HOTA, Home of the Arts presents their second annual UNDERGROUND Festival this July 14-16, as the venue’s most intimate spaces transform over the weekend with a full program of art, performance, music and comedy from a host of contemporary artists.
For visitors wanting to revel in a late-night underground art party, HOTA’s Studio 1, Studio 2, HOTA Basement, Theatre 2, and The Exhibitionist Bar – located on the rooftop of HOTA Gallery – will come to life with a line-up of incredible events featuring artists from across the nation.
HOTA CEO Criena Gehrke said the UNDERGROUND program challenges the boundaries of live performance, showcasing new ideas and experimental works.
“This multi-disciplinary program is all about supporting creative risks from diverse genres, cultures and perspectives. It celebrates ideas with an edge that are subversive, experimental, immersive and provocative – UNDERGROUND is a program of events that you won’t be able to see anywhere else on the Gold Coast,” she said.
HOTA’s Studio 1 will be pulsing with Disco Instamatic (14-16 July), an immersive video installation underscored by an original disco soundtrack by award-winning performance artist, Tanzer; described as the ‘deliverer of culture-clash disco dramarama and hyper-colour haughtiness with a voice from another dimension’.
Disco Instamatic will play backdrop to UNDERGROUND’s R-Rated opening night celebration, a sparkling Late Night Disco Party (14 July) hosted by award-winning queer icon, circus artist and Kamilaroi man, Dale Woodridge-Brown. The evening will feature interviews with, and performances by, Disco Instamatic star Aysha Buffet and the creative mind behind the Disco Instamatic installation, Tanzer.
Gold Coast artists Merinda Davies, M@ Cornell and CAKE (an AI), present Fully Automated Human Touch (14-15 July); a sci fi dance and video installation that invites audiences to become test subjects and witnesses to an experiment that asks the question ‘can you taste the human touch?’.
For stand-up comedy and storytelling buffs, Anisa Nandaula, Alexandra Hudson and Peter James perform You Can’t Say That (14 July), where no topic is off limits and stories of race, disability, sex and relationships are paired with beautiful storytelling and hard-hitting punchlines.
AFOL’s (Adult Fans of LEGO®) finally get their LEGO® fix without the kids, in LEGO® Up Late (14 July), an evening of curated live music and LEGO® Building in HOTA Gallery’s rooftop bar, with challenges set by LEGO® Masters Andrew and Damien from Clicking Bricks. All tickets to LEGO® Up Late include after-hours exclusive access (no kids allowed) to HOTA’s latest major exhibition, Bricktionary: The Interactive LEGO® brick Exhibition.
HOTA Home Company, The Farm, will present Pricele$$ (14-16 July), where the company’s revolutionist youth ensemble Greenhouse take over Theatre 2. With a healthy dose of sarcasm, this show is created by teens for the attention of adults, bursting our bubbles, lighting a fire under our prejudices and showing us how we should dance when the party is over.
In a live, one-off collaboration, Blackline the Band and a line-up of special musical guests, will take over HOTA’s Basement with House of Soul (15 July); an incredible night of live soul music, described as ‘crate digging in your favourite record store, sampling the sounds of soul, hip hop, jazz, blues and the groove between.’
Legendary local street dance collective, Golden Coastline, invite audiences to experience their brand-new street dance show Gold Mine (16 July). Followed by a late-night underground freestyle jam that will leave you feeling like you are part of Goldens’ very own underground art house.
Nationally acclaimed comedian and one-woman tour-de-force, Lucinda Price (aka Froomes), will be joined by Australian writer and podcaster, Louis Hanson, as these two IRL friends present BESTIES (16 July). An interactive hour-long slumber-based extravaganza that invites audiences to whip out their friendship bracelets and gear up for the sleepover of the year.
Bryce Mills (triple j Breakfast) and Campbell Walker (Struthless) present God is Dead (16 July), a show based on the comedy podcast of the same name that highlights the worst content on the internet. The duo will share some cooked stories from the depths of the wide web, asking whether or not they prove that God has abandoned humanity.
Disruptors in Residence, Poncho Orange and Penelope – a tumultuously passionate partnership with a fruity flare for fiestas – will be popping up across HOTA’s public spaces with their fiery energy and salsa dancing, samba spinning chaos (13-16 July). Keep an eye out during UNDERGROUND, as the spicy couple may appear at the bar, beside you in the theatre, in a foyer, or anywhere in-between.
“UNDERGROUND is an opportunity to stumble upon your next artistic obsession, and to get up close and personal with artists you might normally only find in Sydney or Melbourne, alongside our own incredible Gold Coast talent,” added Criena.
“This program is on at HOTA for three nights only this winter, from July 14 to16 with limited tickets to all events, so we encourage the Gold Coast to come down and check it out.”
Enjoy multiple events in the program at UNDERGROUND Festival, with ticket buyers able to enjoy a 15% discount off the total ticket price for purchasing 2 or more tickets to festival events – the more you see the more you save.
Tickets are limited and on sale now – audiences are encouraged to pre-book to secure their spot.
Explore the full program at hota.com.au/underground.
Media Contact: amy@m10.com.au