Perth Voice Interactive

FANCY walking inside a giant eyeball and then down a serpentine tunnel that leads to someone’s brain? 

Synapse is just one of the weird arty installations at this year’s Strange Festival, which features more than 20 outré artworks in empty shopfronts and neglected spaces across the city.

More than 30 artists have been given carte blanche to do what they want for the free art trail with only one stipulation – it has to be odd.

So it’s only fitting that opening night kicks off with The Procession of Enkidu – an army of drummers carrying a sculpture of Enkidu, the legendary companion of Mesopotamian demigod Gilgamesh, through the malls of Perth.

Led by the enigmatic Sayer, they weave through the city by torchlight and drum, before ceremoniously laying Enkidu to rest in the beating heart of the city – Forrest Place.

If you’re still standing after all that mythological hoopla, you might want to see some of the live events and performances in the festival.

There’s Mad Max-inspired fare at the Thunderdome in Yagan Square, a bazaar with trinkets and workshops at “Bartertown”, and underground live shows at Strange Court (the Carillon City Food Court) and Strange Basement (Liberty Basement).

Making a welcome return is Exhumed Cinema at the Como Theatre (the old Cygnet and Perth’s first ‘talkie’ picture house) with a line-up of more than 50 cult and classic films in 35mm or 16mm including Silence of the Lambs, Fight Club, Dr Strangelove, The Goonies and Children of Men.

Now in its third year, the Strange Festival is still decidedly grass-roots and feels like it’s flying by the seat of its pants at times.

Festival co-founder Jess Oakley wouldn’t have it any other way.

“What I have learnt from the last two years of Strange…is that it is a dynamic beast which never turns out how we expect,” she says.

“This is not something to be seen as a negative as I have learnt to put trust in our artist to create beautiful installations that fit, fill and complicate the spaces they are given.

“It has reinforced my belief that art is for everyone and what may not speak to you will deeply impact someone else. Which makes it invaluable in a cohesive diverse community.

“Though the biggest thing I have learnt and grown from is that something this big can’t be done alone.”

Oakley says one of the highlights of this year’s festival is the giant art installation Synapse at Elizabeth Quay.

“It’s a 20-metre long interactive installation where you are able to enter through the pupil of an eye and walk through a tunnel into the brain,” she says.

“There you can interact with objects which describe the anatomy and physiology of the visual system in the mother tongue of Whadjuk Boodjar.”

The festival will go out with a bang on closing night with local noise artists Injured Ninja performing The Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem written between 2100 and 1200 BC in ancient Mesopotamia.

Get ready for a high-energy, primal party as a host of manic drummers create a trance-like groove for the immolation of Enkidu, with Oakley describing closing night as “Mad Max meets Neo-Mesopotamia”. 

The Strange Festival is on June 14 – 23 across Perth. For the full programme and more details see strangefestival.com.au.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK