Exploring unique approaches to percussive performance, artist and composer Matthias Schack-Arnott’s work has been presented by Melbourne Festival, La Comete (France), Spor Festival (Denmark), Arts House, Supersense – Festival of the Ecstatic (Arts Centre Melbourne) and beyond. In conversation with Creative Director and CEO of Melbourne Fringe Simon Abrahams, Matthias discusses Groundswell—a large-scale sound installation and public sculpture that directly involved the citizens of Sydney. Ahead of the work’s 2021 premiere, Matthias and Simon talk about the inspiration behind it, the process for developing an audience-led experience, and ongoing creative pursuits. Groundswell was commissioned and co-produced by Melbourne Fringe and Sydney Festival with support from the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. Artists in Conversation was supported by Monash University Centre for Theatre and Performance. This conversation is presented in partnership with Melbourne Fringe Festival.

MPavilion

MTalks—Artists in Conversation: Matthias Schack-Arnott

Join Parlour for Women Transforming the City, a lively discussion about the many roles women play in actively making the Australian built environment – as grass-roots activists and as elected representatives, as policy-makers and public servants, as philanthropists and clients, as journalists, writers and historians, as architects, landscape architects, planners and other professionals. How have women shaped the spaces, places and policies of Australian cities? What What actions are underway now? What of the future? This is the third session exploring this topic – the first was held at the MPavilion in 2015. Join us as we extend the conversation.

MTalks—Women Transforming the City, Part 3

How might we rethink design and (re)construction in bushfire affected places? How can we do this through participation, interdisciplinarity and local cultural knowledge? This conversation brings together insights from an ongoing collaboration between Justin Leonard (CSIRO), Daniel Miller (Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation) and Christy Bryar Architect along with Nikhila Madabhushi, a practising architect who is currently leading research and teaching on this complex topic within the Monash Innovation Fellowship. The speakers unpack the wicked problems posed by the interface between built and natural environments with bushfires, cross-sectoral thinking towards adaptive design and reconstruction during the “pyrocene” and how local and traditional knowledge can be leveraged for “community-led” socio-technical approaches to bushfire preparedness and recovery.

MTalks - Adaptive Recovery

The years continue on, but has the conversation? This yarn between Maori and Aboriginal Australian built environment practitioners reflects on how—or if—the 'Indigenous Architecture' conversation has changed in recent years, and considers what conversations need to happen now, and in the future. MPavilion’s fourth annual BLAKitecture forum brings together Indigenous built environment practitioners on the Yaluk-ut Weelam land of the Boon Wurrung people. The forum aims to centralise Indigenous voices in conversations about architecture, the representation of histories, the present state and the future of our built environments. BLAKitecture 2020/21 was curated by MPavilion’s program consultant Sarah Lynn Rees.

MTalks—BLAKitecture: Pulse Check

Liam Young is an Australian-born architect, filmmaker and founder of the urban futures think tank Tomorrow’s Thoughts Today. Creative director of MPavilion Jen Zielinska spoke to Liam ahead of the Living Cities Film Series, which features a selection of films curated by Liam in response to the theme ‘The Long View’ titled Imagined Cities: Urban Futures Prototyped through Film. In this conversation, they discuss everything from speculative fiction and the collapsing of time to using fiction as a language and growing digital cities with Amazon bots. The Living Cities Film Series is presented in collaboration with ACMI and Open House Melbourne.

Living Cities Forum 2021: Liam Young in conversation with Jen Zielinska

Timothy Morton is an author and professor of English at Rice University who writes and thinks broadly on philosophy, culture and ecology. Co-director of Uro Publications Andrew Mackenzie spoke to Timothy ahead of their opening lecture at this year’s Living Cities Forum. Listeners should prepare to have their minds slightly blown by what the world looks like through this apparently esoteric, but actually acutely real philosophical explosion—enjoy! _____________________________________________________ Visit www.livingcitiesforum.org to watch Timothy's keynote lecture, on or after Friday 23 July 2021.

Living Cities Forum 2021: Timothy Morton in conversation with Andrew Mackenzie

The Melbourne Awards is a community recognition program delivered by the City of Melbourne, proudly supported by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation & MPavilion. As part of the program, in April this year, a stimulating panel discussion was facilitated by Melbourne based comedian Annie Louey. The subject was 'What makes a good capital city?' and featured as guest speakers: Lord Mayor Sally Capp; Professor Doug Hilton AO, Director of WEHI and 2020 Melburnian of the Year; Mitu Bhowmick Lange, Director of the Indian Film Festival Melbourne of Melbourne and Mind Blowing Films; and Luke Taylor, Director of the Sustainable Living Foundation.

Melbourne Awards 2021—What Makes a Good Capital City?

Aleks Hammo sits down with Australian barrister, human rights and asylum seeker advocate, and author Julian Burnside AO QC to discuss meaning, work, hope, and much more.

MTalks—Julian Burnside AO QC in Conversation

What do our environments become if we consider the act of design to be less about responding to the rights of humans, and more about responding to our collective obligation to care for Country? This yarn explores the responsibilities we all share as humans that temporarily inhabit Country, and how these might influence the way we design. MPavilion’s fourth annual BLAKitecture forum brought together Indigenous built environment practitioners on the Yaluk-ut Weelam land of the Boon Wurrung people. The forum aims to centralise Indigenous voices in conversations about architecture, the representation of histories, the present state and the future of our built environments. BLAKitecture 2020/21 was curated by MPavilion’s program consultant Sarah Lynn Rees.

MTalks—BLAKitecture - Co:Design? Collaboration? Consultation?

