Now or Never 2024

21 — 31 AUGUST 2025
MELBOURNE / NARRM 21 — 31 AUGUST 2025

Program

Not sure where to start? Discover our Curated Collections.

Deep Listeners

Moritz von Oswald sits casually on a chair, wearing a navy blue suit, in his studio. It's filled with art deco furniture and hifi music listening equipment.

Savouring every second, reflecting deeply on experience and sound.

The Explorer

Laurel Halo stands against a grainy blue/grey gradient wearing a grey suit and white shirt. Her vibrant red hair flies out to the side and swoops over her face. Her left hand is in her pocket, casually.

Pushing boundaries and embracing the unknown. Adventure calls.

The Moodmaxxer

A droid (similar to RD2D) poses standing with their legs crossed over and their right hand lifted to the sky, similar to vogueing. They are in a complete white space standing on a podium.

Knowing how to elevate the energy. Nothing but good vibes here.

  • Einder

    Boris Acket

    Look up, the roaring sea meets the sky in an aerial dance.

    Melbourne Town Hall

    Thu 21 Aug
    Sat 23 Aug — Sun 24 Aug
    Mon 25 Aug
    Wed 27 Aug

  • DELIRI

    Hamill Industries

    State Library Victoria morphs with an algorithm-driven audio-visual hallucination.

    State Library Victoria

    Thu 21 Aug — Sun 31 Aug

  • Burdi Burdi

    Dr Christian Thompson AO

    A sonic installation of Bidjara language, memory and resilience.

    Evan Walker Bridge

    Thurs 21 Aug — Sun 31 Aug

  • MATRIA

    Penique Productions

    MATRIA transforms the Royal Exhibition Building with a towering, undulating pink membrane that envelops the audience in a breathing organic bubble.

    Royal Exhibition Building

    Thu 21 Aug — Sun 24 Aug

  • PARA.cine

    Eek, Tina Stefanou, and Kirby Casilli pres. 'Hearsay' / Team Rolfes & The Mustang Speedrun

    Dismantle the traditional cinema experience with two world premiere works of mixed-reality cinema where fiction, image, and bodies fracture in real time.

    ACMI – Cinema 1

    Tues 26 Aug

  • A droid (similar to RD2D) poses standing with their legs crossed over and their right hand lifted to the sky, similar to vogueing. They are in a complete white space standing on a podium.

    ASSEMBLY

    Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons

    Black queer paradise: art, AI, and performance gloriously entwined.

    ACMI – Cinema 2

    Wed 27 Aug
    Fri 29 Aug
    Sun 31 Aug

  • A man with a cap stands on the very right hand side of the frame holding a stick and stands facing the left hand side. Cross dissolved underneath is a picture of fire with trees burning.

    Crown and Country

    WANTA JAMPIJINPA PAWU-KURLPURLURNU, JERRY JANGALA PATRICK OAM, MARC "MONKEY" PECKHAM, JAMES GILLOT

    Step into a world of vast desert landscapes and extraordinary ceremonial knowledge in this groundbreaking First Nations film.

    The Capitol

    Fri 29 Aug

  • A head shot of Dr Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston on the left, he wears a blue shirt and stands in front of a blue background. On the right is a headshot of Jen Martin, she wears a chunky blue necklace and smiles at the camera against a leafy blurred out background

    How to Live Forever

    Dr Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston

    Neuroscientist Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston offers a compelling argument for why human life could – and should – be eternal.

    The Wheeler Centre

    Wed 27 Aug

  • The artist demonstrates how to use the piece of sound listening equipment, their shadow is blue but the rest of the light is pink.

    Listening Acts | Performance

    Biddy Connor, Aviva Endean, Alexandra Spence

    Three sonic rituals: a medical machine sings with human breath, bones channel whispered secrets, and vibrating forms transmute the ordinary into sublime performance.

    Melbourne Recital Centre – Primrose Potter Salon

    Fri 22 Aug — Sat 23 Aug

  • A large tape recorder-esque machine sits on a small black table, two tattooed hands are grabbing it. There is a pair of black headphones resting on top.

    Listening Acts | Installations

    Rebecca Bracewell, Hannah de Feyter, Anna Liebzeit, Monica Lim, Tamara Saulwick with Peter Knight, Thembi Soddell

    How do technologies mediate and transform our experience of sound?

    Melbourne Recital Centre

    Fri 22 — Sun 24 Aug

  • The artist holds a microphone to a medical machine, similar to an IV drip. There is a blue shadow behind the artist, and pink lighting everywhere else.

    Listening Acts | Conversations

    Hosted by Dr Solange Glasser

    What does it mean to listen deeply, and what are we listening with?

    Melbourne Recital Centre – Primrose Potter Salon

    Sat 23 Aug

  • Alcove LTD

    Encor Studio

    An optical illusion of light and sound that questions the concept of isolation, reflects on the mutation of spaces, and looks beyond appearances.

    Melbourne Town Hall Forecourt

    Thurs 14 Aug — Sun 31 Aug

  • Art in the Age of Hybrid Media

    Team Rolfes, Hamill Industries

    Two pioneering studios converge to reimagine the boundaries of screen-based performance, technological expression, and sensory experience.

    ACMI – Cinema 2

    Wed 27 August

  • On the left, Astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg in her blue space uniform with a name patch and an Australian flag patch, she smiles at the camera. On the right, Dr Tania Hill gazes to the sky and smiles, against a galaxy background.

