Image courtesy Melly Niotakis
If you’ve ever wanted to see the world through someone else’s eyes, then joining young tour guides for The Walking Neighbourhood across Redfern and Kings Cross at this year’s Art & About Sydney 2014 may be just the ticket.
Off the back of successful instalments in Chiang Mai (2013) and Seoul (2014), The Walking Neighbourhood Artistic Director Lenine Bourke said the 90-minute tours would be devised and hosted entirely by children across the three-week celebration of art in unusual and unexpected places.
‘Children make exciting hosts, they don’t discriminate against audience members, they are inclusive and they often can’t believe that all of these people would want to see what they think.
‘We usually have to make an announcement that the show is over, as the vibe is so friendly, lots of people talking and buzzing, we actually have to kick them all out to set for the next event,’ she said.
In this instance The Walking Neighbourhood fits perfectly with the motifs and philosophies of the popular festival, now entering its 13th year. ‘While every show is different, the number of walks, the locations and the content being explored, our previous tours provide us with a really exciting practice opportunity to keep pushing the boundaries of the show,’ said Bourke.
‘Children love hosting an audience, they are nervous at first and then slowly over the first hour of the event they have got them in the palm of their hands.
‘Big challenges face families and communities in raising children to feel safe in urban spaces while actively imagining what a new childhood could look like. This project invites the audience, locals and visitors to re-imagine a new contemporary childhood not on behalf of children but in a conversation with children.’
Working with local producers and artists, the children involved with the project have co-created the walking tours with parallels from popular culture and school curriculum topics around justice or history with relevance to the Redfern and Kings Cross districts.
‘Some of the walks will be purely observation, others will be more a creative analysis, and some will simply be about showcasing what the child is interested in against the backdrop of these incredibly rich and interesting neighbourhoods.
‘You only need to ask your grandparents or an older person what their childhood was like. Anything from going fishing before school, walking kilometres to some rough wild outdoors or to investigate an abandoned building, riding bikes, pitching tents, playing games on the street, being cheeky and inquisitive,’ said Bourke.
The Walking Neighbourhood premiered in Brisbane in 2012 and has toured Thailand, exploring the old city of Chiang Mai, and Darwin in the Aboriginal community of Bagot.
Following Sydney it will also be taken abroad to Finland’s Anti Festival, ‘What we have developed from the various tours of this work is it must always be grounded in local context, hence engaging local artists everywhere we travel.’
What and where:
The Walking Neighbourhood Kings Cross
The Rex Centre, 58A Macleay Street
(Entrance near Baroda Street) Potts Point
Saturday 20, Sunday 21, Monday 22 September at 11am and 2pm.
The Walking Neighbourhood Redfern
107 Projects, 107 Redfern Street, Redfern
Saturday 27, Sunday 28, Monday 29 September at 11am and 2pm.
Art & About Sydney 2014 runs from 19 September to 12 October.
For full program details visit the Art & About website.
This is a free event.
Bookings are essential and can be completed online.
