Overview
If your winter routine usually involves not only a trip to Tasmania, but a stint at music and arts festival Dark Mofo, then you probably have June permanently blocked out in your diary. With 2022 ticking by, that wintry time is fast approaching — and the Museum of Old and New Art, the venue behind Dark Mofo, has started revealing what's in store at this year's fest.
First up, it has also announced the festival's dates — even though it already did just that back in late 2021. In great news for folks planning a jaunt south, Dark Mofo 2022 will run for a week longer than originally planned, kicking off on Wednesday, June 8 instead of Wednesday, June 15. It'll still finish up on Wednesday, June 22, but that'll now give you two weeks to soak in the fest's program.
The full bill won't be revealed until April; however, a few headliner highlights have been unveiled now — in what festival organisers are calling a 'resurrection'. That label comes after Dark Mofo scrapped its 2020 festivities due to the pandemic, then returned in 2021 amid controversy over an artwork that was announced and then ditched.
3.2, 404.zero, Dark Downtown, Dark Mofo 2021. Dark Mofo/Remi Chauvin, 2021. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
On the lineup for 2022 so far, starting with week one: the return of The Blue Rose Ball and its costumed debauchery; an art program that'll feature both video and new media artist Bill Viola and multi-channel video artist Doug Aitken; and a Mona Up Late event to launch exhibitions by Jeremy Shaw, Fiona Hall and AJ King, and Robert Andrew.
In week two, Berlin-based composer and producer Nils Frahm will play Music For Hobart, after hitting Sydney's Vivid festival with Music For Sydney — and Spiritualized will also play both fests. Exclusive to Dark Mofo, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon will bust out songs from her 2019 solo release No Home Record, Deafheaven will take to the stage and classically-trained multi-instrumentalist Lingua Ignota will also join the bill.
A few signature Dark Mofo events are on the lineup as always, too — including the Nude Solstice Swim, because it wouldn't be Dark Mofo without it. The City of Hobart Winter Feast will take place on the waterfront and Night Mass: Transcendence will make a splash in the In The Hanging Garden precinct, while the Reclamation Walk is also back.
Winter Feast, Dark Mofo 2021. Dark Mofo/Jesse Hunniford, 2021. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
As for what else is on the cards, Dark Mofo is always full of surprises, serving up a fantastical combination of musical performances, performance art and large-scale installations — so watch this space.
In 2021, the program included a vibrating chamber filled with light, guided night walks through Hobart led by teenagers, 49 search lights beaming up into the sky and multiple performances by Sonic Youth founder Thurston Moore. And back in 2019, the fest featured the likes of artists Ai Weiwei and Mike Parr, American musician Sharon Van Etten and one of the world's largest glockenspiels.
Dark Mofo will run from Wednesday, June 8–Wednesday, June 22 in Hobart, Tasmania. The full 2022 program will be announced in April — head to the festival website for further details in the interim.
Top images: Home State Reclamation Walk, Dark Downtown, Dark Mofo 2021. Dark Mofo/Remi Chauvin, 2021. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia / THE BURNING - OGOH-OGOH, Dark Mofo 2019. Photo Credit: Dark Mofo/Rémi Chauvin, 2019. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.