be able to play it.”

“Nina and Mike will also be performing live art in response to the music with the results projected onto a giant screen. So people watching will experience a lot of colour and movement in the overall show.”

Tim knows the over-sized guitar is an experiment but its creation is aligned with Geelong After Dark festival’s philosophy of allowing artists to push their boundaries. For a self-taught musician like Tim, such a challenge is just another step in his development as a musician.

“Music is just in my soul from when I was five years-old. My mum recounted stories to me about how I would react to music even at that age. I would be completely in a trance state. I would stop whatever I was doing and be lost in the music until it finished and then would snap out of some sort of spell.”

“I didn’t really start to play music until I was about 12 years old. I took to guitar and had a friend who was playing guitar at the time. We bounced off each other with that and taught each other to play. I have been self-taught since those early days.”

Tim’s musical talents now extend to drums, piano, bass guitar, violin and vocals. He founded his own band, toured Australia several times and has released four albums.

Since moving to Geelong eight years ago, Tim has established himself on the local music scene with regular appearances at Pistol Pete’s, the Workers Club, Beav’s Bar and the Barwon Club.

“Geelong has a strong history of having a music and arts scene. Although I hear from other people who’ve been around it’s waned in recent years. However, it’s starting to redevelop and I thought it was a really good time to be here while that redevelopment is happening.”

“Geelong is a big enough town to be well-received and there’s enough people for you to make something happen but it’s also small enough for you to make a difference.”

When not creating or playing music, Tim also spends time teaching through the High Voltage Rock School at Drysdale and Point Lonsdale primary schools, introducing kids from ages seven to eleven to drums, keyboards, guitars and vocals.

However, it’s not just the music culture which excites Tim. It is also the wider transition of Geelong to a creative hub.

“Geelong is going through a massive transition from an industrial town. We have been going through a transition for ten or so years now of becoming an education town and, because of that, a melting pot for creativity and new ideas because we’ve got all these young people coming through.

“I’m not just talking about music and art. I’m talking about science and medicine and all those things as well which are very creative fields. Geelong’s identity is really changing and the culture is changing because of that.”

“The cultural change is slow but it is driven by art. It’s driven by the presence of creative people and driven by a community involved and engaged in creating its own identity. Music and art are massive parts of that wherever that happens in the world.”

“Festivals such as Geelong After Dark which we are holding now in Geelong are world class. They are going to do all sorts of great things for the economy here in the long run and the rest of the world’s perception of Geelong and what we are about.”

Media Release: Our Heart, Illuminated by Art

Alex Evans projection Journey into Inner Space

The 2019 Geelong After Dark programme has landed, filled with over 70 art-projects to engage and stimulate all your senses.

From 6pm, Friday 3 May, Central Geelong will be transformed by music; street performances; installations; exhibitions; dance; and projections.

Fancy hearing sounds from a 5 metre slide guitar constructed and played by local slide guitar virtuoso Tim Hulsman? Lend Wendy Grose your ears as she sings Opera from the Geelong Library & Heritage Centre: question is, will you see her as she does?

In a post-Christchurch world, the work of Rose Ertler and Complimentary Lane project located in the forecourt of Barwon Water, adds potency and spirit. It will have you sharing compliments of your own as you watch contributions from Matthew Flinders Girls High School and Diversitat English language students.

At Johnstone Park, immerse yourself in the worlds of the Sensory Portals; singular spaces designed for intimate experiences of art.

The OYSTER project invites you participate in the ritual of eating an oyster, cleansing the shell in water, then adding to the surrounding middens before they are sent back to the bay to create reefs for sea-life.

Connecting Song returns with the premier of three film clips – the culmination of the work of three local unsigned musicians mentored by Adalita (Magic Dirt); Mick Thomas (Weddings Parties Anything); and Mark Wilson (Jet). Chloe St Claire; Jack Meredith and band Alby Jay have each written, recorded and filmed clips of their songs that pay homage to the mountains, beaches and city they all call home. All three will play at The Workers Club Geelong on the night.

All of our cultural venues will be open with programmes to entice you to Heighten Your Senses.

“Geelong After Dark is one of the highlights of our cultural events calendar. Last year it attracted more than 20,000 attendees to central Geelong and contributed around $2.1 million to our local economy. It’s loved by our local community and draws visitors from Melbourne and beyond.

