Winter Night Screen 2026

The Winter Night Screen is now part of Around the Block – a special program of outdoor screenings and night tours presented with our neighbours Blak Dot, Next Wave, and Michelle Guglielmo Park, showcasing contemporary moving image works across all sites. 

This year, the Winter Night Screen will light up nightly from 5pm to 10pm between 9 July and 16 August at two locations at Brunswick Town Hall. Stop by the original screen at the front of the building, facing Sydney Road, and a new pop-up screen at the rear of the building, facing Saxon Lane. 

The Winter Night Screen program features works by local and interstate artists Andrea Draper (VIC), beingbaker (WA), and Lily Houbert (VIC). Each artist will present their work over a two-week period during the program. 

 

We Connect… by Andrea Draper 

9 July to 23 July 

City life is relentless. Crowded spaces, constant digital stimulation, and the pressure of daily routines make genuine connection with nature feel increasingly rare, yet more necessary than ever. Whether it’s a walk through the park, a weekend away, or a longer escape, these moments of contact with the natural world are rejuvenating. They restore clarity, replenish energy, and remind us that there is a world beyond the routine. These environmental tensions are at the centre of We Connect... I invite the viewer into immersive, unexpected settings woven into the urban landscape; spaces that feel like exits and entry points at the same time. In doing so, We Connect... holds two ideas in conversation: the way nature renews us, and the way digital connectivity now defines us. Both are forms of being connected to something larger than ourselves. 

I dream in RGB, aka Andrea Draper (she/her), has an established practice in still and video collage, often projecting works outdoors at night to change how audiences experience the environment. Her mixed-media approach combines found and self-made elements, patterning, and typography, informed by a rich understanding of digital and traditional systems, coupled with chance. Her cultural identity – including her Burmese heritage and a London childhood that transitioned to Melbourne’s suburbia – emerges in visual explorations of lived experience, pop culture, and playfulness. 

Andrea Draper. We Connect, 2025 (video collage). Image courtesy of the artist.

 

The Sea Cure by beingbaker 

24 July to 5 August 

The Sea Cure is a video performance that captures the relentless pursuit of wellness from the perspective of a chronically ill person. It explores themes of isolation, desperation, hope, failure, and the ritualistic nature of perseverance. Using the beach as a stage, the artist draws on historical medical advice once prescribed for ailments of unknown origin. In the 1700s, being sent to the seaside to harness the healing powers of salt air and the ocean was considered a cure-all. Why beingbaker continues their quest for wellness is complex. Is it fuelled by hope? By the need to have their existence validated by the expectations capitalism places on us all? Why is it that, no matter the cost, existing as they are has been shown not to be enough? Why must you always try to be more? 

beingbaker (they/them) is a disabled anti-interdisciplinary artist. They were born in Ireland, where they lived for 13 years, before moving to Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar (Western Australia). beingbaker’s practice is shaped by their intersectional identity and informs both how they make work and what they create, exploring themes of disability, immigration, queerness, belonging, and the in-between. The mediums they use are limitless and adaptive to their capacity at the time of making, spanning sculpture, performance, video, illustration, and more. 

beingbaker. The Sea Cure, 2025 (video still). Image courtesy of the artist. 

 

Dressed In Excess by Lily Houbert  

6 August to 16 August 

The world today is deeply shaped by overconsumption, especially in fashion. A clear example is our habit of buying cheap clothes, wearing them only a few times, then discarding them. This cycle creates enormous waste, filling landfills worldwide. To explore this, I created a stop-motion animation showing an individual’s wardrobe and the volume it creates. It follows a girl trying on different outfits; with each change, her disappointment grows as piles of clothing build around her. Although each outfit is perfectly acceptable, her dissatisfaction reveals the absurdity of always wanting more. 

Lily Houbert is a Melbourne/Naarm-based emerging artist and final year Bachelor of Design student at RMIT University, specialising in Digital Media. Working primarily with animation, her practice explores contemporary issues through accessible and visually engaging storytelling. 

Lily Houbert. Dressed in Excess. 2025 (video still). Image courtesy of the artist. 

Contact

Counihan Gallery
Phone: 03 9389 8622
Email: CounihanGallery@merri-bek.vic.gov.au

Further information

For exhibition updates you can follow the Counihan Gallery Instagram page. You can also go to the Counihan Gallery Facebook page.