Info Pack

FOXTEL FESTIVAL HUB
Thu 11 – Sat 27 Oct, 7am til late
Under Princes Bridge,
on the banks of the Yarra River
Bookings
Ticketmaster 136 100
melbournefestival.com.au/hub
Welcome to the Hub
It’s been an absolute pleasure working with our great friends at
Strut & Fret to realize this Foxtel Festival Hub – a stand‑alone,
self‑created pop-up venue which is the first of its kind in Melbourne
Festival’s history.
With a roster of outstanding talent (from Paul Capsis, Boy George and
acrobat troupe Circa to country/blues diva Lanie Lane, robotronic
band The Trons and a surreal Andy Warhol presiding cinematically),
the Foxtel Festival Hub is guaranteed to be not only a venue of
outstanding entertainment but also, and more importantly,
Melbourne’s vibrant, ephemeral ‘gathering place’ for daytime, pre- or
post- show meals, drinks and festival chat.
Geographically and philosophically this is the accessible, welcoming
and surprising beating heart of your 2012 Festival – use it as your
home base and meeting place, and enjoy.
All tickets are general admission – no further
discounts are applicable, seating is
not guaranteed.
Entry to the Hub is restricted to persons over the
age of 18 or persons under the age of 18 who are
accompanied by a parent or guardian, or who have
purchased a ticket to an event on that day.
Some events may contain haze effects.
Program details are correct at time of printing but are
subject to change; please check the Festival website for
current information.
Wheelchair accessible
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Presented by Melbourne Festival
Produced by Strut & Fret Production House
your festival
destination
Brett Sheehy AO
Artistic Director
This year Melbourne Festival is proud to collaborate with
internationally renowned festival producers Strut & Fret
Production House to create the dazzling new Foxtel Festival
Hub: a custom-designed bar, club and hub – a performance
space and dining destination at the centre of the Festival
precinct.
As each day unfurls, the Foxtel Festival Hub transforms
from relaxed daytime café to chic preshow meeting place to
night-time entertainment spectacular, with special guest
DJs keeping the dancefloor moving from 10pm until the
early morn.
Featuring a roster of cabaret, music, theatre, comedy
and circus exclusively curated by Strut & Fret, the Foxtel
Festival Hub will, for 17 delirious days, become the beating
heart of Melbourne’s festival life: an extravaganza of
performance, art, dining, drinking and dancing, where
you never know quite what – or who – you’ll encounter.
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HUB DESIGN
Custom designed from the ground up for
this year’s Melbourne Festival, the Foxtel
Festival Hub is the glittering centrepiece
to October’s cavalcade of international
arts events.
An explosion of colour on the banks of the
Yarra, this majestic three-level structure
features an intimate bar, an outdoor woodfired kitchen, a boutique performance
space modelled on classical European
balconied theatres and an open-air rooftop
terrace, graced with spectacular views of the
Melbourne skyline and gardens.
Architecturally designed and constructed
from a medley of ‘scavenged’ materials –
corrugated iron, polycarbon and modularstyle gantries – the pop-up Hub is a new,
shimmering destination on the Melbourne
landscape: a fleeting springtime utopia where
artists and audiences alike can mingle, unwind
and cut loose.
EPULO – HUB KITCHEN
Epulo /e•pu• lo/ Latin; sumptuous food, banquet, feast
The Foxtel Festival Hub is more than just an intoxicating art and performance space. It is also home
for 17 days to Epulo, a spectacular pop-up cafe and restaurant with a sumptuous menu crafted by
chef Jason Jones, co-founder of Melbourne’s beloved Mamasita eatery.
Boasting a cuisine inspired by an international blend of Asian and Mediterranean influences,
prepared daily from fresh market produce, the Hub eatery is a bold new undertaking – an
ephemeral quality dining experience, set to vanish into the ether at the Festival’s conclusion.
Open every day of the Festival for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and providing all-day coffee and
free wi-fi to the Festival-going masses, Epulo is set to take its place as the nourishing heart of
this year’s Festival experience.
Yering Station,
the definitive Yarra Valley experience.
