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Major exhibition Ultra Unreal will open at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) from 22 July to 2 October 2022. 
Ultra Unreal features the works of six artists and collectives whose worldbuilding practices are connected to nightlife ecosystems across the globe; Club Ate (Sydney), Korakrit Arunanondchai and Alex Gvojic (Bangkok & New York), Lawrence Lek (London), Lu Yang (Shanghai), and Saeborg (Tokyo). Curated by MCA Curator Anna Davis, the exhibition includes immersive installations, digital environments, costumes, sets and inflatables, alongside performances, film screenings and artist-led events.
Ultra Unreal reflects on the relevance of mythmaking today and its role in navigating complex realities and creating new worlds. Drawing inspiration from Ning Ken’s theory of the ultra-unreal, the exhibition examines how mythologies can be used to reveal hidden histories and reorientate visions of the future.
In this multi-sensory exhibition, influences from religion, neuroscience, ecology, artificial intelligence, myth, gaming, and queer club cultures collide. Ricocheting between a dizzying array of stimuli, the fantastical worlds these artists create are grounded in personal experience and politics. Populated by hybrid creatures and genderfluid beings, their worlds are spread across physical and virtual spaces at the MCA which visitors will be invited to discover.
MCA Curator Anna Davis says, “There is radical potential in imagining new worlds. The artists and collectives in Ultra Unreal ask questions about belief and technology, empathy and consciousness. In our complex present, thinking critically about the worlds we want to create and inhabit is more important than ever before.”
Works by Saeborg and Club Ate have emerged from the politics of the dancefloor. Drawing on the vitalities and histories of underground and LGBTQI+ club communities and pulsing with late-night energy, their practices have been influenced by dance and club culture. Works by Arunanondchai and Gvojic, Lek, and Lu explore concepts of Sinofuturism, gender, reincarnation, animism, empathy and non-human consciousness.
Ultra Unreal will open with a weekend of artists’ live events. On Friday 22 July, there will be a club-inspired night of performances, music, and screenings throughout the Museum. On Saturday 23 July the MCA will be activated by live performances, gaming demonstrations and augmented reality walkthroughs.