Discover what’s on at Fed Square

Find out about the major events coming up at Fed Square in the next few months.

Make Fed Square your one stop shop this festive season, by dropping into our free gift-wrapping service.
Mr Smart Melbourne will be gift-wrapping using their ‘Chotte Matte’ style of sustainable wrapping. Chotto Matte means ‘wait a moment’ in Japanese. The gift-wrapping service uses the Japanese method of decorative folding, enabling your gifts to be wrapped without tape. This means that the paper can be reused for future gifts, making them beautiful and sustainable. If you purchase your gifts at Fed Square, you can use the express lane for extra-speedy service.
VIP Priority Service
Simply purchase a gift from any store or restaurant at Fed Square between 24 Nov and 24 Dec, join the VIP line, show your receipt and you will have your gift/s wrapped as a priority.
The Boîte ensemble
Enjoy live music in The Atrium during the Festive Season with The Boîte, to coincide with our gift-wrapping service. Enjoy the virtuosic Gypsy sounds of Vardos duo, the soulful Rebetika, featuring Con Kalamaras, Alex Petropulous and with Liana Perillo on contemporary harp.
Live music performances will be on the following dates and times: 
2, 3, 9, 16, 17, 23 December – 1pm to 1.45pm
Performance details:
Alex Petropoulos and Con Kalamaras (2 &amp; 16 December) 
Alex Petropoulos and Con Kalamaras take you on a journey to explore the mystical world of Rebetika. This duo performs their unique repertoire focusing on Rebetika, commonly known as the Greek Blues. This music highlights themes of hardship and hope, providing a window into the experiences and resilience of people during that era.
Vardos duo (3 &amp; 17 December) Driven by Alana&#8217;s wild violin, chased by accordion, Vardos play folk and Romany music learnt from Roma (Gypsy) and folk musicians in Hungary and Romania during their travels in Eastern Europe. Based in Naarm Melbourne, Australia, the band has toured internationally and appeared in film and on television.
Bohemian Nights (9 December) 
Wild and soulful Gypsy, Klezmer, French and Italian music played and sung by Ernie Gruner and Phil Carroll on violin, accordion, mandolin, ney, with Jazz, Tango and Eastern influences.
Liana Perillo (23 December) Professional harpist, vocalist and composer, Liana Perillo, demonstrates a clear crossover between classical and contemporary jazz styles in her music. Liana predominantly plays the electro-acoustic pedal harp, coupled with amplification and analogue effects pedals to extend the sonority of her instrument.
About The Boîte
The Boîte is Victoria’s iconic multicultural music organisation, creating opportunities for culturally diverse music to contribute to a richer, more inclusive Australia. Founded in 1979, it supports artists from diverse communities, promoting cultural understanding through the dynamic presentation of unique musical experiences, and nurtures creativity, collaboration, access to and active participation in the arts.
Presented by Fed Square in partnership with Mr Smart Melbourne

gift-wrapping-white-box-red-ribbon

Free

Free Gift Wrapping Service

<h2>7-14 December 2023</h2>
A little bit of light can dispel a lot of darkness.
Pillars of Light, in celebration of Chanukah, is providing Melbournians with an opportunity to come together over a multicultural celebration, focusing on what unites us as a city.
Each evening features a bespoke program highlighting the core precepts of connection and collaboration through guest speakers, dignitaries, artistic performers, cultural groups, sports people and more, who’ll be invited to light the menorah, bringing together our varied communities through hope, positivity, love and light.
Pillars of Light has sourced local and known multicultural, faith and Indigenous artists and choirs that will perform during the festival.
You are welcome to join us this holiday season for what is a phenomenal display of multiculturalism and diversity in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD &#8211; Fed Square!
Pillars of Light thanks its Principal Partner Gandel Foundation and the Victorian Government for their generosity and support over the past 4 years together with the ARK Centre and Fed Square. Gold Partners Pratt Foundation, Erdi Foundation, City of Melbourne, Loti &amp; Victor Smorgon Family Foundation and the Jack &amp; Robert Smorgon Families Foundation.
Pillars of Light is a free event.

