Liquid Architecture (LA) is Australia’s leading organisation for artists working with sound and listening. LA is based on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country, at the Collingwood Yards art precinct. Our program sits at the intersection of contemporary art and experimental music, expressed through a range of presentation, publishing, research and commissioning activities.
BACKGROUND
Born in the complex artistic climate of the late 1990s, LA is a millennial imagination of Australia’s vibrant experimental sound culture. Founded in 1999, over the following 15 years, under the direction of Nat Bates, LA grew from being a boutique local event into Australia’s leading festival of experimental, electronic, improvised and avant-garde music.
In 2014, the organisation pivoted with an injection of ideas and resources, and the appointment of Joel Stern and Danni Zuvela as the organisation’s artistic leadership. The duo dissolved the festival model in favour of something more open, unpredictable and experimental: a year-round, curatorial program of boundary-pushing public events, happenings and situations untethered to any one discipline, ideology or format.
Forever expanding and evolving to meet our horizons, the cultural institution we know today as Liquid Architecture is fuelled by the ideas and energies of our team and augmented by the expertise of our board and advisors.
Under the leadership of Kristi Monfries alongside Creative Producer Rohan Rebeiro, Creative Producer James Howard and Programs Coordinator Ronen Jafari, the new direction will expand on this legacy to build strong foundations and relationships with sound experimentations from First Nations, Diasporas, Asia and the Pacific.
Grounded locally but working globally, LA is a dedicated platform for artists engaged in experimental sound practice, sustained and energised through conversation and research, and realised in collaboration with people in our community and beyond.
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung as the Traditional Owners and sovereign custodians of the Country on which we practice. We extend our respects to their Elders past and present, and to all First Peoples.
Team
BOARD
DANNY BUTT (CHAIR) is Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Practice at Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, where he is also Coordinator of Research for Design and Production. His book Artistic Research in the Future Academy was published by Intellect/University of Chicago Press in 2017, and he is on the Editorial Board of the Journal for Artistic Research and is co-convenor of the Asia Pacific Artistic Research Network. As a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) he worked for intergovernmental agencies such as United Nations Development Programme and ASEAN on new media and development and was editor of the book Internet Governance: Asia Pacific Perspectives (Elsevier/UNDP 2006). He works with the Auckland-based art collective Local Time. He moved from Gadigal country in Sydney to Port Chalmers / Koputai, Aotearoa New Zealand in 1993, performing improvised sound and releasing recordings through the 1990s with Peter Stapleton and Kim Pieters in the groups Rain and Flies Inside the Sun (with Brian Crook); with Michael Morley in the Tanaka-Nixon Meeting; and as Cobweb Iris.
REBECA SACCHERO (DEPUTY-CHAIR)
Rebeca Sacchero is a Producer with extensive experience across multiple Metro Melbourne Inner North Local Government Areas. Rebeca understands the local government context whilst also having relationships and experience in small to medium arts orgs. She has been working in the space of community engaged practice and is passionate about creating arts access for under-represented communities. She has a strong track record of successful projects with youth, the LGBTQIA+ community, CALD communities and seniors. She has worked across visual arts, performing arts and digital media, with a range of government and private stakeholders. These include major festivals, local and state Government, ARI’s, schools, community health orgs, and social enterprises. She completed a degree in Art History and Curatorship at Monash University in 2017 and in 2019 was selected for Leadership Victoria’s LGBTQIA+ Leadership program. She also runs her own community building electronic music events in which she has toured international artists, and is a DJ.
MARK NOLEN (TREASURER) is a Certified Practising Accountant with extensive experience in the creative industries sector. He is currently Management Accountant at ACMI, having previously worked in a similar role at Film Victoria. Along the way, he has helped countless singers, actors, and even clowns get their taxes in order – no laughing matter! When not crunching numbers, you can find Mark sitting back with a fine drop of Scotch whisky, soaking up some even finer tunes.
CLAIRE BREDENOORD (SECRETARY) is an education designer and creative producer with experience in non-profit arts organisations, higher education and start-ups. She has a background in socially engaged arts practice and publishing, most often working across disciplines to produce multimodal projects. Most recently, Claire has contributed to the launch of Industri Education, a live music education organisation aiming to provide pathways into industry, as the Operations and Education Lead. A notable achievement has been collaborating with live music industry stakeholders to design new courses in technical production. Claire holds a Juris Doctor and a Master of Arts and Community Practice. She aims to continue developing her diverse skill set and passion for relational community practice to contribute to First Nations peoples’ fight for justice.
