Multicultural Arts Victoria - Emerge Festival 2012

Presented by Multicultural Arts Victoria, Emerge Festival commemorates United Nations World Refugee Day and celebrates Refugee Week in Victoria. Refugees are survivors who have been forced to leave their whole lives behind due to persecution and they have survived because they have had courage, ingenuity and creativity. The only festival of its kind, Emerge unearths the incredible talents these people have brought to Australia and provides an opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to share and celebrate rich and undiscovered cultures all the way from Africa to the Far East, from the traditional to the contemporary.

Dance to rhythms from Sudan to Tibet whilst inhaling the aromas of an Ethiopian coffee ceremony and exotic foods from around the globe at the festival Main Event; join us for the inaugural Emerge Film Festival showcasing talented filmmakers from emerging communities; experience Somali culture, flora and fauna in Reerguuraa Exhibition featuring the works of famed Somali visual artist Adam Ganei; dance and discover the rhythmic connections between Africa and Latin America in Nkumba Rumba! Just a few of this year’s festival highlights!

Established in 2004 by Multicultural Arts Victoria, the Emerge Festival promotes diversity, social inclusion, respect and the breaking down of racism. Over its nine years the festival has steadily grown to attract audiences of 8,000+ with an annual program of inspiring and entertaining events all over Melbourne.

From June 1 to July 31 Emerge Festival will be a chance for people from all cultures to make music together, sing, dance, learn about each other, showcase and be proud of their culture, hear each other’s stories and make long-lasting cross-cultural connections and friendships.

Friday June 1 - Friday June 29
Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery Reerguuraa (The Nomad) - Flora, Fauna and Landscape of Somalia

Tuesday June 5 - Saturday June 16
Heartlands Refugee Fine Art Prize @ fortyfivedownstairs

Sunday June 17, 12-5pm
Emerge Main Event @ Fitzroy Town Hall

Sunday June 17, 12-2pm
Refugee Week Rally

Wednesday June 13, 6.30-9pm
Hope in Settlement - A Creative Refugee Week Performance @ fortyfivedownstairs

Thursday June 21st, 7pm
Salon Visible Music - Laneway Funk and Bitsat Seyoum @ Melbourne Recital Centre

Saturday June 23 - Saturday July 31, 10am-4pm
Don't Be Left Out if the CALD - Development and Business Skills Workshops for "World Music" and Culturally Diverse Artists @ Coburg and Brunswick Town Halls

Saturday June 30
Ubuzima Bushasha Burundi Film Project Launch and Independence Day Celebrations@ACMI

Sunday July 1, 2.30pm
Nkumba Rumba, celebrating Congolese Independence Day @ Harbour Esplanade South, Docklands

Tuesday July 3, Wednesday July 4 & Thursday July 5, 6-10pm
Emerge Film Festival @ Treasury Theatre

Thursday July 5 - Saturday July 28
Walker St Gallery, Dandenong Heartlands Refugee Fine Art Prize @ Walker St Gallery, Dandenong

Saturday July 21
The Drum, Dandenong Emerge @ Drum Theatre, Dandenong

Multicultural Arts Victoria - Emerge Festival 2012
June 1 – July 31
In Melbourne and Dandenong
full program www.multiculturalarts.com.au