NOW OR NEVER 2025
APPLICATION FOR [ANEW] BY ELLE SHIMADA X RHYS NEWLING
PROJECT OUTLINE
Project Outline:
ANEW is an immersive audio-visual event envisioned by Naarm-based artists Elle Shimada and Rhys Newling. Staged at the Royal Exhibition Centre, this large-scale live dancefloor event brings Elle Shimada’s ambitious sophomore album to life through an immersive blend of live music, dance, cinematic storytelling, and cutting-edge visuals.
Blending the sensory experiences of cinema, music, and club culture, ANEW invites audiences into a vibrant futuristic narrative exploring the intersection of technology, art, and humanity.
Collaboration:
This event is a powerful collaboration between two acclaimed Melbourne-based artists, musician Elle Shimada and projection artist Rhys Newling, who has created multiple site-specific works at the Royal Exhibition Building.
Elle Shimada’s album ANEW was created in collaboration with 40 queer and culturally diverse Melbourne-based artists and team members. Key collaborators include QTBIPOC dancers Bella Waru and Chantal Bala, musicians Lucky Pereira, Kurt Lam, and Moses Carr, and fashion designer Wackie Ju.
Together, they bring a vibrant intersection of music, dance, and visual arts, enriching ANEW with artistic depth and cultural significance. The project also features high-calibre international artists Joe Armon Jones, Jitwam, Eliza Legzdina, and Jerome Thomas, recorded in the UK, USA, and Korea, amplifying its reach and positioning local music on a global platform.
Scale:
Designed for the Royal Exhibition Building, ANEW welcomes audiences hungry for transportative experiences beyond the commercial club or the limitations of the galleries. Inviting art and music lovers, tech enthusiasts, and diverse community groups, particularly migrants and lower socio-economic communities, ANEW’s dancefloor welcomes all through engaging, accessible storytelling and an inclusive approach across different demographics.
Viability:
Elle Shimada’s musical album ANEW has been recently completed in an extensive creative development supported by an existing $50k investment from Creative Australia. With a core management and production team in place, this proposal will enable the album to be adapted to a large scale site-specific presentation at the Royal Exhibition Building. The project leverages Rhys’s technical expertise and knowledge of the venue to create an AV show truly unique to the space and designed around the Royal Exhibition Building’s distinctive architecture.
Audience:
Drawing on Elle’s international touring experience, ANEW will bring global-scale production to a Melbourne audience, to attract diverse attendees from festival-goers to tech and art enthusiasts. The team’s marketing strategy will build on Elle’s grassroots BIPOC community connections and outreach to reach diverse younger audiences. This builds on the team’s experience running strategic Meta digital marketing campaigns, community radio and in-house press campaigns.
Accessibility:
ANEW is designed to be accessible to people of all abilities. It will include clear audio-visuals, physical access, and sensory elements suitable for deaf or visually impaired attendees.
Local connection:
ANEW showcases Victorian talent and tells a uniquely Australian story that reflects Naarm’s multicultural landscape. Rooted in Elle’s own migrant experience, the project resonates with Melbourne’s diverse community, positioning ANEW as a culturally relevant and innovative performance. Each of the performers are highly engaged in local scenes, with overlapping but unique local reach in live music, club culture, high art sector, projection, tech and high fashion scenes.
ANEW resonates as artistically and culturally significant by platforming Melbourne talent and innovation. Both artists have worked on large scale shows for other international artists, but this would mark the first significant investment to present their narrative and vision at scale. By programming ANEW, the festival will shine a spotlight on outstanding local talents to deliver a large-scale international level show.
