White Night Melbourne and Ballarat returns brightly in 2018

WNM18 The Serpent Mother - photo by Arin Fishkin AARAlight, alive and shining more brightly under the cover of dark, White Night Melbourne and Ballarat is back bigger than ever in 2018. White Night is a real celebration of Melbourne’s true 24/7 culture – a city known for our exciting live music, food and drink, entertainment and creative cultural experiences that never stop.

The programs for White Night Melbourne and Ballarat have been launched with the promise of showcasing the very best on offer at all hours of the night. Presented by Visit Victoria, this flagship overnight event invites you to enjoy these cities as you’ve never seen them before.

“We’re turning up the notch for White Night 2018 with an incredible array of the weird and wonderful to delight and amaze locals and visitors alike,” said isit Victoria Chief Executive Officer Peter Bingeman. “We want to show the world the best of everything we have to offer in Australia’s city that doesn’t sleep, and White Night is a fantastic opportunity to do just that.”

“Our regional White Night offerings, including Ballarat, are the perfect opportunity for Melbournians and surrounds to get out of town and into the regions for a truly unique and wonderful experience.”

Melbourne’s theme is designed to make you question, to make you dream and to ask What if? A huge video mapping installation will transform the Royal Exhibition Building, complementing the many installations splashed across the iconic city façade.

Fresh from the Burning Man festival in Nevada, Serpent Mother will create a world of magic and chaos, as Neon Dogs frolic and projections light up the State Library. Specifically designed for Federation Square, Liquid Sky is a 14,000 square feet holographic Skynet suspended to harness the wind and dance dramatically, as if hanging in midair.

The five-metre high White Knight Messenger will be back again, with tidings of love and peace, while Little Bourke Street is covered in snow to the backdrop of a first-ever 12-hour music marathon. White Night Melbourne is truly an event not to be missed.

The weird, the wonderful, the eccentric Australian Bush will feature in Ballarat with works like the Ghosts of Eureka street art, Dreamscape, Techtonic Grounds, the Magic Lantern Tree, Blink and Post-Colonial Women in the Landscape. Skyline drone imaging will be used to create Ballarat from Above and of course the Town Hall and Craigs Hotel projections will create masterful displays of colour.

“The 2018 program of reimagined installations and performances looks set to once again reveal the city’s creative industries, which are fast-becoming the pillar of Ballarat’s arts culture. This is also a great opportunity for the number of local artists who are contributing to our reputation as a City of the Arts and growing local arts ecology,” said Ms McIntosh.

While speaking about the projections planned for White Night Melbourne, Artistic Director and Executive Producer David Atkins commented that the Royal Exhibition Building “ will be the fourth year White Night has featured a projection mapping of this spectacular building. It has been an audience favourite every year and attendance in this precinct has increased dramatically each year as a result.”

“It’s our objective to raise the bar with each successive year and work and this year will be no different. For the first time we have undertaken the work of building a full 3D model of the façade. This will be a first for this building and our digital content creators Limelight who specialise in this unique art form. We will be able to take the Royal Exhibition Building to another level as a result – I can’t wait to see it,” added Mr Atkins.

Six years since its inception, White Night is now a synonymous fixture of Melbourne’s cultural calendar. Capturing the imagination of 600,000 people across 12 continuous hours of art installations, exhibitions, films, lighting, projection, music and performance, White Night provides an ongoing adventure from dusk to dawn that transforms the city through its artists, its landscapes and its architecture.

White Night Melbourne will take place from 7.00pm on Saturday 17 February 2018 and Ballarat will follow on Saturday 17 March 2018. For more information, visit: www.whitenight.com.au for details.

Image: The Serpent Mother – photo by Arin Fishkin