What do our environments become if we consider the act of design to be less about responding to the rights of humans, and more about responding to our collective obligation to care for Country? This yarn explores the responsibilities we all share as humans that temporarily inhabit Country, and how these might influence the way we design. MPavilion’s fourth annual BLAKitecture forum brings together Indigenous built environment practitioners on the Yaluk-ut Weelam land of the Boon Wurrung people. The forum aims to centralise Indigenous voices in conversations about architecture, the representation of histories, the present state and the future of our built environments. BLAKitecture 2020/21 was curated by MPavilion’s program consultant Sarah Lynn Rees.

MTalks—BLAKitecture: Design Obligations

While there is still much work to be done on improving design processes so that they centre the voices of the Traditional Owners, not every project has the capacity to engage. So, when we can't engage, what can we do to ensure we are working in alignment with Country and its values? In conversation with Parbin-ata Carolyn Briggs, senior Elder of the Boon Wurrung People, this talk explores what we can still do for Country when we can't engage. MPavilion’s fourth annual BLAKitecture forum brings together Indigenous built environment practitioners on the Yaluk-ut Weelam land of the Boon Wurrung people. The forum aims to centralise Indigenous voices in conversations about architecture, the representation of histories, and the present and future states of our built environments. BLAKitecture 2020/21 was curated by MPavilion’s program consultant Sarah Lynn Rees.

MTalks—BLAKitecture - With(out) Engagement

It could be argued that good food—and an exceptional dining experience—make Melbourne’s heart beat. So how have pandemic-induced changes to the restaurant industry affected the rhythm of our city’s dining culture? Join two of Melbourne’s most beloved restaurateurs, Hana Assafiri of Moroccan Soup Bar, Khanh Nguyen of  SUNDA _ and food communicator Dani Valent for a very special panel discussion that illuminates the trials and triumphs experienced by restaurateurs throughout lockdown.  While reflecting on the ways that COVID-19 has affected their own iconic businesses—both professionally and personally—Hana, Khanh and Dani also offer their insights into the pandemic’s effect on the restaurant industry, their thoughts around lockdown approaches taken by other restaurants, their guesses at the impact of COVID-19 on dining in the future, and their feelings about the role that food plays in our lives. *Please note: Attica chef Ben Shewry was originally scheduled to participate in this event. Due to unforeseen circumstances he was no longer able to join us in the conversation.

MTalks—Eating Out, Eating In: A conversation with Hana Assafiri, Khanh Nguyen and Dani Valent

After the disruption to MDW 2020, Home Made is returning with a new impetus as we emerge from the experience of Covid-19 lockdowns in an altered relationship with our homes. As vacancies rise in investor grade apartments, and city dwellers look to the regions for an improved quality of life, what is the future of compact living in Melbourne? Inspired by the last decade of local housing innovation, which is unique in Australia, this exhibition explores what a more community-centred, sustainable model of housing might look like, and how we can provide attractive, generous lifestyles for all incomes and household types in our urban centres. The exhibition presents a survey of housing projects both built and unbuilt, which reflect new approaches to finance, design, development, and shared living, including by Nightingale Housing, Assemble, Property Collectives, Tripple, and the Third Way. Together, these diverse models suggest a more optimistic and inclusive vision of how housing can shape our city. Home Made will open with a special launch event presented in collaboration with New Architects Melbourne. Focusing on what we can learn from the communities making these projects home, a panel of residents will share their personal experiences and reflections, revealing what happens when design intention encounters the complex realities of everyday life.

MTalks—Home Made Panel Discussion

Working with MPavilion’s MRelay format, the curators of UPTOWN present an actioned-packed session of speakers primed to discuss the role of artists and designers in Melbourne’s future. UPTOWN co-curators, Fiona Scanlan and Robert Buckingham, join forces with MPavilion and Turning Circle Collective to explore how artists and designers have contributed to the cultural and economic life of Melbourne in the past and how they can help Melbourne regain its mojo. 'UPTOWN: An art exhibition for out city' was devised to reactivate the city centre and unite retailers, visual artists, property owners and the City of Melbourne. The exhibition (15 December 2020 – 28 February 2021) reimagined the top of Bourke Street as a 24/7 outdoor gallery and used vacant shops, windows, architecture and laneways as the frame for a very different type of visual art exhibition. Speakers include: Robert Buckingham (creative director and co-curator UPTOWN) Fiona Scanlan (fashion designer, retailer, ceramicist and co-curator UPTOWN) Lord Mayor Sally Capp (City of Melbourne Mayor) Fleur Watson (curator, academic, director of Open House Melbourne) Millie Cattlin (architect, creative precinct creator – member Turning Circle Collective) Barrie Barton (director, Studio Right Angle, place maker) Su san Cohn (artist and City resident) Michael Trudgeon (architect, designer and educator – member Turning Circle Collective) Eugenia Lim (artist, lecturer VCA) Rory Hyde (architect, curator, formerly head of Architecture Dept at V&A) Wendy Lasica (creative producer and urban planner – member Turning Circle Collective) Athiqah Ummi Salma (M_Curator’s member and Signal Issues producer) Kent Morris (artist and curator)

MTalks—Uptown: Reinventing the City

We all experience the world through a body, a body that has certain powers, and certain constraints. Three Bodies is a short documentary film by Dorothy Allen-Pickard, commissioned by Molonglo as part of their upcoming Designing with Difference publication. It draws out an embodied relationship with the built environment through the experience of three different people, who each take us on a journey from the interior of their spaces, outside, and into the world. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion that further explores how the built environment can either be a pathway or a barrier to community, opportunity, and pleasure, depending on how places are designed, and who they are designed for.

MTalks—Three Bodies: Panel Discussion

Join MPavilion and a slew of design pundits and punters for a momentary detour discussing the intersections between design and the world we live in. MPavilion is an annual Melbourne-based architecture commission hosting the best conversations, workshops and performances over the Australian spring and summer.

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MPavilion

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