MPavilion 2018 unveils 400 free events

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation today unveiled highlights of the MPavilion 2018 program. MPavilion 2018, designed by renowned Barcelona-based architect Carme Pinós of Estudio Carme Pinós will open to the public from 9 October 2018 through 3 February 2019. The four-month program comprises over 400 free events taking the form of MTalks, MMeets, MMusic, MRelay, MProjects and MKids. This year the program has been curated responding to the ethos of Carme Pinós and focuses on design and building communities, fostering inclusivity, women in leadership, the architecture of education, and will feature talks, dance, performance, kids workshops and installations.

With over 500 collaborators, international guests include London’s former director of Tate art museums Sir Nicholas Serota CH, Hyphen-Labs NY, an international collective of women of colour working at the intersection of art, technology, science and design, and the UK’s Fixperts — a global community of social designers and makers. New this year is MPavilion’s inaugural Writer in Residence Maddee Clark, and Artist in Residence, local artist Esther Stewart. In addition MPavilion will play host to collaborators including Melbourne Festival, Indigenous architecture forum BLAKitecture, Bakehouse Studios, Chunky Move, Science Gallery, RMIT, State Library Victoria, Multicultural Arts Victoria, Melbourne Music Week, Melbourne Theatre Company, Liquid Architecture and Community Hubs Australia.

Naomi Milgrom AO, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation said: “Carme Pinós is a major influence on global architecture, creating spaces that place human experience and environment at the centre of her designs. Inspired by Carme’s design and philosophy, our program engages the city in vital conversations about what it means to be inclusive and community focused. I’m excited to present this year’s events — they explore the social impact of design yet create enjoyable access for all ages.”

Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said: “The Victorian Government has been a proud partner of MPavilion since it was founded in 2014. This year’s ambitious program showcases the important role design plays in our community. MPavilion engages audiences of all ages making an active contribution to Melbourne’s cultural and social life and to our reputation as the Creative State. We are proud to support MPavilion and look forward to another exceptional program of educational, inspirational and innovative ideas.”

MTALKS highlights

Launching the season of MTalks will be a series of events with this year’s architect on Tuesday 9 October at 12.15pm: Carme Pinós will join a panel discussion curated by Melbourne Festival titled ‘The land on which we stand’ — an exploration of country, levels of meaning, occupation and use of land, followed by a keynote lecture that evening at 6pm on her vision of architecture and urbanism at The University of Melbourne’s Melbourne School of Design.

Focusing on women in architecture, on Wednesday 10 October, Carme will join Melbourne architect Kerstin Thompson in a special Spring Salon hosted by Parlour. On Thursday 11 October Carme will appear for a final time with MPavilion founder Naomi Milgrom AO and ABC journalist and author Virginia Trioli in a conversation about design, leadership and this year’s MPavilion journey.

Headlining MPavilion’s MTalks series is an exclusive keynote on ‘The Art Museum in Flux’ on Friday 26 October by Sir Nicholas Serota CH. Best known for his transformative directorship of  Tate museums (1988–2017), Sir Nicholas is an outspoken advocate for art education and recently launched the Durham Commission for Creativity and Education to explore the benefits of creativity for young people across the UK.

Hear readings of new Australian dramatic works commissioned by the Melbourne Theatre Company and enjoy a discussion of the theatrical process with New York-based theatre director and writer Lila Neugebauer and celebrated Australian writer Benjamin Law, on Thursday 29 November, and 6 and 13 December.

Following on from the opening of The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial, join Natalie King in conversation with regional luminaries including Elia Nurvista (Indonesia) and Lyno Vuth (Cambodia) on Tuesday 27 November. Co-hosted by the Centre of Visual Art, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne and RMIT University —  they discuss the role of artistic collaboration and collectivity in the Asia Pacific region.

This year, MPavilion expands its Indigenous architecture forum BLAKitecture curated by Palawa woman and Director of Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria, Sarah Lynn Rees. The series will present five panels on Indigenous built environment, including ‘Women’s business’ on Monday 15 October, ‘Indigenising procurement’ on Monday 12 November, ‘Memorialisation’ on Monday 26 November, ‘Indigenising education’ on Monday 10 December, and ‘Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria Members Yarning Circle’ on Monday 21 January.

Science Gallery Melbourne presents ‘Perfectionism: Pressure to be perfect’ on Thursday 18 October—a discussion on perfectionism and precision making. On Saturday 20 October Assemble Papers presents ‘Living closer together: Symposium’—a day-long series of panel sessions exploring the intersection between the way we experience, design and plan for a lively and equitable city. On Sunday 4 November ‘Bee bread’ will be a joint discussion with beekeeper Nic Dowse and Californian baker Boris Portnay on honeybees and humans using the same food technologies.

