How can data bring about change to our city? You don’t need a microscope to examine the DNA of our city. Melbourne’s DNA is in its data: maps, stories, the information we collect, the projects we undertake. The city is alive, and the echoes it creates tell us not only how it has evolved, but also what futures are open to us. Melbourne City DNA is an imaginative blending of […]

Sending an email requires more electricity than you’d think. Computing now contributes as much to climate change as the aviation industry. And let’s not talk about the horsepower needed to watch Netflix! Presented by FLEET*, Computing Futures is a week-long interactive exhibition at the Hub, exploring how computers have evolved and the limits of current technologies. Get excited about the history of computing and explore what’s next in low-energy electronics, […]

Ever dreamed of taking an augmented reality trip inside your body to look at your own intestines? Visit the University of Melbourne’s Interaction Design Lab exhibition to get a glimpse into the future of product design and interactive systems using smart technologies. Discover what artificial intelligence can learn about you by just looking at your face, how to interact with digital content using only eye movement, and how augmented reality […]

Your gestures, voice, movement and gaze can now control how you use and interact with a smart device - how do you feel about your phone reading your body language? Learn how artificial intelligence, mixed reality and the Internet of Things (IoT) will influence the way we interact with our devices through a series of talks with the University of Melbourne’s Computing and Information Systems team. The systems of the […]

  Ever loved a piece of music so much you wished you could get inside it? Lose yourself in a song – or several – as the Hub turns into a playful, interactive listening environment. Don a pair of headphones plugged into Terrain, a custom-built app, to navigate through the Hub and experience a 3D audio journey of discovery. Explore the individual instruments and textures that make up this rich […]

Music? Check. Big screen gaming? Yes. A seven piece band with a string quartet? Of course! It’s a not-to-be-missed MKW19 first night electronic extravaganza. Join the futuristic celebrations with this award-winning interactive gaming and musical experience – Duet Live by electro-musician Tim Shiel. Play the game on the big screen in the Hub against other audience members to the accompaniment of pumping synths and base. Navigate the journey of two […]

Delight your mind and marvel at the genius behind bionic eyes, piano improvisation and pneumonia patient care. Take a seat in the Hub for a morning of storytelling, performance and ideas with recent recipients of the Hugh Rogers Fellowship. Hear how our local innovators used a research trip to Boston to turn curiosity and hard work into impactful collaborative projects and business ventures. From Melbourne to Boston and back again, […]

Discover how pickling cucumbers can help shape the future of work. Wait, what’s that got to do with pickles? Come along to this traditional pickling workshop to contemplate the workplace of days gone by and decide if the jobs of the past hold the key to a smarter employment future, all while getting hands-on preparing this simple and delicious preserved snack. Take your time to think carefully and create with […]

Madeleine Dore, founder and editor of Extraordinary Routines, delves into the lives of high achievers to find out how they tick. Take a seat with Madeleine in the beautiful Hub gardens for a series of hour-long interviews with respected thinkers who give us a window into their life outside of work, showing us what goes on behind the scenes. What does it mean to live a good life in this […]

In 2018, more than 1000 guests packed the Plaza to witness the MAP18 Accelerator cohort presenting their successful pitches in front of a who’s who of Melbourne’s startup ecosystem. In 2019, we’re bringing the magic of this night to the Hub. The MAP Launch has become one of the largest startup networking events in Australia, attracting investors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders, all eager to discover the latest emerging […]

Make your own bid for freedom as part of a turbo-charged and retro-fitted evening of live gaming, performance, discussion and debate. Sixteen years ago a group of Australians rocked the political landscape with a video game putting players in the shoes of a refugee escaping detention. Now the sprawling creative collective Applespiel invites you to make your own bid for freedom as part of a turbo-charged and retro-fitted evening of […]

Light up the night to make the city more playful, fun and safer for everyone. Global lighting design firm Arup, in collaboration with These Are The Projects We Do Together, lead a two-hour urban tour and workshop inviting you to learn about lighting design and reimagine our streets after dark. Curate and light up your evening with sound, projection and colour, while playing and interacting with lights in the city […]

Join Waleed Aly in the Hub for a special live recording of The Minefield. In a world marked by wicked social problems, The Minefield helps you negotiate the ethical dilemmas, contradictory claims and unacknowledged complicities of modern life.

