The 2019 Dark Mofo program will feature events featuring Briggs, Warren Ellis, Jimmy Cauty of The KLF, Antony Hamilton Projects and more.
2019 Dark Mofo schedule
JIMMY CAUTY (GBR) | THE AFTERMATH DISLOCATION PRINCIPLE
Peer through holes cut into a forty-foot shipping container at a vast landscape modelled in a miniature scale of 1:87: a desolate, mythical English town frozen in the aftermath of a riot, where only police and media crews remain. After appearing at Banksy’s Dismaland in 2015, ADP now tours the world.
English artist and musician Jimmy Cauty is known as one half of the duo The KLF, and The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, co-founder of The Orb and as the man who burnt one million pounds. Presented by L-13 Light Industrial Workshop and Dark Mofo.
Explore the art with the Children of the Aftermath:
+ Thursday 13–Sunday 16 June, 4–10pm
+ Wednesday 19–Sunday 23 June, 4–10pm, in front of Hobart Town Hall, Macquarie Street
Or see it on your own, 24-hours a day:
+ Thursday 13–Sunday 23 June, in front of Hobart Town Hall, Macquarie Street
DARK PATH
‘And when you’re out in the woods, be nice and good and don’t stray from the path.’—Brothers Grimm, Little Red Cap
An art trail snaking through the inner-city wilderness of Queen’s Domain, including the old Beaumaris Zoo, the Queen Victoria Powder Magazine and the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Many strange, reflective and wondrous works can be found along the path, and the way will be marked with light.
Note: Dark Path involves a lot of walking—roughly 4km from start to finish, and takes around 45 minutes (not including time to experience the artworks and events). The route is dark, covers uneven terrain, and some parts are not accessible by wheelchair; if you have mobility requirements, contact [email protected] in advance to discuss alternative access options. Dark Mofo is engaged in stakeholder consultation with local residents and groups, and working closely with Bushlands & Parks and Recreation to protect native habitats and species, complying with all Council requirements in order to protect the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue site and its heritage.
+ Friday 14–Sunday 16 June, 5–10pm
+ Wednesday 19–Sunday 23 June, 5–10pm
Regatta Grounds + Queens Domain + Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.
Access via Regatta Grounds (road closures in place around the Domain and Gardens). Free, unless stated otherwise.
TONY OURSLER (USA) | 6TH | DARK PATH
As night falls, traipse up to the old Beaumaris Zoo (in which the last known thylacine died in the 1930s) where strange and spectral video projections play across the trees and shimmer in the mist, spectral characters haunt the shadows and interact with neo-mythological memes, scientific thinking, and gene-splicing technology.
American multimedia and installation artist Tony Oursler’s sprawling new work confronts the erosion of critical thought, and the rise of misinformation, conspiracy theories, superstition, and magical thinking, inviting us to ask if it is truth on the verge of extinction. Supported by the United States Government.
+ Friday 14–Sunday 16 June, 5–10pm,
+ Wednesday 19–Sunday 23 June, 5–10pm, Beaumaris Zoo, free
JULIE GOUGH | MISSING OR DEAD | DARK PATH
An ephemeral memorial to one hundred and eighty children stolen or lost during the early colonial years of the island. Part of Tense Past, Gough’s exhibition at TMAG. Presented by the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and Dark Mofo, supported by Gandel Philanthropy.
+ Friday 14–Sunday 23 June, open 24 hours a day, Bushland, Queens Domain
NAOMI BLACKLOCK | LIMBIC RESONANCE | DARK PATH
In this ritualistic noise performance and installation, primal screaming and meditative breathing will ring across the dark gardens. With candles, bells, salt, soil, mirrors and her voice, Brisbane-based Anglo-Indian artist Naomi Blacklockexplores mythologies of the witch: a symbol old and new of otherness, rebellion and emancipation. Intermittent performances nightly.
+ Friday 14–Sunday 16 June, 5–10pm
+ Wednesday 19–Sunday 23 June, 5–10pm, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
S.J. NORMAN | TAKE THIS, FOR IT IS MY BODY | DARK PATH
Audience members are invited to consume a traditional spread of tea and scones at the colonial-era gothic revival-style Government House. This European domestic ritual is subverted by three Aboriginal performers, who will offer a provocative choice.
Artist S.J. Norman, of mixed Wiradjuri and British heritage, explores what it means to live with the residue of atrocity, the enduring power of dead empires, and the embodied legacy of colonial trauma.
