Artists from across Australia are forming a Government

What would happen if Australia’s next great artists, writers, choreographers, performance makers and musicians were placed front and centre of our most pressing conversations?
What if they came together to form a Government?

Melbourne’s only major arts festival presenting 100% new work crafted at the hands of Australia’s emerging creative powerhouses, critical thinkers, disruptors and innovators; Next Wave Festival, makes its biennial return this year from 15 – 31 May.

Under the banner, A Government of Artists, the 17-day festival will premiere 28 major commissions spanning theatre, performance, dance, visual art, sound, video, writing, public installation, participatory projects and interdisciplinary art forms. Parties, public programs and public interventions accompany the performance program.

Following an artist call out that garnered hundreds of applications nationwide, Next Wave has nurtured the development of these works for the past 12 months.

Amidst a divisive political moment, marked by volatile economic, technological and environmental change and an unsticking of dominant truth, this year’s Festival asks, ‘What is possible if we place hospitality and generosity as values at the centre of our politics?’.

“We believe artists are our nation’s deepest, most critical and ambitious thinkers. They might not have all the answers, but their works tell complex stories that can help us imagine new ways of being together – with each other and with our environment,” said Director/CEO Roslyn Helper.

For 35 years, Next Wave has shaped the Australian arts landscape through imagination, bold ideas and a passion for the new, focusing on the next generation of artists in a changing world.

Next Wave Festival 2020: A Government of Artists gathers together new voices in Australian art to respond to today’s pressing issues with ambitious artistic expression. This is a Festival intent on “showing by doing”; a giant experiment in togetherness.

Full program to be announced on Thursday 12 March.