Proudly supporting Melbourne Festival 2012.
Guess who is moving into the great outdoors? Breathe life into
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your outdoor space this summer with the new range of outdoor
Open Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat-Sun & Public Holidays 10am-6pm
furniture from IKEA. Get a sneak peak of the new IKEA Outdoor
38 Melba Highway, PO Box 390, Yarra Glen VIC 3775 T +61 3 9730 0100 F +61 3 9739 0135
range throughout the Foxtel Festival Hub during October.
www.yering.com
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Life, Art and Leigh Bowery:
In Conversation with Boy George (International)
Boy George joins Australian cabaret star Paul Capsis and operatic diva Le Gateau Chocolat
(LA SOIRÉE) for an intimate tribute to an avant garde 80s icon, Leigh Bowery.
A performance artist, fashion designer and club promoter, this Australian expat was
at the centre of a new pansexual brand of expression that influenced generations of
London and New York artists, from Vivienne Westwood and Michael Clark to Antony
(Antony and the Johnsons).
Boy George himself recorded a 1995 tribute to Bowery, ‘Satan’s Butterfly Ball’, after the
influential artist’s tragic death. Here he revisits the echoes and remembrances of this
beloved and inspiring figure, in a unique testimonial to a true icon.
Sat 13 Oct at 5pm, $25
Boy George (DJ set)
with Marc Vedo (UK)
Setting the tone for two weeks of revelry in the Foxtel Festival Hub, iconic 80s poster
boy and Culture Club frontman Boy George jets in to lay down a blistering DJ set
alongside his gifted collaborator, Marc Vedo.
A rising star on the international DJ scene, having played festivals across Europe and
the US, Vedo has now turned his considerable talents to music production, forming the
label VG Records with Boy George.
Together these phenomenal DJ talents are set to elevate the Hub with an unforgettable
evening of blissed-out, exultant, dance-ready anthems.
Fri 12 Oct at 10pm, $35
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The Renovators (Australia)
A wild musical throwdown that channels the untamed energy of the sublime
Eddie Perfect, members of Aussie hip-hop darlings Hermitude and the much
acclaimed band from Keating! The Musical.
Boldly going where no one thought to go before, this new musical supergroup mix their
own songs with improvised takes on the best and most unexpected moments from
the past few decades of pop music, from Rihanna to AC/DC to Amy Winehouse – and
anything else you might care to request.
Spontaneous, creative and wildly entertaining, The Renovators will have you on your feet
from the word go.
Sun 14 & Mon 15 Oct at 8pm, $30
Circa – Wunderacts (Australia)
Circus, cabaret, vaudeville and dance collide in Wunderacts, the breathtaking new
show from world-renowned Australian contemporary circus company Circa.
Fresh from eight months in Berlin and opening the Montreal International Circus
Festival, Circa home with a new work made from a selection of the beautiful, the strange,
the sexy and the seemingly impossible.
Prepare your senses for a dazzling, overwhelming ride as these seven performers mould and
contort a dizzying new reality where bodies flow like water, gravity seems to fail and nothing
is as it first appears.
Fri 19 – Mon 22 Oct at 8pm, Sat 20 & Sun 21 Oct at 2pm, $45
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Brous (Australia)
Returning from a sold-out European tour with Jens
Lekman, Melbourne pop songstress Sophia Brous
joins the Hub line-up for a long-awaited hometown
show. Blending a mesmerising palate of 60s film
soundtracks, shimmering psychedelia and industrial
lounge, all crowned by a magnetic, powerhouse voice,
Brous concocts a new, thoroughly original sound.
Thu 11 Oct at 8pm, $30
Capsis October Show (Australia)
Famed across Australia for his stunning vocal
dexterity and his exotic, androgynous stage persona,
cabaret star Paul Capsis joins Melbourne Festival
to perform the legendary rock that inspires him.
Escorting us on a hypnotic musical voyage, Capsis
and his four‑piece band tour the songs of The Beatles,
Patti Smith, Prince, Lou Reed, The Eurythmics,
Amy Winehouse, and many more.