menorah-pillars-of-light-crowd

Chanukah - Pillars of Light

Two exciting events running alongside each other. Boho Luxe Market in The Atrium and The Vegan Market in The Edge.
Support local and interstate brands not readily available at other markets and shop small this Christmas on Sunday 10 December at The Atrium and The Edge, Fed Square.
Shop the beautiful Byron Bay based Boho Luxe Market in The Atrium and the Vegan Market in The Edge where you can shop everything ethical, sustainable and 100% vegan. Think vegan chocolate, vegan cider, vegan wine, ethical fashion and amazing food options.
Invest in a psychic reading, some henna art or join a creative workshop…the choice is yours!
For more information visit: <a href="https://www.boholuxemarket.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.boholuxemarket.com/</a> 
Follow Boho Luxe Market on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/boholuxemarket" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/boholuxemarket</a> 
Follow Boho Luxe Market on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/boholuxemarket/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.instagram.com/boholuxemarket/</a>
Image credit: Marie Luise

boho-luxe-market-vegan-market-banner

Boho Luxe Market + The Vegan Market

A queer fantasia of jingle belling joy! Celebrating the decorative and delightful – this will be a rainbow Christmas designed to make all your wildest Christmas wishes come true.
If you’ve found yourself on the naughty list this year, then come and join us for the festive frenzy of As Camp as Christmas.
The sparkling celebrations will commence with a screening of the spandex and glittertastic Baz Luhrmann classic, Strictly Ballroom, on our Big Screen, followed by a live performance by the Rainbow Voices Community Choir and the Divine Divas Show Choir on the Main Stage.
The camp and spectacular will continue in The Edge with a line-up of cabaret and comedic stars, sure to make your yuletide gay. Performers include 2Joocee, Aysha Buffet, Bec Matthews &amp; Sarah Ward, Bendy Ben, Cerulean, D Flowers, Dandrogyny, Dita Von Quef, Gabi Barton, Glitter &amp; Snatch, Holly Durant, Jandruze, Nefertiti LaNegra, Scotty So, Simone Page Jones, Tanzer, Zelia Rose.
Program:
6pm–7.30pm – Strictly Ballroom screening, Main screen
7.30pm–8.30pm – Rainbow Voices Community Choir and Divine Divas Show Choir, Main Stage
8.45–10.45pm – As Camp as Christmas, The Edge
As Camp as Christmas is curated by The Huxleys and presented by Fed Square.

as-camp-as-christmas-the-huxleys

LGBTQIA+

Performance

As Camp as Christmas

High voltage collisions of music, dance and animation – live for NYE.
Interactive Composition DJs and music producers from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and dancers and animators from the Victorian College of the Arts meet head-on to create an electrifying all-ages experience.
Bring your friends to catch some of Melbourne’s up-and-coming live music acts and DJs, accompanied by contemporary dance performances – as you watch entrancing animated visuals created to complement the experience, on our famous Big Screen.
Celebrate 10 years of Interactive Composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music – and join in the party to ring in 2023 at Fed Square.
Live acts: 
Asha Trips 
Fia Fiell 
JC SHARP 
Remy Ondrey 
R.P. Downie
DJs: 
SHIVERS 
Reuben Rasmussen 
Mønarch 
Mike Callander 
STAMP 
Brandon Hombre 
Grease-Trap
<a href="/melbourne-conservatorium-of-music-and-victorian-college-of-the-arts-students">Click here to view the DJ&#8217;s and live act&#8217;s bios.</a>
New Years Eve at Fed Square is presented by students from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the Victorian College of the Arts at the University of Melbourne, in partnership with Fed Square.
<a style="text-decoration: none !important; border: 0px !important; outline: none; border-width: 0px; outline-width: 0px; border-bottom: none;" href="https://www.unimelb.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone" style="font-size: 16px;" src="https://fedsquare.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/university-of-melbourne-logo-colour.png" alt="&quot;" width="200" height="100%" /></a>

new-years-eve-banner

Music

New Year's Eve

Coming Up

Discover restaurants, bars and cafes serving up Melbourne&#8217;s best breakfast, coffee, lunch, drinks or dinner for any occasion and budget.

