drawing attention

(Public Programming, Interactive Art, Installation)

11:00am - 12:00pm, Saturday, 24th June, 2023.

The 2023 M_Curators created a space within the Queen Victoria Market to honour the moving, multilayered history of the site. Audiences are invited to participate by contributing their memories and thoughts about the QVM, to bring a part of themselves into the space. The M_Curators will use dance, acting and music to highlight the complex, ancient and ephemeral histories represented at the marketplace.

This brief occupation will use chalk drawing to draw attention to what is suspended and what is ephemeral. With the guiding idea of gravity as an arrow, the installation points downward to the obscured histories buried beneath the Queen Victoria Market. Mimicking the neighbourly rhythm of the market stall, the public is prompted to draw within limitations to portray their own memories of place beforetheir efforts are swept away in the bustling exchange of history.

left: event poster
right: Testing Grounds setup

The centrepiece of the event was a display of 12 chalks, each suspended by cotton string and accompanied by a written prompt. Visitors were encouraged to engage with these prompts by creating chalk drawings on the ground. M_Curators facilitated two scrubbing sessions during the event, where we used rags to clean the drawn traces, accompanied by the ticking sound of time, while our talented dancer performed in the space. As the winds blew through the structure, floating paper tags and chalks waved in the air, attracting children to interact with them. People of all ages, including shoppers and passersby, all joined in the scribbling fun.

This project brought the community together, retraced histories, and created memories through temporary interventions.

Prompts:

Special thanks to Molly, Andrew, and Jen from MPavilion, and Millie & Joseph from Testing Grounds for the support.