Fri 12 Oct at 8pm, $40
Andy X (Australia)
Jim Sharman, the legendary and elusive director of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, makes
his long awaited return to the world of cinema with Andy X – a beguiling, intoxicating and
hallucinatory musical about the life and legacy of Andy Warhol.
Bringing his decades of experience in theatre and opera to bear on this most enigmatic of
figures, Sharman has melded verse, song, dreamlike imagery, garish cabaret, installation art
and a searing hypercolour film stock into one of the boldest, most distinctive filmic portraits
of recent memory. Stick around after the screening to meet the cast and Jim Sharman himself
as they talk about the experience of creating an Andy Warhol like no other.
Tue 16 & Wed 17 Oct at 8pm, $25
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Blood and Bone
by Antony Hamilton (Australia)
One of Australia’s leading choreographers and dancers,
Antony Hamilton (Lucy Guerin Inc., Chunky Move), has
assembled a selection of his closest friends to improvise a
ramshackle assortment of twisted, malformed scenarios.
A shared interest in code, ritual, and rhythm, will colour
the performance with an unmistakable carelessness for
what is considered to be good, well crafted and tasteful.
Sat 13 Oct at 8pm, $35
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Sxip Shirey – Impossible
Music from NEW YORK (USA)
The Australian debut of New York composer/
performer/sound designer Sxip Shirey promises
ecstatic melody, irreverent electric-acoustic noise and
playful, sexy beats. Boasting iron-clad performance
chops, Shirey rips through the extended possibilities
of found sounds, human beat boxing and a curious
array of instrumentation.
Lanie Lane (Australia)
Channelling the sultry sounds of a bygone era,
Lanie Lane brews up a beguiling mixture of 50s
rock’n’roll, blues and jazz with that mesmerising,
smoky voice. After romancing festival crowds across
the country, and pausing to cut some tracks with
the legendary Jack White, she joins us at Melbourne
Festival for an intimate, incandescent performance.
Thu 25 Oct at 8pm, $35
Thu 18 Oct at 8pm, $35
Okidok presents
Slips Inside (Belgium)
Project Jenny,
Project Jan (USA)
Fresh from a run of acclaimed performances at Avignon
Festival, Belgian clowning duo Okidok present their
latest piece of inspired madness for Melbourne audiences.
Like two cartoon characters sprung to life, Xavier and
Benoît compete to outdo each other in ridiculous feats
of acrobatics and outlandishness, presenting a riotous
evening of ludicrous physical comedy.
Straight out of New York, this two-man outfit
takes the ‘laptop rock’ phenomenon to the next
level, delivering infectious electro pop tunes shot
through with chunky basslines and dance-ready
beats. Still riding high on the release of their
2011 album Home Sweet Home, the Brooklyn duo
visit our shores for the first time to ply their
irresistible brand of synth-pop.
Tue 23, Wed 24 & Fri 26 Oct at 8pm, Thu 25 Oct at 2pm, $35
Sat 27 Oct at 8pm, $35
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FOXTEL FESTIVAL HUB – PLANNER
12pm
1pm
Thu 11 Oct
Ringside: The Aestheitcs
of Alienation
Fri 12 Oct
Ringside:
The New Opera
2pm
3pm
Hubbabaloo
Sat 13 Oct
Life, Art and Leigh Bowery
Simone Page Jones
& Miles O’Neil
Sun 14 Oct
Ringside:
William Forsythe
Mon 15 Oct
Tue 16 Oct
Wed 17 Oct
Ringside: Akram Khan
Thu 18 Oct
Fri 19 Oct
Ringside: Billy Bragg
Sat 20 Oct
Circa presents
Wunderacts
Sun 21 Oct
Circa presents
Wunderacts
Mon 22 Oct
Tue 23 Oct
Ringside: Text of Light
Wed 24 Oct
The Trons
Thu 25 Oct
The Trons
Ringside:
European Theatre
Fri 26 Oct
The Trons
Ringside: State of Art
Sat 27 Oct
The Trons
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5pm
Okidok presents
Slips Inside
Simone Page Jones
& Miles O’Neil
8pm – 9pm
9:15pm
10pm
Brous
DJ Rashida
Capsis October Show
Boy George (DJ set)
with Marc Vedo
Blood and Bone
by Antony Hamilton
Spender
The Renovators
Smoking Toddlers
The Renovators
Uncle Barnie
Andy X
Wolfwolf
Andy X
grobak Padi
Flap!