Ever wanted to try your hand at programming and get behind the screens of the internet? Now is your chance to jump start your journey into website coding. This 101 crash-coding course with General Assembly will get you started with HTML and CSS basics – in one high-impact evening at the Hub. Cover key coding terms and principles, learn about the coder community and see a demo of how to […]

Unintended Consequences: How tech ate the world and how we can get it back So what if the tech companies of the future can learn from the lessons of today? When billion-dollar tech giants like Google and Facebook were starting out, no one anticipated the scale of unintended, negative consequences of digital technology, where filter bubbles, election interference and online trolling would thrive alongside the benefits that these same technologies […]

“There are plenty more fish in the sea” – but can we really say that for much longer? What will our ocean look like in the future and how can we positively change our relationship with this vast and varied ecosystem? Feast on the ocean’s riches and consider an environmentally-conscious way of eating seafood in this multi-course dinner from chefs Sascha Rust (Good Fish Project, Messer, Copper Pot) and Gemma […]

Melbourne has long been ranked as one of the world’s most liveable cities - but faced with an ageing population and increased rates of mortality, can Melbourne also become the world’s most death-able city? Discover the meaning of a ‘good death’ and co-design the city’s deathly future in this interactive workshop with digital design firm Portable. Get down with the ghouls, ghosts, rituals and experiences of death – and create […]

Congratulations on your death and welcome to LYMBO - the waiting room between life and your next adventure. An afterlife gathering with a difference, join digital design company Portable for a relaxed evening of drinks, nibbles, music and a deathly discussion. A twist on the concept of a death cafe, grab a drink and relax with others making the transition. Spend your remaining lucid moments chatting about your perceptions and […]

What if walking through the city at night was safe for everybody? Experience the sensory overload of live cinematic techno with synchronised visuals as Simona Castricum shows you the borderline spaces of the liminal queer city. Look through a gender nonconforming lens, and be immersed in Simona’s percussive performance, exploring risk, euphoria, desolation and ultimately hope in urban space.

An interactive art experience celebrating the fascinating relationship that is at the heart of individual identity between parent and child. How does your child see you? With our ever-growing desire to document each moment of our lives, children often become the reluctant subject of their parent’s camera. I See You Like This turns the camera around, allowing your child to view you as the subject through the lens of their […]

How can we make computers more energy efficient? Our lives revolve around computers, from your desktop and smartphone to your video streaming, the SatNav in your car and your Fitbit. Such technologies use about 8% of all the electricity used on Earth and that figure is predicted to double every decade as our thirst for ever more computing power and devices grows. In this interactive exhibit at the Meat Market […]

Explore three immersive extended reality experiences, each designed to spark new thinking around technology, humanity and nature. Blending components of augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies, XR (Extended Reality) is an emerging field that has the power to bring stories to life and connect with the emotions of audiences like nothing before it. In this vividly immersive exhibition, three distinct XR environments will transport you on colourful adventures, each demonstrating […]

A conversation about sovereignty with five knowledge-holders from the Kulin nations. For the opening night of MKW, knowledge-holders from the five Kulin nations will come together for a conversation about what sovereignty means to them. Aboriginal knowledge spans millennia, and the enduring relevance and strength of this knowledge has the power to create lasting, positive change in Australia. But how can Aboriginal knowledge-holders share and use their knowledge while maintaining […]

What does a seesaw think about? Take a ride on this semi-intelligent see-saw, and chat with it and each other about the challenges that face us. As you enjoy the opportunity to ride, speak, and listen, remember that Pivot is programmed to consider all words it hears, and is reflecting your own views and the views of many others. Maybe the centre cannot hold. You can talk with Pivot in […]

Weigh the evidence and decide the verdict in a citizen’s trial against the common myna bird. Introduced to Australia over 150 years ago, the Common Myna, a bird species often referred to collectively as ‘flying rats’ or the ‘cane toads of the sky’, stands accused of rampant ecological lawlessness; of wreaking havoc on native birds, overcrowding available habitats, and interfering with human infrastructure. In response, Myna communities are currently being […]

Explore how future lifestyles will impact the electricity and tech industries. How can understanding our social future improve electricity sector planning and shape Melbourne’s emerging technology? Join researchers from Monash University’s Emerging Technologies Research Lab to investigate findings from their Digital Energy Futures (DEF) project. This project aims to understand and forecast changing digital lifestyle trends and social practices, and their impact on the future energy needs of Australian households. […]

