Manifesto of Silences at Arts House – North Melbourne Town Hall

The world premiere of Manifesto of Silences by Irene Holub pushes opera beyond spoken language by using Auslan poetry, light, projection and sound. Six Deaf artists - Walter Kadiki, Luke King, Anna Seymour, Ramas McRae, Maya Sandon and Franco Spadea - communicate through Auslan, visual vernacular and physical performance, with no captions, voiceovers or interpreters within the performance itself. Presented by Arts House and Melbourne Fringe, the work explores what opera can become when created from a Deaf perspective accessible to both sign language users and non-signers. The 60-minute performance runs with no interval and follows a sold-out development season in 2025.