For 1984 to 2020, Next Wave Festival shaped the Australian arts landscape through imagination, bold ideas and passion for the new. Next Wave’s focus has always been on the next generation of artists in a changing world. Career development, presentation opportunity and multi-disciplinary representation have been integral since our inception.
Free at last.
Under the direction of Steven Richardson as Executive Producer/CEO and David Young as Festival Director, the 2002 Next Wave Festival was most notable for offering an entirely free program. Themed Free at Last, the festival delivered a cultural rodeo of art, pop culture, new media, social action, environmental concerns, healthy dissent and extreme sport.
The most colossal example of these themes was the Colony, a project in which acrobatic angels lived and performed in the spire of the Victorian Arts Centre for 10 days and nights. The Festival also featured the on-line Megabite project, showcasing short works of digital animation.
