HOW GEELONG AFTER DARK IS REDEFINING OUR CITY’S FOCUS ON CULTURE AND COMMUNITY
It has taken just six years for Geelong After Dark to become one of our region’s premier art and performance events. Since 2014, enthusiasts of all ages and from all backgrounds have been able to experience an evening in central Geelong like no other.
When Geelong After Dark 2019 lights up our streets, laneways and buildings again on Friday 3 May, it will be another chance for our clever and creative city to showcase established, emerging and student artists and performers.
What makes Geelong After Dark extra special, is that so many diverse people and organisations have come together to make it work.
This year, we are once again delighted to have the involvement and support of many great institutions such as the Geelong Performing Arts Centre, the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre, the City of Greater Geelong, WorkSafe, Geelong Art Gallery, Barwon Water, National Wool Museum and a wide array of cafes, shops and restaurants who’ll be participating on the night.
We asked some of those key players, what Geelong After Dark means for them and for Geelong.
For Deb Sansom, Executive Manager, Cultural Development & Community Engagement at Geelong Regional Library Corporation, it is her favourite night of the year.
“The city just pops with excitement. It is such an important part of the cultural offering at the Geelong Library & Heritage Centre. It is a night when our communities question, rethink and expand their relationship to the library space and to the broad range of cultural activities that public libraries offer. I love it.”
“GAD says everything about the Clever and Creative agenda. It illustrates (in the most fun way ever) that as a city we are adaptive and enterprising. GAD allows us all to become participant’s in our city’s future, where we can re-interpret where we live, collectively work out what we want to say about our unique cultural selling points and drive the changes we would like to see.”
The collaborative nature of Geelong After Dark is also appreciated by property developer Bill Votsaris who, himself, has been a leader in reinvigorating central Geelong:
“With Geelong After Dark the Council has been able to achieve participation from a broad spectrum of the community. They have achieved this by allowing art to be expressed without any boundaries.”
Kaz Paton, Arts and Culture Manager for the City of Greater Geelong, describes Geelong After Dark as one of the most exciting events in Geelong’s annual cultural calendar and a beacon for Geelong as it cements its place as a clever and creative community.
“It’s a wonderful way for people to rediscover Central Geelong, and reveal the city nightscape in new, original and creative ways. So much is transforming in and around Geelong, and our artists’ response to this year’s event theme of Heighten Your Senses will take audiences deeper than ever into an intimate experience of Geelong’s secrets, stories and spaces.”
“Our community’s vision for Greater Geelong to be recognised - regionally, nationally and internationally - as a clever and creative city-region is founded on a series of aspirations developed by the community. Geelong After Dark is a brilliant platform on which to artistically explore and express a number of those aspirations such as: our region’s arts and culture (of course!); tourism; economy and creative sector employment; our diverse environments; and digital access. Responding to these aspirations strengthens Geelong’s ability to be creative, connected, prosperous, sustainable and resilient, and designed for people.”
What will Geelong After Dark mean to you? Come along on Friday night to discover how it can illuminate your understanding and appreciation of our city’s heritage and culture.