Discover All

Eat + Drink

Mama’s kitchen is cooking up a Middle Eastern feast!

mamas-canteen-tapas

Mama's Canteen

chocolate-buddha-collage-banner-v2

Chocolate Buddha

transport_eat_drink_fed_square

Transport Public Bar

taxi_kitchen_eat_drink_fed_square_hero

Taxi Kitchen

An iconic Melbourne bar and cafe nestled in the historic Federation Wharf vaults

riverland-bar-banner

Riverland Bar

time-out-dusk-front-view

Time Out Dusk front view

Time Out Cafe, Bar + Restaurant

Embrace the interconnectivity of everything with Memo Akten&#8217;s multi-screen work exploring the merging of human and non-human consciousness – via the coded AI musings of octopus-like digital beings.
Originally beginning as an NFT collection on the ecologically friendly blockchain Tezos, Memo Akten&#8217;s eight-channel video installation, Distributed Consciousness, features 256 unique images of octopus-like Tentacular Critters created with custom Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning coded by the artist.
It was later revealed that each image had AI-generated text cryptographically encoded in it – a Verse. Invisible to the human eye, but readable by code, the collection forms a poem, a book, a manifesto. The manifesto is a human-machine co-creation meditation spanning consciousness, free will, life, death, art, technology, ritual, ecology, economy and sustainability. Each Verse was released as an audio-visual reading.
Cephalopods are incredibly intelligent; only 10% of their neurons are in a central brain, while the rest is distributed across their body, with two thirds in their arms. In a sense, they have a decentralised nervous system. Distributed Consciousness draws parallels between the distributed computation performed by smart-contract based blockchains, and the anthropological timeline, with differently evolved mythologies and deities, promoting alternative cultural values to the exploitative, extractivist, purely profit-driven neoliberal world we find ourselves in today.
Staged as a place of worship, our Tentacular deities invite us to face our final Copernican Trauma, to face the reality that humans may not be the sole keepers of what we think of as “intelligence”, “creativity” or even “consciousness”. The project also uses the extraordinary alien intelligence of cephalopods, to reflect on the new synthetic alien intelligences we are building in machines in the form of AI.
In these times of ecological collapse and urgency, we are invited to let go of the dangerous dichotomy of “Man vs Nature”, and instead embrace the interconnectedness of all human, non-human, living and non-living things across manifold scales of time and space, and actively work towards multi-species flourishing.
For more information visit: <a href="https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/memo-akten-distributed-consciousness/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/memo-akten-distributed-consciousness/</a>
Image credit: Memo Akten, Distributed Consciousness (Critters video stills), 2021. Courtesy the artist

memo-atken-distributed-consciousness

Exhibitions

Memo Akten: Distributed Consciousness at ACMI

Liam Young: Planetary Redesign is the first major Australian solo exhibition of filmmaker and speculative architect Liam Young. Through an immersive display of moving image works, costumes and photography, Young proposes thought-provoking redesigns of our planet that offer a radically optimistic solution to the climate crisis.
On display in Melbourne direct from its world-premiere at the 2023 Venice Biennale of Architecture, The Great Endeavor, 2023, depicts the construction of a global system of greenhouse gas extraction and storage, powered by vast renewable energy infrastructures – together capable of removing huge quantities of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. To achieve this, Young imagines a mobilisation of workers and resources on a planetary scale, enabled by international cooperation like never before.
Also on display is Young’s film Planet City, 2016-2023, which provides a window into an alternative urban future. Commissioned for the NGV Triennial in 2020 and supported by the Bagôt Gjergja Foundation, it depicts the design of a new city for the whole human population of the earth. It questions whether the accelerating impacts of climate change could urge everyone to retreat together into one hyper-dense sustainable metropolis, providing space for the rest of the planet to recover as wilderness.
The exhibition speculates that addressing the climate emergency is no longer a technological problem – it is now a social, cultural, and political one. It offers hope that through creativity and collective action we can move together towards ecological balance on earth.
For more information visit: <a href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/liam-young-planetary-redesign/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/liam-young-planetary-redesign/</a>
Banner image credit: Liam Young The Great Endeavor 2023 (detail)

the-great-endeavour-liam-young

Liam Young: Planetary Redesign at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

