Golden Square

Golden Square is RISING's swirling vortex of contemporary art from Australia and abroad – a concrete temple to big ideas.

Starting on the car park roof you’ll take in a Blade Runner-esque skyline lit up by building-sized projections. Grab a cocktail from Fancy Free’s pop-up bar – Melbourne’s impressively pedigreed travelling bar crew (The Black Pearl, Leonardo’s Pizza Palace) – before navigating new commissions from major Australian contemporary artists, including underfoot murals and melting columns of frozen lake water. You’ll then head down through the carpark’s lower levels exhibiting video, performance and sculptural works.

In its first year, Golden Square’s curatorial theme, Inland Tides, examines migration, colonisation, technology, consumerism and an environment in flux. Celestial bodies move aquatic swells, fresh water meets salt, minerals are deposited, and information exchanged. By the time you reach street level, the world’s going to look different.