MONICA LIM (MEMBER) is a Melbourne-based pianist and composer of classical contemporary and experimental music. Born in Malaysia and then migrating to Australia in her teens, Monica initially practiced as a Tax Consultant for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, before pursuing her own interests in business and the arts. She has produced work for theatre, contemporary dance, installations, and film, as well as solo and ensemble instrumental pieces. She is interested in new cross-disciplinary genres and forms as well as combinations of new technology with music. Monica is currently undertaking a PhD at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne in interactive technology, AI and gesture-led composition. Monica is co-founder of Project Eleven, a philanthropic initiative which supports the contemporary arts and serves on the boards of the Melbourne Recital Centre, the Substation as well as the Member’s Council for Musica Viva.
NARETHA WILLIAMS (MEMBER) is an accomplished practitioner in the Australian creative industries sector. An established artist and music producer, she is a seasoned industry professional with extensive experience across a dynamic range of appointments. Naretha has worked with leading Australian companies and First Nations initiatives, flagship festivals and events, has toured internationally and won several awards. Credits include: St Kilda Festival, Bless Your Blak Arts Festival, Australasian World Music Expo, International Symposium on Electronic Art, Yirramboi First Nations Arts Festival, Science Gallery London, Chunky Move, Performance Space New York, The Melba Spiegeltent, Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ, Sydney Myer Music Bowl, Sydney Dance Company, and Melbourne’s Flash Forward.
GAIL PRIEST (MEMBER) is a sound artist and writer based on Dharug and Gundungurra land (Katoomba, NSW). Her work spans soundtracks for dance, theatre and video, solo electro-acoustic performance as well sound installations for gallery contexts, both solo and in collaboration. She has performed her live compositions and exhibited sound installations nationally and internationally including in Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Norway and the Netherlands. In 2015-16 she was awarded an Emerging & Experimental Arts Fellowship from the Australia Council. She has undertaken numerous radio commissions and releases music on her own label Metal Bitch Recordings as well as Flaming Pines, Endgame Records and room40. She curates events and exhibitions and writes fictively and factually about sound and media art, working for RealTime magazine for over 15 years. She has been on the board of Performance Space (2011-2014), and a peer assessor for the Australia Council. She has just completed a PhD in creative sound theory at UTS. www.gailpriest.net
DAVID CHESWORTH (MEMBER) is an artist and composer, known for his experimental, and at times minimalist music, who has worked with electronics, contemporary ensembles, film, theatre, and experimental opera. Together with Sonia Leber, David has created installation artworks using sound, video, architecture and public participation. Exhibitions include ‘56th Venice Biennale (2015), ‘19th Biennale of Sydney (2014), and Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2013-14). Festivals featuring Chesworth’s music and sound works include Ars Electronica; Festival D’Automne de Paris; Bang on a Can Marathon, New York, Biennale of Sydney; Adelaide and Melbourne Festivals; and MONA FOMA. Early in his career he was co-founder of post-punk band Essendon Airport and for five years was coordinator of the Clifton Hill Community Music Centre, Melbourne. David is a Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at RMIT University, Melbourne, researching auditory archives.
STAFF
Kristi Monfries (CEO + Director)
Rohan Rebeiro (Senior Creative Producer)
Ronen Jafari (Programs Manager)
James Howard (Creative Producer: First Nations Programming)
Bianca Winataputri (Editor - Disclaimer)
LA ASSOCIATES
Laura McLean and Suvani Suri (Associate Curators - Capture All)
Helen Grogan (Associate Advisor - Liquid Archive)
INTERNS
Maresca Hidayat
Olivia Stephen
Jess Phillips
Contact
We welcome conversation, ideas and feedback at any time.
info@liquidarchitecture.org.au
TW, FB, IG, YT, MX, SC
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104/35 Johnston Street
Collingwood VIC 3066
AUSTRALIA
LIQUID ARCHITECTURE
SOUND INC
ABN 73128090237
ASN A0050679K
Privacy Statement
Liquid Architecture (LA) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal information obtained and stored about its audience or clientele, including users of this website.
We understand and appreciate that our audience or clientele and users of this website are concerned about their privacy and the confidentiality and security of any information that may be provided to us.
This policy applies when Liquid Architecture determines what information will be collected or disclosed, or how any information will be processed.
We take a broad understanding of what constitutes ‘personal information’. We understand ‘personal information’ to include any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
Liquid Architecture is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act and is compliant with the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012.
