Nine of the Best Things to See at Now or Never 2024

After proving a hit with its mix of tunes, performances, installations, talks and more in its inaugural 2023 edition, Now or Never is back to fill Melbourne with creativity again this August. For the 2024 run, you'll find over 100 events and sessions taking place around town from Thursday, August 22–Saturday, August 31 — each evening from 6pm from Thursday–Sunday in the first week, then Thursday–Saturday in the second.

The program spotlights over 250 local and international talents, each putting on an experience that responds to this year's theme of 'look through the image'. Whether you're hitting up a party, exploring an art installation or taking in a live performance, the program will prompt you to peer beyond the surface and dig a little deeper.

This all sounds well and good, but where do you begin when there's so much going on? To help you get started, we sifted through the program to bring you this guide to some of the festival's best bits. Just be sure to get booking before tickets sell out.

Constellations

Those wanting to experience some of the best parts of Now or Never 2024 don't have spend a heap of money. In fact, they can see plenty of public art installations for free, including those at Melbourne Town Hall and the T&G Building. But the one we're most excited about is Constellations on the Southbank Promenade.

This digital art installation is beamed onto water particles on the Yarra to form shapes and intangible structures in the air, resulting in 3D-like visuals. The show runs for 15 minutes every night of the festival, accompanied an ominous, electronic soundscape.

When: Thursday, August 22–Saturday, August 31.

The Royal Exhibition Building Music Program

The Royal Exhibition Building is one of the main hubs for Now or Never 2024, hosting a series of huge parties. Local and international DJs will descend on the historic venue to play mostly techno, electronic and experimental pop music, which is paired with digital art installations and live performances — one artist will even perform a daring aerial installation work suspended from the cathedral ceiling.

Spend the night dancing and drinking in one of Melbourne's most iconic venues — it'll also feature separate entrances, viewing platforms and other amenities for accessibility, so that everyone can enjoy these shows.

When: Thursday, August 22–Sunday, August 25.

Queer Powerpoint

For one night only, you can head to Fed Square for a free experimental series of talks run by queer folks. Each speaker is there to explore and share an idea, current compulsion, or ongoing fascination using that most humble of programming tools – PowerPoint.

PowerPoint used to be fairly fun and camp, as we'd share ideas with dissolving text, colourful animations and star wipes. The heteronormative corporate world has sadly beiged the entire experience, but Queer Powerpoint seeks to reclaim and an re-queer the corporate presentation. It sounds like a whole lot of fun. And who knows, you might learn some new tricks to use for your nex work presentation.

When: Thursday, August 29.

Patrick Rodriguez

SOFT CENTRE — SUPERMODEL

Across three days, Eora arts collective SOFT CENTRE will take over State Library Victoria with a series of performances, talks, screenings and workshops. Japanese performance artist and sound poet Tomomi Adachi is teaching AI generated music composition, DeForrest Brown Jr is giving a talk on Afrofuturism, and Palestinian filmmaker Firas Shehadeh will be screening one of his films.

This all culminates in one massive late-night performance spectacle that take place throughout the library — in the heritage book-lined halls, domed reading rooms and stairwells. Spend the night running around the library, stumbling across live gigs, site-specific soundscapes, multimedia installations and dramatic performances.

When: Thursday, August 29–Saturday, August 31.

DESASTRES

One of the many Aussie premieres at this year's Now or Never is DESASTRES from Marco Fusinato, which heads Down Under after first appearing at the Venice Biennale 2022.

For just two days, Melburnians can peer at the world's largest LED volume screen at Docklands cinema studio NantStudios for this experimental noise performance project, which synchronises its guitar sounds with imagery. It's both a solo performance and an installation that runs across a whopping 6000 panels of LED screens measuring 12 metres high and 88 metres across.

When: Friday, August 30–Saturday, August 31.

Roxane Gay: Opinions

This year marks a decade since writer and social commentator Roxane Gay released her groundbreaking book Bad Feminist. Since then, Gay's gone on to write countless other books, including her most recent, Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business. With this, the American author and academic gave readers a tome that stepped through ten years of her non-fiction efforts.

And on Tuesday, August 27, Gay will talk through this decade of opinions with Jan Fran at Melbourne Town Hall. Body image, civil rights, feminism, popular culture and social etiquette are all on the table for this talk, as Gay reflects on the fundamental importance of holding complicated views in our complicated times.

When: Tuesday, August 27.

Jacquie Manning

kajoo yannaga

Making its world premiere at ACMI — and also presented by the Melbourne International Film Festival — kajoo yannaga (come on let's walk together) is a free experience that will take participants on an interactive virtual and gamified walk on Country that puts First Nations knowledge at the fore, all thanks to Wiradjuri-Scottish artist April Phillips.

Real-time motion tracking will map your body movement, helping you connect to this virtual spirit realm sprinkled with signs and signals for those who look to see. The experience explores the First Nations futurism movement and intergenerational healing through digital experimentation.

When: Thursday, August 22–Saturday, August 31.

Plagiary

Plagiary is another certain highlight at Now or Never 2024, with dance technologist and choreographer Alisdair Macindoe joining forces with media artist Sam Mcgilp to create a new dance performance each night.

Ten dancers will improvise together, but it's an AI computer presence that'll tell them what to respond to. The computer will voice out instructions to the dancers, making for an eerie but entertaining evening that explores the dynamic between man and machine.

When: Wednesday, August 28–Saturday, August 31.

Friday Night Social

For just one evening, The University of Melbourne's Science Gallery is staying open late for a free party. Friday Night Social will see you take in live music from Sui Zhen, Blood Lotus, Xiaole Zhan and Morgan May while wandering through the gallery's SCI-FI: Mythologies Transformed exhibition.

Beyond the live tunes, you can also expect roaming performance art, DJ sets and a colourful food-themed installation from visual artist Pey Chi. It's free to attend, while food and drinks will be available for purchase throughout the night.

When: Friday, August 30.

Now or Never 2024 is running across Melbourne from Thursday, August 22–Saturday, August 31. For more details on the ten-day program and to book tickets, visit the festival's website.