Back for its sixth year, Tiny Stadiums 2013 is set to turn Erskineville into a hub of innovative site-specific art and performance from November 13-23. Again, the community festival is produced by PACT Centre For Emerging Artists and curated by Groundwork, a collective comprising Christopher Hodge, Amelia Wallin and Maria White. Each curator has a passion for interdisciplinary art and wants to share this with people who might not usually engage with contemporary art. As project coordinator, White encourages community engagement, involving local businesses and residents in the transformation Erskineville Village’s familiar spaces. We caught up with her to get the low-down on what to expect from this year’s program.
Tiny Talks on Wednesday November 6 is a slide night run by curators and participating artists designed to give punters a teaser of this year’s talent lineup and creative vision. White revealed that there’s “a lot of freedom about what the slides can be”. So expect presentations that are as surprising as they are thought provoking. Overall, some of the works showcased in Tiny Stadiums will be installed for the duration of the festival, such as Leahlani Johnson’s delicate floral sculptures that audiences can discover creeping through Erskineville’s streets. Others are spectacles designed for the two Live Art Saturdays on November 16 and 23, such as Hossein Ghaemi’s The Deficient Of Solution Development. For White, this is one of the most exciting projects – three performers will emerge on the rooftops at the Triangle of Erskineville Hotel, Erskineville Town Hall and Allans Cakes Building and communicate via voice as a means of cross-examining the idea of a conversation between three unique locations.
Considering Maria’s background in performance, it’s unsurprising that a particular highlight for her is the double-bill theatre season. In Blue Wizard – a new work specially commissioned for Tiny Stadiums – actor, writer, director and general purveyor of hilarity Nick Coyle plays an intergalactic gay wizard. Stranded on a mountain, he desperately tries to return to his comet by unleashing spells, magical dances and lots of smoke and glitter. The second act is Friend Ship by Kenzie Larsen, an artist who was part of the very firstTiny Stadiums. Performed for the very first time in Sydney, the artist promises to reveal groundbreaking research by a fictional Kenzie on the mechanics of making friends.
One of the most ambitious projects in Tiny Stadiums 2013 is PussyFoot: Cats Of Erskineville. The artist Imogen Semmler has teamed up with a vet, technicians and locals who volunteered to install GPS tracking devices and cameras on their cats each night. Yes – cat cams. Semmler’s plan is to collate the nocturnal footage, which will be shown on monitors along the main street. The best part? Not only can you view these feline adventures, but you can accompany Semmler on tours where you can meet the cats and their owners.
The cultural life of Erskineville locals is also a concern of Tiny Stadiums. Several works reflect upon the history of the suburb and its idiosyncrasies such as erskineville where Jennifer Hamilton and Craig Johnson lead a walking tour to explore the area’s controversial food politics, starting with the recently opened Woolworths. Further investigating the changing social and economic landscape of Erskineville is Zin Collective’s The Dictator’s Ball. As Tiny Stadiums’ closing night romp, partygoers will be “given a certain number of tokens, which sets your status”. Apparently, according to White, this could be a lot of nothing. Throughout the evening, there’ll be opportunities to build your status – but you might need to collect a few glasses in exchange for tokens first.
Tiny Stadiums 2013 presents at PACT Centre for Emerging Artists from November 13-23.
