The program for Dark Mofo, Hobart’s winter solstice festival, has dropped with ‘Resurrection’ as the theme for the two-week event, taking place from 8–22 June 2022.
Following a teaser announcement last month, Tasmania’s truly epic dark arts festival Dark Mofo has revealed its full 2022 program, promising another eccentric lineup of the bold and bizarre.
Delving into centuries-old rituals to explore the links between ancient and contemporary mythology, humans and nature, religious and secular traditions, darkness and light, and birth, death and renewal, the captivating midwinter two-week festival unlike any other will be ‘resurrected’ this June, when it runs from Wednesday, 8th to Wednesday, 22nd June.
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“This year’s festival is a celebration of coming together again, to listen to some music, see some art and eat at the Winter Feast,” Creative Director Leigh Carmichael said.
“As the cultural world re-emerges from the darkness of cancellations and lockdowns, we are all experiencing a rebirth, of sorts. The forced isolation gave rise to a re-evaluation of what matters, to new ideas, new dreams.
“We’ve assembled over 100 artists from 30 countries, from Australia to Belgium to Kyrgyzstan, and look forward to bringing them to Hobart this winter. We’re just grateful to be able to present a full festival program again.”
Leading the program announcement is Grammy-nominated Kamilaroi artist The Kid LAROI who will bring his chart-topping blend of pop and rap to the festival, alongside further music additions of Japanese cult-favourites Boris, American artist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (formerly of the band OM) who will perform his original score for Nia DaCosta’s adaptation of the horror classic Candyman, and English indie muso Baxter Durywill, as well as American artists Perfume Genius, Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundle and Moses Sumney.
Dark Mofo’s cherished unholy nights of deafening metal include Sanctae Noctis (with Katatonia, Deafheaven, Lingua Ignota, Conjurer, King Yosef, Black Sheep Wall, Diploid, YLVA), as well as festival favourite Hymns to the Dead (Triumph of Death, Chthe’ilist, Krypts, Darkestrah) returns. Plus there will be an exclusive Australian performance by Swiss metal band Triptykon, driven by Tom Gabriel Fischer (Hellhammer, Celtic Frost) and a four-day experimental and electronic music micro-festival titled Borderlands.
These acts joins the previously announced Kim Gordon, who’ll perform songs from her 2019 solo release No Home Record, plus Berlin-based composer and producer Nils Frahm playing Music For Hobart, British space-rock outfit Spiritualized, and classically trained multi-instrumentalist Lingua Ignota.
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In the arts, the program is vast, with highlights including three new major exhibitions by artists Jeremy Shaw, Fiona Hall with AJ King, and Robert Andrew; an enchanting interactive installation Rainbow Dream: Moon Rainbow by Japanese/Australian artist Hiromi Tango; and a live performance of the haunting score of TV series Chernobyl, performed by composer Hildur Guðnadóttir with Chris Watson and Sam Slater. All proceeds will be donated to Voices of Children, supporting assistance to Ukrainian children and families.
There’ll be an immersive experience by Sigur Rós musician Jónsi, inspired by the recent eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland and one of Australia’s most significant modern artists, Sir Sidney Nolan, features in the exhibition For the Term of His Natural Life at Detached Hobart, with works on crayon and paper addressing exile and oppression.
As for signature events, Dark Mofo’s debaucherous costume party makes a welcome return, this year titled the Blue Rose Ball, alongside the return of Dark Mofo’s intimate ritual Memorial, in which locals can bear their loved one’s ashes to the river and have them placed inside a handcrafted firework for the whole community to witness.
The sumptuous banquet known as the Winter Feast will rise again on the Hobart waterfront, The Ogoh-ogoh returns with the festival’s Balinese-inspired community ritual to purge and then burn our fears, and finally, the Nude Solstice Swim returns like the sun after the longest night, offering renewal and resurrection to those courageous enough to participate.
The festival also heralds the return of its two-evening nightclub extravaganza, this year titled Night Mass: Transcendence, taking over central Hobart’s In The Hanging Garden precinct, with a huge and diverse program to be announced soon.
Dark Mofo runs from June 8–22 2022. General tickets are on sale from noon, Monday April 11. With far too much to be covered in one article, you can check out the full program announcement here.
