Sydney's Hidden Stories

Artists: Jason French (Australia)

Collaborators: Spinifex Group (Will Skinner (Australia) / Doug Bayne (Australia) / Pepin Portingale (Australia) / Nicholas Hunter (Australia)) / Full Circle Audio (Marcus Longfoot, Australia)

The façade of Sydney’s Customs House at Circular Quay plays host to the fantastical wonders of Sydney’s Hidden Stories, where a blue-tongue lizard leads visitors through haunting landscapes of warty witches and wizards, gnomes and cocky cockatoos.

The lizard is an adventurous protagonist and participants journey with him to marvel at tree-people and fairies, along the way dodging sneaky snakes and battling the cockatoos to finally discover a secret time-travel doorway back to a gnome’s hidden garden.

At the end of the journey the lizard invites participants to his elaborately detailed and invitingly obscure self-sustainable home. He has a green roof, complete with vegie garden, wind turbine and solar panels; a pedal-powered generator; and a garage with ready-and-waiting snail transportation. There are many other intriguing rooms that fit nicely into the façade of the Customs House, trailing down into roots that show the underground insects that lie below.

So many wonders, so many hidden stories, to entertain and delight all those who visit. And remember, Customs House actually is the home to the City of Sydney’s main public library…

Step onto the New Reality Viewing Platform and use Huawei’s latest smartphones and tablets for an amazing augmented reality experience at Customs House.

Projection Technology and Mapping Design By TDC.

Country represented by artwork: Australia