It seems that Aunty Pearl and I have been getting a bit of a reputation. So much so, that we've been given a little bit of money to do an event for the Port Festival this year. How's that for funny!
A couple of months ago, a few arty mates and I put our heads together over a few beers and we came up with an idea, as you do. Then we got a local who's a bit better with words to write it up and she sent into Council. Well blow me down, it got the go-ahead and now I've got to make it happen. I'm going to need some help, so let me know what you think.
Wishing you were Here is a theme that builds on the beauty of
Port Adelaide and the love for the place that the locals share. It brings
together local artists’ views of not simply the Port’s pictorial beauty but
also the postcard concept of sharing a wonderful experience with others. The creative process will also capture the
stories of the Port in amusing and contemporary ways. Artists will capture all the Port
themes: water and natural environment; local arts and culture; history;
industry; and perhaps even the undiscovered.
The exhibition is open to any artistic
medium: sketch, drawing, painting, digital, textile, 3D – anything - as long as
the finished work is represented on a postcard and mailed to Larry by the due
date. Local businesses and groups will
be encouraged to commission artists to design a postcard to promote their brand
and our wonderfully talented local artists will be encouraged to have fun
making small and incidental art showcased in a quirky - Port Adelaide - way.
The exhibition will be curated in a
walk-through sea-freight shipping container. The shipping container, while
symbolizing much of Port Adelaide’s commercial identity, also acts as a
metaphor for movement and journey: it will be a one-way walk-through with
specific entry and exit points which may also double as a pathway to somewhere
else. It could physically be located in
a ‘dead spot’ or be used to channel/tunnel foot traffic in a certain direction
or to a certain destination. The
shipping container will be yarnbombed and/or brightly decorated so as to be an
attraction in itself.
The event is free and interactive. Visitors will be offered the opportunity to
vote in a People’s Choice competition.
The winning postcard will be commercially re-printed by The Port
Adelaide Enfield Chamber of Commerce and made available to local businesses and
venues to give-away to tourists who we hope will post them around the world,
promoting Port Adelaide and wishing they
were here.
The best 50 postcards entered (decided by
the people’ choice votes) will be re-produced as an affordable coffee-table
book to celebrate
Port Adelaide in an on-going and quirky way.
Terms and conditions of the exhibition
entry will be sure to deal with copyright issues and all artists will be recognised
for their work in all reproduced material.
My mates at Symons and Clark Transport are helping out with the shipping container and Aunty Pearl has just today setup the facebook page which I hope you'll like.
She and I have got a bit more work ahead of us yet. It could be fun though!
