Three days, 14 shows, multiple art forms, plenty of stringed instruments. Add them altogether, and the Restrung festival is back for another round of genre-bending fun. If you thought violins, cellos and the like were just for classical music fans, prepare to have your perception altered.
Taking over Brisbane Powerhouse from August 17 to 19, the festival features strings doing different and unexpected things: inspiring ballet, as seen in Collusion's Muscle Memory; exploring love and death, the themes of Silver Sircus' Heart Strings; and offering the soundtrack to the bout of physical theatre that is The Viola Cloning Project's collaboration with Zen Zen Zo. The 230 strings of a grand piano, a cellist beloved by Radiohead and electric folk fusion: they're all also on the bill.
Indeed, everything from electronica, folk and jazz to rock, pop and minimalism gets a look-in, marking the third Restrung festival in style. In total, more than 50 international, national and local artists wield their bows to create more than beautiful music, captivate hearts and challenge string-loving minds.