We may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to Liquid Architecture’s operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing legal environment.
THE TYPES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION LA COLLECTS
The type of information Liquid Architecture collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including sensitive information, about:
- Contact information including email address, phone number, names, gender, organisation, role.
- Connection information including linkages and referrals between people.
- Financial information including amounts paid to LA, donated to LA, or received by LA.
- When you visit our website, our server maintains an access log that includes the following information: the visitor’s IP address, the date and time of the visit to the site, the pages accessed and documents downloaded, the previous site visited, and the type of browser used.
- When you visit our website, cookies are stored on your device that provides information to Google Analytics to give us statistical information about our visitors.
HOW PERSONAL INFORMATION IS COLLECTED
LA collects personal information in a variety of different ways depending on the type of contact that is made with the organisation. We collect personal information both from individuals directly and from third parties.
- Subscribing to LA’s newsletter via the website, in-person or other means
- Visiting LA’s website
- Registering for LA’s programs of events (eg. performances, workshops, lectures)
- Purchasing a ticket for LA’s programs of events via a ticketing system
- Making an online enquiry
- Making an individual donation to LA
- Becoming a sponsor
- Submitting a proposal to LA
- Providing written feedback to LA
- Through agreements with programming partners to add addresses to our mailing lists
- Images of persons might be collected during documentation of an LA performance
- If you become a LA Associate, Volunteer or Board Member
LA may also collect personal information over the phone, in person or by electronic correspondence in order to undertake its regular administrative operations
WHY PERSONAL INFORMATION IS COLLECTED
LA collects personal information in order to service the needs of its staff, audience and partnerships. This information is only used with your consent. Your personal information may be retained and used for the following purposes:
- To communicate with staff, artists, associates, volunteers, or Board Members
- For communicating about upcoming programs and services offered by LA and its partners
- For documenting LA performances and events
- To communicate to LA audiences on behalf of other arts or government organisations offering information regarding their products
- For artistic program research and organisational continuous improvement purposes
All details are kept secure at all times and any individual may request their information is not used for direct marketing, research or any other purpose.
DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
LA will not sell, lend, disclose, or give personal information of its audience or clientele to external individuals or organisations without first obtaining the customer’s consent.
LA may, however, disclose your personal information or financial data (information exchanged in transactions relating to donations, ticket purchasing or any other product sold):
- To our insurer or legal advisors for the purpose of obtaining insurance coverage, obtaining professional advice, and managing risks.
- To our payment services providers or financial institutions. LA will share transaction data only to the extent necessary for processing, refunding, or dealing with queries about payments.
- In a situation where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that LA is subject to, or in order to protect the vital interests of a person.
LA will not disclosure personal information to recipients in another jurisdiction unless that jurisdiction has a privacy regime at least as equally protective as Australia. LA will always ask for specific consent before disclosing personal information to a recipient in another jurisdiction.
PERSONAL INFORMATION ACCURACY
LA is committed to ensuring all personal information it collects is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However, the accuracy of this personal information to a large extent depends on the information provided by its clients. LA asks that all clients:
- Advise us if you become aware of any errors in your personal information.
- Advise of any changes in their personal details, such as address, email address and phone number.
YOUR RIGHTS
At any time, any person has the right:
- To know what personal information LA holds about them and how it has been used
- To correct or alter any personal information LA holds about them
- To have the personal information about them erased
- To withdraw consent for the collection, retention, disclosure, use or processing of personal information
- To make a request or inquiry, write to info@liquidarchitecture.org.au
WEBSITE
The LA website contains links to other sites. LA is not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites. LA encourages users when they leave the site to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personal information. This privacy statement applies solely to the activities of LA.
GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR)
LA operates occasional European artistic programming and partnerships, and complies with the data protection policies required by the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) since 25 May 2018.
OUR DATA SECURITY POLICY
LA takes steps to prevent the personal information it holds from misuse, loss, interference or unauthorised access.
LA will also destroy or de-identify personal information when it is no longer needed, or when requested.
ENQUIRIES
If you would like further information about the way Liquid Architecture manages the personal information it holds, please contact LA via info@liquidarchitecture.org.au.
Feedback & Complaints
Liquid Architecture (LA) is committed to respecting feedback and complaints and continually improving our processes. This policy is intended to ensure that we handle complaints fairly, efficiently and effectively. We encourage feedback as part of improving our audience experience and artistic programming.
You can provide feedback or make a complaint via email via email to info@liquidarchitecture.org.au.
