Dark Mofo Is Returning in June 2022 If You're Already Thinking About Your Winter Plans

Tasmania's sinister winter music and arts festival Dark Mofo scrapped its 2020 festivities due to the pandemic, but that cancellation has turned out to be a one-off. The event returned in 2021 — amid controversy over an artwork that was announced and then ditched — and it has just confirmed that it'll be back again in June 2022, too.

Next year's festival will run between Wednesday, June 15–Wednesday, June 22 in Hobart, if you're already thinking about how to spend the frostiest part of 2022. Run by the Museum of Old and New Art, it'll be funded by $2.5 million from the Tasmanian Government, plus another $2.5 million from MONA owner David Walsh. And, it'll also receive dedicated marketing support from Tourism Tasmania.

The event's program won't be announced until sometime in autumn — usually it drops in April or May — but it's set to explore "the ideas of rebirth, reincarnation, and new life".

"After the death of the 2020 festival, and a near-death experience in 2021, we're beginning the next era of Dark Mofo," said Dark Mofo Creative Director Leigh Carmichael.

"As the world emerges from the darkness of COVID-19, we're hoping Dark Mofo 2022 will provide opportunities for us to reconnect and celebrate winter in the manner we'd become accustomed to prior to the health restrictions around travel and events."

Lusy Productions

Previous years' lineups have seen a fantastical combination of musical performances, performance art and large-scale installations come together. In 2019, the program featured the likes of artists Ai Weiwei and Mike Parr, American musician Sharon Van Etten and one of the world's largest glockenspiels, for instance.

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.

Dark Mofo will run from Wednesday, June 15–Wednesday, June 22 in Hobart, Tasmania. The 2022 program will be announced in autumn.

Top Image: Jesse Hunniford.