Family Day – Make Dreams Come True

The first of the 24th Biennale's Disability Led Family Days is curated by the wonderful folks of Studio A, and sees their artists take over White Bay Power Station with a series of works, participatory artworks, and performances including: 

• Love Poem Sorceress – Part-artwork-part-performance, artist, poet, performer and ultimate romantic Meaghan Pelham will entrance and delight audiences as the Love Poem Sorceress in and around her beautifully adorned love-booth. For anyone curious about their romantic future Meaghan will sense and predict their love fortune. 

• Weaving Dreams – Led by performance artist and creator of ritual objects Syke Saxon and supported by weavers Damian Showyin and Adam Mandarano, Weaving Dreams is a drop-in workshop inviting audiences to contribute to a giant woven portal. Audiences will be invited to weave and knit a variety of found materials – including beads, trinkets and sparkles – into threads to be attached to the sculpture, finishing a blessing for each contribution. 

• Spin the Wheel and Let’s Get Ready to Rumble – Artist and wrestling enthusiast Victoria Atkinson invites audiences to help her create a new rainbow wrestling cloak, embodied with hopes and dreams for the future. In the style of ‘Wheel of Fortune’ audiences will spin Victoria’s ‘Rainbow Wheel’ which will decide the colour of a patch for Victoria’s cloak, and then assist her in the decoration of patches, before the day culminates in an exhilarating wrestling performance. 

• Catherine the Roaming, Wish-Granting Angel – Performance artist, painter and costumier Catherine McGuiness will be donning her Angel costume and rove the exhibition space offering and granting wishes to any eager being she encounters. 

The Family Days for the 24th Biennale of Sydney have been developed through a guest curator model with a number of leading Disability Arts organisations and practitioners. In 2024, our Family Days will centre the work and perspectives of artists with disability, creating accessible works, performances, and installations for all audiences. 

Studio A is a North-Sydney based supported studio tackling barriers artists with intellectual disabilities face in accessing education, professional development, and opportunities necessary to succeed as a professional artist. With an astonishing collection of artists across various artforms, Studio A supports artists through studio space, materials, workshops, exhibition opportunities and brokering of relationships with industry; often connecting gallerists and art markets to innovative artists to whom they would otherwise have no access.