HOW DOES LA HANDLE FEEDBACK AND COMPLAINTS?
Upon receiving feedback or a complaint, LA will acknowledge receipt of the feedback or complaint; and request further information if necessary and advise how the issue is likely to be resolved.
LA will not respond to feedback or complaints that violate State or Federal laws, or suggest that others do so; contain profane, violent, abusive, sexually explicit language or hate speech; or are bullying, harassing or disruptive in nature.
Where possible, complaints will be resolved at first contact with us. When appropriate we may offer an explanation or apology to the person making the complaint. Where this is not possible, we may decide to escalate the complaint to LA’s CEOs or Board. Where a person making a complaint is dissatisfied with the outcome of our review of their complaint, they may seek an external review of our decision.
We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that people making complaints are not adversely affected because a complaint has been made by them or on their behalf.
All complaints are confidential. We accept anonymous complaints if there is a compelling reason to do so and will carry out a confidential investigation of the issues raised where there is enough information provided.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR MY COMPLAINT TO BE RESOLVED?
The time it takes to resolve a matter depends on the issues raised and any enquiries that need to be made. As a guide, LA aims to acknowledge written feedback and complaints within 1 business day of receipt (if an email address or phone number is provided); respond to all written feedback and complaints within 5 business days of receipt.
LA will consider the matter closed if you indicate that you are satisfied with the response, or LA does not hear from you within 10 business days after sending you its response.
WHAT IF I’M NOT HAPPY WITH THE RESPONSE?
If you are dissatisfied with LA’s response you are encouraged to contact LA to request an internal review. You should outline in writing why you are dissatisfied with the response; and the outcome you are seeking. LA will provide a further response within 10 business days of receiving this information.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of our review of their complaint, you may seek an external review of our decision (by the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission for example).
Australian Charities and
Not-for-Profits Commission
Advice team: 13 22 62
Online Form
TICKET REFUNDS AND EXCHANGES
LA may provide an exchange or refund of a ticket if problems arise before, during or after an event. LA encourages our audience to try to resolve problems as soon as possible after they arise so that we have the best opportunity to find a solution.
Liquid Architecture x Yes No Klub
Lydian Dunbar, Xhabarabot, Mahamboro and Gabsav
An evening of expanded sonic practices and emergent performance interfaces, featuring four artists working at the intersections of technology, embodiment, and localised sound worlds.
Rully Shabara: Xhabarabot (Indonesia)
Xhabarabot is a browser-based digital sound instrument developed by Rully Shabara, best known for his vocal and compositional work with Senyawa and other projects. Drawing on his long-standing interest in systems-based improvisation, text, and the vocal body, Shabara’s new interface allows performers to interact with semi-autonomous musical agents in real time. Xhabarabot operates as both tool and performer—a speculative collaborative entity that expands notions of authorship, control, and live composition. This performance marks the first live demonstration of the Xhabarabot platform in Indonesia, positioning the software not just as a tool for composition, but as a generative site of sonic encounter.
Mahamboro: 7 Jazz Pop Greats (Indonesia)
Yogyakarta-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Mahamboro presents his latest work 7 Jazz Pop Greats, an album that defies generic convention by moving across registers of free jazz, doom, shoegaze, and noise. Through dense textural layering and compositional complexity, Mahamboro invites audiences into an idiosyncratic world where local musical lineages coexist with experimental vocabularies. His work speaks to a longstanding interest in sound as a medium for cultural synthesis, challenging inherited boundaries between the popular and the avant-garde.
Lydian Dunbar: Blue Sleep (Australia)
Lydian Dunbar is a neurodivergent musician based in New South Wales, Australia, known for his work with Tralala Blip—a collective of artists living with disability who challenge norms around authorship and performance in contemporary music. His debut solo album Blue Sleep, released on Room40, explores ambient music as a mode of embodied memory. Originating from a day of surfing and sleeping on the beach at Byron Bay, the work reflects on the sensory and spatial conditions of rest and movement. Combining field recordings, harmonica, melodica, and modular synthesis, Dunbar constructs immersive sonic environments that foreground neurodivergent perception, temporal drift, and the gentle disorientation of dream states.
Gabsav (Indonesia)
Gabsav is an exploratory electronic musician, keyboardist, and composer whose work spans several influential underground projects including Jessla, Tanangan, and The Upstairs. In her solo practice, she approaches the synthesiser as both a tactile and emotional instrument—mapping affective states and speculative landscapes through shifting pulses, detuned harmonics, and layered textures. Her performance at Kedai Kebun Forum foregrounds play and improvisation, inviting audiences into an evolving set of sonic sketches and internal dialogues.
