Next Wave is a biennial festival and artist development organisation, presenting genre-busting new work by the next wave of Australian artists.

Our vision

Spanning all art forms and encouraging interdisciplinary practice, Next Wave fosters new work which is challenging, critically engaged and provides a forum for new encounters between artists and audiences.

Our mission

To empower communities of young artists, art-workers and audiences to develop ideas and create works that engage, change and shape the culture around them through a development and festival cycle.

Our organisation

Next Wave is Australia’s leading festival for young artists and arts workers. Established in 1984, Next Wave has remained at the forefront of presenting a broad range of contemporary art practices to a national audience. The most recent Next Wave Festival ran in May 2008.

Next Wave is an innovative organisation that stands alone in its dedication to supporting young artists. With a consistently changing audience and artist make-up, the Next Wave Festival remains responsive to critical issues in contemporary culture. It is one of the few organisations in Australia that gives young people the opportunity to critique their culture, giving their ideas a public face and audible voice.

Next Wave’s vision is of a world where all young people are empowered to express themselves and engage with creative activities. Our plan is to empower young artists aged 16 to 30, art-workers and audiences to develop ideas and create works that engage, change and shape the culture around them through a development and festival cycle.

INFO PACK

Click HERE to download our latest About Next Wave info pack (900kb pdf, updated 27 Aug 2008).

IMAGES OF OUR WORK

Browse images from the 2008 Next Wave Festival on Flickr here.

Image from Nightclub 2 at Billboard, as part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival. Image by Jorge de Araujo.

Next Wave Festival

Next Wave is a biennial festival and development cycle dedicated to developing and presenting innovative work by Australia’s most interesting young artists. Next Wave supports the creation and presentation of new work across all art form areas including visual arts, performance, dance, new media, literature, hybrid projects and beyond, pushing the boundaries of traditional media and encouraging connections between diverse art forms and disciplines. Established in 1984, Next Wave encourages artists to undertake ambitious new projects, to experiment and engage with new ideas, and develop new skills and networks. Next Wave is also dedicated to exploring different contexts for contemporary arts practice, activating unconventional spaces for exchange between artists and audiences.

Click here to read more about the last Next Wave Festival, held in May 2008.

The 2008 Next Wave Festival’s Opening Night, at Federation Square, Melbourne. Photo by Jorge de Araujo.

Check out us on Wikipedia HERE.