MPavilion 2019 program highlights revealed

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation today released highlights of the MPavilion 2019 program. MPavilion 2019, designed by Australia’s only Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Glenn Murcutt AO, will open to the public from 14 Nov 2019 to 22 Mar 2020. The season comprises over 400 free events, including talks, workshops, performances, kid-friendly experiences, community projects and installations, with an opening week of celebrations. This year the program is inspired by Glenn Murcutt’s highly influential fifty-year practice, and will explore Australian design and identity, cultural collaboration, earth and climate, and knowledge sharing.

Bringing together over 500 guests from across Australian and international cultures, MPavilion 2019 will feature Glenn Murcutt AO, the Archibald Prize, Indigenous architecture forum BLAKitecture, AsiaTOPA, Melbourne Music Week, Climate Emergency Cinema, Heide Museum of Modern Art, the School of Life, Chunky Move, Melbourne Design Week, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Koorie Heritage Trust, artist Beci Orpin, Tom & Captain Dog-Walking Adventures, Midsumma Festival, Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, Melbourne School of Design, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, green magazine and 3RRR.

Supporting Australian design, the Naomi Milgrom Foundation has also commissioned standout design collaborators for this season’s seating and uniforms. Internationally influential Melbourne designer Chris Connell in collaboration with grazia&co has designed a unique series of stools for use at MPavilion 2019; and nonprofit enterprise The Social Studio has designed this year’s staff uniform in collaboration with artist Beci Orpin. Each of these commissioned artists will appear in events through the season.

International guests include the Royal College of Art London engaging students from the City Design MA Programme; Grimshaw Architects, and the UK’s Eden Project CEO David Harland.

Naomi Milgrom AO, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, said: “Glenn Murcutt has led the way in Australian architecture for fifty years, opening us to conversations about the environment, our identity and cross-cultural collaboration. This year, our MPavilion program takes that legacy as its starting point, drawing together a huge range of voices and talents, from the well-established to the young and emerging.”

MPavilion 2019 architect Glenn Murcutt AO will appear and be honoured in a number of events throughout the season. On Sat 16 Nov, 3.30–4.30pm, Glenn will join MPavilion founder Naomi Milgrom AO and journalist Virginia Trioli in conversation; later that evening, 8–10pm, will be a screening of Catherine Hunter’s acclaimed documentary, Glenn Murcutt: Spirit of Place. Murcutt will appear in conversation with architect Shelley Penn at the Melbourne School of Design on Wed 13 Nov, 7–8pm. On Sat 23 Nov, 1–3pm, Murcutt Unbuilt VR Tour with architect Nick Sissons gives visitors a virtual reality exploration of unrealised Murcutt projects.

Highlight event series taking place at MPavilion across the 2019/20 season include Summer Sunsets every Friday evening from Fri 15 Nov, featuring DJ and live sets by Stargazed Records (for Melbourne Music Week), Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS), DJ Sara Savage, Signal Curators and more. MPavilion’s annual Indigenous design forum BLAKitecture returns for five timely discussions throughout the season, from Tue 19 Nov. The MPavilion Book Club will be curated and led each month by esteemed guests including Eugenia Lim of APHIDS and media outlet The Conversation. Sunrise Yoga Sessions takes place on select mornings in Dec and Jan, led by Happy Melon Yoga. Recording a special MPavilion podcast live on site each month from Wed 4 Dec, 3RRR presenters Lauren Taylor and Simon Winkler will interview guests from the world of design. And Melbourne’s most accessible meditation studio A—Space guides the free morning Know Life Meditation Club once a month from Wed 18 Dec, 7–8am.

Each month of the MPavilion 2019 season will explore a different theme inspired by the work of architect Glenn Murcutt AO.

November 2019 highlights—Australian Design: Identity & Cultural Collaboration

November at MPavilion explores and celebrates the many faces of Australia, with a spotlight on innovative and emerging Australian design.

