Arts House celebrates 20 years

North Melbourne’s Arts House is turning 20, and it’s hosting a party to celebrate, with performances and artists from the past two decades invited back on April 6 for THE BLOWOUT.   

2025 marks Art House’s 20th anniversary and THE BLOWOUT celebrates this as anyone would: with food, music, and old friends. 

Featuring a sausage sizzle and DJ sets from DJ MzRizk, this event, running from 4pm to 10pm, promises to pay tribute to the bold and eclectic essence of Arts House’s legacy by putting on a “wild and wonderful show”. 

Acting creative director Olivia Anderson told North West City News the vision of the party was to honour the past while looking into the future, with the day bringing back two groups of artists familiar to Arts House.  

Kicking off the day will be the group All the Queens Men, who are both hosting and performing. A format from 2007 is returning courtesy of this group, with the original curator, Bec Reid, working very closely with Tristan Meecham to bring back 180 Seconds in Heaven or Hell – a format in which performers have three minutes to do any performance.

“It’s very exciting,” Ms Anderson said, adding that artists like these were “pushing boundaries 20 years ago and a lot of them are still doing that today, which is remarkable.”

The evening will be hosted by Kamarra Bell-Wykes and Carly Sheppard from A Daylight Connection, who have worked with Arts House many times over the years and will be a part of future programs.  

Music, spoken word, dance and a photographic collection traversing the past 20 years of artistic practice will all be present, transforming the evening into a celebration reflective of Arts House’s vibrant past.

As a home for contemporary experimental art, the past 20 years have provided artists with a platform to be seen and heard as they experiment with their practice, with the party celebrating Arts House's incredible variety while encouraging the continuation of bold new projects for the future.

“What we really are is a function to support artists in their vision,” Ms Anderson said. “We have really profiled and highlighted the voices of artists who have placed themselves at the boundaries of what is possible.”

The celebration extends past the conclusion of this event, with the remainder of the year punctuated by reflections in the form of archival works dropping periodically.   

“What we’ve got over the next six months until the end of the year, is a celebration of the last 20 years of programming," Ms Anderson said, adding that digging through the archives had been an interesting process.

“Nothing changes but everything changes. Like the proof is there. Practice may change. Form may change. Technology will change, but the essence of experimentation, of asking big important questions. Doing it in a way that is interesting, playful, joyful. That doesn’t change.”

Ms Anderson’s ideal for Arts House’s future reflects this sentiment. She hopes the ability of the organisation to support contemporary artists does not change. The art itself, however, should always “interrogate and question”; push forwards and sit at the boundary of what has been done before.

“I hope that nothing changes, but also that everything changes,” Ms Anderson said. 

The entire community is invited to this event, with tickets free for children under 18. •