Presented in multi-channel spatial audio by @rekambergerak
This event invites audiences to consider sound not simply as a medium of expression, but as a form of spatial thinking, a political aesthetic, and a tool for reconfiguring relations—between human and machine, artist and archive, individual and collective. Bringing together artists from across Indonesia and Australia, this program foregrounds regional sonic dialogue and the importance of performance as a mode of situated knowledge-making.
TRANSLATION
Sebuah malam yang mempertemukan praktik-praktik suara eksperimental dan antarmuka pertunjukan generatif, menampilkan empat seniman yang bekerja di persimpangan antara teknologi, tubuh, dan dunia suara yang tertanam secara lokal.
Rully Shabara: Xhabarabot (Indonesia)
Xhabarabot adalah sebuah instrumen musik digital berbasis peramban (browser) yang dikembangkan oleh Rully Shabara, dikenal melalui kerja vokal dan komposisinya bersama Senyawa dan proyek lainnya. Berangkat dari ketertarikannya pada improvisasi berbasis sistem, teks, dan tubuh vokal, Xhabarabot memungkinkan interaksi langsung antara pemain dan agen musikal semi-otonom. Perangkat ini bekerja bukan hanya sebagai alat bantu komposisi, melainkan sebagai entitas kolaboratif yang spekulatif—mengaburkan batas antara pengarang, teknologi, dan komposisi langsung. Ini adalah kali pertama Xhabarabot dipertunjukkan secara langsung di Indonesia.
Mahamboro: 7 Jazz Pop Greats (Indonesia)
Komponis dan multi-instrumentalis asal Yogyakarta, Mahamboro, menghadirkan karya terbarunya 7 Jazz Pop Greats, sebuah album yang melintasi berbagai lanskap sonik—dari jazz bebas, doom, shoegaze hingga noise. Melalui lapisan-lapisan tekstur yang kompleks dan pendekatan komposisi yang bebas, Mahamboro menciptakan dunia suara khas yang menggabungkan warisan musik lokal dengan kosakata eksperimental. Musiknya merefleksikan suara sebagai medium untuk sintesis budaya dan perenungan identitas musikal di luar batas-batas genre konvensional.
Lydian Dunbar (Australia)
Lydian Dunbar adalah musisi neurodivergen dari New South Wales, Australia, dikenal melalui kolektif musik Tralala Blip—sebuah kelompok seniman dengan disabilitas yang menantang norma-norma dalam musik kontemporer. Album solonya Blue Sleep, yang dirilis di label Room40, mengeksplorasi musik ambient sebagai bentuk memori yang tertanam dalam tubuh. Terinspirasi dari pengalaman berselancar dan tidur di pantai Byron Bay, Dunbar menggabungkan rekaman lapangan dengan harmonika, melodika, dan sintetis modular untuk menciptakan lanskap suara imersif yang lembut dan penuh perenungan, menghadirkan persepsi yang berbeda terhadap waktu dan ruang.
Gabsav (Indonesia)
Gabsav adalah musisi elektronik eksploratif, pemain keyboard, dan komposer yang dikenal lewat proyek-proyek underground seperti Jessla, Tanangan, dan The Upstairs. Dalam praktik solonya, ia memperlakukan synthesizer sebagai instrumen afektif—mewujudkan lanskap emosi dan gagasan spekulatif melalui harmoni yang bergeser, pulsasi yang mengalir, dan tekstur yang terurai. Pertunjukan solonya di Kedai Kebun Forum menyoroti elemen permainan, improvisasi, dan penciptaan suasana batin yang terus berubah.
Dipresentasikan dalam sistem tata suara spasial multi-kanal oleh @rekambergerak
Acara ini mengajak pendengar untuk mempertimbangkan suara bukan sekadar media ekspresi, melainkan sebagai bentuk berpikir spasial, estetika sosial, dan alat untuk membayangkan ulang relasi—antara manusia dan mesin, seniman dan arsip, individu dan kolektif. Dengan menghadirkan seniman dari Indonesia dan Australia, program ini memperkuat dialog suara lintas kawasan dan pentingnya pertunjukan sebagai cara mengetahui yang terletak pada konteks.
This event forms part of Liquid Architecture international engagement with the SE Asian Co-Design group aka Soft Power Romance???Presented by Yes No Klub
Supported by Creative Australia
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