+ Wednesday 19–Sunday 23 June, 5–10pm, every 20 minutes, 18+, Government House
+ Tickets $15 by donation to the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania
CHRIS HENSCHKE | DEMON CORE | DARK PATH
A radioactive metal sphere emits flashes of light and sound, causing tanks of luminescent zooplankton, chemicals and a cosmic cloud chamber to glow and fade in the darkness. Inspired by a disastrous experiment at a major American nuclear facility in the 1940s.
Melbourne-based artist Chris Henschke’s work is informed by years of scientific research, including an artist residency at CERN, Geneva—home of the Large Hadron Collider.
+ Friday 14–Sunday 16 June, 5–10pm
+ Wednesday 19–Sunday 23 June, 5–10pm, Queen Victoria Powder Magazine, Queen’s Domain, Hobart
HEATH FRANCO + GRACE HERBERT + PAUL MURPHY + TESS CAMPBELL, SAMUEL MOUNTFORD + AMY PARKER + SAWTOOTH ARI | ENCLOSURE | DARK PATH
This project will see a bunch of artists grapple with the human urge to alter, capture and reproduce the natural environment—but also, how we distinguish ourselves from it. From Launceston to Hobart, they will explore connections between historic Tasmanian animal enclosures, the state’s expanding tourism economy, and examples of capturing and mimicking nature from around the world. Curated by Liam James and Brigitte Trobbiani.
+ Friday 14–Sunday 16 June,
+ Wednesday 19–Sunday 23 June, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, 5–10pm, Queens Domain, Hobart
+ Friday 14–Saturday 29 June, Sawtooth ARI, Cimitiere St, Launceston
ANTONY HAMILTON PROJECTS + CHUNKY MOVE | UNIVERSAL ESTATE | A FOREST
Independent Australian choreographer Antony Hamilton Projects is joined by Melbourne contemporary dance company Chunky Move to deliver a nightly, durational post-apocalyptic bad dream, set in a retro-futurist beige enclosure in the middle of a huge, derelict office.
Two bodies move, jerk and shift through an environment of strange technological objects and machines, in the wake of the industrial and technological revolutions of recent centuries, questioning our throw-away society and our obsession with the next new thing.
+ Wednesday 12–Sunday 16 June,
+ Wednesday 19–Sunday 23 June, 5.30–9.30pm, A Forest, Melville Street, included in $20 ticket to A Forest, timed entry on the hour (last entry 9pm)
BRIGGS
Powerhouse pioneer of Australian hip-hop, Briggs is in town to participate in Dark + Dangerous Thoughts (alongside Stan Grant and Nakkiah Lui on the DDT panel ‘Are You Black Enough?’), but he’s here for the music too. Briggs is a rapper, Bad Apples Music record label owner, actor, comedy writer (The Weekly and Matt Groening’s Disenchantment), one half of the award-winning A.B. Original, and his critiques of Australian culture have given a strong voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally.
+ Saturday 8 June, 10pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, $40 plus booking fee (door sales $46 subject to capacity) (18+)
KELSEY LU (USA) + SARAH MARY CHADWICK (NZL)
Classical dream-pop cellist with a loop pedal Kelsey Lu (USA) in her second Dark Mofo performance.
Joined by lush gothy composer Sarah Mary Chadwick (NZL), whose new album The Queen Who Stole the Sky was recorded on Melbourne Town Hall’s 147-year old grand organ.
+ Saturday 8 June, 5pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
LONNIE HOLLEY (USA)
The revered junkyard-sculpture artist and 68 year-old visionary musician Lonnie Holley sings and improvises loose and woozy jazzy blues with loop pedal horns and keys, helping us all to make sense of a troubled America.
+ Wednesday 12 June, 10pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, $39 + booking fee (door sales $45 subject to capacity)
PHURPA (RUS) | SECOND SHOW ANNOUNCED
Before Buddhism reached Tibet, practices involving shamanic rites derived from various ancestral cults became known as Bon. Phurpa, led by contemporary artist Alexei Tegin, is a Moscow-based group in this tradition. Phurpa is a Tibetan monastic choir that uses a specific kind of overtone chanting which is based on the principle of the singer’s transmogrification during the “chanting meditation”.
+ Thursday 13 June (SOLD OUT)
+ Sunday 16 June, 12–3am (doors 11.30pm), Altar, 112 Murray St, Hobart, $39 + booking fee, 18+
AUTHOR & PUNISHER (USA) + PARTY DOZEN
Grim mechanical instrumentalist Author & Punisher (USA) unleashes industrial doom, drone and noise, exploding the boundary between human and machine, joined by sonic improv outfit Party Dozen, featuring saxophonist Kirsty Tickle and percussionist Jonathan Boulet.
