MONUMENTAL (working title) is an epic live art experience, a multi-artform event/program of diverse artists, drawing on the curators’ post-colonial politic & Pacific philosophy of space, Va’a, to animate and transform an art gallery’s spaces.

MONUMENTAL (working title) was initiated by Intimate Spectacle with curators Latai Taumoepeau & Brian Fuata, and co-produced with Art Gallery of NSW, premiering in April 2022. We partnered with Sydney Festival to present a revised iteration, seen by another 3,400 people over a January 2023 weekend (Sat, Sun 12–4pm).

16 artists and collectives, from senior established to emerging artists, opera to street dance, from across diverse practices and communities contested the idea of the monument, and what is chosen to be revered and memorialised. Works included dance- and movement-based activities, sound, song, unexpected interventions, durational installations, participatory tours, ceremonial practice and provocations.

Through an aerial dance on the building’s exterior (Strings Attached), an evocation of the body as a living artefact (Rakini Devi), a performance as an unassuming cleaner (Julie-Anne Long) and more, the artists will shift and prod at the experience of the art museum.

MONUMENTAL (working title) is part gallery public program, part multi-stage music festival model, part choose your own adventure, all joyful immersive experience. It’s as much for casual gallery viewers to stumble upon, as for committed audiences with schedule & map in hand… all revelling in the joyful performative takeover of the democratic public spaces of foyer, gallery, forecourt, even the glass walls of the gallery.

Producers Intimate Spectacle and AGNSW, with curators Latai and Brian, now seek to collaborate with partners & artists in other cities, to share their curatorial vision and process, to make new connections, new communities, new MONUMENTAL works.

We envisage a tourable process model, collaborating with, eg: a gallery or multi-arts centre including one; a festival and/or producing organisation; co-curator(s); local performance makers. A large city may provide all the performers; a regional touring model could include a mix of local performers alongside a small touring party. All up for discussion, a bespoke model & process developed in collaboration.

Banner images: Curators, Latai Taumoepeau & Brian Fuata. Angela Goh, Body loss, MONUMENTAL (working title), April 2022.