The massive undertaking is led by the Melbourne Recital Centre in collaboration with Arts Centre Melbourne, ABC, Australian Centre for Contemporary Arts, Chunky Move, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet and the Victorian College of the Arts amongst many others.
From late night music, cinema and participatory arts events, SummerSalt is unlike anything Melbourne, yet alone Australia, has seen before. The program will be comprised of activities undertaken by the consortia members alongside independent submissions by companies, artists and the community, and will activate under-utilised public spaces.
“Bringing so many companies and artists together in collaboration to present SummerSalt is a first, as is the uniquely outdoor focus of the Festival,” said Festival Director Kirsten Siddle. “‘SummerSalters’ can expect cross-pollinations of arts companies and exciting cultural mash-ups – a bit like Melbourne itself – happening in surprising places around the precinct. We hope that people will delight in SummerSalt and discover the city’s quirky artistic heart.”
Some highlights of today’s program reveal include Home, which will see 7,000 colourful wooden houses popping up across the city; Creature Features, a series of giant inflatable animal installation artworks; the Sugar Mountain festival which will be headlined by Nas; Chunky Move’s latest work gentle is the power; the labyrinth of light and colour that is Exxopolis; free concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; and The Curious Game, which will see Dodds St transformed into a giant chessboard awaiting human pieces.
The closing weekend will also coincide with White Night Melbourne, where audiences will revel in the adrenaline-fuelled exuberance of Pixel Mountain, in which a specially constructed 10 metre wall will be used as a performance area for high octane aerial dance and interactive projection work.
