Sunnyside brightens up Ballarat

The UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art is receiving another art activation this month as Sunnyside speeds into the City of Ballarat.

Taking cues from the European art palettes and expansive street installations, Sunnyside aims to bring bold, bright, and beaming immersive art experiences to the gold fields region, redefining the city’s stigma for being a cold and dreary landscape.

Under the conceptual gaze and curatorial direction of Belinda Collins of the award-winning creative studio, The Social Crew, known for crafting unforgettable art experiences, Sunnyside is an ongoing creative venture designed through integration of the vibrant Ballarat arts community.

Keep up to date with all things arts, exhibitions and stage here.

 

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Collins explains, “A newly created project, Sunnyside is something I have been working on the concept for for about a year and a half. We were working on concepts to bring as a new integration to Australia, something that was vibrant. One of my experiences working internationally and producing in countries across the world is seeing lifesize installations that are independently produced lifescale colourful immersions which are quite popular in Europe but not really represented here in Australia.”

“Sunnyside, the concept comes from I guess a little bit of cheeky spin on how Ballarat is perceived as a cold destination for winter and heritage-centred whereas Sunnyside is a completely bold, colourful and really impactful immersion designed to enhance and drastically envelope the city and bring a new perspective.”

Collins consciously marked Ballarat as the city to take over with Sunnyside. Tapping into the existing and heavily active arts ecology of the region, Sunnyside has been an artist-led, site responsive project, extracted through workshops and community engagement. 

“It’s born from bringing something new to the town that is bright and big and brings international artists to the region but also is heavily integrated in the artistic community. The collaborative workshops that were undertaken at the top of the year in April pulled out the framework for the installations. You start seeing it inform the work through visiting the township rather than presenting something that is already existing.”

At the heart of the program is multi-sensory installations by UK artist Morag Myerscough. Known for her intensely colourful, fun, gigantic and completely fabulous installations are presented at Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich), Coachella (Palm Springs), Battersea Power Station (London) and NDSM (Amsterdam), Myerscough will be debuting her installations down under for Sunnyside.

 

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Myerscough’s signature statement work is an engulfment of colour where the joy and vibrance of the structural pieces are inescapable. Her practice is a powerful product of her childhood and the way in which colour shaped her disposition.

“I grew up in a very grey London, and my mother was a textile artist and my father a viola player, our home was always full of colour, music and making and I knew from a very early age how colour made me happy,” she explains.

Having held workshops in April with members of the local arts community, Myerscough tapped into the tapestry of the community, with the people, stories and imagination of Ballarat’s people inspiring her Mining Exchange engulfing installation, Chasing Sunbeams. It’s as if Sunnyside was born with Myerscough in mind, but it happened to be a delightful coincidence. 

“My sense of discovery and curiosity is what was the foundation for Sunnyside but it just so happened that I have known Morag for a very long time. I had the concept on the back burner for a while and when it all unfolded I knew that Morag was the perfect person to represent this year’s Sunnyside,” explains Collins.

The collaboration is a natural slide into Myerscough’s already developed methods of working, through engaging with the community, responding to the local climate, economy, and social settings.

“The work will belong to the specific community it has been created with. The heart of my work with communities is centred around ‘Belonging’ and every community is unique and so it is essential for me to find ways to understand and learn and work together and this is done through workshops often working with local poets, artists and musicians,” explains Myerscough.

“To visit and experience the place and meet the people, to smell the air and see the light, to start to understand and think about possibilities before putting pen to paper. Chatting and starting to understand each other. This is not always possible and if not, then find ways to understand as much as possible through site specific videos, working with the curators and speaking with communities. I always try to ensure that my work is built in the country of origin and so the build money for the project goes back into the community and not spent on freight etc. As my work is often temporary, what happens to it at the end is also a very important part of the process. Incredible people like The Social Crew are essential and make the whole project happen.”

 

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In addition to the pièce de résistance work from Myerscough, Sunnyside sees collaborations with Siobhan Finn and Tegan Crosbie of Fontella The Zine Machine, Jenna Oldaker of Murrup Art, Pauline O’Shannessy, Pittywitty, and Magic Dirt music royalty Raul Sanchez i Jorge, who has created a compositional accompaniment using voice-grabs from workshop participants who responded to prompts described with a single word what they could see, hear and feel as they walked through the town. 

“My favourite is this one little girl who kept saying “Muffins” for each response. It’s very sweet! Other words are “peace” and “joy” – it’s a very wholesome work that adds to the experience,” says Collins.

Flooding outside of the Mining Exchange, which is the central festival hub for Sunnyside, you’ll also find bold Sunnyside activations in places like Hops Lane and in the Alfred Deakin Place. Roam around for free and bask in all of the bold and bright sites.

“The work is there for people to interpret and understand it how they see it. My hope is that it brings joy, starts conversations, sparks the imagination and is memorable,” says Myerscough.

“I also hope it shows what is possible when people collaborate and involve community in the process so that they feel the work resonates and belongs to them.”

Collins adds, “It’s made for wanderers – it’s a fantastical, imaginative experience and it really is like a cross between Alice in Wonderland and a fun fair. You’ll be engrossed by the scale of it!”

 

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Sunnyside will hit Ballarat 6 November and run until 23 November, with talks, workshops and arts experiences galore. The inaugural event is expected to become a permanent calendar offering, spreading a bit of sunshine each year.

If you are planning on traveling to visit Sunnyside, resident boutique hotel experience and champion of the arts, Hotel Vera are partnering with Sunnyside to offer visitors a discount. Use the discount code SUNNYSIDE for 10% discount off Hotel Vera accommodation. Visitors can redeem the package by entering the code SUNNYSIDE when booking directly through the website. Guests will need to show evidence of tickets at check in. The code is valid for bookings 6 – 23 November inclusive.

To find out more about the spectacular Sunnyside program and purchase tickets, head here.