The Light in Winter

Celebrate Melbourne’s richly diverse cultural and artistic life with The Light in Winter.

The Light in Winter is Fed Square’s annual, month-long program of free events exhibitions, film screenings, forums, the much-loved Solstice Celebration and a world premiere of the largest sculptural endeavour undertaken in The Square!

This year the program brings over 20 of Victoria’s diverse communities, along with artists and designers, to explore the power of the human voice 

The centerpiece of this program and the glowing stage for nightly performances is the new sculptural work by Australian light artist Bruce Ramus, the Helix Tree.

View the full program »

Helix Tree

Bruce Ramus’ Helix Tree of curved steel beams spirals 13 metres into the sky with 1.5 kms of LED lights entwined throughout the branches. The Helix Tree is equipped with advanced sound-responsive technology designed to respond to both volume and pitch of the voice with a colourful light display. 

At dusk every evening in June, see some of Melbourne’s best choirs in a free, choral performance lighting up the Helix Tree - Singing up the Helix Tree. 

Once lighting the way of rock royalty including U2, David Bowie and R.E.M, Bruce Ramus is now celebrated for setting hearts aglow with his luminous public art projects.

His design works have included large-scale projections on the Sydney Opera House, visual content for Melbourne’s AAMI Park, digital media facades for architectural spaces and lighting design for the entertainment industry. 

You can meet Bruce in the free lighting workshops during the Solstice Weekend.