This year’s programme will be a fantastic showcase of our city’s clever and creative arts and culture scene. I’d encourage everyone, particularly if you’ve never experienced Geelong After Dark, to mark 3 May in your diary and make sure you’re in central Geelong for a great night out. ”

— Greater Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood:

“Geelong will come alive on 3 May with an incredible range of art, music and cultural displays. Our region is home to so many talented and creative people, and this event gives them a chance to showcase their work to a large audience. This year’s programme will entertain, amaze, and make us think. It’s a night not to be missed.”

— Cr Jim Mason, Chair, Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolio

Media inquiries: Sue Cartwright  Director Communication Tree 0402 210 484

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

View fullsize

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

View fullsize

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.

View fullsize

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

View fullsize

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!

Celebrate Mountain to Mouth at After Dark

View fullsize

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!

Seeking Artists for Geelong After Dark (GAD) 2018

View fullsize

Temporal Home: Toggles - Jasper Killick.

Friday 4 May, 2018

Geelong After Dark returns in 2018 bringing Central Geelong alive! The City of Greater Geelong is now seeking artists, groups and artist collaborations for the 2018 event.

GAD is a night where artists deliver short, sharp and edgy art attracting thousands of people to the city centre. Unexpected places come alive with free pop-up performances, artistic interventions and provocative installations.

This is a unique opportunity to work with a team of professionals to deliver an exceptional event. Contemporary artists will predominantly be drawn from the Geelong region
with a selection from intra and interstate.

For further details refer to the Expression of Interest.
Closing date: Midnight on Monday 6 November, 2017

For all queries and to apply, please email artsculture@geelongcity.vic.gov.au or telephone Arts and Culture Department on 5272 4743.

The Amazing Arts Adventure

View fullsize

Discover Geelong After Dark through The Amazing Arts Adventure. Children will love this fun and interactive journey of discovery through central Geelong. Complete all tasks and go into the draw for some amazing prizes! Collect your entry form from any of the participating venues.

• Geelong Performing Arts Centre
• Geelong Library & Heritage Centre
• Geelong Gallery
• City Hall Foyer
• Courthouse Youth Arts
• Market Square Shopping Centre
• National Wool Museum
• Westfield Geelong
• The Carousel
• Waterfront Kitchen
• Geelong After Dark Information Centre

Don’t forget to submit your completed card and any of these venues by 10pm to go into the draw for some amazing prizes!  Don't miss out!

Here's a list of all The Arts Amazing Adventure events.

Pick up your Paper Programme

On the night, collect your paper programme from the Event Information Point at Focus Five

Mountain to Mouth brings songs and stars to Geelong After Dark

View fullsize

Three unsigned artists teamed up with three experienced music industry mentors to write a song about a place in the Geelong region: that’s the premise of Connecting Song, a City of Greater Geelong initiative to support up and coming songwriters.

Jeff Harwood, Tex Miller and Shaun Fogarty were selected from a pool of Geelong’s hottest new talent to work with music industry heroes Adalita (of Magic Dirt fame), blues and roots musician Tim Neal and hip hop artist Trem One.

After months of solid songwriting, recording, mixing and creating videos, their work will debut in the secret garden next to Beav’s Bar at Geelong After Dark on Friday 5 May.

Connecting Song is one of two festival contributions from the City’s Mountain to Mouth (M~M) project, aimed at building on the concept of a contemporary song line.

Another highlight will be M~M’s Constellation - River of Words, a stunning installation at City Hall by Matt Bonner and Esther Oakes. Constellation will transform City Hall into an enchanting riverscape of possibility.  Viewers will enter through a pathway of illuminated books to find a flowing river of words, bringing the City’s Our Future – 30 Year Vision to life.

Geelong After Dark will illuminate central Geelong from 6-10pm with edgy art, interactive performances, spoken word, projections, illuminations, live music, soundscapes and exhibitions.

Up to 20,000 residents and visitors are expected to discover (or re-discover) the city in a whole new light, with 370 artists participating and more than 80 short, sharp, edgy art activities to experience.

Geelong After Dark is a free, family-friendly event, with children encouraged to join in The Amazing Arts Adventure, an interactive journey of discovery through central Geelong. 

This multi-award winning annual festival is organised by the City of Greater Geelong with creative production by Diversitat.

