Mofo fires up North

MOFO mania has hit Launceston, with the city embracing a monumental weekend of music and art.

After being based in Hobart since its inception a decade ago, Mona’s much-loved summer festival has made its way north and is this weekend giving locals a little taste of what they can expect in future years.

Two of the weekend’s three major events — the Monumental dance show by Canadian company The Holy Body Tattoo, and Grammy Awardwinner Gotye’s tribute to electronic music pioneer JeanJacques Perrey — premiered last night and continue again tonight, while the weekend will culminate in the free Launceston Block Party on Sunday, which is expected to attract up to 9000 people.

Monumental actually premiered back in 2005, but Holy Body Tattoo artistic director Dana Gingras says the show “is a reflection of the world we live in” that is still just as relevant, or even more so, today.

“When the piece was first made, the idea was [it was set in] the near future, and we’re living that now. That’s why the piece continues to have a life more than 10 years after it was made. It seems, unfortunately, more relevant than ever.

“It feels like culture moves at a nice pace in Launceston. There doesn’t seem to be too much urban angst here. So doing the show here, compared to Los Angeles or New York, is going to possibly have a different impact, so it will be interesting to see how people receive it here.”

Mofo is really just dipping its twisted toes in the Launceston waters this year, before the entire event relocates next year during construction at Mona.

“We’re not intending this to be a massive slam dunk of a festival — it’s more like an encroachment, an experiment,” Mofo curator Brian Ritchie said.

“When we can concentrate our resources fully upon Launceston, we’ll be able to really bring the place alive, even more than we are this year.”