Produced by Big hART for the Centenary of Canberra celebrations, MUSEUM OF THE LONG WEEKEND is a celebration of the national capital through the lens of recreation, holidays, relaxation and older Australians who worked hard building what we now enjoy. The Museum will be exhibited in and around vintage caravans and begins in the far flung corners of the country before travelling by road to Canberra. These convoys of caravans will be stopping along the way sharing stories, pictures and songs across the country, arriving on the shores of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin for the long weekend 18th-20th of October 2013.
It’s also a long-weekend camp out in caravans in Canberra!
The MUSEUM will be a multi-disciplinary installation that uncovers hidden gems of Australian identity. Exploring the idea that it might be in times of recreation and relaxation that our success as a community and as a nation is most present, Big hART artists are collaborating with families, collecting memories and curating them into a living and mobile exhibition.
Here’s a video made after our visit to the Vintage Caravan National’s in Cowra, April 2013. Enjoy…
The event will be staged in and around multiple caravans, in two parts: As many as 40 vintage caravans may attend the event, traveling from around the country. These vans form a self-curated part of the museum, open to the public and hosted by their owners. The public is invited to wander in and around the vans, to strike up a conversation, have a cup of tea and a chat about holidays past, common ground and times of relaxation or huge family arguments into the night.
The ‘artwork’ is presented in and around the curated caravans – specific caravans will be curated and drawn into an inner circle. The public will be encouraged to explore these caravan exhibition spaces.
Big hART has secured facilities for MUSEUM in Canberra – the grounds; power; water; toilet and shower blocks; barbeques and meeting places. In addition to the content in and on the vans there will be late afternoon/evening events that continue the celebrations.
A campfire will be facilitated for story telling, music, gathering, reminiscing, auctions, recipe swapping, interviews etc. The campfire will come alive with stories discovered during the curation. Films and images will be projected onto the side of caravans at night. The S.S. Singsong karaokevan will provide karaoke.