City North Fest! The Shared Futures Series: Cardigan Street Takeover

Take a speculative dip into our shared futures on Cardigan street. On Saturday 5 October RMIT University, Melbourne International Games Week and Melbourne Fringe Festival will intersect, to create a spectacular collision of creativity, imagination, and possibilities.

As part of this exciting crossover, RMIT will launch its City North Fest activation program transforming Cardigan Street into a hub of future-focused activities to explore futures that are diverse, sustainable, equitable and inspiring.
 

What does Melbourne's future look like to you?

Find out about the latest speculative fiction at our pop-up library with on-the-spot loans, explore entrepreneurial ideas that might change the way we live tomorrow, or try zero waste food - the food of the Future!

You can also experience immersive digital landscapes of the past with RMIT's Centre of Digital Engagement, watch short speculative films and join an experiment in shared world building through live action role-play. Set in 2050 as Naarm Melbourne becomes a megacity during a global climate emergency, the Future Play Lab's interactive game explores competing visions for the future as resources are scarcer than ever.

The day is also a chance to celebrate change with performances by Fringe Artists. Head First Acrobats merge the future with the past in GodZ, an acrobatic performance exploring the timeless mythology of Ancient Greece. Catherine Magill's VOW(d) explores the expectations and realities of age through visible older women (dancing) while The Hopefuls, a comical pair of puppets, wander through the urban environment to examine the quirks of our community.
 

Arcade launch

City North Fest will culminate in a speculative fiction finale with the Arcade Publications Launch of Composite City from 4-6pm in RMIT Building 78 (corner of Cardigan and Early St). At this launch hear newly unearthed site-specific stories of Melbourne from the grid to the drift, oysters to air, via subterranean sewers and bohemian hangouts. New technologies and traditional publishing practices come together to storify the city. Hear speculative insights on topics ranging from food to fine art as six authors in search of a city mine Melbourne's Hidden histories.

Share

Upcoming events

A blonde man with a laptop on his lap sitting beside a dark-haired, smiling woman with a fringe who is holding a notebook. They sit on a bright blue bench in an open outdoor area.

RMIT Study Expo

Icon / Small / Calendar Created with Sketch. 29 Jan 2025

The RMIT Study Expo is your chance to learn everything there is to know about your future study. Tour the Melbourne City campus and discover what RMIT has to offer.

sweet-enough-1220x732.jpg

Sweet Enough

Icon / Small / Calendar Created with Sketch. 25 Feb 2025 - 21 Mar 2025

Sweet Enough looks at sugar from a feminist perspective, examining the complex history, uses and roles of the medium, while celebrating the artists layered relationship with the sweet stuff.

rachel-kushner-reference-1220x732.jpg

Rachel Kushner: Creation Lake

Icon / Small / Calendar Created with Sketch. 04 Mar 2025

RMIT Culture and The Wheeler Centre present twice Booker Prize-nominated author Rachel Kushner, discussing her propulsive new eco-espionage novel in conversation with RMIT's Rebecca Harkins-Cross.

Load more
aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

More information
aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.

More information