Metaverse store, crypto humour, electro parties: Melbourne Knowledge Week’s essential events
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04.05.2022

Metaverse store, crypto humour, electro parties: Melbourne Knowledge Week’s essential events

Melbourne Knowledge Week
Words by Niam Hegarty

Melbourne Knowledge Week (MKW) is back, running from May 9 - 15, with an exciting and inspiring program of innovative ideas.

Melbourne Knowledge Week is this year asking, ‘What if we could shape a future we could all be proud of?’ A varied programme has been designed looking at forward thinking ideas across film, music, technology, and food; many of the events are free.

It’s exceptionally exciting given the palpable feeling that this city may be on the brink of a new era. We jumped on the program as soon as it was announced, so you can check out some of our other top picks here, but today we’re looking a little deeper into some of the most exciting showcase events at the festival this year.

Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.

Naarm Ngarrgu MKW 22 Opening Night

Opening night will kick off with a welcome to festival with the Djirri Djirri Dancers, a smoking festival followed by songs and storytelling with social historian Jessie Lloyd at State Library. Jessie will explore lineages and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander songs and their influence on contemporary Indigenous identity and music. A chance to learn about Indigenous musical history and have some fun while you’re at it.

Innovators and Entrepreneurs Breakfast

An exciting breakfast and networking event presented in partnership with Melbourne Connect, University of Melbourne includes keynote address and Q+A with Jodie Imam (Entrepreneur and Investor) on Female Leadership in Melbourne’s Start-Up Culture. Vicki Stirling, CEO of Startup Victoria, will join Jodie to facilitate a conversation on the way forward for women in tech.

Cumulus Inc: Earth

An immersive dining experience looking at Melbourne’s Future Food Systems. In this special dining event Cumulus Inc. presents a three-course menu that reflects the restaurant’s approach to sustainability and seasonality. Listen to featured expert speakers Daisy Slade (Industry Lead at Food and Drink Victoria) and Phoebe Gardner (CEO and Co-founder of Bardee) as they share their insights on the impact of food waste on the environment. Guests will walk away with some creative tips for minimising food waste at home. Entry includes the three-course meal and a drink on arrival.

The Metaverse Store

Step inside the metaverse with this interactive installation featuring NFT virtual products from the metaverse in a real-world retail store. One of the first of it’s kind in Australia the Metaverse Store is an immersive experience that will feature virtual products sourced from local artists. Visitors can purchase products with cryptocurrency, a forward-thinking environment indeed.

Algorave

Algorave is an outdoor event/party that will feature Cellular Automata showing Melburnians how live coding can create electronic music. Come experience some innovate technology while having a dance at Signal on Northbank.

Cryptoethics Roundtable

Experimental comedy duo Nemeses (Vidya Rajan & Alistair Baldwin) host a panel of artists, technologists and thought leaders to look at NFTs and the crypto world. This humorous and insightful event is a light-hearted look at the ethical issues surrounding the latest technology and how we interact with it.  This event is sure to make you laugh and think while stepping into the emerging world of cryptoethics.

Mona Chalabi: Taking The Numb Out Of Numbers

Mona Chalabi is a US data journalist, writer, and presenter. She discovered how easily people with specific agendas can manipulate data while analysing statistics for the United Nations. Mona has explored date in the form of illustrations animations and articles for outlets such as The Guardian and the New York Times. In this free livestream she will talk about voting trends, race, and politics alongside offbeat issues such as ‘how many Americans eat pizza for breakfast?’ Now you want to know, don’t you?

Indigenous Knowledge Film Festival

This short film festival is celebrating Indigenous knowledge; following each screening there will be a discussion with the filmmakers and knowledge holders about the issues addressed. This is a powerful selection of short films whose makers come from various countries across Australia and Timor-Leste, secure your free ticket now and expand your knowledge.

The Future On Film: The Matrix

A screening of the cult classic ground-breaking sci-fi film The Matrix is followed by a panel discussion looking at identity, celebrity culture and the ritualisation of “coming out.”

After the screening, a talk by Naja Later will explore a number of ideas including identity and social metaphor. Naja is an academic tutor at Swinburne, with a PhD in 21st-century American horror movies and their relationship to terror culture, and have published research on superheroes, monsters, and transmedia storytelling. This discussion is sure to be one of the enlightening highlights of the festival.

This is just a smidgen of what’s happening in mid-May across our city, check out the entire program here.

In partnership with Melbourne Knowledge Week.