With a digital guide, children will playfully experience MKW in their own way. Play is a necessary developmental tool across all stages of childhood, however, opportunities for playful thinking in children over seven years of age are being lost. Artist Jessica Wilson developed Child Nation to create a space to foster these playful experiences and allow children to explore the world around them from different perspectives. Child Nation is a custom set […]

Use creativity, foresight and storytelling to imagine new futures. No one knows what the future holds, but this board game will take you on a journey to discover a range of possible futures. In this high-energy interactive workshop, you will work in teams to build a possible future. The workshop will be played through a set of secret, sealed envelopes – not even your hosts will know how the stories […]

Can we re-route surveillance capitalism to serve rather than observe citizens? While a new push for privacy and control over our data and personal content is underway, how can we create a future where advances in technology and data use benefit all rather than the few? Join The Intelligence Service as an undercover agent in this hands-on workshop, which will see the Meat Market Hub’s auditorium transformed into an operations […]

Three leading entrepreneurs join Tom Dawkins to share their thoughts on social entrepreneurship. What does “entrepreneurship for the rest of us” mean, and why does it matter? To open the full-day event, Entrepreneurship for the rest of us, Tom Dawkins, StartSomeGood CEO, will provide his opening remarks and framing thoughts on this topic. Three successful social entrepreneurs will then reflect and share their journeys and perspectives in a panel discussion. All […]

Explore the world’s big ideas at the City of Melbourne pop-up library. Contemplate some of the big ideas explored during Melbourne Knowledge Week at the City of Melbourne pop-up knowledge library. Browse a curated collection of books that delve into important future-focused topics, chat to friendly librarians and relax in the chillout lounge. City of Melbourne’s libraries are spaces for curiosity, learning and imagination, welcoming people to read, connect, create […]

Experience an interactive performance lecture about the future of pop music, DNA databases and genetic surveillance. It’s 2050 and two hard-bitten Melbourne cops are attempting to track down the killer of one member of the world’s most famous boy band: LoveTeam. This interactive theatre show will take on four different possible futures for what the world of 2050 might look like, but in only one does Nick LoveTeam’s killer get […]

Join Aboriginal entrepreneurs and friends to discuss regenerative design and the circular economy. Koorie businesswoman Jirra Lulla Harvey is bringing a taste of the Kalinya Retreats from the Gold Coast to Melbourne for a series of small group conversations on Indigenous leadership in the new economy. Aboriginal community members, regenerative design practitioners, impact investors and entrepreneurs bringing the circular economy to life are invited to visit the Kalinya Retreats room. […]

An evening of Torres Strait Islander food, song and stories hosted by Mabu Mabu. Enjoy a series of dishes inspired by the story of Gelam that takes you on a journey from land to sea and back again. The dishes recreate the creation story of Dauar and Waier, Islands off the coast of Mer Island in the Torres Strait. Each course will link to different chapters in the story with […]

The design of your garden and the plants you grow can influence which critters choose your garden as home. In Melbourne, we’re lucky to have many diverse species of plants and animals that call our city home. By designing your garden with our biodiversity in mind – such as planting trees that are native to your area, or plants with nectar that honeyeaters find tasty – you can bring all […]

A live performance of Sui Zhen’s latest album, confronting loss and mortality. Experimental pop and performance artist Sui Zhen was just about to head to Japan to work on her third album when her mum was diagnosed with cancer. She pushed on with the album in between providing palliative care in her family home, and as a result Losing, Linda examines loss on multiple levels – from the death of […]

In this workshop, children will explore their creativity as they turn old toys into something new. How long does it take for kids to get bored with new toys? According to surveys by the British Heart Foundation, the novelty often wears off in just 36 days. At this workshop children (aged 7–12) can focus on a future that inspires by turning pre-loved toys into new objects. Children are invited to […]

Can animals and humans coexist as urban citizens? Wild City is a mini urban landscape that considers animals as citizens. Originally created by artist Kathy Holowko in collaboration with over 60 children, Wild City will be presented as a thriving, green metropolis shared equally by humans and animals. At the week-long exhibition, children may become field naturalists and explore the landscape using a check sheet, searching for animals and their […]