Welcome to Wurrdha Marra – meaning ‘Many Mobs’ in the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung language. The name comes to the NGV from the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and supports the purpose of this space in sharing the work of First Nations artists, from emerging to senior figures, and across time and place. For First Nations peoples around the world, art and design are part of a continuum where the past intersects with the present, different materials converge, and diverse perspectives come together. The central role of art in passing down important cultural knowledge is celebrated in this display through the diverse approaches that artists take to maintaining and regenerating customary cultural practices and iconography while also creating new forms of expression.
The works included in this inaugural hang are by emerging artists as well as senior figures across both time and place. Each of these artists has in their own way been at the forefront in creating new forms of expression, and in maintaining and regenerating customary cultural practices and iconography. Great individual artists, working in Aboriginal-owned art centres or independently after studying at art school, continue to shape and transform art in Australia, inspiring many others to follow their example.
For more information visit: <a href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/wurrdha-marra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/wurrdha-marra/</a>
Image credit: Wingu Tingima, Minyma Tjuta (Seven Sisters) 2006, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 138.0 × 205.0 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Purchased with funds donated by Supporters and Patrons of Indigenous Art, 2006 © Wingu Tingima/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia, Photo: Christian Markel/NGV

minyma-tjuta-seven-sisters-by-wingu-tingima-wurrdha-marra-ngv-australia

Wurrdha Marra at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

Photography: Real and Imagined examines two perspectives on photography; photography grounded in the real world, as a record, a document, a reflection of the world around us; and photography as the product of imagination, storytelling and illusion. On occasion, photography operates in both realms of the real and the imagined.
Highlighting major photographic works from the NGV Collection, including recent acquisitions on display for the very first time, Photography: Real and Imagined examines the complex, engaging and sometimes contradictory nature, of all things photographic. The NGV’s largest survey of the photography collection, the exhibition includes more than 200 works by Australian and international photographers and artists working with photo-media from the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
For more information visit: <a href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/photography-real-imagined/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/photography-real-imagined/</a>
Image credit: Hank WILLIS THOMAS, Amelia falling 2014 (detail), photographic print, mirror and glass, 166.0 x 135.0 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Bowness Family Fund for Photography, 2017, 2017.462 © Hank Willis Thomas. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

photography-real-and-imagined-ngv-australia

Photography: Real and Imagined at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

This exhibition brings together one hundred watercolours made by Aranda, Western Aranda, Eastern Aranda, and Kemarre artists working at Hermannsburg, across generations. Among these are key new acquisitions by Albert Namatjira, one of Australia’s most well-known artists, whose landscapes are synonymous with the Central Australian outback. An important recent gift of seventy-seven watercolours by former NGV trustee, the late Darvell M. Hutchinson AM, make up a significant portion of the exhibition.
This collection represents the ethereal beauty of Aranda Country and the cultural stories that are embedded within the landscape, depicted throughout history and into current day. A range of ethereal subjects, including distant eucalypt trees, blue mountains, rock formations, and slender ghost gums, come together to create a unified and comprehensive depiction of these distinctive traditional lands.
The exhibition features work by both historical and contemporary artists who have spent their lives dedicated to the artform, including Gerhard Inkamala, Cordula Ebatarinja – one of the only women to have a career as a painter during the boom period of the Hermannsburg School – and contemporary artist Benita Clements.
For more information visit: <a href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/watercolour-country/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/watercolour-country/</a>
Image credit: Albert Namatjira, MacDonnell Ranges at Heavitree Gap c.1950s National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Presented by Esso Australia Pty Ltd, 2018 © Namatjira Legacy Trust/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia. Image courtesy of NGV

macdonnell-ranges-at-heavitree-gap-albert-namatjira

Watercolour Country: 100 Works From Hermannsburg

KHT is proud to present the 11th Koorie Art Show. The Koorie Art Show is their annual event showcasing the diverse talent of Victoria’s First Peoples’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists in one inclusive space.
Through a statewide call for entries, The Koorie Art Show is an annual art award and exhibition dedicated to showcasing the work of Koorie and Victorian based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.
Artists generously share their stories and culture, Country and connection; this is an exhibition that brings together painting, works on paper, photography, sculpture, multi-media, fibre art and more.
The Koorie Art Show has become an important avenue for community members to create and present their artworks. All works entered are exhibited in a salon hang and are available for sale.
The awards include
<ul>
<li>Creative Victoria Award for Excellence in Any Media, $10,000</li>
<li>City of Melbourne Aboriginal Melbourne Award, $5,000</li>
<li>Lendlease Reconciliation Award, $5,000</li>
<li>Viva Energy Australia 3D Award, $5,000</li>
<li>RMIT University Emerging Artist Award, $5,000</li>
<li>Josh Muir Digital Award, $3,000</li>
<li>KHT’s Encouragement Awards, 2 x $500</li>
<li>Fed Square’s People’s Choice Award $1,000</li>
</ul>
Image credit: Donna Conley (Ngyiampaa), deep thoughts, 2023, synthetic polymer paint on canvas. Photo: Christian Capurro.

donna-conley-deep-thoughts-koorie-art-show

First Peoples

The 11th Koorie Art Show at Koorie Heritage Trust

Visit some of Australia's most significant cultural attractions, including ACMI, the Koorie Heritage Trust and The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. 

