Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre is a visual and performing arts centre that acts as a meeting place for sharing cultures, traditions and experiences. One day you might see a Muslim quilting project and the next a punk gig. Places like Nexus do an excellent job prioritising diverse artists from different backgrounds - which is pretty important when you consider how monocultural most of the arts in Australia are. You only need to look at the evening television to see that the majority of presenters and actors employed are white - but we have huge populations of Indian, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek and Sudanese people in Australia.
Nexus have really great facilities - a well outfitted gallery, a performance space, and a really lovely red brick courtyard. Although the exhibitions here have a big focus on community engagement and connecting different groups of people, they are still of a professional standard. The performance space often has a cabaret bent, but there is a big mix of stuff happening - Greek big bands and contemporary dance, flamenca and African Jazz.
I'm not a regular at Nexus, but special events often draw me there. Keep an eye on their website for updates. read more