Bleach* Festival
Mona's 'Ladies Lounge' leaving Tasmania for the first time, Patricia Piccinini's floating sculptures and a drumming Nirvana tribute are all on this Gold Coast arts festival's 2025 lineup.
Overview
Mona has never shirked attention. Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art has welcomed it, in fact, whether it's bringing in 80 tonnes of sand, is allowing music fans listen to the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin or is part of a TV show about potentially eating Australia's invasive animal species — and that's just in the past year. Also part of the venue's story over the past 12 months or so: the legal proceedings around Ladies Lounge, the feminist installation created by artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele, which was taken to court due to an anti-discrimination complaint.
Two big developments impacted Ladies Lounge in 2024: first, in April, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled that it must start letting men enter; then, a September decision by the state's Supreme Court upheld Mona's appeal, permitting it to reopen for women only to continue to make its statement about the lack of opportunity historically offered to ladies by such spaces. Kaechele did indeed relaunch the installation, but only briefly, while flagging that it could go on tour. So, after ending its run at its original home in January 2025, Ladies Lounge is now headed to the Gold Coast.
Each year, the coastal Sunshine State spot turns over much of the city to Bleach*, its annual arts festival. This year, Ladies Lounge is on its lineup. This is the first time that it will pop up beyond Mona, and therefore also beyond Tasmania, with the Gold Coast's HOTA, Home of the Arts playing host to the feminist space. "Yes, some boys may be allowed in for domestic arts lessons and reparations," the fest advises.
Bleach* 2025 runs from Thursday, July 31–Sunday, August 10, also covering music, opera, drama, food and more, all at festival hubs a HOTA, Kurrawa Park and Emerald Lakes. It has more big art names attached, too. Australian visual artist Michael Zavros is the festival's guest Artistic Director for the year, curating a program that spans 100-plus events. Among them, Patricia Piccinini's Skywhale and Skywhalepapa are on the lineup, and will float through the Gold Coast's skies. That's how Bleach* will kick off at sunrise on its first 2025 day.
Among the festival's three world premieres of works created on the Gold Coast, plus five Queensland premieres and plenty of other must-sees, other highlights include opera, classical music and dancing horses taking over Kurrawa Beach; artist Jeff Koons getting chatting at an exclusive in-conversation event; and Selve's new album Breaking Into Heaven performed in full with lasers, Karul Projects dancers and the Australian Session Orchestra outdoors at HOTA.
Or, there's also Drum As You Are, a family-friendly Nirvana tribute — one of the iconic band's albums is called Bleach, after all — that'll feature both professional and community drummers. Unsurprisingly given that he's steering this year's festival, you can also see Zavros' Drowned Mercedes, the sculpture that was first unveiled in Brisbane in 2023 and, yes, features a 1990s Mercedes-Benz SL convertible filled with water. Zavros is also taking part in life-drawing sessions, Melissa Spratt and Tal Fitzpatrick are teaming up to showcase how textiles can be comforting in public space, and Josh Cohen's Radiohead for Solo Piano II will be in the spotlight.
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