Your museum of screen culture. Navigate the universe of film, TV, videogames and art.

acmi-art-after-dark-placeholder

ACMI

Discover the history of Aboriginal Victoria and South-East Australia

kht-in-conversation

KHT In Conversation

Koorie Heritage Trust

The world’s first major gallery dedicated exclusively to Australian art.

generic-the-ian-potter-centre-ngv-australia

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

Museums + Galleries

Festive Season at Fed Square

The Knot

festive-seaon-at-fed-square-slider

hello-melbourne-header

Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature

See the world from a new perspective.

marshmallow-laser-feast-works-of-nature-eugene-hyland-slider

Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature at ACMI

microsoftteams-image-15

MicrosoftTeams-image (15)

11th-koorie-art-show-donna-conley-deep-thoughts-slider

11th Koorie Art Show at Koorie Heritage Trust

The first major Australian solo exhibition of filmmaker and speculative architect Liam Young.

the-great-endeavour-liam-young-slider

Venue Hire

Activate at Melbourne's best venue hire space.

deakin-edge-fed-square

Deakin-Edge-Fed-Square

Please be aware that the Koorie Heritage Trust are very excited to announce that they are expanding and, by December 2023, will occupy all three levels of the Yarra Building.
To complete the building works in time for their launch in December, there is limited public access to the KHT in the Yarra Building. While you can still visit and view the level 3 collections display, entry is only via the Yarra Building passenger lift located on the east side of the building. However, the popup <a href="/events/shopkoorie-pop-up/">shopKOORIE</a> in the Crossbar Building is also open, and you can also book into one of the guided <a href="https://koorieheritagetrust.com.au/whats-on/#public-walking-tours" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Birrarung Willam (River Camp) walking tour</a>. KHT&#8217;s highly regarded cultural competency and cultural safety workshops will also continue during this time.
For more information, please visit KHT&#8217;s <a href="https://koorieheritagetrust.com.au/about-us/access-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">building expansion webpage</a>
The Koorie Heritage Trust takes Koorie peoples, cultures and communities from the literal and figurative fringes of Melbourne to a place that is a central meeting and gathering place for all Victorians. Their location at Fed Square is a recognition of their shared history and the importance of Koorie peoples as part of a broader 21st century community.
The Koorie Heritage Trust is committed to creating a safe space for all people to learn about and to help them  promote, support and celebrate the continuing journey of the Aboriginal people of South Eastern Australia.
KHT offer a range of programs and services including the only public collection in Victoria dedicated solely to Koorie art and culture comprising artefacts, pictures and photographs as well as a Oral History Program and a Reference Library; a cultural education service that includes guided walking tours, cultural competency training and programs developed specifically for schools and educators; an annual exhibition program with an emphasis on showcasing young and emerging Victorian Aboriginal art and artists; a Koorie Family History Service; and a retail shop dedicated exclusively to showcasing the uniqueness of Victorian Aboriginal art and design.
Find out more: <a href="https://koorieheritagetrust.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://koorieheritagetrust.com.au/</a>
Permanent Collection
The Koorie Heritage Trust acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Naarm (Melbourne), the Wurrundjeri People of the Greater Kulin (Gulinj: meaning Man) Nation, that comprise the 5 distinct language groups of south central Victoria.
At the heart of the Trust are their Collections of artworks and artefacts, photographs, oral history recordings and a reference library. The Collections are unique and irreplaceable, and represent the continuing journey of the Aboriginal peoples of south eastern Australia as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from around the country who now call Victoria home.
On display on the 3rd floor of the Yarra Building at Federation Square are select items from our Collections that are rotated on a regular basis. Browse through the displays including open storage display drawers and learn about the First Peoples of Victoria.
Find out more: <a href="https://koorieheritagetrust.com.au/whats-on/exhibitions/permanent-collection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://koorieheritagetrust.com.au/whats-on/exhibitions/permanent-collection/</a>
shopKOORIE
Beautifully crafted and authentic Indigenous art and craft
Discover Aboriginal Victoria with beautifully crafted and authentic art and craft at shopKOORIE.
Our Aboriginal Victorian artists, designers and craft practitioners are some of the most highly regarded and we are always delighted to share their product with you.
Buying from us, you are purchasing an authentic Victorian Aboriginal designed and produced product grounded in a 60,000-year-old history. You are also directly supporting and providing direct benefits back to these makers.
Find out more: <a href="https://shop.koorieheritagetrust.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://shop.koorieheritagetrust.com.au/</a>
Image credit: KHT renovated Birrarung Building interiors.  This is a Lyons led design collaboration between First Nations architect Jefa Greenaway (Greenaway Architects), Lyons and Architecture Associates. Photography: James Henry

