Large screens as creative clusters

•We examined Melbourne's arts precinct as a creative cluster.•We explored the large screen as a public communication model.•We presented the networked large screen as a transnational creative cluster.•We evaluated telematic large screen events to consider intercultural communication.

This paper begins by situating the large screen in Melbourne as part of the industrial cluster development of the Southbank cultural precinct. It examines urban regeneration and cultural policies to map the politics of its spatial geography of agglomeration. It further explores the role of networked screen in the formation of a transnational creative cluster. Using a telematic large screen event staged across Melbourne and Seoul, the paper evaluates the responses of audiences to examine the politics of cultural and civic engagement. While scholarships on creative clusters predominantly focus on the new value chain of industrial and commercial production that arises as a result of agglomeration, this paper argues that the large screen possesses the capacity not only to invigorate public participation, but as a transnational creative cluster, the networked large screen also possesses the potential to enhance the quality of intercultural communication between Asia and Australia.