Popular Tasmanian winter festival Dark Mofo has been put back on this year's calendar, but organisers still fear for its future.
Key points:
- The festival was one of the first to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
- Organisers admit there is still some risk it will be cancelled
- The full program will be announced in April
Hobart's Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) was one of the first to pull the plug on a major event in Tasmania last year due to coronavirus, announcing in March that the 2020 Dark Mofo would not go ahead.
Soon after, the Hobart City Council said it wouldn't be funding Dark Mofo until at least 2022, also because of the pandemic.
But late on Thursday, MONA issued a statement announcing dates for a 2021 Dark Mofo festival, saying the full program would be announced in early April.
A shorter Dark Mofo this year
Creative director Leigh Carmichael said he was approaching the June event with trepidation.
"Last year we lost our sense of purpose overnight, and it appears that experience is having a resounding impact on this year's festival program," Mr Carmichael said.
Mr Carmichael said this year's event would be shorter, running from June 16 for seven days, and that there had been a decision to scrap sponsorship.
"We felt they were having a detrimental effect on the festival," he said.
"We want to be able to pursue our own cultural agenda free from restraint and with a renewed commitment to the art."
Mr Carmichael said this year would also mark the end of a five-year funding agreement with the Tasmanian Government and that, combined with the loss of council funding and the cutting of sponsors, left the future of the event in limbo.
MONA created ripples across the state when it announced last March, a week after Tasmania recorded its first case of coronavirus, that the festival was cancelled.
Dark Mofo has been running in Hobart since 2013 and includes feature events like the Winter Feast and nude solstice swim.
The festival had been credited with bringing an otherwise quiet city to life in the depths of winter.
'Could be great, could be terrible': Walsh
MONA owner David Walsh has likened the festival's comeback to that of American Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz, who attempted a career resurgence aged 41.
"Dark's back, which, in the immortal words of Mark Spitz, who was also making a comeback, 'could be good, could be great, could be terrible'.
"Mark didn't mention that there is another possibility: it could be cancelled.
"But it wouldn't be worth doing if there was no risk.
"There's lots of risk, so it must really be worth doing."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIxLTAyLTE5L21vbmFzLWRhcmstbW9mby13aW50ZXItZmVzdGl2YWwtcmV0dXJucy1mb3ItMjAyMS8xMzE2OTQ3NNIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMzE2OTQ3NA?oc=5
2021-02-18 18:42:00Z
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