For program updates visit geelongafterdark.com.au

Geelong After Dark returns bigger and better

View fullsize

Les Meduses, Barking Spider Theatre; Photographer: Ferne Millen

Central Geelong is doing it again! Get set for even more edgy art, interactive performances, spoken word, projections, illuminations, live music, soundscapes and exhibitions when Geelong After Dark returns on Friday 5 May.

From 6.00pm to 10.00pm the city’s laneways, streets and venues will be transformed for one very surprising night of extraordinary and unique art experiences.

Geelong After Dark has grown each year since its inception in 2014, with 15,000 people attending last year’s event and more than 270 artists participating.

This year’s Geelong After Dark will see a whopping 370 artists participating and more than 80 activities to discover throughout central Geelong.

The response from artists and groups wanting to participate in this year’s event has been mind-blowing.

This year’s theme is ‘The Sound of Light’ and the program will include a beautiful installation at City Hall which will bring Our Future – 30 Year Vision to life.

Children will be encouraged to join in The Amazing Arts Adventure, an interactive journey of discovery through central Geelong.

Another highlight will be The Storytelling Machine, an interactive media artwork that instantly transforms the public’s drawings into animated characters. Audiences are directly involved in the creative process and become part of a collective story in this unusual interactive technology experience.

We’ll share more highlights over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

Music & Theatre Guide to Geelong After Dark 2016

Welcome to Geelong After Dark - you lover of music and theatre! We have created a journey for you to take across the streets of Geelong on the evening of 6 May, where you'll encounter a wondrous array of eclectic and inspiring performances. Are you ready? 5, 6, 7, 8!

Click on the pictures for more information about each act!

Wendy Grose (6 - 6:15pm)

Begin your evening down on the foreshore at Sailor's Rest, with an act to get you in the mood for the rest of the evening. Wendy Grose, the internationally renown Geelong Soprano will be airing her vocal chords just for your ears from 6 - 6:15pm. It will be spine-tingling.

Viva (6-6:30pm)

After your ears have been warmed, take a short stroll down to the Geelong Performing Arts Centre foyer, where you will find the amazing act Viva (6-630pm). The women of the vocal group, along with special guests from "Acabellas Fellas" will welcome you with their gorgeous harmonic voices.

On the Air (7 - 7:25pm)

Then, head across to the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre at 7pm for the world premiere of On the Air (7pm-7:25pm) - a wacky radio murder mystery complete with 1940s costumes and stylings. Something different for your evening.

Havana Pavlava (7:15 - 7:45pm)

Next stop: the steps of City Hall. It's time to pull out those dance moves, because Havana Pavlava (7:15pm - 7:45pm) - the high energy street band will be pumping out everything from Latin to Ska style beats and grooves.

Of Longing and Belonging (7:40 - 8pm)

Down on Little Malop St (between Gheringhap and Moorabool Streets), you'll find a performance of Western Edge Youth Arts - Of Longing and Belonging (7:40 - 8pm). This show will weave sharp and surprising comedy with physical theatre, exploring ideas about local and glboal identify from the unique perspective of Geelong's youth. 

Alchemy 7 (8-8:20pm)

Stop off at the corner of Moorabool and Malop Streets for Alchemy 7 (8pm - 8:20pm) for a unique music, theatre and installation piece that will weave a woven copper dress, a light and soundscape with operatic arias. Curiouser and curiouser... 

Tide of Welcome Choir meet David Robertson Drummers

Onwards to Little Malop Street Central now, where The Tides of a Welcome Choir meet David Roberston Drummers (8:45 - 9:15pm). An awesome experience where layered African drumming and vocals entwine with raw personality and synergy. A rare act that will transport you to and from the netherworld. 

Stardust: The Col Brain Story (9-9:30pm)

Last, but certainly not least, take a quick step down to the Geelong Performing Arts Centre for the final performance of Stardust: The Col Brain Story (9pm - 9:30). An epic musical and theatrical journey through the belongings found in Geelong music legend Col Brain's wooden dresser. A captivating radio cabaret show from his grandson, broadcaster and musician, Joel Carnegie in collaboration with the Geelong West Brass Band, director Tom Molyneux and ABC RN (Radio National). 

Brilliant music will also be booming from the epic Waterfront Kitchen from 6:30pm onwards, with numerous acts taking over the stage including Sarah Carroll & George Wilson (6:30 - 7pm), The Von Robertsons (7:15 - 7:45pm) and Victoriana Gaye (8 - 8:30pm). So pop down at any time to catch your breath!