Past Events
Norla Dome Fundraiser with Shantily Clad
Saturday 2nd November 8pm
Shipmates! Shantily Clad are teaming up with the Mission for an evening of sea shanties in the incredible acoustics of the Norla Dome.
All proceeds will go towards a much needed upgrade to the audio visual equipment in the Dome, one of Melbourne’s most unique performance spaces.
When: Saturday 2nd of November
Where: Mission to Seafarers Norla Dome. 717 Flinders St, Docklands
Doors: 7:30pm
Tickets: $20 at the door. $15 pre-sales via eventbrite
Candlelight VOX: PAUSE
Friday 1st November 7pm & Saturday 2nd November 2pm
Candlelight VOX invites you to PAUSE from the rush of day-to-day Melbourne life. We’ve curated a musical moment for the end of your working week allowing you to close your eyes and breathe in time with our carefully selected program.
Featuring works of beloved 21st century composers (Mealor, Esenvalds, Gjelio, Whitacre) and Holy Minimalist composers (Vasks, Taverner, Pärt, Glass) – and Australian composers Elena Kats-Chernin, Amanda Cole, Robert McIntyre, and George Cox.
Candlelight VOX is joined by the Storage Room Quartet.Click here to add your own text
Tickets: $20/$25 via eventbrite
Encountering People, Places, Things at the Mission to Seafarers. A Photographic Exhibition.
June 21st-July 5th, 2019
‘Tilting Away…Leaning In…’
Tuesday 4th-Friday 13th June, 2019
An exhibition of photography by Megan Williamson as part of the Photography Studies College Master of Arts.
After an illness, Megan was encouraged to rekindle her love of taking photographs and picked-up her grandfather’s 1960’s Agfa CLACK medium format film camera. The large-scale colour photographs in this exhibition depict themes of home, ancestry, memory and daydreaming, travels through Europe and returning home to Australia.
Enyato Duo presents: Nine Fathom Deep – percussion and woodwind
Friday May 24th
Join Thea Rossen (Percussion) and Luke Carbon (Bass Clarinet) as they present a program of works that evoke epic journeys on the ocean. With pieces by Samantha Wolff, Toru Takemitsu, Thea Rossen and Elliot Cooper Cole, the program will feature the world premiere of ‘The Sea Meets Infinity’ by Paul Dean, a work commissioned especially for this concert.
The venue with its nautical history, is a unique dome shape that lends itself to an intimate concert experience.
Good Beer Week, the Mission to Seafarers, and Wildflower Brewing and Blending present: Barrels in the Dome
Thursday May 16th, 2019
“In Lieu of a round table big enough, we decided on a round venue”. Join Ben Kraus from Bridge Road Brewers and Topher Boehm from Wildflower Brewing and Blending in the amazing Norla Dome for a unique opportunity to hang with these affable mavericks of Australian craft beer.
Ben and Topher will guide you through a selection of their latest limited releases as you hit the opulent grazing table before your hosts pour and wax lyrical about some of the drinks that have inspired their journey as brewers. Grazing Table by the legends from Firecracker Event !
Practice Makes Perfect: Skilled Artisan Exhibition
Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th April, 2019
To coincide with the National Trust’s Heritage Festival, the Mission to Seafarers is hosting an exciting exhibition of skilled trades-persons and members of the Artisan’s Guild of Australia with display and demonstrations of their talent and craftsmanship.
Including the following makers:
Duncan McHarg – bespoke boot and shoemaker
Bruce Hutton – stained glass artist and restorer
Bruce Walker – gold leaf and decorative lining and scrolling techniques
Robert Mawditt -painter and decorator
Gordon Byrne – wrought iron design and construction
Henry Hakopian – woodworker
David Stephenson – traditional sign writing
James Charlwood – master stonemason and conservator
Keiran Dunleavy – solid plasterer – heritage specialist
and more including the Waverly Spinners & Weavers!
Drop in any time over the weekend and marvel at their work and the beautiful Mission to Seafarers Victoria building.
Entry by donation in support of the Mission.
Maritime Heritage Port Cruises from Mission to Seafarers to Alma Doepel
At the Mission: Practice Makes Perfect: Skilled Artisan Exhibition
At the Alma: Open Day
April 28, 2019
Take this rare opportunity to travel on a historic vessel along the Yarra River from the Mission to Seafarers to the Alma Doepel (or vice versa) via one of Melbourne’s busy ports, Appleton Dock, to view the giant vessels in Melbourne’s shipping hub. The tour is designed for visitors to enjoy the heritage events at the Mission to Seafarers where you will be treated to an exhibition of skilled heritage artisans, ‘Practice Makes Perfect’, throughout the heritage listed building, and the Alma Doepel – a restoration project of a 115 year old tall-ship – as part of the National Trust’s Heritage Festival. This tour is offered for one day only!
A day to explore Melbourne’s considerable Maritime Heritage!
Melbourne Music Week: A Nice Warm Bath
November 24th, 2018
‘A Nice Warm Bath’ is an immersive audio-visual experience featuring ambient & experimental producers, sound and visual artists exploring light, scent and projection. The Norla Dome at Mission to Seafarers will be a canvas for visuals reacting to atmospheric soundscapes, creating a restorative colour bath for people to slow down and sink into.
Whilst the everyday strips us of energy, ‘A Nice Warm Bath’ will soothe and replenish as sound and light transforms the dome into a healing, meditative space for the final night of Melbourne Music Week.
Come take a dip with: ~ Anatole / SYD, ~ Carla Zimbler, ~ Hymns [DJ]
ANL Maritime Art Prize Exhibition 2018
The 2018 Maritime Art Awards Exhibition was open from 5th – 26th October, 2018.
Visit to see the 80 finalist works and place a vote in the People’s Choice Awards.
Image: 2018 Maritime Art Award Winner, ‘Aye Aye Captain’ by Joni Dennis
Melbourne Writers Festival: ‘a matter of life & death’
We hosted a number of events for the Melbourne Writers Festival this year!
Over two culture filled weekends: August 25 – 26, and September 1 – 2, 2018
Click here for the program at the Mission.
Open House Melbourne @ the Mission
Saturday 28th – Sunday 29th July, 2018
The Spanish Mission/Arts and Crafts-style building complex was designed by Walter Butler. It was constructed in 1917, with the addition of the Norla Dome completed in 1919. The funds to build the complex came from fundraising by the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild (established in 1906), and a government grant. The building is significant for operating with its original purpose as a mission to the welfare of seafarers for 100 years. The historical Mission complex is architecturally significant as being a fine urban example of the Arts and Crafts Style in Melbourne. Before coming to Australia, Walter Butler was greatly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement in his native England. He was a popular society architect in Melbourne, and designed many fine houses in Toorak. Today the complex consists of the St Peter, the Mariner Chapel, an extensive clubroom and administration area, the Chaplain’s house, a small cottage, and the Norla Dome. The Norla Dome was originally built as a gymnasium for visiting seafarers to maintain their fitness whilst onshore, and now serves as a unique and versatile events space.
Sounding Histories
Works still on display from Catherine Bell and Michael Needham!
A Deakin University and Mission to Seafarers Victoria research initiative and public art event of site responsive artworks and performances. Sounding Histories is one of a number of significant events marking the Mission’s 160th year and the centenary in 2017 of the current Flinders St site.
Painters & Dockers, The Rogue Academy, Maree Clarke, Bishop & Reis
Catherine Bell, Michael Needham, Michael Graeve.
Curated by Anne Scott Wilson & Cameron Bishop