Sxip Shirey – Impossible
Music from New York City
grobak Padi
Wikimen present
10pm Swing
Circa presents Wunderacts
grobak Padi
Darth Vegas
Circa presents Wunderacts
grobak Padi
Bombay Royale
Circa presents Wunderacts
grobak Padi
Club Soirée
Circa presents Wunderacts
Monday Night Mash Up
Okidok presents
Slips Inside
Going Swimming
Okidok presents
Slips Inside
Wikimen present
10pm Swing
Lanie Lane
Hecho Pecho
Okidok pressents
Slips Inside
Sampology
Project Jenny, Project Jan
Closing Night Party
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Hubbabaloo
Opening Night Party
Spender (Australia)
Melbourne outfit Spender takes to the stage
wielding finely crafted indie pop that pays homage
to the pop greats, conjuring shades of David Byrne
and ELO even as they create a sound all their own.
Weaving together smooth, jazz-influenced melodies
and 60s rhythms, Spender delivers a kaleidoscope of
pop revelry with an irresistible nocturnal groove.
This white-hot inauguration sets the scene for two-anda-bit weeks of unbridled Hub revelry, staging a wanton
evening of celebration to make the city sit up and take
notice. Come explore this spectacular structure and
all the treasures it holds within, in a special opening
celebration showcasing Melbourne’s finest live bands
in Melbourne’s newest pop-up venue.
Sat 13 Oct at 10pm, Free
Thu 11 Oct at 5pm, Free
DJ
Rashida (USA)
Kicking off the Festival’s party spot this
year is acclaimed Los Angeles DJ and
celeb fashionista DJ Rashida, bringing
her sensational smooth fusion of hip hop,
funk, soul, dancehall, rock and house. One
of the world’s most sought-after DJs, Rashida
has opened for a plethora of major artists
(including Cee-Lo, Kanye West and Prince),
and headlined festivals across the globe.
Thu 11 Oct at 10pm, Free
Simone Page Jones
& Miles O’Neil (Australia)
Operatic bombshell Simone Page Jones
(The LoveBirds) and multi-instrumentalist Miles
O’Neil (Suitcase Royale) pare it all back to bare
indie roots with sweet and lonesome duets,
old country heartbreakers, and original songs
backed by sparse, soulful guitar and banjo
pluckin’. Just a little country, straight from
the heart.
Sun 14 & Sun 21 Oct at 3pm,
Free
Smoking
Toddlers (Australia)
Shameless and relentless, veteran indie DJs
Smoking Toddlers crank up the dance floor with
their signature demented mix of electro swing
disco and mashed-up, feel-good old-school
madness, dialed all the way up. Bring some
sturdy shoes.
Sun 14 Oct at 10pm, Free
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Uncle Barnie
(New Zealand)
Irrepressible Kiwi DJ and radio
host Uncle Barnie has lugged his
crates halfway across the world,
smashing Berlin, Edinburgh, Ibiza,
Barcelona, London and New York with
his exuberant sets: a fearless, footloose
mix of Argentinean electro-cumbia,
afrobeat, soca, funk, soul, early New York
new wave, electro (the old kind), 80s hip
hop and Thai garage rock.
Flap! (Australia)
Straight from their ‘A Great Day For The Race’
European tour, Melbourne outfit Flap! crank
out gutsy, joyous, earthy, foot-stompin’ tunes.
Shamelessly flirting with 20s jazz, gypsy
brass, swing, English folk, calypso and pop
melodrama, this irresistibly energetic band
has a talent for bringing audiences up and
houses down.