The opening weekend of MPavilion 2019 welcomes an exciting line-up with a focus on Australian design, beginning on Thu 14 Nov, 6–9pm, with a performance by Yorta Yorta soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham AO followed by the RMIT Master of Fashion (Design) Graduate Showcase. On Fri 15 Nov, Melbourne Music Week opens the day with Sound Bath Session, 8–8.45am, and design press Assemble Papers launches its Future Legacies issue, 6–9pm. On Sat 16 Nov Deborah Cheetham returns with the Dhungala Children’s Choir, 2–3pm; the M_Curators will be on hand to answer love-at-first-sight questions about MPavilion 2019 during First Date with MPavilion, 10–11.30am; Swinburne University of Technology presents Smart Data as Part of Smart Cities, 10am–1pm, a design panel exploring the future of data use in Australian urban life; and Hope St Radio DJ Danny Hotep spins tunes, 5–7pm.

On Mon 18 Nov, 6.15–7.15pm, Melbourne nonprofit enterprise The Social Studio hosts Pathways to Potential, a discussion about creating opportunities for young people from refugee backgrounds. MPavilion hosts the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Design Awards on Wed 20 Nov in a private ceremony. On Thu 21 Nov, 6.15–7.15, Christopher Boots presents a special edition of its Design Thinkers series in which local designers discuss their practice. On Sat 23 Nov, 5–8pm (and again Sat 7 Mar) Music in Exile presents performances by migrant Australian musicians. Then on Tue 26 Nov, 6.15–7.15pm, architecture studio Edition Office considers the NGV contemporary gallery design competition with the panel Forever Now: On Designing a Home for Contemporary Art.

BLAKitecture: Cultural Protocols starts MPavilion’s monthly Indigenous architecture forum on Mon 25 Nov, 6.15–7.15pm. The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and Planning Institute Australia present two panel discussion in Nov: Indigenous Cultural Inclusion: How are we Engaging? on Fri 22 Nov, 1–2pm; and Housing: Belonging and Identity on Wed 27 Nov, 6.15–7.15pm. On Thu 28 Nov, 6.15–7.15pm, the popular Writing & Concepts series presents a talk by DJ Sezzo.

On Sat 30 Nov and Sun 1 Dec, the Archibald Weekend presented by ANZ and MPavilion invites the entire community to explore their creative side through the lens of the legendary Archibald Prize. Guest speakers include Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand, artist Lindy Lee and 2019 Archibald Prize winner Tony Costa. The weekend will also include life-drawing workshops with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, zine- making workshops with Liminal magazine, and kids’ drawing workshops with artist Alice Oehr.

December 2019 highlights—Connection: Instruments of Harmonious Living

December is all about making connections at MPavilion, beginning on Tue 3 Dec, 6.15–8.15pm, with All Our Lonely Days, featuring two panels on loneliness and social inclusion presented by Real Life and The Social Weaver Group. On Wed 11 Dec, 6.15–7.15pm, the School of Life presents A Night of Better Conversation: Connection, an open and relaxed discussion about meeting and making new friends in the modern age.

Sat 14 Dec is a whole day led and curated by young people who responded to MPavilion’s inaugural call to action for collaborators aged 15–25 years old. From 10.30am–1pm, interior designer Athiqah Ummi Salma leads I’m Drawing You, an interactive installation that aims to address metropolitan discrimination and surveillance via life drawing. From 1–3pm, the Urban Subversion panel and workshop explores guerrilla gardening, housing equality activism and other creative and subversive solutions to urban problems. Then from 4–6pm, the Signal Curators—a group of young people aged 16–25 who love art—present Set the Tone, a film night and discussion exploring South Sudanese Australian identity and community.

Experimental artist-led organisation APHIDS presents Easy Riders from Mon 2 to Tue 10 Dec, a collaborative project exploring the gig economy through the stories and experiences of ride-share app drivers. This major new performance work is a co-commission with MPavilion and the Australia Council and will encompass movement workshops with contemporary dance choreographer Natalie Cursio Mon 2 to Fri 6 Dec, 9am– 5pm; a DJ collaboration between musician Sui Zhen and ride-share driver on Fri 6 Dec, 6–9pm; and a panel discussion led by artist Eugenia Lim about rights in gig economy, On Work and Mobility, Tue 10 Dec, 6.15– 7.15pm.

