SECTORS
Gallery presentations are complemented by a dynamic program of live performances, major commissions, large-scale installations, international video art, and thought-provoking conversations that respond to the Fair’s thematic, ketherba / together.
kertherba / together
A word of the Boon Wurrung, ketherba to us expresses a togetherness imbued with promise, one that not only transcends but embraces difference and gives cause for hope.
In a world changed, Melbourne Art Fair remains steadfast in our faith in the capacity for art to stimulate meaningful ideas, ones that hold relevancy across a cultural expanse of immense depth and breadth. In coming together around this belief, artists, collectors, curators and patrons alike affirm our conviction, as one community, that art continues to stir and unite us, propelling us ever forward.
Together, tomorrow.
COMMISSION
Established in 2006, the Melbourne Art Foundation Commission program provides a living artist with a rare opportunity to realise a large-scale work for unveiling at Melbourne Art Fair, which is later gifted to a prominent Australian institution.
Previous partners in the program have included ACMI, HOTA Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, NGV, QAGOMA, the University of Queensland Art Museum, MCA, Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Australia; and artists Kaylene Whiskey, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Ronnie van Hout, Michael Parekowhai, David Griggs, Peter Hennessey, Jon Campbell, Ian Burns, and Mikala Dwyer.
BEYOND
Harnessing the monumental exhibition spaces within the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, BEYOND will present four large-scale installations and spatial interventions that respond to the Fair’s thematic, ketherba/together. In 2024 BEYOND is curated by Shelley McSpedden, Senior Curator, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA). Melbourne Art Foundation supports the sector by providing a monetary grant to participating galleries.
LIVE
Presented by Glenfiddich, the World’s Most Awarded Single Malt Scotch Whisky, LIVE celebrates the practice of boundary-pushing performance artists with critically significant performances both at the Fair and across the city. In 2024 LIVE is curated by Anador Walsh, Independent Curator and Director of Performance Review.
VIDEO
Dedicated to the presentation of moving-image art, VIDEO presents dynamic and thought-provoking works from new and iconic international contemporary artists. In 2024 VIDEO is curated by Tamsin Hong, Exhibitions Curator at Serpentine (London, UK), this sector welcomes participation from international galleries unable to physically exhibit within the main show sector, enabling dealers from across the globe to maintain a connection with Australasia’s active and growing collector-base.
PROJECT ROOMS
A non-commercial platform for experimentation, PROJECT ROOMS welcomes Gertrude Contemporary (Naarm/Melbourne) and Firstdraft (Gadigal Country/Sydney) in 2024 with the presentation of artists that push the boundaries of artistic practice with performance and multi-media works.
In 2024, PROJECT ROOMS is presented by Alpha 60.
CONVERSATIONS
A platform for critical discourse and the sharing of ideas, CONVERSATIONS brings together cultural communities and thinkers from across the creative spectrum. The aim: to address the future of art and its relationship to interdisciplinary practices and the contemporary world through a series of talks and panels featuring artists, gallerists, curators, collectors, architects, critics, scholars and cultural luminaries.