+ Wednesday 19 June, 11.30pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, $39 + booking fee (door sales $45 subject to capacity)
AUTHOR & PUNISHER (USA) + REBEL YELL
Grim mechanical instrumentalist Author & Punisher (USA) unleashes industrial doom, drone and noise, exploding the boundary between human and machine, joined by the dark, industrial techno hypnotism of Brisbane producer Rebel Yell (Grace Stevenson).
+ Thursday 20 June, 11.30pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, $39 + booking fee (door sales $45 subject to capacity)
WARREN ELLIS (DIRTY THREE) IN CONVERSATION WITH ZAN ROWE (DOUBLE J)
Musician and composer Warren Ellis (Dirty Three, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Grinderman) will sit down with Double J’s Zan Rowe to share songs that have made him the musician and person he is today. The Take 5 interview is structured around five songs of Warren’s choice, discussing these choices with Zan, and opening up new insights to his life and his approach to music.
Join the audience by entering a Double J competition asking you to share your favourite dark song and why you love it. This event is a live recording of Double J’s Take 5 radio segment, for delayed broadcast and podcast. Presented by Double J and Dark Mofo.
+ Saturday 15 June, Hobart Town Hall, Macquarie Street, 4-5pm (doors open 3.30pm), free event, registration via Double J competition (May 15–24)
COSTUME* | ALBUM RELEASE | WORLD PREMIERE
Glamourous orchestral-infused electronic art pop, a fever dream from Hobart literary maven Adam Ouston. Dark Mofo presents the premiere of Costume’s debut album, Pan, recorded in Reykjavik at the iconic Greenhouse Studios (which has hosted the likes of Björk, Sigur Rós, The xx, and Kanye West). *A world premiere, commissioned by DarkLab.
+ Album: (LP12″ double gatefold album in pink 180 gram vinyl), AUD $50, pre-order now for May 17 release: https://shop.mona.net.au/costume-pan
+ New video Running Boy released: https://vimeo.com/336025124/3bb3ef6c14
+ Performance: Wednesday 12 June, Odeon Theatre, $49 + booking fee
ALEX ZHANG HUNGTAI (TWN/CAN) + LOWTIDE + PARTY DOZEN
Improv free-jazz soloist Alex Zhang Hungtai (TWN/CAN) on saxophone, synthesizer, percussion, and piano, joined by Melbourne’s dream-pop four piece Lowtide (guitarist Gabriel Lewis, bassist/vocalist Lucy Buckeridge, drummer Anton Jakovljevic and guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Cole) in their only show for 2019, plus sonic improv outfit Party Dozen, featuring saxophonist Kirsty Tickle and percussionist Jonathan Boulet.
+ Thursday 20 June, 4pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
ECCA VANDAL + TWO PEOPLE + SLAG QUEENS
Genre-hopping Melbourne-based South African Ecca Vandal’s dystopian electro, joined by Melbourne’s ethereal electronic duo Two People (with Pheobe Lou and Joseph Clough, formerly of Snakadaktal) and nipaluna/Hobart-based post-punk pop outfit Slag Queens.
+ Friday 7 June, 8pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
SUI ZHEN + THE NATIVE CATS + 208L CONTAINERS
Melbourne-based ‘dream beat’ artist Becky Sui Zhen brings her new release Losing, Linda, with a vocal-driven electro pop set. Joining her is a band as Hobart as it gets: The Native Cats with Julian Teakle on dark and brooding bass, with frontwoman Chloe Alison Escott with her shimmering wit and clever homemade electonics, plus 208L Containers, a local and loveable garage-rock pop band that listened to too much metal as kids.
+ Thursday 6 June, 8pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
ELIZABETH + GAUCI + CALIFORNIA GIRLS + CAPTAIN FIGHTING MACHINE
Heartbroken ethereal and caustic pop from Elizabeth Mitchell of indie-pop group Totally Mild. Plus Sydney disco-pop trio Gauci, Canberran new wave synth-popster California Girls (Gus McGrath), and the melancholic indie-folk of Captain Fighting Machine (Conor Macdonald of the Gin Club).
+ Sunday 9 June, 5pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
KIRA PURU + TRALALA BLIP + EWAH DUO
Multi-disciplined songstress Kira Puru in a dynamic live genre-defying performance, with post-electro pop outfit Tralala Blip comprised of differently-abled musicians hailing from the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, and Hobart locals EWAH Duo with their atmospheric, cinematic electro-pop complementing hypnotic vocalist Emma Waters (EWAH & The Vision of Paradise).
