Arts Centre Melbourne and Arts Access Victoria have today announced its 2026 program for Melbourne’s ground-breaking Disability-led arts initiative Alter State. It will take place across the city from 2 – 5 December with additional programming from November onwards. The initiative is a major arts and disability event engaging artists and audiences across Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand). This year’s theme Regeneration: Building Deaf and Disabled Futures explores the slow and deliberate work of tending new ground after disruption. The theme invites collaboration over competition, reimagines old systems and thinks about what we can build in their place.
The 2026 program features more than 100 Deaf and Disabled artists performing and participating in performances, events and talks in-person and online across 13 venues.
Supported by Creative Australia, the Alter State 2026 program features contemporary performance, exhibitions, films, workshops, a two-day symposium and two parties. It will be accessible and relaxed featuring Auslan interpreting, live captions, audio description, mobility access and quiet spaces at the events.
Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony (2 December Arts Centre Melbourne Forecourt)
Alter State begins with an official Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony on the Arts Centre Melbourne Forecourt led by Wurundjeri Traditional Owners.
Alter State Symposium (2 – 3 December – The Leaper Family Pavilion, Arts Centre Melbourne)
Across two days the Alter State Symposium will feature keynote presentations, panels and industry roundtables with artists, writers, and performance makers. Day One, Wednesday of the Alter State Symposium will feature MC Erica McCalman, a presentation by Thinker in Residence Carly Findlay OAM, a keynote presentation by Honor Eastly, and a panel presented by Luke D King and Irene Holub of The D Spot.
Following the Wednesday Symposium program, there will be the launch of Alter State: The Collections Project by Alicia Peterson, Danny Do and Lisa Pownall from Arts Access Victoria’s Artstop Studio. The three artists took part in a unique creative research residency inside Arts Centre Melbourne’s Australian Performing Arts Collection. The exhibition on display in the Level 8 Foyer outside The Leaper Family Pavilion, explores themes of access, memory, performance, identity and representation.
Day Two, Thursday of the Alter State Symposium brings together Deaf and Disabled artists and arts leaders for an afternoon of bold ideas and meaningful discussion. MC Erica McCalman will host a session featuring a panel curated by Jax Brown OAM and Chris Ferric. There will be a panel moderated by Belinda Locke and featuring artists Oliver Ayres, Eliza Hull OAM, Isabel Peppard and Beau Windon. The day also includes round table conversations to shape future action, a presentation by Thinker in Residence Carly Findlay OAM and a short performance by Eliza Hull OAM.
Alter State Opening Night Party (2 December -The Leaper Family Pavilion Arts Centre Melbourne)
The community are invited to celebrate disability pride with the opening party of Alter State 2026 at Arts Centre Melbourne featuring comedian Madeleine Stewart, original poetry by wordsmith Megan J Riedl, live drawing by visual artist Chris Ferric, music from queer dream pop band Between Two Mirrors, as well as club dance by E1 and Jonni.
Alter State Gathering: Friday (4 December | The Edge (Fed Square)
A gathering to explore the world of screen, gaming and creative careers. The day features a market development session bringing artists and industry professionals together to share ideas to improve the accessibility of arts markets. Using innovative, non-traditional approaches to market development, the session will create multiple ways for people to connect, share their work and build relationships, making professional networking more welcoming and inclusive for everyone. Whether you are an artist, arts worker or industry worker, you’ll receive practical insights, refreshing conversations and new ideas for the future of inclusive creative industries. The Gathering is presented by Arts Access Victoria and EquiArts.
First Nations Deaf and Disabled Yarning Circle: Principles and Foundations (30 November and 1 December)
This First Nations-led gathering will support Deaf and Disabled mob to shape a shared set of community-determined principles, foundations, and ways of working ahead of Alter State 2026. Building on the 2024 Yarning Circle, this next phase moves from connection-building into formalisation, creating space for reflection, cultural protocol, access, rest, relational care, and collective decision-making by and for First Nations Deaf and Disabled people.
Worldly Bodies 21 – 22 November | Library at The Dock (Docklands)
An adventure through immersive, respectful, joy-filled and creative practices that tie in the connection of navigating Disabled realities and how indigenous practice can support starting over / rejuvenation. The event will share First Nations and Yoruba stories, an immersion of both traditional and experimental music and dance. This generous offering will also include clay making a shared work contributing to a collective installation to be shown later and a take home piece to take with you. This is an opportunity to document your rejuvenation story in a way that has potential to grow. This event contains content of culturally sensitive nature.
