Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Marcus Teague

A bloodbath, a boycott, a blindfolded kidnapping: after 10 chaotic years, has Dark Mofo lost its edge?

‘Will Dark Mofo return to its waiver-signing, blood-trickling mayhem?’: Hermann Nitsch’s 122.action, part of the 2017 festival.
‘Will Dark Mofo return to its waiver-signing, blood-trickling mayhem?’: Hermann Nitsch’s 122.action, part of the 2017 festival. Photograph: Georg Soulek

“Are you ready to come with me?” said the girl in the white jumpsuit, blocking my way on the dancefloor. “Are you claustrophobic? Prepared to do anything I say?”

It was 2015 and Dark Mofo was only in its third year. But having attended the two previous iterations of the Hobart winter festival celebrating “ancient and contemporary mythologies, darkness and light, birth and death”, I knew to rely on my safe word: yes.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.