Festival Highlights
The 2011 Melbourne Festival was an
artistic triumph delivering record box
office figures and audience engagement.
The Festival featured 415 Australian artists
as well as 275 international artists. This
latter figure included artists from Russia,
China, India, Germany, Sudan, United
States of America, Britain, Lithuania,
Indonesia, South Africa, Ireland, Japan,
Iraq, Syria, New Zealand and the Congo: a
very extensive range of backgrounds.
The free outdoor program was a highlight
of the Festival, with Angels-Demons.
Parade – situated along the spine of St Kilda
Road and Swanston Street – catching the
attention of the city’s residents and visitors
alike. This large scale sculpture installation
project was very well received and provided
a unique opportunity for families and
people of all ages to interact with public
art. The Electric Canvas’ Cacophony: The
Art of Conflict also delivered a stunning
visual canvas on the Arts Centre external
buildings.
Specific program highlights included the
joyous musical event The Manganiyar
Seduction, the highly praised Hedda Gabler
by Schaubühne Berlin and Back to Back
Theatre’s multiple award winning premiere
of Ganesh Versus the Third Reich.
There were many remarkable artists
of note, including Mavis Staple,
Rickie Lee Jones and Joss Stone in the
spectacular closing night celebration at
the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, notes from
the hard road and beyond; renowned Israeli
choreographer Hofesh Shechter returning
to the Festival; the acclaimed Kronos
Quartet; Australian activist and political
agitator Gary Foley and unrelenting punk
satirist Jello Biafra.
Locally the Festival also worked with:
• Arts Centre Melbourne;
• Malthouse Theatre;
• Melbourne Recital Centre;
• Arts House;
• Forum Theatre;
• fortyfivedownstairs;
• Chunky Move;
• The Black Arm Band;
• Strut & Fret Production House;
• Arts Projects Australia;
• Kay and McLean Productions;
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• horeographers Byron Perry and
Phillip Adams;
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• The Border Project;
• Ilbijerri Theatre Company;
• Red Stitch Theatre Company;
• he City of Port Phillip and
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Theatre Works;
• he Australian Film Television and
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Radio School;
• The Wheeler Centre;
• Victorian Opera;
• Seraphim Trio;
• Australian National Academy of Music;
• Asialink;
• ustralian Centre for Contemporary Art;
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• Monash University Museum of Art;
• Screen Space;
• Level 17 Artspace;
• Margaret Lawrence Gallery;
• ertrude Contemporary; and
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• Centre for Contemporary Photography
This exhaustive list of partnerships and
collaborations demonstrates the Festival’s
ongoing development and reach into the
local arts industry.