SACRA: A World Premiere Commissioned By Now Or Never

In 1923, a public design competition resulted in the grand architecture of the Shrine of Remembrance. The competition attracted 83 preliminary entries from as far afield as United Kingdom, United States, Turkey, South Africa and New Zealand. The winning design, selected from a shortlist of six, was by returned servicemen Philip Hudson and James Wardrop and was “unequivocally classical” in form.

Image reproduced courtesy of Now or Never

In 2023, 100 years later, a spectacular immersive artwork was commissioned by Now or Never, a new City of Melbourne festival celebrating digital art and future thinking, to reshape the gravitas of this monument and trace a line of its significance through our collective history.

Image reproduced courtesy of Now or Never

Luminous and awe-inspiring, SACRA paid homage to the memory of our antecedents.

This masterful manipulation of light and darkness was accompanied by bespoke sound design by Czech composer and musician Ondřej Skála.