kht-renovations-front-desk

Koorie Heritage Trust - Reopening 9 December

Upper Square

Installation

Kids + Families

The heart of Melbourne’s festive celebrations, featuring the City’s Christmas Tree and twinkling decorations.
Presented by the City of Melbourne, Fed Square will be transformed into Christmas Square for the festive season. The striking centrepiece is the enormous 17.5 metre LED Christmas tree, which will light up each evening, a beacon of Christmas joy.
Plan your visit to coincide with nightly on-the-hour sound and light show to enjoy the magical celebration of Christmas song and spirit.
Christmas Square is presented by the City of Melbourne, in partnership with Fed Square.
Please be aware that Santa&#8217;s Workshop can be found in Howey Place this year from the 25 November to 24 December, for more information visit: <a href="https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/things-to-do/santas-workshop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/things-to-do/santas-workshop</a>

christmas-tree-lit-up-evening-fed-square

Christmas Square

Swanston St Forecourt

Community

Hark! A diverse range of community and cultural choirs will bring joy to your world this festive season.
Head down to Fed Square to listen to the voices of Melbourne’s multicultural and diverse communities raised in song, with a program featuring a range of traditional and contemporary Christmas and festive season songs, sung in English and other languages.
Program:
Friday 24 November: Melbourne Mass Gospel Choir (MMGC), accompanying A Christmas Tale: a Christmas-themed animation by Beci Orpin and General Strike, 7pm and 8.20pm
Saturday 25 November: MMGC, accompanying A Christmas Tale: a Christmas-themed animation by Beci Orpin and General Strike, 8pm and 8.30pm
Sunday 26 November: The Yarra Voices, accompanying A Christmas Tale: a Christmas-themed animation by Beci Orpin and General Strike, 8pm and 8.30pm
Friday 1 December: Sonidos del Alma (Spanish language choir), 7.15pm–7.45pm and 8pm–8.30pm
Saturday 2 December: Living Out Loud, 7.15pm–7.45pm and 8pm–8.30pm
Sunday 3 December: ARC Children’s and Youth Choir and ARCappella, 7.15pm–7.45pm and 8pm–8.30pm
Saturday 9 December: Brimbank Multicultural Community Choir, 7.15pm–7.45pm and 8pm–8.30pm
Friday 15 December: Prelo Serbian choir, 7.15pm–7.45pm and 8pm–8.30pm
Saturday 16 December: Divine Divas Rainbow Voices Community Choir, 7.30pm–8.30pm
Sunday 17 December: Glee Club Singing, 7.15pm–7.45pm and 8pm–8.30pm
Friday 22 December: Glee Club Singing, 7.15pm–7.45pm and 8pm–8.30pm
Saturday 23 December: Melbourne Georgian Choir, 7.15pm–7.45pm and 8pm–8.30pm
Christmas Choirs are presented by Fed Square.

