Laundry Sessions at Abbotsford Convent
Experimental music, immersive installations and powerful performances transform this storied space across two boundary-pushing nights.
Overview
Set between a vaulted ceiling and clerestory windows, the Abbotsford Convent's Magdalen Laundry comes to life across back-to-back evenings for Laundry Sessions this July. Brimming with experimental music, moving image, installation, and live performance, audiences are invited to flow freely between live works and sonic environments, featuring an ethereal after-dark program that unfolds across Friday, July 10–Saturday, July 11.
Responding to the building's specific scale, acoustics, and history — Magdalen laundries were originally a 'refuge' for girls who acted outside the strict social mores of the day — Friday's program features internationally celebrated experimental sound pioneer Akio Suzuki and collaborator Hiromi Miyakita. Meanwhile, acclaimed Melbourne drummer, composer and producer Maria Moles performs with electroacoustic artist Chloë Sobek.
On Saturday, the immersion continues, this time featuring interdisciplinary Yuwalaraay/Gamilaraay artist Amby Downs, whose compelling audio-visual practice explores Indigenous sovereignty, history and ecology, alongside artist and sound designer Ai Yamamoto, known for transforming everyday sounds into richly textured ambient and electronic compositions.
Then, across both evenings, the rich soundscapes are accompanied by two major installation works. The Sky After Rain shares the stories of three queer members of the Iranian diaspora through interviews, spoken word, choreographed dance, and more. Plus, Ecological Adaptation by Yandell Walton presents a responsive virtual ecosystem in which sound, motion capture, and LED screens, exploring the relationship between technology and the natural world.
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Images: Supplied.
Information
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