Rising Festival
What happens when 15 orphans go searching for their inner Batman?
Bambi and Batman bring a fairytale framework to a playful exploration of loss.
- by John Bailey
Latest
Horror, religion, cannibalism: The story behind Barack Obama’s favourite new artist
Musician Ethel Cain brings her haunted vision of America to Vivid and RISING.
- by Brodie Lancaster
Forget fireworks. Rising’s 4-hour light show is a vision for our times
When he’s not zapping clients out of their negativity, Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde is creating works that might just change our world.
- by Ray Edgar
Naked bikers, a human maggot and RPatz: Ten things not to miss at Rising
Melbourne’s mid-winter festival offers a feast of the senses that might sometimes turn your stomach.
- by John Bailey
Skulls, Vodou and a giant penis: is this Rising’s wackiest offering?
Ghetto Biennale brings Haitian street culture to Melbourne in a work born out of junkyard cast-offs.
- by John Bailey
She was afraid she’d become a hit musician, turns out she was right
Music was in Hailee Olivia Williams’ blood all along. It just took her a while to stop fighting.
- by Michael Dwyer
Flinders Street Station an iconic space to host stories from the spirit world
One of Melbourne’s most famous locations will become home to the largest commission of contemporary First Nations art in Victoria’s history.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
It’s Cate Blanchett as you’ve never seen her before - as a tiger
Melbourne will be home to a new 360-degree video spectacular from German artist Julian Rosefeldt featuring Cate Blanchett as a talking tiger.
- by Karl Quinn
Hamer’s odyssey: Voyage of an eel lights up Melbourne landmark
A digital projection of a huge eel will weave its way along the facade of Hamer Hall, after the first unveiling was marred by a pandemic lockdown.
- by Jack Latimore
So that was our first Rising arts festival. Did it live up to the hype?
Dance lovers had plenty of reasons to kick up their heels, the music program was expansive – but theatre was patchy and the White Night side was a damp squib.
- by Cameron Woodhead
★★★★
Arts
Manifesto: when high-concept contemporary dance meets cheerleading
This dancing manifesto created by Melbourne-based choreographer Stephanie Lake is a call for more flash and more sizzle. And it’s thumping good fun.
- by Emma Sullivan, Carla Jaeger, Andrew Fuhrmann and Cameron Woodhead