A MULTIMEDIA war against fascism, an immersive holographic trip, and a gut-wrenching take on female archetypes are some of the highlights of this year’s 10 Nights in Port.
The popular winter arts festival is back in Freo for another year, under the cosy and slightly underwhelming theme of “huddle”.
Over 10 nights in late August, the city will bloom into life with large-scale installations of colour, light and sound.
• (Top to bottom) In Our Hands We Hold, In the Block Universe, and the cartoons of Kambarni will feature at this year’s 10 Nights in Port.
“At a time when so much of life happens online or in passing, shared experiences feel more important than ever,” says Ofa Fotu, creative programs lead at the City of Fremantle.
This year’s program includes a diverse mix of visual art, performance, storytelling, and installation.
Highlights include Asha Cleur’s A Magical Guide to Fighting Fascism, a multilingual, multimedia performance following three women across Chile, the UK and Australia as they navigate identity, history and survival through music, mythology and storytelling.
If you like your art a bit surreal and immersive, In The Block Universe will be right up your street.
Created by Myriad Sun, it combines live music, film and 3D projection in a transparent cube, creating a 360-degree, holographic performance.
It was first commissioned by Tone List for Audible Edge 2024.
Fans of provocative art with depth will enjoy The Genesis Project, a bold contemporary dance work which explores monstrous female archetypes in patriarchal narratives. It will be performed by six femme dancers.
The Chook loves a good satirical cartoon (we used to have Jason Chatfield on our books) so we’ll be checking out Nullians, a striking exhibition of political cartoons by Australian Indigenous artist Kambarni.
It’s billed as a visual journey through Australian history and identity.
Fans of the TV show The Great Pottery Throw Down—“10 minutes, potters…”—will get a kick out of Train Kiln (Dragon Kiln), a large-scale, live-fired ceramic installation built across the festival.
It will be set alight on the penultimate night of the festival, bringing audiences together around fire in a shared creative ritual.
“We’ve curated a programme that encourages people to slow down, gather and really sit within the work, from sharing stories through Map of Memories, to coming together around fire, food and music under the full moon,” Fotu says.
Participating venues include the Fremantle Town Hall, Victoria Hall, Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre and WA Shipwrecks Museum.
The winter festival was first held in 2019.
10 Nights in Port is on from August 20 to 30. For the full program and times see 10nightsinport.com.au.