The Melbourne Art Fair, Australia’s longest-running and most respected art fair presented by the Melbourne Art Foundation (MAF), announced a seven-day public program presented from Monday 11 until Sunday 17 August, as part of the wider Melbourne Art Week celebration of art. The program includes several new initiatives that will see art activities flow beyond the Fair walls into Melbourne city and surrounding suburbs.
New elements being launched as part of Melbourne Art Fair 2014 include an Art After Hours program of talks, laneway bars and late-night exhibition openings; inserting performance artists onto Melbourne trams; and a series of popup exhibitions inside retail and restaurant spaces.
The Art After Hours program of free public performances, exhibitions, talks and installations will take place in the evenings of Melbourne Art Fair, continuing after Fair closing time throughout different Melbourne precincts. Events include late-night video art screenings at Federation Square; video art projections at Chin Chin restaurant and a series of emerging artist popup exhibitions at Cutler & Co and Cumulus Up restaurants.
Art lovers will be offered after-hours access to the city’s most established galleries, institutions and retail stores including a late night artist talk by David Rosetzky at the ACMI; a rare late opening at the ACCA; a late store opening at Dinosaur Designs and a night of artist DJs and performance at Shebeen bar.
Aesop’s flagship store on Collins Street will be transformed into a pop-up art exhibition from 4 until 17 August, by replacing the store’s product with works by emerging contemporary artists, drawn from the Fair program and will host a late-night opening as part of Art After Hours on Thursday 14 August.
Art Talks and Walks is a new series of talks and tours of the Fair providing collecting insights form artists and industry leaders from Wednesday 13 August until Sunday 17 August. Speakers include artists Sam Leach, 
Julian Meagher, Euan Macleod, Anna Carey, Zoe Croggon and art commentators John McDonald and Owen Craven. The tours cater for collectors, art enthusiasts and those who want to find out more.
On Wednesday 13 August, the Opening Night Vernissage is the most anticipated event on Melbourne’s visual arts calendar offering a first look at the Fair, with this year’s event penned as a celebration of living artists. Over 300 well-known and respected Australian artists will be in attendance including:
Del Kathryn Barton; Daniel Boyd; Michael Zavros; Guan Wei; Ben Quilty; Philip Wolfhagen; Chris O’Doherty (a.k.a Reg Mombassa); Julia deVille, Sam Leach; Mirka Mora; Imants Tillers; Reko Rennie; and Caroline Rothwell. Guests to Vernissage will also experience an artist performance by Luke Roberts, roaming the Fair dressed as his renowned performance persona Pope Alice. It is the ultimate night for art lovers and gives guests the opportunity to be the first to see the art on display.
Melbourne Art Fair
13 to 17 August, 2014
Public programs: 11 to 17 August, 2014
Melbourne
