A Séance at State Library Victoria with Lawrence Leung
About the event
As darkness falls, join acclaimed writer, performer and State Library Victoria fellow Lawrence Leung in the majestic Ian Potter Queen’s Hall for a candlelit séance inspired by Melbourne’s uncanny past.
In the late 1800s, otherwise respectable Victorians gathered in darkened rooms to 'communicate with spirits'. Scientists investigated ghosts. A future prime minister attended Spiritualist meetings. Celebrity mediums filled theatres with the promise of answers and wonder.
Drawing on his fellowship research into 19th-century mediumship in the Library’s collections, Lawrence reincarnates a forgotten time of superstition and supernatural spectacle. Through historical storytelling, interactive rituals and psychological experiments, this immersive performance lecture explores a question that fascinated Victorians, and still resonates today: why do we believe?
This event is supported by the City of Melbourne Arts Grants and State Library Victoria.