Alter Jazz: Live at the Counts (25 November | The Count’s (Monash University Performing Arts Centres)
Experience a night of jazz, blues and soul, featuring Nat Bartsch; The Grooovetones, Dux Qtet featuring Damon Grant performing live.
Generate (30 November – 5 December | WXYZ Studios (Lucy Guerin Inc Studios)
Arts Access Victoria has curated a range of programs and events at the home of Lucy Guerin Inc, WXYZ Studios. Artists and audiences can practice, exchange and experiment in this shared space.
The Other Flim Festival online (19 November – 6 December | ACMI Cinema 3)
The Other Film Festival is Australia’s first international disability film festival. Since 2004, it has become a leader in the global disability screen advocacy movement. The Other Film Festival champions Deaf and Disabled-led and authored work.
The Other Film Festival: On the Big Screen (3 December | Main Square (Fed Square)
A free screening event at Fed Square’s Big Screen of six Australian short films showcasing a new wave of Deaf and Disabled positive cinema. Meet and celebrate with Deaf and Disabled filmmakers and audience members.
Discobility (4 December | Bunjil Place, Function Centre (Bunjil Place)
Get ready to hit the dance floor at this high-energy inclusive dance party, led by John Zammit and featuring guest DJ and local artist Jordz. Celebrating 27 years of bringing people together through music, movement and connection, this much-loved event is making its debut at Bunjil Place. Created as a space where people of all abilities can express themselves through the joy of music, this welcoming celebration is all about connection, confidence and fun.
The Democratic Set (4 December | Bunjil Place Plaza (Bunjil Place)
Celebrate the premiere of The Democratic Set, a collaborative film by the City of Casey community and Back to Back Theatre. Enjoy a live DJ set by Jordz, archive screenings and a Q&A exploring the creative process behind this unique work.
New Work Club (5 December | (Arts House)
A space for Deaf and Disabled artists to take fresh ideas to the stage in front of an audience for the first time. Hosted by roya the destroya for Alter State 2026, artists share up to 15 minutes of a work in progress in a low-pressure environment, enabling them to trial and workshop with community input. Relaxed and unfiltered, this event is for curious audience members who have a desire to witness creative process unfold. The afternoon will involve a casual chat and artist Q&A about each work over refreshments.
Art of Us (3 December – Melbourne Recital Centre)
Students, staff and alumni of the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM) will celebrate Disability art in all its forms. Members of the FFAM community who identify as Disabled, neurodivergent or Deaf will come together for a concert and multimedia exhibition showcasing their diverse range of talents in music, dance, theatre, film, television, and production.
Beyond the Bones (4 December – Melbourne Recital Centre)
A new interdisciplinary performance by emerging artist Nicole Tsourlenes and mentor Dr Melinda Smith OAM. Using AirSticks, wearable instruments that translate movement into sound – the work explores how two bodies communicate through motion, sound and image. The work will combine improvised music and responsive visuals drawn from photographic practice.
It’s About Time (1 December | Primrose Potter Salon (Melbourne Recital Centre)
A collective exploration of the Music in Motion Ensembles concept of time through sound, music, spoken word and movement. The immersive sonic journey shifts between daily life, microcosm and macrocosm as the performers transform the space around them through gesture, movement, composition and live musical improvisation.
WHITE Noise by Touch Compass (2 – 4 December | Studio (The Round)
A performance emerging from creator Alisha McLennan Marler’s lived experience as a mother with disability. The work is an ongoing dance of communication – hearing and being heard, being seen and unseen, and the agency to craft our own narrative. WHITE Noise turns the tables of perception onto the audience. Inviting them to reflect on the preconceptions that Alisha is so often confronted with as she moves through the world. The lens of motherhood brings the reciprocal and constant interplay of parent and child into the feedback loop.
Alter State Closing Party (5 December | Collingwood Yards)
Celebrate the Closing Night of Alter State 2026 with music, performance, food and fun. Embark on an immersive journey as you move between venues, soaking up our offering of live performances, music and art across the creative spaces of Collingwood Yards. Celebrate the Artists, partners and communities behind this year’s program. Arts Access Victoria, YIRRAMBOI and EquiArts are proud to present this evening for your enjoyment.
Body Language (5 December | CY Venue (Collingwood Yards)
Part of the Closing Party celebrations, YIRRAMBOI joins forces with Crip Rave Theory for Body Language, a mixed-genre rave. Experience deadly DJs playing genres spanning drum & bass, techno, footwork, afrobeats, amapiano, rap, RnB and Blackfulla music. Disability-led and grounded in First Nations and Diasporic solidarity, this event is a space for mob and allies to gather in celebration of our communities.
artscentremelbourne.com.au
Image: Hilary Walker
