The 2023 edition of Melbourne’s RISING festival is announced, with 185 events, counting 35 commissions and 12 world premieres in fields including live music, visual arts and installation, dance and mass participation events.

“The 2023 program is a rallying call to get involved, experience the new and be a part of a festival that couldn’t happen anywhere else,” said RISING co-artistic directors Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek.

City as stage

Brian Robinson: Navigating a Treacherous Waterway. Part of the Shadow Spirit exhibition. Image supplied.

The long disused upper level of the city’s Flinders Street Station will become home to Shadow Spirit, the largest commissioned exhibition of contemporary First Peoples art in Victoria’s history.

Curated by Yorta Yorta writer and curator Kimberley Moulton, this landmark survey features 30 leading First Nations artists and collectives from across Australia. Of the 15 major works, 14 are new commissions.

“Shadow Spirit honours the interwoven connections First Peoples hold to the spirit world and the expansive networks of knowledge that link place, people and Country,” said Moulton, a RISING artistic associate.

“Curating works of esteemed Elders and established practitioners alongside the next generation of First Peoples artists will give...