HOTA’S UNDERGROUND Festival returns for must see WINTER ART PARTY

WORDS: Danielle Ford PHOTOGRAPHY Supplied

HOTA, Home of the Arts is bringing back Underground Festival for another year with a celebration of music, art and performance over three nights.

The program promises to unlock secret adventures, hidden thrills and unique wonders and take visitors on a journey Underground in HOTA’s most intimate venues with something for everyone from true crime conversations to electronic music and magic.

Underground Festival comes to life with a line up of incredible events from 6 – 8 June that will delve into innovative technologies and forms featuring a lineup of artists from across the nation to internationally acclaimed, taking risks with new ideas as HOTA’s intimate venue spaces transform into an underground delight for those revellers looking for something new and different to explore and experience.

HOTA’s Director Programming & Presenting Services, Vicki Buenen said the Underground Festival “Is unlike anything else on the Gold Coast where our visitors get the opportunity to experience three nights of arts and culture where they can be fully immersed in up close and personal events across our precinct.”

Kicking off the program on June 6 is Casefile Presents: Criminal Conversations in Theatre 1 featuring award-winning true crime authors and podcasters, Vikki Petraitis and Emily Webb, as they bring to the stage a live in-conversation event to deep dive into a thrilling case that will have true crime buffs in the audience piece together the facts.

Visitors wanting to experience an unprecedented part performance, part tutorial by highly lauded magician, Harry Milas, will have the chance to experience The Unfair Advantage on June 6 as he takes guests behind the scenes of the secrets and skills that saw him become a security weapon for the world’s top casinos.
Concluding the festival’s first day line up will be Rainbow’s End in Studio 1 where participants get to choose their own adventure as they experience an immersive digital art installation and new work that combines Ai, 3D animation and an ethereal electronic soundscape by Chroma in collaboration with Patience, Quiglette, Jackie Marshall, Leah Flanagan, timecodespace, Ben Hughes & Gus Brady with poems from our friends: Jalal Mahemede, Kazem Kazemi and Mohamed Maleki.

On June 7 The Basement will be transformed into a mesmerising 4 hour art party to experience Berlin, an intoxicating mix of artistry and bohemian spirit where visitors can come and go at their leisure while being transported into the opulent queer club scene of the 1930’s in Berlin.

Internationally acclaimed composer and one of the most influential women in electronic music Jlin will feature in Studio 1 on June 7 for a thrilling live up close and personal performance of one of her emotional and multidimensional compositions, which has earned her praise as ‘one of the most forward-thinking contemporary composers in any genre’ according to Pitchfork.

Theatre 2 will be taken over by some of South-East Queensland’s most dynamic dance collectives on June 7 for the cutting-edge production of UNTETHERED, a high-adrenaline night of contemporary dance where audiences will experience bold artistic expression offering a glimpse into the creative minds of today’s most contemporary movers.

On the final night of the festival visitors can ignite their creative flare with new dimensions of artistic expression and experience HOTMESS in The Basement for a life drawing class like no other. Blended with an immersive hybrid performance and meticulous art direction guests will explore cheeky and evocative ideas as they are swept into a creative journey on June 8.

For the duration of the program festival goers can experience Paradise Hero in Studio 2 for a free participatory video installation of paradise on the Gold Coast which will take visitors on an exhilarating ride of absurd adventure of dizzying visual displays, text, sculpture and video of leisure experiences, promising instantaneous and overwhelming gratification all whilst sitting in a sun lounge. Paradise Hero is supported by Generate GC which is a City of Gold Coast initiative produced by Situate Art in Festivals.

Tickets are limited and on sale now – audiences are encouraged to pre-book to secure their spot.

Explore the full program at:
https://hota.com.au/whats-on/live/festivals-and-series/underground-2024