Winter Wonderland, will be a one-night only contemporary art event in one of Western Sydney’s last remaining fun parks O’Neill’s Adventureland. The night will combine fairy-floss, snow cones, rides, bands, torch-light tours, art and performances, all in the amazing landscape of a semi-ruined amusement park. Winter Wonderland will be a one night only experience that probes the inventive, psychedelic and unique worlds of the fun park.
Research and projects developed during Winter Wonderland will contribute to a book (Published by Harvest Press) and an exhibition (at a venue TBA) called The Last Fun Park in Western Sydney. Sponsors include O’Neill’s Adventureland, Campbeltown Arts Centre and UNSW Art and Design. The project will contribute to an understanding of the influence and creative power of carnivals and fun parks, especially in lower income suburban landscapes.
Support Material Zanny Begg:
Support Material Megan Monte:
Support Material Karen Therese:
Karen Therese is the Creative Director of PYT Fairfield and was the Creative Director of Fun Park, an event for the 2014 Sydney Festival. Her work is grounded in performance, political activism and community building. For Winter Wonderland she has conducted a series of interviews with a range of former visitors and enthusiasts of Wonderland to discuss the impact fun parks have on our cultural imagination.
Support Material Rosie Deacon:
Rosie Deacon is an artist working in sculpture and installation whose work engages with the spectacle of obsession. For Winter Wonderland she has been working with a team of dancers to create her own low fi version of 50c Candy Shop. Deacon will occupy the Dodgem Car Ride with a colourful and loud installation that explores the power of music in our memories of place.
Support Material Heath Franco:
Heath Franco is a Sydney based artist whose work explores the grotesque and absurd aspects of suburban life. Heath combines video works with performances in a variety of costumes, backed by an array of bizarre special effects. For Winter Wonderland he will construct a video installation/performance in the Circus House of Fun.
Support Material Singing Sadie:
Singing Sadie (aka Katie Green) is a brash, loud, charming and funny performer who mashes up the vaudeville aesthetics of fun parks with contemporary cultural issues and concerns. She sings, tap-dancers, tells stories and jokes and will lead a torch light tour of the site.
Support Material Safdar Ahmed:
Safdar Ahmed is a Sydney-based artist and academic. In 2010 he completed his PhD with the Department of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Sydney. His dissertation, Reform and Modernity in Islam, linked the work of various Muslim reformist thinkers to contemporary paradigms of modernity. Parodying the darker fears that lurk within our imaginations of suburbia Ahmed will be debuting Sydney’s first Muslim Death Metal Band with an accompanying series of Muslim Zombie Posters.
Support Material Renny Kogers:
Renny Kogers (aka Mark Shorter) will invite the audience to see their future in “Renny’s Smoking Balls” an intimate one-on-one fortune telling booth-cum-performance piece.
Last Adventure @ Winter Wonderland:
Last Adventure, memories of theme parks in Western Sydney, is a satellite event curated by students in the Masters of Curating and Cultural Leadership Course, UNSW Art & Design. Last Adventure will focus on memories of fun parks in Western Sydney through the work of six emerging artists; Timothy Dwyer, Zachariah Fenn, Hana Hoogedeure, Kata Komlos, Jack Mannix and Giselle Stanborough. This project is aimed at engaging emerging curators with the complexities and opportunities of the cultural landscape of Western Sydney.
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