SenseFest

SenseFest is an interdisciplinary/multi-media 3-day event, from Friday 18th – Sunday 20th November at Seville Estate, being run under the umbrella of YAVA, Out & About.

The event is constructed to deliberately juxtapose simultaneous/time-based visual, auditory, taste, spatial, haptic and intellectual stimuli, with the intention of promoting active and conscious reflection on the relationships between our senses. In other words, we’re prompting you to ask yourself how do your senses inter-relate when provided with multiple inputs: “What kind of synaesthesia shapes your world?”

Central to the planned weekend, the New York/Berlin piano virtuoso Avan Yu (Sydney International Piano Competition Winner 2012) will be performing 4 concerts of chamber music in the Barrel Hall, joined by Wilma Smith (violin) and Zoe Knighton (cello). On a single Saturday afternoon, Avan will perform 2 solo concerts, across which he will play the entire solo piano works of Maurice Ravel; a feat rarely undertaken anywhere. Ravel’s works are a notable source of impressionistic colour and musical imagination, providing a rich core for the packaged activities of SenseFest.

Coinciding with the concerts, SenseFest will stage a limited exhibition of 2D and 3D art. Indoor works will be hung/positioned in the contemporary function space at Seville Estate, which has a wall of astonishing views along the Upper Yarra Valley. Outdoor works will be carefully sited in the Australian native garden which surrounds the building complex (designed by Award-winning Phillip Johnson Landscapes). Contributing artists will be selected by Curator, Savaad Felich (Yering Station Annual Sculpture Award Co-ordinator, retired).

Other activities included in SenseFest include wine and food offers, a music master-class for senior secondary students, a guided immersive discussion/workshop on how our senses may work together and influence each other, and live-action art making in response to live music. Different ticketing options will enable participants to choose packages, with students having access to discounted tickets. There will be an illustrated catalogue/souvenir of the overall event, which will include supporting material to encourage further reflection, investigation, and experimentation.