Arts House is Wide Awake in 2017

With 30 works across three festivals, an international Company in Residence and a program involving over 100 artists, Arts House 2017 Season 1 cements Arts House's position as Melbourne's home of innovative and experimental performance.

From hip hop to flocking; sustainable development to dark ecology; post-disaster investigations and interactive bondage, Arts House Season 1 will captivate, provoke and connect audiences to the world, and each other.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said Arts House holds a pivotal place in Melbourne's arts landscape.
"The City of Melbourne is committed to nurturing the cultural lifeblood of the city by supporting Arts House: an incubator for independent artists and emerging arts practices," said the Lord Mayor.

Arts House Artistic Director Angharad Wynne-Jones said International Artists will join Australian and First Nations artists in an electrifying program of works over three ambitious festivals - Asia TOPA, Dance Massive and Yirramboi.

"Season 1 at Arts House is a series of works by artists and companies who are fearlessly investigating the conditions in which we live. These artists bring their imaginations and talents to create art that will connect us, challenge us, inspire us and engage us," said Wynne-Jones.

Next year, as part of Asia TOPA, Arts House welcomes Japanese docu-performance mavericks Hamanaka Company and Toshiki Okada's chelfitsch, with two works that investigate post-disaster; and dance provocateurs Daniel Kok (Singapore) and Melbourne's Luke George bring their work Bunny, an interactive performance with technicoloured rope.

For the March dance series, hip-hop artist Nick Power has teamed up Cambodia's Tiny Toones for Between Tiny Cities; Australian/Maori performer Victoria Hunt presents a richly detailed, large-scale work exploring mythology, cosmology and traditional wisdom in Tangi Wai... the cry of water; and transmedia artist Shian Law brings Vanishing Point, a living document of his experience in three choreographic works.

Things keep moving with choreographer James Batchelor and his newest work Deepspace; Rebecca Jensen will move away from the mainland, past the beach and into the abyss with Deep Sea Dances; and Bundjalung/Yaegl artist Mariaa Randall presents the premiere of Divercity, a playful and multi-layered exploration of place, people, landscapes and language.
Lucy Guerin Inc's new work Split sees two dancers negotiate ever-diminishing dimensions; Lz Dunn offers an exploration of bird flocking and queer ecology with Aeon; Gold Coast based The Farm re-enact The Office television series with Cockfight; and Nat Cursio learns to skateboard in Tiny Slopes.

During May, Yup'ik artist Emily Johnson (Alaska), Wiradjuri writer Hannah Donnelly, and Worimi filmmaker and storyteller Genevieve Grieves take over Arts House as part of Yirramboi - a celebration of First Nations artists from Australia and afar.
To round off a jam-packed season, Bristol's live-art performance duo Action Hero are the Arts House Company in Residence, presenting three works never seen before in Australia.
Wynne-Jones said that bubbling below the surface during Season 1 at Arts House is a whole range of works in development.

"We are hosting Water Futures, a three-day hackathon with artists and scientists from across the Asia Pacific; there is our ongoing artist-led response to climate change, Refuge; the 2nd Indigenous Choreographic Residency; our research and development incubator CultureLAB; and 4 Walls, an initiative offering access to much-needed rehearsal spaces," said Wynne-Jones.

Tickets to Arts House 2017 Season 1 are on sale now.

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