    The Future of Space

    Katherine Bennell-Pegg, hosted by Dr Tanya Hill

    The choices we make up there will define us down here.

    Melbourne Museum

    Sat 23 Aug

  • Julia Ostro stands in her kitchen with her left hand on her hip, smiling into the camera. She is wearing a blue and red patterned top.An image of 'Einder'. A sheer fabric sheet that is mid fall against a moody lit ceiling. It almost looks like smoke pillowing.

    Ostro x Einder

    Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Boris Acket

    Julia Busuttil Nishimura crafts a feast set beneath the striking installation Einder by Boris Acket.

    Melbourne Town Hall

    Fri 22 Aug

  • A screen that shows a collage in the style Microsoft ClipArt featuring Julia Roberts looking to the right, a Roman statue, a patterned floor carpet (similar to one you'd find in a casino) and a continental breakfast buffet. These images are all presented against a galaxy background with text overlay saying 'It's a Vibe'. On the bottom right of the image, there is an Auslan Interpreter and the presenter.

    Queer PowerPoint

    Xanthe Dobbie, Harriet Gillies, Thom Smyth

    Witness queer artists transform Microsoft's most mundane medium into a funny riot of hot takes, cooked theories, and gloriously gay revelations.

    Fed Square – The Edge

    Fri 29 Aug

  • In Conversation with Boris Acket

    Boris Acket, Corey Schneider, Timo Lejeune

    Three creative minds converge beneath a living storm to explore control, chaos, and the sensory architecture of sound and light.

    Melbourne Town Hall

    Mon 25 Aug

  • The World Came Flooding In

    Isobel Knowles, Van Sowerwine

    A house is never the same after a river runs through it. Memories of flooded homes are reimagined through groundbreaking storytelling technologies.

    ACMI – Swinburne Studio

    Thu 21 Aug — Sun 24 Aug

  • Inside the main room of State Library Victoria that has been lit up pink/purple, filled with people enjoying Library Up Late.

    Library Up Late

    Party late into the night at State Library Victoria with an evening of dancing, art and creativity after dark.

    State Library Victoria

    Fri 22 Aug

  • NO/GENRE x CURB DANCE II

    Queen Asher & Rehema Tajiri, Essendon Airport, s280f, The Drone Quartet w/ Sachin de Silva, Jungist, Stacey Collee, Solsa, Crisis Bangers, Zourry

    A night of experimental live performance and untethered club music.

    Miscellania

    Fri 22 Aug

  • Now or Never Opening Night Party

    Moritz von Oswald, Sleep D, Kia

    Announcing the Now or Never opening night party. A free winter rave, live at Fed Square.

    Fed Square – Main Square

    Thurs 21 Aug

  • MUTATIONS

    Coki (UK / DMZ), Mumn Norm (DJ Mum b2b Stormn Norm), Yunzero, Emily Arenas Zarate & Secret International Guest (TBA)

    A deep dive into bass and rhythm that stretches from daylight into distortion.

    Miscellania

    Sun 31 Aug

  • A gorgeous colourful collection of glass trinkets, some shells, blue glass flowers, glass koala, glass blue bird, assembled in a maximalist fashion, set against a black background.

    Intraconnection

    Centre for Projection Art

    Moving image works that blur the boundaries between species, bodies, and technologies.

    Fed Square – Big Screen

    Mon 25 Aug — Sun 31 Aug

  • An instructor from Breath Haus squatting and reaching for an attendees temples, performing the breathwork workshop in a space with blue, projection. The person is lying down with a pillow underneath their head, relaxed.An interior of a building is completely wrapped from ceiling to floor in a pink/red soft, draped plastic. The plastic crinkles in areas showing its personality. There are light panels underneath the plastic that light up the installation.

    The Breath Haus x MATRIA

    Take a breath. Reset your nervous system, elevate your energy, and shift your state from the inside out - a breathwork experience like no other.

    Royal Exhibition Building

    Sat 23 Aug — Sun 24 Aug

  • A performer with a microphone and dj set performs to a crowd. They are in front of a screen that appears to have code - which may correlate to their performance, and also features many trees on the projection.

    Friday Night Social: DISTRACTION

    STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM, Nū with live visuals by Mel Huang, noom, Melody Woodnutt, ButohOUT!

    For one night only, DISTRACTION goes late for Now or Never, with live art, sonic serenity and a free party built for your short attention span.

    Science Gallery Melbourne

    Fri 29 Aug

  • DISTRACTION

    Focusing on interactive games, play and human-centred technologies, this new exhibition explores the ways we might harness the cacophony of digital content and find meaning within it.

    Science Gallery Melbourne

    26 Jul — 20 Dec 2025

  • A child holds their hands up behind a green-lit screen, you can only see their shadow against a pool of green light. A red light shines on the left-hand side and a blue on the lower left hand side. There is a floating bucket in front of the screen the child is behind with a large wire-esque string.

    Sonic Labyrinth

    Aviva Endean with Justin Marshall & children at ArtPlay

    Discover hidden sounds and cosmic hums in an immersive installation designed for explorers aged 5-13.

    ArtPlay

    Thu 21 — Sun 24 Aug
    Thu 28 — Sun 31 Aug

  • MESS in Conversation: Laurel Halo

    Hosted by Dr Robin Fox

    Boundary-defying composer and producer Laurel Halo joins MESS co-founder Robin Fox to explore a soundworld that drifts between ambient, jazz and avant-pop.

    State Library Victoria Theatrette

    Sat 23 Aug