|
Human Momentum In 2006 Melbourne Fringe was proud to present Human Momentum, the extension of a successful event from 2005, as part of Festival Melbourne2006. Material World Material World took the form of a house, which explored the experience of asylum seekers who have come to Melbourne looking for a safe place to live. The objects that made up the walls of the house had been personally chosen by asylum seekers; they were things that would be found in their homes or that they would choose as a gift for their loved ones. Inside the house - its kitchen, hallways and bedroom - the general public encountered films, hand made figures, sculptures and installations that had been made with asylum seekers during the four months prior to the installation being erected in Federation Square. The house was a result of a series of ongoing workshops with Melbourne's diverse asylum seeker community and was facilitated through a collaboration with artists Ian Pidd, Jessica Wilson and Alex Sanson, who met with refugee participants in houses, lounge rooms, kitchens, schools and public places. The project received inspirational support from many organisations who provide help for asylum seekers, most particularly, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Hotham Mission, The Brigidine Nuns and Brunswick Secondary College. This highly visible installation successfully highlighted and educated audiences about the commonalities between people of very different backgrounds. The public's interaction with Material World resulted in profound reactions including tears and sadness, and inspirational messages of hope written in the visitors' book: "I came from Adelaide to Melbourne just for the day to go to the Picasso exhibition. This work moved me deeply and will stay in my heart long after Picasso's work fades from my memory." Fringe Furniture- Go For Baroque! The 2006 Fringe Furniture exhibition showcased a diverse range of ideas and designs around the theme Go For Baroque!, resulting in a showcase of decadent creative, contemporary furniture designs from some of Australia's newest and hottest talents. Fringe Furniture launched to a glamorous crowd who frocked up for the opening night where prizes were given for the most outstanding creations, including the $2,000 Banyule City Council Acquisition Award, presented to Sandy Imeson for Pro Racquet 10,000. Outside Eye Melbourne Fringe added to our support of independent art making through the introduction of Outside Eye - a program which brought together different levels of the arts industry in an innovation professional development program. The independent arts sector faces challenges in access to resources, networking and industry expertise. Outside Eye helped independent artists address these challenges by providing support from the artistic community through the matching of Festival artists with industry professionals who aced as mentors. 43 events participated in Outside Eye in 2006, which proved to be an overwhelming success for both participating artists and arts industry professionals. "It was the perfect program for us and I'm sure many other shows. They (Ross Mueller and Tee O'Neil) really helped us tighten it up and ‘trim the fat' and the end result was a much, much better play than the one we started with. Just the experience of working with these two as an aspiring playwright was an amazing one, and one that without Fringe I would not have had otherwise. The Outside Eye is excellent and makes being involved in Fringe an even more worthwhile experience than it already was." - The Union Players |
|