ACMI presents ‘Unreal Spaces: World-building and video games’ on Wednesday 16 January— discussion on how our real-world spaces influence our imaginary worlds and the importance of seeing the world reflected in media. Australia’s acclaimed contemporary dance company Chunky Move presents ‘The body as architecture’ and ‘You’re only as good as your last work’ on Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 30 January.

MPROJECT highlights

Launched in the UK, Fixperts a creative social campaign that uses design to help people with everyday problems has spread globally, with thirty universities in 18 countries now engaged, contributing more than 400 social innovation projects. Coming to MPavilion 2018, this Fixperts MProject on Wednesdays 7 and 14 November, and Friday 21 December involves student designers and their tutors engaging with the local community to identify a person with a genuine problem with the potential for transformational impact. This intervention, conducted by RMIT’s School of Design in conjunction with MPavilion, is the first Fixperts project to be conducted in Australia and is led by Professor Ian de Vere, Associate Dean of Industrial Design, who has run similar projects in the UK and Hong Kong.

Also new this year is the inaugural Writer In Residence Maddee Clark and Artist in Residence Esther Stewart, who will explore the intersection between architecture, writing and art. In response to Carme’s concept and the MPavilion design, Esther will create a larger-than-life interactive installation to take over the pavilion from 24 December to 6 January. Esther will also be designing and producing a bespoke uniform for the MPavilion kiosk.

SensiLab Monash presents ‘Big Earth listening’ on Tuesday 9 October to Sunday 3 February. Part science experiment, part art project, MPavilion turns into an immersive listening and virtual reality experience.

With details soon to be released the Hyphen-Labs MProject is by an international team of women of color based in New York, London and Barcelona who work at the intersection of technology, art, science, and the future. Aiming to challenge conventions the project will place collective needs and experiences at the centre of evolving narratives.

MMUSIC highlights

MPavilion’s MMusic series of free shows, sets and workshops is presented in collaboration with local and international artists, DJs and innovators. Highlights include young Indigenous singersongwriter Alice Skye’s debut album, Friends With Feelings, alongside musical friends on Sunday 18 November; Melbourne Recital Centre open rehearsals including Arcadia Winds on Friday 19 October and Letter String Quartet on Wednesday 7 November. Hope St Radio DJs will broadcast live on Saturday 27 October and Saturday 2 February.

‘Friday Night Fiestas’ will be an ideal open-air hangout on warm spring and summer Friday evenings with an eclectic set of DJs including Triple R’s Annaliese Redlich and Noise in My Head’s Michael Kucyk.

Presented by Monash University Museum of Art with the Australian Art Orchestra a special Remembrance Day performance on the centenary of WWI, Sunday 11 November shares the stories of Australian families left to mourn lost children. A performance in collaboration with Multicultural Arts Victoria—‘Our Place, Our Home’ on Sunday 21 October will close Melbourne Festival and celebrate Australia’s newest arrivals from Congolese, Cuban and Oromo cultures making music in Victoria today.

La Buena Vida Social Club in collaboration with Monash Faculty of Arts will present Spanish music on Sunday afternoons 14 October, 11 November and 9 December (with sangria served by the Kiosk). On Thursday 11 October, Australian Music Vault will present a performance and inconversation with acclaimed Indigenous country musician Roger Knox.

Returning for 2018, Bakehouse Studios will give audiences a glimpse into the rehearsal process, with a line-up of emerging and established artists to be announced prior to each session. Secret rehearsal sessions include Saturday 13 October, Thursday 8 November, Sunday 2 December and Sunday 16 December, with more to be announced.

Mama Alto appears on Sunday 4 November while Bedroom Suck & Music in Exile on Fridays 23 November and 21 December, and Saturday 19 January.

Lunchtime talks during Melbourne Music Week 16 to 24 November will feature local musicians speaking out on themes affecting the arts and their lives. Liquid Architecture’s ‘Why listen to microbes’ is on Saturday 24 November and uses sound technology to delve into the intriguing sonic world of micro-organisms.

MRELAY highlights

MRelay occupies a new format this season, with four intensive tag-team discussions. Each session 11am–1.30pm will be hosted by a special guest and feature a line-up of esteemed speakers, with topics such as ‘Beyond diversity: Creating global cities’ on Saturday 27 October, ‘Abelism, Ageing and Architecture,’ on Saturday 10 November, ‘Wayfinding and Wellbeing’ on Saturday 8 December, and ‘The future is gender neutral design,’ on Saturday 2 February.

