Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC) has announced the recipients of its 2027 commissioning program, supporting three ambitious new projects that bring artists and researchers together to explore some of the most pressing questions of our time.
Through the David Li Sound Gallery Commission and MPAC Creative Development program, artists are given the opportunity to develop new work in collaboration with Monash experts, drawing on research, facilities and interdisciplinary partnerships to transform ideas into performance.
Through access to Monash expertise, world‑class facilities and curatorial support, MPAC transforms ambitious ideas into public-facing works, across artforms, that push the boundaries of contemporary performance.
The 2027 recipients are sound artist and composer Aviva Endean, writer and performer Tom Ballard, and fashion waste creatives Fast Fashun, whose projects span climate science, heliophysics and philosophy, the psychologies of youth culture and sustainability, and social participation.
MPAC Head of Programming Ruth Oakley said the recipients exemplify the unique role commissioning plays within a university context. “At MPAC, commissioning is about creating opportunities for artists and researchers to think and imagine together,” said Oakley.
“Music performance about air turbulence, philosophical comedy about the sun, high volume fashion waste turned into creative participation – this is a suite of projects that would only emanate from MPAC at Monash University!”
“We are thrilled to support these distinct artistic voices, where all three proposals share deep commitment to curiosity, experimentation and collaboration,” said Oakley.
MPAC Sound Gallery Commission recipient 2027:
Aviva Endean: exploring climate through sound
Drawing inspiration from the invisible atmospheric phenomenon of clear air turbulence, Aviva Endean will transform the David Li Sound Gallery into an immersive instrument, creating a performance art work that connects breath, weather systems and climate research using the venue’s world-leading Meyer Constellation Active Acoustic Sound technology.
Clear Air Turbulence is a new 50-minute electro-acoustic work for winds, electronics and the venue’s immersive spatial audio system. Inspired by the atmospheric phenomenon of invisible turbulence and its increasing prevalence in a changing climate, the work will explore the relationship between breath, wind and sound in motion.
Aviva Endean is a Naarm/Melbourne-based clarinettist, composer and sound artist whose work spans experimental music, contemporary performance, installation and interdisciplinary collaboration. Renowned for creating immersive and deeply attentive listening experiences, she explores new ways of understanding sound, space and human connection.
Her work has been presented at major festivals and venues across Australia and internationally and released through leading experimental music labels including Room40 and SOFA Music. A recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, Aviva is recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative contemporary artists, creating works that challenge, captivate and expand how audiences experience sound.
MPAC Creative Development Commission recipients:
Fast Fashun: Reimagining youth culture through participation
Fast Fashun will develop DEAD FASHUN SOCIETY – an interactive installation and participatory performance exploring youth identity, belonging, conformity and climate anxiety through fashion waste and collective play.
Designed primarily for teenagers and young adults, the project transforms reclaimed clothing into a participatory environment where audiences experiment with self-expression, collaboration and public participation.
Transforming fashion waste through large-scale collective play and social experimentation, Fast Fashun’s DEAD FASHUN SOCIETY will collaborate with Monash experts in psychology and sociology to investigate how young people navigate identity, non-conformity and belonging, in creative process where participants are encouraged to create and wear unexpected looks with reclaimed clothing, collaborate with strangers, survive social discomfort and experiment with identity in public.
Fast Fashun is an interactive arts project that uses fashion, participation and humour to engage audiences in conversations about sustainability, identity and consumer culture. Since 2019, Fast Fashun has worked with young people through festivals, schools and community events, creating large-scale participatory experiences that transform clothing waste into opportunities for creative expression and connection.
Drawing on experience in youth engagement and community-led arts practice, including work with queer young people through Minus18, Fast Fashun creates accessible, inclusive environments that encourage confidence, collaboration and collective action through playful and socially engaged artistic experiences.
Tom Ballard: finding meaning at the end of the world
Tom Ballard takes a deep dive into heliophysics and current theories about the sun’s fate in this new work The Sun Is Going To Explode. Combining comedy, storytelling, science, philosophy and theatrical spectacle, this ambitious theatre work asks one of humanity’s oldest questions: if everything will eventually disappear, how should we live now?
Ballard explores how humans find meaning in the face of cosmic impermanence, through comedy, storytelling, science, philosophy and theatrical spectacle. In collaboration with Monash researchers in heliophysics and philosophy, Ballard will create a bold, life-affirming performance that transforms complex ideas about the universe into a deeply personal and collective theatrical experience.
The project will draw on expertise from the School of Physics and Astronomy and philosophical scholarship to create a performance that is both intellectually rigorous and emotionally resonant.
Tom Ballard is a writer, performer and broadcaster whose work spans stand-up comedy, theatre, television, radio and podcasting. One of Australia’s most distinctive comic voices, he is known for combining sharp humour with thoughtful explorations of politics, culture and contemporary life.
His solo comedy shows have toured extensively throughout Australia and internationally, including multiple seasons at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Alongside his live work, Tom has appeared across major television and radio platforms and has established a reputation as a skilled storyteller capable of transforming complex ideas into engaging and accessible performance. The Sun Is Going To Explode marks his most ambitious theatrical project to date.
For more information about Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC) Commissions, visit: www.mpac.monash.edu for details.
Images: Tom Ballard – photo by Ian Laidlaw | Aviva Endean – photo by Celeste de Clario | Wasteworlds – photo by Rebekah