News / Arts
Next Wave secures Mechanics Institute for up to nine years
Arts organisation promises more public access to the building
Mark Phillips
YOU’VE probably walked past the Brunswick Mechanics Institute more times than you can count, but have you ever been inside?
The stone building has squatted on the corner of Dawson Street and Sydney Road for more than 150 years, but to many Brunswick residents it is an enigma.
While it boasts signage for the arts organisation Next Wave, the building’s doors are often closed to the outside world.
But Next Wave is promising the public will have more access to the Brunswick Mechanics Institute building after recently securing a new three-year lease for the property.
Next Wave, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, won a competitive tender process over five other candidates to renew its lease from next July of one of Brunswick’s most significant buildings.
Next Wave moved to the BMI from the North Melbourne Meat Market in 2017. The new lease is until the middle of 2028, with the option of two extensions of three years each, for a fee of $80,000 per annum.
Occupying a prime location at the corner of Dawson Street and Sydney Road, the Brunswick Mechanics Institute building dates back to 1868. Part of the Mechanics Institue movement, which sought to provide adult education to working-class men through services such as book libraries, it has been extended and refurbished several times since then.
The four walls of the Mechanics Institute contain a small theatre/cinema and a studio space, along with Next Wave’s offices and a small serving bar.
Advertisement
The acting CEO/Director of Next Wave, Jacina Leong, is conscious of the organisation’s responsibility as custodian of a building that has played a significant role in Brunswick’s history and wants to improve interaction with the local community.
She is also sensitive to perceptions that because the doors are closed, nothing is happening inside the building.
While that won’t mean people will be able to wander through the building whenever they want, Leong and her small team of four are aiming to host more events that are open to the public, while also fulfilling Next Wave’s role of providing a private and safe place for emerging artists to experiment and develop.
To deliver on this commitment, Next Wave will host semi-regular neighbourhood gatherings along with programmed events beginning this weekend with two days of community-led workshops, performances and conversations called ShareHouse.
Leong, who has been in her position since last November, said the organisation was delighted to have been awarded a new lease by Merri-bek Council at its August meeting, despite misgivings from some councillors about the lack of public access to the building over the past few years.
She said Next Wave had been very keen to continue its lease of the Brunswick Mechanics Institute so it could remain in the heart of one of Victoria’s most thriving creative communities.
Perceptions about lack of access arose partly from a misunderstanding about the role of Next Wave and how it uses the building, she said.
The organisation began life in 1984 as a youth arts festival, but since 2021 has concentrated on helping emerging artists develop their practice.
While the Mechanics Institute building is sometimes used for public performances, Leong said its primary purpose is as a rehearsal and development space.
“The history of this building has such alignment with what we do as an organisation, and it’s also a space that provides one of the things that is most needed within the [arts] sector and artists continue to strive for, [which] is space to be able to test and explore ideas,” Leong said. “BMI is the perfect space to do that.”
The building is in use on average for more than five days every week and is in constant demand for hire by artists who want to workshop and develop new ideas in a private space, which can also take the form of in-house residencies and mentorships that leverage off Next Wave’s alumni who include many prominent artists as diverse as film maker Baz Luhrmann and singer Kate Ceberano.
Typically, the spaces in the building may be used for workshops and rehearsals, script development, filming and artists talks while a moving image arts organisation, Composite, will soon be relocating to the building from Collingwood Yards.
But Leong said Next Wave’s new strategic plan does also aim to have more engagement with the Brunswick community.
“Part of my role over the last year has really been listening to what the community has said to us, what artists have said to us, and what the continuing needs and demands of a space like this is,” she said.
“I think it’s also important to recognise that, for example, last year, the Brunswick Mechanics Institute was activated close to 290 days of the year, and that was largely through venue hire, which is the purpose also of this space.
“They’re the kinds of things that happen behind closed doors, because that is the point of a space like this too, that it’s for artists to use for creative development, and sometimes that doesn’t mean a public outcome, but we recognise then there can be a perception that we’ve closed off the building.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily a fair perception but we are also interested in how do we ensure that as managers of this space, that we continue to provide it as a space for venue hire, and also offer public outcomes for people to drop in as well.”
ShareHouse, which will be held on Saturday and Sunday this week, brings together fresh independent artists for a series of community-led workshops, performances and conversations curated by Next Wave Young Artistic Director Banda.
Activities on Saturday will include a still-life drawing class by Charlie Taylor, a catered lunch, a panel talk exploring the relationship between artists and community, and a collaborative reflective writing workshop with facilitator Adele D’Souza.
Sunday will be an open house, welcoming people in to explore the space. There will be a raffle of art pieces by local artists, local foods, and a live performance by the neo-soul jazz band Lord Knows.
On November 1, a screening of the classic 1922 silent horror film Nosferatu with a live score will be held at BMI, and later that month, Next Wave will host a casual neighbourhood gathering and morning tea, where visitors will be able to explore the building.
Leong said it was hoped several of these events could be held each year.
Support independent local journalism
We are an independent hyperlocal news organisation owned and run by the people in your community. With your support, we can continue to produce unique and valuable local journalism for Brunswick and the inner north of Melbourne.
