The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has revealed highlights of the MPavilion 2020 program – Australia’s leading architecture and design event. The program responds to the challenges of a year beset by a pandemic with a more significant investment in artists, performers, and collaborators.
The amplified new program, launching Thursday 12 November 2020 and running until Sunday 21 March 2021 – will occur entirely online in November, and then both online and in many physical locations from December onwards. The program comprises over 400 free events – including talks, workshops, performances, kid-friendly activities, and community projects and installations.
Bringing together over 500 guests from across Australia and the world, MPavilion 2020 will feature special talks and events with esteemed international guests such as British design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn, London’s Bompas & Parr, and Spanish architect and writer Andrés Jaque.
An expansive schedule of events and workshops will also be led by celebrated locals, including artist Atong Atem with Sabina McKenna, soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham AO, dance studio Chunky Move, photography festival Photo 2021, RMIT University, and many more.
MProjects – a series of special creations and residencies commissioned exclusively for MPavilion, include performances by local musicians for MERGE and for Walsh Street Music (recorded at Robin Boyd’s iconic South Yarra home, in partnership with Robin Boyd Foundation), the First Nations Writers in Residence initiative, and the M_Curators programming experience for emerging curators.
Then there’s the BLAKitecture series of talks and events on Indigenous architecture, MPavilion education guides for schools, upcycled staff uniforms by fashion designer Chelsea Hickman, and physically-distanced stools for on-site events by interior designer and architect partners Holly Board and Peter Grove,
Other highlights include an artistic / political / philosophical hair salon, an inflatable work by globally celebrated leaders of sensory design experience, Bompas & Parr, and collaborations with Bakehouse Studios, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne Music Week, and Open House Melbourne.
“Encouraged by our mission to nurture, aid, and boost the creative life of our city, MPavilion 2020 will unify the community in an emotional, exciting new way,” said Naomi Milgrom AC, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.
“Viewed optimistically and approached boldly, this challenging moment in history has opened up new programming possibilities – opportunities that will open up different conversations, ideas and connections about our city, our public spaces and the world,” said Ms Milgrom.
MPavilion this year will play a critical role during the pandemic by adapting its program to support community needs. MPavilion will examine reuse by engaging its original six MPavilions (located around the city) and by taking over existing venues to revive Melbourne’s outdoor and empty public spaces (announced as the program unfolds).
The November program will be delivered entirely online, with December to March happening both online and in physical Covid-safe locations, in alignment with Victoria’s Covid roadmap.
The 2020 MPavilion program launches Thursday 12 November and continues until Sunday 21 March 2021. For more information, and program highlights, visit: www.mpavilion.org for details.
Image: 2020 MPavilion Collaborators (supplied)