Melbourne — a city globally celebrated for its culture, art and design — will once again take centre stage as the Naomi Milgrom Foundation unveils MPavilion Season 11, inviting locals and visitors to reimagine the intersection of architecture and creativity. 

From 21 November 2024 to 22 March 2025, Tadao Ando’s iconic temporary structure will transform into a hub of design exploration in Queen Victoria Gardens.

This year’s program, co-curated with the Curatorial Collective, a trailblazing group of eight Melbourne-based creative practitioners, celebrates the city’s reputation for pushing creative boundaries. Over four dynamic months, MPavilion 11 will host artists, designers, musicians and makers as they reinterpret Ando’s pavilion, blending architecture, art and storytelling through a free, inclusive program.

MPavilion commissioner Naomi Milgrom AC shared her excitement. “We are incredibly grateful to the City of Melbourne for extending the life of Tadao Ando’s MPavilion,” Milgrom said. “In just a year, it has become a cherished landmark — a place where people gather, unwind and connect with the natural world. The 11th season builds on a decade of MPavilion, and I’m thrilled to see Ando’s creation inspire new ideas and collective creativity this summer.”

The program has been curated into three distinct series, each punctuated by cornerstone events:

• Home Ground: 28 November – 15 December 2024
  Reflecting on belonging, safety and connection to Country, this series invites audiences to explore the concept of home through compelling art, workshops and discussions.

• Building Blocks: 9 – 25 January 2025 
  Families can get hands-on with design throughout the school holidays with activities brought to life by Box Wars, renowned for their ingenious cardboard creations.

• Every Living Thing: 15 February – 6 March 2025
  Drawing inspiration from the pavilion’s lush setting, this series spotlights our relationship with the non-human world, including an installation by Reef Design Lab showcasing modular reef restoration techniques.

MPavilion Season 11 kicks off with an opening weekend of fashion and music, followed by numerous events and activities on offer, including live electronic and world music sessions, pool parties, inclusive creative workshops, site-responsive contemporary dance and guided design walking tours.

Highlights to put in your diary

• Opening weekend: Kick off the season with music, fashion and a kiosk takeover, culminating in the Grey Gala — a bold event by Carne combining experimental performance, drag, live music, and art Dress in your finest greys to mark the occasion.

• Dusk til Dark: An intimate experimental music series featuring Melbourne’s most innovative electronic and improvisational artists, presented with PBS FM.

• A Very Koori Pool Party: Wiradjuri performer Joel Bray leads a celebration of Queer photography and ancient corroboree traditions with dancers Zoe Brown-Holten and Jackie Sheppard.

• Free to Feed: Stories of Home: Share stories and connections over a communal grazing table, presented by social enterprise Free to Feed.

• BLAKitecture: HOME: Bradley Kerr and the creative directors of the Australian Pavilion prepare for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale with an exploration of Indigenous knowledge systems and architectural innovation.

• My Body is My Home: A creative workshop for women and non-binary participants aged 45-plus, exploring the body as a sanctuary amidst housing stress.

• Design Odyssey: The 15-Minute Walk: A real-world exploration of urban planning’s promise that all daily needs can be accessed within a 15-minute walk, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

• Swans: A site-responsive dance piece by Deanne Butterworth and Jo Lloyd, playing with duality and light within Ando’s pavilion.

• Escala de Cinzas (Greyscale): Brazilian artist João Loureiro collaborates with Piccolina Gelateria for a much-anticipated return of greyscale gelato flavours
  

• Calentura: A Colombian sound system celebration featuring El Gran Mono and Bellaqueo, turning Queen Victoria Gardens into a vibrant dancefloor of reggaeton and Latin hip-hop.

Whether you’re exploring the reflective depths of Home Ground or dancing under the stars at Calentura, MPavilion Season 11 promises an unforgettable summer immersed in the best of art, design and community.

For the full program of events and details, visit mpavilion.org. 

Lead image: Rory Gardiner.