rainbow-choir-christmas-choirs

Christmas Choirs

The Main Square

Main Square

The Atrium

Screen

Celebrate Christmas in Australia with an animated Australian Christmas story on the Big Screen by artist Beci Orpin. Select performances will feature live choral accompaniment.
Melbourne-based artist, designer, author and maker Beci Orpin’s original animated Christmas film A Christmas Tale was commissioned by Fed Square and the City of Melbourne in 2018. This festive season you can catch it on our Big Screen, where it will be screening it on select evenings leading up until Christmas.
A Christmas Tale is a film created by Melbourne studio General Strike in collaboration with artist and illustrator Beci Orpin. The 10-minute animation brings to life a playful fusion of Australian Christmas scenes and characters in her colourful, graphic and dream-like style.
From a wintery European tradition to Aussie summer holidays at the beach, viewers will see whimsical moments of Australia’s unique fauna and flora, including flying possums, dropping spiders and the distinctive crimson and black of Sturt’s Desert Peas.
Live choral accompaniment:
During select screenings, there will be live choral accompaniment for A Christmas Tale, presented as part of Fed Square’s Christmas Choirs program.
Friday 24 November 
7pm Melb Mass Choir Performance to Beci Orpin’s a Christmas Tale #1 
8.20pm Melb Mass Choir Performance to Beci Orpin’s Christmas Tale #2
Saturday 25 November 
8pm Melb Mass Choir Performance to Beci Orpin’s a Christmas Tale Performance #1 
8.30pm Melb Mass Choir Performance to Beci Orpin’s a Christmas Tale Performance #2
Sunday 26 November 
8pm Yarra Voices Performance to Beci Orpin’s a Christmas Tale Performance #1 
8.30pm Yarra Voices Choir Performance to Beci Orpin’s a Christmas Tale Performance #2
Screen schedule:
27-30 November 
8pm, 8.20pm &amp; 8.40pm
1-3 December 
8.40pm
4-6 December 
8pm, 8.20pm &amp; 8.40pm
8 December 
8pm, 8.20pm &amp; 8.40pm
9 December 
8.40pm
10 December 
8pm, 8.20pm &amp; 8.40pm
15-17 December 
8.40pm
18-21 December 
8pm, 8.20pm &amp; 8.40pm
22-24 December 
8.40pm
A Christmas Tale is presented by Fed Square partnership with General Strike.

a-christmas-tale-beci-orpin

A Christmas Tale by Beci Orpin

Enjoy classic Christmas films during Christmas week, on the Big Screen 
Make the most of a summertime Christmas and enjoy our free program of outdoor cinema, featuring some of your favourite Christmas films.
Gather friends and family and get there early to grab a deckchair for the film – or BYO blanket and picnic spread to make a night of it.
Christmas Films are presented by Fed Square.

its-a-wonderful-life-big-screen

Christmas Films

From the breath of trees to the cells inside our bodies and galaxies above, everything is connected.
Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature illuminates the hidden forces surrounding us, revealing the sublime through sensory journeys beyond our everyday perception. From the roots of a majestic Amazonian tree to the unseen branches of the body and the birth of galaxies, this hypnotic, immersive experience explores the rhythm that cultivates and connects all life – breath.
This world premiere exhibition features four major digital artworks on a grand, awe-inspiring scale plus evocative works on paper from London-based collective <a href="https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/marshmallow-laser-feast/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marshmallow Laser Feast</a>. Through guided meditation, large-scale screen works and interactive experiences, visitors evolve from droplets of water to plants, cells and stars, becoming part of the cycle of life and the cosmos.
Using creative technology to deepen our understanding of, and connection to, the world around us, Marshmallow Laser Feast reminds us that we’re just one species in a shared ecosystem and asks, what can we learn from nature to prepare for the future?
Marshmallow Laser Feast: Works of Nature marks their first major exhibition in Australia and includes artworks executive produced by filmmaker Terrence Malick; and collaborations featuring narration by Cate Blanchett; poetry by Daisy Lafarge; and music by Jonny Greenwood, Meredith Monk, Jon Hopkins, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Howard Skempton.
For more information visit: <a href="https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/marshmallow-laser-feast-works-of-nature/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/marshmallow-laser-feast-works-of-nature/</a>
Image credit: Distortions in Spacetime by Marshmallow Laser Feast, Works of Nature, ACMI, 2023, image by Eugene Hyland

marshmallow-laser-feast-works-of-nature-kids

Koorie Heritage Trust are excited to announce that they are expanding to all three levels in the Yarra Building at Fed Square, to create a stand-alone and independent First Peoples arts and cultural centre.
During the renovations <a href="https://shop.koorieheritagetrust.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shopKOORIE POP-UP</a> will be re-located to the rear of the Main Square. A fresh and vibrant design, visitors will be able to purchase unique and authentic gifts designed and produced by many Victorian First Peoples artists, designers and businesses.