To get a sense of this year's Melbourne Fringe, we spoke with its Creative Director/ CEO Simon Abrahams.
What are we in for this year with Melbourne Fringe?
18 days of brilliant uncurated excellence – there’s 448 events in every imaginable art form in 152 venues – so there’s something for every Melburnian, no matter what their comfort zone.
Is there a particular theme the festival is following?
We’re exploring the games we play – there’s actual games you play in public space, but we’re also looking at the subconscious games we play – power structures and how to break the rules. And there’s a provocation to follow the lead of children, because they are the experts in play, and just have a great time.
What kinds of things happen in the lead up to Melbourne Fringe in terms of curating the shows and putting the programme together?
Melbourne Fringe is uncurated which means putting the programme together involves working with literally thousands of artists to hear about their ideas, match them with venues and help them to realise their works. There’s a handful of civic programmes and projects that bring our citizenship together – we’ve been working on these for a couple of years so it’s pretty exciting to share them with the world. We’ve got projects like 'Icon' where everyday citizens can sign up to have artists come and live with them – and 'XS' which is a programme of experimental and contemporary art for kids.
You got on board with Melbourne Fringe in 2015. What have been some of your personal highlights over the years?
There’s so many to mention! 2015 definitely brought the party and the Club was pumping until the early hours of the morning all festival. Robin Fox’s extraordinary 'Sky Light' installation in 2016 was a major highlight. In 2017 I loved Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey’s interactive see saw installation 'Pivot' at Fed Square – and so many more. The most extraordinary thing is to think over four years, I’ve worked with over 15,000 artists already in expressing themselves through Fringe, which is a pretty breathtaking figure.
What's your favourite part of being involved?
I love working with artists to realise their bold, extraordinary, ambitious ideas and to bring them to Melbourne, my hometown.
How do you think the festival has grown since?
The festival is developed a lot – we’ve put such a strong focus on diversity, to make sure we have works by First Nations artists, people with disability, Deaf artists, queer artists, to really shift and shape the festival so it reflects the city’s culture. We’re really amped up our programs for children and our free art in public spaces to make the festival as accessible as we can be.
Why do you think Fringe festivals are important?
Freedom of artistic expression is central to our democracy. Fringe festivals are accessible and democratic and they let artists express themselves – from huge names to next-big-things – and they give audiences the chance to discover all sorts of new things about themselves.
Describe the 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival in five words.
Diverse. Playful. Bold. Surprising. Memorable.
