Art Fair is here!

The long-awaited return of the Melbourne Art Fair is upon us!

From August 2 to 5, the anchor event of Melbourne Art Week will take over Southbank’s Arts Precinct for the first time.

The fair will be housed across two venues alongside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) and the University of Melbourne’s Southbank campus.

Melbourne Art Fair exhibition sectors Galleries and Accent present 40 new and established galleries from Australia, New Zealand and the region exhibiting a diverse range of artists and curatorial themes through both solo presentations and group shows.

The week will feature a range of installations, performances, talks and workshops, as well as the debut of TIME – a site-specific video collection curated by Monash University Museum of Art’s senior curator Hannah Matthews and Melbourne Art Foundation curator Rachel Ciesla.

Unveiling a selection of new and recent works by a diverse group of artists, TIME joins a growing number of organisations focusing their resources on the activities of female practitioners.

TIME speaks to the power of the now and is presented across four sites including Melbourne Art Fair, Buxton Contemporary, Federation Square and QT Melbourne.

Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said Melbourne Art Week would take over Southbank’s Arts Precinct with a celebration like no other.

“Through exhibitions, fairs, workshops, talks and performances, it will be an opportunity to deep dive into the best in contemporary art,” he said.

Other local highlights will include weaving workshops, presented by ACCA and the Melbourne Art Foundation, that provide a hands-on workshop with senior weavers from the Victorian Aboriginal Weaving Collective on August 5.

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) will also throw open its doors for kids’ workshops as part of its current exhibition MoMA at NGV, while Chunky Move will offer public contemporary dance classes for participants aged 18 and older on August 1 and 3.

Owned and presented by Melbourne Art Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation established in 2003, Melbourne Art Week will run from July 30 to August 5 and Melbourne Art Fair from August 2 to 5, 2018.

For more information visit melbourneartfair.com.au and melbourneartweek.com.au