If you haven’t seen the Fairytales exhibition at GOMA yet, it’s time to venture into the woods and go down that rabbit hole. You won’t regret it.
The exhibition has something for everyone — whether you like art or history, film or multimedia, there will be something to delight you. My favourite piece was Cinderella’s glass slipper from the 2015 live action film. But the very early Red Riding Hood painting from 1862 was also a highlight.
Our small crew of Fairytale afficionados started the exhibition experience with a guided tour and then wandered for hours back and forth through the exhibit like Alice walking through the maze. The Alice in Wonderland section was particularly impressive with several Charles Blackman ‘Alice’ paintings, costumes from Tim Burton’s film Alice in Wonderland, and a toadstool display that took up the whole room, attached to an apparatus that could be pushed around by visitors. Curiouser and curiouser.
The costume displays dominated the exhibition with many costumes from Mirror Mirror, and several costumes from the Catherine Denueve film Donkeyskin, all so intricate. In addition, there were props from Beauty and the Beast, and Labyrinth, along with the costume of the Goblin King himself. Yes, I had a David Bowie fangirl moment.
Other items included cut outs from Hans Christian Anderson, along with the photos from the fairy hoax, and a 3D witches house which you could walk into and immerse yourself in the dark mythology. It was a brilliant exhibition which was worth crossing the border to see.
Early in the exhibition season, members of the Brisbane Fairytale Ring were invited to storytell at GOMA over several sessions in a ‘Fairytale Festival’ and had a wonderful time doing so. June Perkins gives all the details and fabulous photos on the Gumbootzpearlz blog. Well worth the read.
As always, we exit the exhibition via the FairyTales giftshop, selling the AFTS Anthology, South of the Sun. We have picked up some new readers – congratulations to all involved.
Fairytales at GOMA closes on 28th April 2024. Thank you to GOMA for a fantastic Fairytales experience and for inviting AFTS to be part of it.
As announced in our “Upcoming Events” section of the first ezine, our own Debra Phillips (Founding Member, artist, writer, PhD candidate, pillar of the Sydney Fairy Tale Ring and all round wonderful human being) has created an installation in the garden of the Don Bank Museum garden, as part of a festival for a combined North Sydney/ Australian Catholic University event.
As someone who enjoys exploring fairy tale themes in many different mediums, Debra “deliberately designed it with a fairy tale quality for us and to be in harmony with the oldy-worldy interior of the cottage”.
Australian Fairy Tale Society 