Melbourne’s epic new winter festival is poised to swallow yet another standalone event as the Arts Centre’s biennial Supersense is brought under its banner.
The 2019 Supersense: Festival of the Ecstatic, which includes international theatre heavyweight Robert Wilson performing John Cage’s Lecture On Nothing in its Australian premiere, will take place on the final weekend of August and be included in the White Night Reimagined program.
Sophia Brous.Credit:Eddie Jim
Scheduled for the same weekend, the transitional White Night event extends the event's original one-night format to three nights but no longer burns the candle until 7am. From 2020 it will then be amalgamated with the Melbourne International Arts Festival into one big winter festival that is yet to be named.
An Arts Centre spokesperson said in addition to the third Supersense program launched on Friday, another Supersense event would be revealed in the White Night Reimagined line-up when that is announced in late June.
Visit Victoria has not outlined the extent to which Supersense will be integrated into its winter extravaganza going forward, with the Arts Centre event currently biennial and the winter festival expected to be annual.
A Visit Victoria spokesperson said Supersense attendees would this year be able to "experience the best of live performance, before being able to make their way through a myriad of unique creative experiences across three distinct precincts and Melbourne’s iconic cultural institutions" at White Night Reimagined.
Critics have widely praised Supersense for delivering live music and innovative performance in unexpected ways in the backstage areas of Melbourne’s flagship arts venue.
Speaking with The Age Spectrum editor Lindy Percival, Supersense artistic director Sophia Brous said she was "really excited" about the opportunity to partner with White Night.
"I always wanted Supersense to be seen by as many people as possible so a mass, free, public event gives great potential for creating something really impactful," she said.
Organisers have stressed the new winter arts festival will strike a balance between the "high" culture traditionally exhibited at arts festivals and the mass appeal of White Night, which attracts hundreds of thousands of punters each year.
"I don’t buy into the idea of mainstream versus experimental," Ms Brous said, however.
"I think we are all children who are curious and want to hear many different things.’’
Aside from Robert Wilson's homage to John Cage, this year's Supersense line-up includes The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Californian musician John Maus, Iranian tombak master Mohammad Resa Mortazavi, Canadian sound artist Crys Cole and New Zealanders Aldous Harding and Marlon Williams, the latter performing with Australia's Impossible Orchestra.
Melbourne International Arts Festival will have its final standalone run in October, less than two weeks after White Night Reimagined, with outgoing artistic director Jonathan Holloway's final program to be announced in July.
A new artistic director and creative team to helm the blockbuster winter festival from 2020 are also expected to be announced soon.
Supersense: Festival of the Ecstatic is at Arts Centre Melbourne, August 23-25. Tickets on sale from 10am Monday at artscentremelbourne.com.au/supersense.
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