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BRAVERY COLLABORATION DIVERSITY INCLUSIVITY INDEPENDENCE
melbournefringe . com . au
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BRAVERY COLLABORATION DIVERSITY INCLUSIVITY INDEPENDENCE
Melbourne Fringe is a celebration of cultural democracy and art for everyone . By embracing diversity and a spirit of independence , we create a unique space for artistic self-expression linked to the life of our great city . That ’ s why Melbourne Fringe is the most adventurous , inclusive , all-encompassing multi-artform festival in Australia . Every year we feature thousands of artists from every discipline you can name ( and a few others besides ) performing 400 + events in over 160 venues to an audience in excess of 350,000 people .
Melbourne Fringe is the place to go for pure , unadulterated , uncurated and unexpected artistic discovery . We help artists develop and provide a platform for a vast , diverse range of voices , in celebration of the idea that when we come together , we create a safe space for risk taking . We find ideas from the margins and shout them to the world . We love the weird and strange , the different and queer , the misfits and the freaks . We ’ re here to challenge perceptions and shake up the hierarchy , to be brave and unafraid , to explore the boundaries of art and to change the way you see the world .
STEP INTO THE LIGHT :
A Note from Melbourne Fringe Creative Director & CEO
In 2016 , Melbourne Fringe asked our city to look at itself in a new light . Its citizens stepped out of their comfort zones to face our bold provocation : illumination awaits the brave . And artists , audiences and innocent bystanders took up our cultural offerings , celebrating artistic expression at its loudest and artistic discovery at its brightest .
Our work is about creating connections and interconnections , making invisible things visible , coming together and looking around to see new perspectives . Of course , our own creation , the city-scaled light sculpture and sound installation Sky Light did this literally , connecting building across the Yarra using giant beams of laser light , but programs across our festival implemented this idea in other ways . While celebrating the diversity of independent , experimental and alternative art , profiling work by artists with a disability or who are Deaf , bringing together ideas that celebrate Melbourne ’ s status as UNESCO city of literature , and creating a raft of new programs for and by children and young people , this year ’ s Melbourne Fringe proudly celebrated Melbourne ’ s cultural democracy – the opportunity for everyone to participate in the cultural life of our city .
Our focus is always on the innovative little guys who make the biggest cultural impact – the artists of Fringe . We ’ re here for them , as a platform for the outsider : for the young , the queer , the Deaf , the culturally diverse and the bravest artists with the boldest ideas . Our country needs artistic expression and new ways of thinking now more than ever . Melbourne Fringe works to support their important work by enabling extraordinary , innovative , challenging art , that makes us see our world like we ’ ve never seen it before . Remember : illumination awaits the brave .
Simon Abrahams Creative Director & CEO Melbourne Fringe