Wed 17 Oct at 10pm, Free
Mon 15 Oct at 10pm, Free
The Wikimen
present 10pm Swing (Australia)
grobak Padi
(Australia/Indonesia)
Swinging quartet The Wikimen bring their laidback jazz and fresh lounge stylings to old-timey
classic tunes, fusing sweet vocal harmonies with
transpacific serenades of ukulele, double bass,
vibrophone and drums. A discerning selection of
Hawaiian hula swing to knock you off your beach
towel and straight back to the Daiquiri Age.
Manifesting a little piece of Java in the
heart of Melbourne, a delegation of roving
food carts from Indonesia will descend upon
the Hub to serve up an outdoor performance
of dance and multimedia, transforming
the space through the imagery, sound and
movement of Indonesian life.
Thu 18 & Wed 24 Oct at 10pm, Free
Wed 17 – Sun 21 Oct at 9.15pm, Free
Wolfwolf
(Australia)
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Darth Vegas (Australia)
Originally a classically trained multiinstrumentalist – later turntablist, master
masher of mixtapes and album producer under
various aliases – the funkaphonic Wolfwolf
cuts a debonair figure in custom leather wolf
mask and full dinner attire, whipping up an
intoxicating confection of futuristic 80s funk
and electro-magnetic love makin’ anthems.
Fresh from their album Brainwashing for Dirty
Minds, ‘mutant soundtrack ensemble’ Darth Vegas
kickstart the zombie apocalypse with an A-grade
medley of B-grade cult sensibilities. Part alien
freakshow, part heaving house of musical horrors,
this Sydney 7-piece deliver a virtuoso onslaught
of surf-pop, schlock 50s sci-fi, jazzy swing, black
metal and more. Inconceivably riotous.
Tue 16 Oct at 10pm, Free
Fri 19 Oct at 10pm, Free
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Bombay Royale (Australia)
The Trons
(New Zealand)
Inspired by the 60s and 70s golden age
of Bollywood, funk orchestra Bombay
Royale teases and bewitches Festivalgoers with over-the-top cinematic surf
riffs, wild disco licks and sly nods to
vintage Bollywood. A fantastic, surreal
spectacle of colour, sound and costume
that promises to be utterly unique and
irresistibly danceable.
The rise of the machines has begun – not with
Skynet, but with a four-piece robot band from
New Zealand, built from Meccano pieces and parts
scavenged from old printers and vending machines.
Eschewing electronics for a gritty analog DIY
sound, these automatons have already subjugated
the humans of Europe with their mechanised low-fi
guitar rock. New target acquired: Melbourne.
Wed 24 – Sat 27 Oct at 12pm, Free
Sat 20 Oct at 10pm, Free
Club Soirée
(International)
Ever wonder what happens after a LA SOIRÉE
show? Join the international cast of acrobats,
troubadours, miscreants and misfits for an
uninhibited post-show party where anything
goes. Bizarre and astounding, this ever-revolving
rogue’s gallery of artists presents a late night
salon of intimate musical cabaret and twisted
vaudeville antics.
Going
Swimming (Australia)
Wax up your longboard, pack a towel and head inland
for the coastal rock of Going Swimming. A brash
Melbourne foursome, these surly scallywags of surf
punk take the sounds of 60s California surf, mix in
a garage rock aesthetic and give it a distinctly Down
Under twist.
Tue 23 Oct at 10pm, Free
Sun 21 Oct at 10pm, Free
Hecho Pecho
(Australia)
Monday
Mash Up (International)
Join us for a Melbourne Festival mystery
dip, as a secret selection of local and
international artists from the Festival
program band together, taking control of
the Hub for the night in a mind-blowing
musical coup d’état.
Mon 22 Oct at 10pm, Free
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On excursion out of Adelaide, the raucous Toot
Whistle Crew present a debaucherous night
of entertainment: an international musical
cornucopia spanning infectious gypsy rhythms,
Balkan beats, hip hop, samba, mambo and tango.
Kiss your footwear goodbye as this miscreant band
of gypsy troubadours do their best to obliterate the
Hub dance floor.
Thu 25 Oct at 10pm, Free
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Liu Zhuoquan – Where Are You?