MRelay is presented by VicHealth this year and collaborates with The Period Project, Stanislava Pinchuk (Miso), Victoria Government Architect Jill Garner, Imam Nur (Australia’s first openly gay Imam), Arts Project Australia, Simona Castricum and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

MKIDS highlights

MKids welcomes The State Library of Victoria with pop-up storytime sessions for varied age groups on Thursday 25 October, Thursday 29 November and Thursday 31 January for 0-5 year olds, and on Tuesday 20 November and Tuesday 22 January for 5-8 year olds.

Victoria’s premier circus group, Westside Circus, presents workshops and performances for all ages and abilities from 7 – 12 January, followed by MKids Music Week’s program of performances, workshops, installations and relaxed gatherings from 14 – 20 January. On Saturday 19 January, kids of all musical abilities are invited to tinker and play with samplers, drum machines and keyboards overseen by Club Kids Music Academy, then Mi Gente (My People) Kids Day Party takes over on Sunday 20 January with an all-day Spanish Barrio party featuring lively music, activities and creative installations.

MMEETS highlights

Inviting visitors to explore the world through unexpected activities, MMeets line-up includes regular ‘dog walking adventures’ with Tom + Captain Dog Adventures on 13 October, 3 November, 8 December, 12 January and 2 February from 10am, regular morning yoga sessions for beginners to yogis with Happy Melon on 12, 19 and 26 October and 2 November, and A–SPACE guided meditations for beginners and to those with developed practice on Wednesday mornings, 24 October–12 December and then on 23 and 30 January.

Led by Melbourne’s renowned dance company Chunky Move, a series of contemporary dance and yoga workshops will take place on Saturday 13 October and 3 November, and Tuesday 23 and 30 October.

Melbourne Theatre Company will present a play reading on 29 November of Torch the Place by Benjamin Law, an in-conversation with Lila Neugebauer and MTC Literary Director Chris Mead on 6 December, and on 13 December a play reading of The Body by Dan Giovannoni.

Multicultural Arts Victoria kicks off its dynamic program on 30 November for Mapping Melbourne 2018—a series of multi-art form events celebrating Asian-Australian identities.

With this year’s theme of ‘bioluminescence’, lighting designer Christopher Boots celebrates Halloween with an immersive all-ages party; costumes encouraged — ‘Christopher Boots Halloween Ball Episode VII’ with live performers and DJs will take place on Saturday 27 October.

Inspired by Carme’s origami-like MPavilion design, ‘Rambla de Melbourne’ takes place on Sundays 21 October, 4 November and 9 December. Led by designer Vicky Featherston Tu, this workshop imagines a pedestrian-only city and creates paper city models using origami and intersection techniques.

Celebrating a year of marriage equality, ‘One year of YES celebration’ with JOY 94.9 radio will take place on Saturday 17 November — designed for all ages and soundtracked by some of the city’s best queer DJs and live music.

‘Side project lessons: How to start and sustain your creative project’ with Madeleine Dore from Extraordinary routines appears on Saturday 15 December and on Sunday 13 January, Heide Museum of Modern Art presents ‘Mirka Mora — an inspired doll workshop’.

Student takeovers, MRITUALS and more

Inspiring the next generation of architects and designers, MPavilion’s program features a series of events hosted with Melbourne’s universities, including ‘Interiorizt experiments’ by RMIT Interior Design on Friday 12 October, an event where MPavilion will become a temporary experimental design classroom, and FIX 002 by VCA on Monday 22 October. The popular RMIT Master of Design Fashion Show will return on Thursday 15 November.

Every morning and evening at twilight during MPavilion’s four-month program, an MRitual will be staged by sound artist Lisa Greenaway, drawing upon recordings of the natural urban rhythms and music of the Queen Victoria Gardens. MRitual will be available on an app 24/7 as well as putting the building to sleep every night.

Embracing community and design, MPavilion introduces its ‘Community Library’ for readers of all ages. A special MPavilion print issue of the design publication Assemble Papers will be available on-site and at selected design spaces throughout the season.

MPavilion’s 2018 program team includes executive director Sam Redston, program manager Jen Zielinska, program coordinator Vinisha Mulani, program consultant Sarah Lynn Rees, and operations manager Etta Curry.

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

For further information including program times, please visit mpavilion.org