News / Arts
Mechanic’s Institute to throw open its doors for a day
Exhibition showcases four decades of developing new artists
Mark Phillips
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Despite its location on one of the suburb’s most prominent street corners, the Brunswick Mechanic’s Institute remains a mystery to many passersby.
When Brunswick Voice held its recent fifth anniversary event there, many attendees remarked they had never been inside the historic building before.
But this Saturday everyone will be invited to peek inside when its tenants, arts organisation Next Wave, join the Open House Melbourne weekend festival for the first time.
Next Wave will use the day to mount an archival exhibition of memorabilia covering its evolution and impact since it was founded in 1984.
Next Wave CEO Elyse Goldfinch said the modern day arts organisation was in many ways a continuation of the original intent of the founders of the Brunswick Mechanic’s Institute in the 19th century.
The heritage-listed building on the corner of Sydney and Glenlyon roads was constructed in 1868 as part of a movement dedicated to adult education, public lectures, and community learning.
After spending much of the twentieth century as a free lending library subsidised by Brunswick City Council, it was converted into a performing arts venue in the late 1970s and has been home of Next Wave, which also manages the building on behalf of Merri-bek Council, since 2017.
While sporadic public performances and film screenings continue in the 100-seat theatre at the back of the building, its main role is to provide an affordable space for emerging artists to experiment and develop their practice.
Goldfinch said there were similarities between Next Wave and the original Mechanic’s Institute movement which sought to provide working class people with opportunities to further their knowledge that were otherwise closed to them because of their position in society.
“We’re really interested in demonstrating that you don’t have to have a university degree to participate in programs here, [that] you don’t have to have the right kind of art language to be part of the art world and to really build confidence for artists to build their own language,” she said.
“I’m someone who comes from a working class background, had no connection to the arts when I first started. So for me, I’m really passionate about making sure that we’re reducing as many barriers as possible for participation, so that kind of working class legacy is really amazing.”
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Next Wave has been a tenant of the Mechanic’s Institute for a fifth of its existence. It was founded in 1984 initially as a biennial arts festival by and for young people and was based for its early years at the Meat Market in North Melbourne.
A decade ago, about the same time it moved to Brunswick, it pivoted from a festival to an incubator for emerging artists including a flagship program called Kickstart that began in 2001.
Over the years it has been the springboard to careers in the arts for dozens of its alumni. Last calendar year, more than 400 artists went through Next Wave’s programs.
The Mechanic’s Institute venue regularly hosts workshops, exhibitions and performances by Kickstart participants, but its studio and theatre are also a place where artists can work on projects away from the public eye.
These may include creative developments, new commissions, exhibitions, live performances, public programs and residencies.
“Not everything is about producing a kind of major work at the end,” said Goldfinch.
“It’s also about infrastructure and support, and making sure that artists understand the conditions of working in a collaborative environment with an organisation, and to work with new audiences and communities.”
The Open House exhibition will display memorabilia and artefacts drawn from Next Wave’s 42-year archive, including banners and posters, photos and video, programs, brochures and booklets, CDs and even items of merchandise like hats and t-shirts.
The archives have been stored in cupboards under the roof at the Mechanic’s Institute, but former Next Wave staff and alumni have also provided their own artefacts in response to a call out after the exhibition was accepted for this year’s Open House program.
One of the oldest items is a well-preserved screenprinted banner from the first Next Wave festival in 1985.
Goldfinch, who was appointed Next Wave CEO a little over a year ago, said that exploring the archives in preparation for the Open House exhibition had been an eye-opener about the organisation’s legacy.
“I didn’t grow up in Naarm [Melbourne] so I really knew of Next Wave from afar. Especially when I went to art school and was coming up as a student … in Sydney, anyone who got into the Next Wave Festival, we were all like, ‘You’re going to make it!’
“You know, it was really the kind of golden ticket for artists at the time. So I’ve always known about it.
“Being able to take on the opportunity to really kind of lead this next chapter has felt very significant.
“We don’t want to be burdened by the legacy of the past, but I think it’s really important to honour it and to acknowledge the incredible people who have come through and led the organisation over the past 40 years.
“We kind of stand on their shoulders, but we’re also really excited about what we are looking at into the future.” 
The exhibition will be held in what is now the studio in the Brunswick Mechanic’s Institute but which Goldfinch believes would have been the library in the old days.
Apart from celebrating the role of Next Wave, the Open House is also an opportunity to acknowledge the prior history of the building.
The Brunswick Mechanic’s Institute was one of hundreds of similar buildings that were established around Victoria in the 19th century to provide adult education and access to libraries to working class men.
The movement was imported to colonial Australia from Scotland and many surviving buildings are dotted around Victoria, including the Melbourne Athenaeum in Collins Street.
Next Wave is both occupant and custodian of the Brunswick building and has endeavoured over the past 12 months to make it more accessible to locally-based artists and the community.
Goldfinch said more than 9000 people visited the building last year and delivered 71 public events or programs. It also hosted 22 events by venue hirers with its spaces available for a range of creative and community uses.
“It’s a really important place for us, it’s an important place for the community and for artists,” Goldfinch said.
“That’s been really exciting to get that kind of energy back into the building and really activate it again.
“During the day, we try to keep our doors open as much as possible for people to pop in and have a look,” she added.
“I think Open House is a good opportunity to really engage with people who are interested and haven’t necessarily had the opportunity to come in.”
The Brunswick Mechanic’s Institute will be open for the Next Wave archival exhibition from 10am to 2pm on Saturday. The exhibition occurs concurrently with Next Wave and Emerging Writers’ Festival’s Masterclass: Algorithms and Access in the Digital Commons.
Next Wave will also be co-hosting a curator-led walking tour of the Around the Block moving image exhibition from 5pm to 8pm on Friday. Works will also be displayed at Blak Dot gallery, the Counihan Gallery and Michelle Guglielmo Park.
Other Brunswick and Coburg venues taking part in Open House Melbourne this weekend include Nightingale Anstey Village and The Wild Geese Hotel.
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