Big Game with Heide Museum of Modern Art on Sun 15 Dec, 10am–1pm, invites visitors to co-design a giant game board to play on. On Tue 17 Dec, 6.15–7.15pm, MPavilion’s Indigenous design forum continues with BLAKitecture: Footscray Project.

For the third year running, MPavilion 2019’s program also includes a large number of events developed from a public callout for expressions of interest, reflecting MPavilion’s dedication to creating a free program accessible to the community. In 2019, over 100 expressions of interest were received.

MPavilion’s 2019 program team includes executive director Sam Redston, program manager Jen Zielinska, program producer Vinisha Mulani, and the M_Curators.

MPavilion is supported by principal partners City of Melbourne, the State Government of Victoria through Creative Victoria and Development Victoria, and ANZ.

January 2020 highlights—Unplugged: Energy Without Electricity

MPavilion 2019 explores the challenges of going off-grid in the month of January. People-powered by bicycles at MPavilion, Climate Emergency Cinema curated by the Little Projector Company happens over three nights on Tue 14, 21 and 28 Jan, from 8pm. green magazine takes over MPavilion from Fri 31 Jan to Sun 2 Feb, seeing a weekend of events presented by Australia’s leading publication on sustainable architecture and landscape design, celebrating off-grid living, design and permaculture.

The MKids series of events for the young and young at heart also heats up in January, featuring the recycled Loose Parts Playground on Fri 10 Jan, 10am–4pm; the Rock Academy’s performance showcase on Sat 11 Jan, 2–5pm; Sage Garden Workshops teaching gardening skills from Mon 13 – Thu 16 Jan, 10am–12pm; and artist Beci Orpin leading kids in nature-based creative workshops on Wed 22 and Thu 23 Jan, 10am–12pm.

February 2020 highlights—Earth: A Place of Reconciliation, a Reconciliation of Place

In February, the MPavilion program considers the ground beneath our feet—how it is used and shared—with a number of exciting first-time collaborations.

MRelay—Climate Crisis on Sat 8 Feb, 10am–12pm, is a fast-paced tag-team discussion featuring a diverse line-up of community leaders who will interrogate out-of-the-box ways to address climate change and participate in climate action. Royal College of Art London X MPavilion presents What is Home? from Tue 11 to Sun 16 Feb, with the internationally renowned college leading a week of workshops. Students from the RCA’s City Design MA Programme researching shared housing and the modern family will present workshops and panels on the future of housing in Australia and beyond. The Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts—or AsiaTOPA—settles into MPavilion for an action-packed month-long residency from Mon 17 Feb to Sun 15 Mar. Each day of the residency, talented and multidisciplinary guests from AsiaTOPA’s international roster of artists will give a lunchtime performance at MPavilion, from 1–2pm.

March 2020 highlights—Knowledge: Shared Learning, Shared Power

In March, MPavilion celebrates the teacher inside everyone with events filled with opportunities to learn and share. For International Women’s Day at MPavilion on Sun 8 Mar, MPavilion hosts an entire day dedicated to trading knowledge and sharing ideas to create change, featuring Real Life, AsiaTOPA and Footscray makers studio Fab9. AUSLAN presents Sign Language Essentials on Tue 10 Mar, 6.15–8.15pm (ages 16+), and Sun 15 Mar, 10am–12pm (ages 16 and under). On Sat 14 Mar, 10am–12pm, The Good Copy presents Grammar Time finds Melbourne’s beloved wordsmiths leading an engaging workshop on writing to the rules; and the School of Life presents Storytelling as Therapy on Wed 11 Mar, 6.15–7.15pm, a workshop on making sense of life through stories led by Dumbo Feather.

Nurturing the next generation of artists and event producers, MPavilion’s program features a number of events conceived and developed with the inaugural team of M_Curators. A new MPavilion initiative, the M_Curators (pronounced “Em-space-curators”) are a passionate group of arts practitioners guided by MPavilion’s production team to create events by and for young people. Events at MPavilion 2019 programmed by the M_Curators include the Zine-Making Workshop with Liminal Magazine on Sun 1 Dec, and MRelay—Climate Crisis on Sat 8 Feb.

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