UPDATE 13/03/2020: Organisers have decided to postpone O_C_E_A_N festival in light of coronavirus advice.
St Kilda's favourite seafront pub is hosting an arts festival dedicated to the briny deep. O_C_E_A_N is an "ode to the ocean" featuring visual arts, audio works and performances at the Espy as well as around St Kilda.
The week-long festival features free exhibitions, artist talks, kids activities and paid performances and events all based around the ocean.
Some of the festival's stand-out events include Surfing Painting (where, we're assured, Henry Jock Walker will teach you how to paint while literally surfing), Crest (a percussive performance by Matthias Schack-Arnott work where stones, shells and tiles spin at rapid speeds), Tilt (2.5-metre "ocean drum" filled with 8,000 ball bearings that guests can interact with) and Seabomb (an interactive installation by Liza Boston and Don William Bingemer inspired by noir photographs taken on Victorian beaches during the devastating January 2020 bushfires).
There will also be a seaside walk where guests will be guided through the underwater sounds of the East Australian Coast via wireless headphones and a special dance performance by dancer Rebecca Jensen and artist Rafaella McDonald.
Linden New Art will also run a drop-in underwater-themed art activity at the Espy on the final day of the festival.
O_C_E_A_N is on at the Espy and around St Kilda from March 22 to 29. For the full festival line-up and to buy tickets visit the website.