Sampology (DJ set)
(Australia)
The wondrous surrounds of the Foxtel Festival Hub not only plays host to an exceptional line-up
of music and performers – it’s also the setting for a startling exhibition from renowned Chinese
artist Liu Zhouquan.
One of the great unsung heroes of the
Australian music scene, turntable and
audiovisual artist Sampology is man pushing
at the frontiers of DJing – relentlessly playful,
tenaciously inventive. Having recently
dropped his debut album Doomsday Deluxe,
this internationally acclaimed artist brings
his freakish turntable skills to Melbourne
Festival, before heading onwards to an
apocalyptic global tour.
Having spent years mastering the art of neihua, a Chinese tradition in which the inside of tiny
snuff bottles are painstakingly painted with intricate images, Liu has taken this folk art in
a whole new direction. Collecting discarded bottles of all shapes and sizes, he has decorated
their interiors with a breathtaking miscellany: everyday objects, dissected organs and tiny
creatures, all ‘trapped’ behind glass.
These individual worlds have been brought together to form a kind of wunderkammer
within the outlandish Hub habitat.
Fri 26 Oct at 10pm, Free
Closing
Night Celebration
There’s only one way this can end: with a
stand-up, knockout, epic Closing Night event.
With live performances, blistering DJ sets and
a raft of special guests to launch the party into
the stratosphere, this night will be a spectacular
coup de grâce to an extraordinary Festival run.
Sat 27 Oct at 10pm, Free
EVAN EVANS ADVERT
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government & corporate support
Principal Public Partner
Public Partner
Sponsors
Principal Partner
Principal Media Partners
Government Partners
Corporate Membership
Active Lighting
Broadsheet Media
Element Rigging
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Haycom AV
Intuitive Solutions
Optical Audio
Outware Mobile
Whitemoss Florists
Wordplay Copywriting
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RINGSIDE: ARTISTS
IN CONVERSATION
WHERE WE ARE
Melbourne Festival artists share their
experiences and approaches to creating art
in this year’s Ringside talks. This no-holdsbarred forum presents a unique opportunity
for audiences to witness some of the globe’s
premier talents sparring on ideas and creativity,
creating a vigorous space to foster a visceral
discussion of art.
Under Princes Bridge,
on the banks of the Yarra River
melbournefestival.com.au/ringside
S
DER
melbournefestival.com.au/hub
FLIN
Thu 11 Oct at 1pm
The Aesthetics of Alienation
Gregory Crewdson (In a Lonely Place)
STR
E ET
FED SQUARE
FLINDERS
STREET STATION
Fri 12 Oct at 1pm
The New Opera: a Contemporary Approach to a Classical
Form
Michel van der Aa and Wouter Padberg (After Life)
YARRA RIVER
ES
NC
P R I I D GE
BR
Mon 15 Oct at 1pm
In Conversation with William Forsythe
William Forsythe (I don’t believe in outer space)
Wed 17 Oct at 1pm
In Conversation with Akram Khan (DESH)
Fri 19 Oct at 1pm
Pop and Politics
Billy Bragg
TRAIL
CAPTIAL CITY
ENTRANCE
Tue 23 Oct at 1pm
The Text of Light group
UT
HG
HAMER HALL
AT
E
AV
E
NU
E
DA
KIL
RD
Thu 25 Oct at 1pm
The European Theatre
Thomas Ostermeier (An Enemy of the People) & Kristof Blom
(Before Your Very Eyes)
VE
BOATHOUSE DRI
SO
ST
LIFT &
WHEELCHAIR
ACCESS
Fri 26 Oct at 1pm
State of Art
Brett Sheehy and Josephine Ridge (Melbourne Festival)
ST
D
KIL
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Image: Courtesy the Arts Centre, Melbourne.
Bringing together the
world’s best in arts
and entertainment.
A love for the arts has been a long tradition
at Foxtel and we are proud of our continued
support of Melbourne Festival. We are
passionately committed to showcasing the
best in entertainment and bringing these
important works to a wider audience.
For more information call 131 787
or visit foxtel.com.au
FOX0370/01