+ Wednesday 12 June, 4.30pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
TOTALLY UNICORN + MARCO FUSINATO + DEAD + ZEAHORSE
Sydney’s live, loud, and loose mathcore rockers Totally Unicorn are joined by amped-up electric guitar noise maestro Marco Fusinato, Melbourne’s sludge/punk duo Dead, and visceral Sydneyside noise-rockers Zeahorse.
+ Thursday 13 June, 4pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
PAGAN + GRINDING EYES + NUNCHUKKA SUPERFLY
Melbourne’s bittersweet death rock’n’rollers Pagan, plus shoegaze stoner rock supergroup Grinding Eyes (The Mess Hall, Treatment), with psychedelic pop-punk-metalheads Nunchukka Superfly (an evolution of The Hard Ons).
+ Sunday 16 June, 5pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
THESE NEW SOUTH WHALES + EXHIBITIONIST + DEN + REBEL YELL
Punk new-wave and comedic goth-rockers These New South Whales bring their assertive and utterly gritty sound to the stage with the new single Nerve 2 Reverse. Joining them is the broody electronic indie-pop of Sydney’s Exhibitionist (multi-instrumentalist Kirsty Tickle), and the diverse, dark and industrial antics of Rebel Yell (the hypnotising Grace Stevenson), plus Sydney underground doom EDM chaotic dance-rock act DEN.
+ Wednesday 19 June, 4pm, Altar, 112 Murray St, door sales $29 (18+)
THE ART SHOW | ABC RN | LIVE AT TMAG
ABC RN’s The Art Show presenter Eddie Ayres will delve into the Dark Mofo program live on air at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, featuring interviews with Dark Mofo Creative Directors and festival artists including American artist and musician Lonnie Holley (USA), Tasmanian artist Julie Gough (artist, Tense Past at TMAG), DarkLab-commissioned Tasmanian musician Costume (Adam Ouston) + more.
+ Wednesday 12 June, 10–11am (doors open 9.45am), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Dunn Place, free entry
DARK MOFO AND CITY OF HOBART WINTER FEAST
Dark Mofo’s Dionysian feast is returning for its seventh year, taking place on 8 nights over two weeks and sprawled across Princes Wharf 1 on Salamanca’s waterfront with crackling fires, live music, warming comfort food and delectable drinks. The Winter Feast is a contemporary take on pagan solstice celebrations and forms the hedonistic hub of the festival, where our community gathers to indulge together as the longest night of the year approaches in Australia’s southernmost city.
Highlights of the Winter Feast 2019:
A free and participatory kids’ program, Fire & Ice, will see punters under the age of ten learning about native foods and the stories behind them, while exploring new flavours. Activities will include tasting and shucking Pacific oysters and seeing them alongside Angasi oysters, gathering around the fire to cook and eat warrener (native periwinkles), and smashing roasted Nicola spuds with sour cream, sea salt, crisp saltbush and kunzea. From 4–5pm nightly, free for under 10s accompanied by a parent or guardian with a Winter Feast ticket.
Interstate and Tasmanian guest chefs and producers will collaborate on custom locavore menus, designed after months of research and visits to producers around the state. Collaborating chefs include: Sam Gardner and Tang-Ya Yang (Formosa Bites, Tasmania) with Thi Le (Anchovy, Melbourne), the teams from Hamlet Cafe (Hobart) and Miznon (Melbourne), Troy Wheeler (Meatsmith, Melbourne) with the women behind Meat Mistress (coming soon to Hobart), and Holly Davis (author and co-founder of Sydney’s Iku Wholefood) with Megan Brown.
70+ food and beverage stalls will bring their delicious wares to this year’s Winter Feast, including Ruby + Ava, Ashbolt Farm, Harissa, Sirocco South, Smallgrain, Fat Pig Farm, Dark Duck, Valle Nella Bocca, Orlando Plenty, Bar Wa Oyster Bar, Truffle Farm Catering, Palawa Kipli, plus delectable drinks from Unholy Water (Mona), Villino Coffee Roasters, the Moo Brew Deck Bar, Taylor + Smith Distilling Co., the Talisker Bar, Domaine A + Moorilla Wine Bar, Willie Smith’s Cider Makers + many more.
+ Live music to warm your ears includes performances by CLEWS, Baba Bruja, Ani Lou, Gordon Koang, The Stitch, Django’s Tiger + many more, on multiple stages throughout the Feast Precinct.
+ Friday 14–Sunday 16 June, $20
+ Wednesday 19 June, $10
+ Thursday 20–Saturday 22 June, $20
+ Sunday 23 June, free
Season pass: Eight-night ticket with priority entry: $50 + booking fee.
Entry is free after 8pm nightly. Under 16s free with registration. Door sales are available.
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