What If
Wednesday 30 September, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Join “what if”, a brand-new project inviting kids and teens to help shape the future of Barking Gecko Arts. Come along to a creative workshop, get stuck into hands-on making with a professional artist, and tell us what a day at the Festival is really like for you. There are no right or wrong answers — just your honest thoughts on creativity, art, and what events for young people should feel like. Your ideas will help launch our new Children and Young People Advisory Council, so what you say here could shape festivals, theatre productions and workshops for years to come. All you need to bring is yourself.
Festival + Show + Workshop = FREE
Calling all 8–12-year-olds! Join world-renowned children’s book author James Foley for a playful, hands-on workshop at the State Library of WA. Through games, movement, and making, you'll explore what creativity means to you, share what your day at the festival has been like, and help imagine what a Children's Advisory Council could look and feel like. No sitting still filling in surveys just fun, active ways to have your say and be heard.
- Full day of Activities
- Performance of Stellarphant by James Foley, Heath Ledger Theatre at State Theatre Centre of WA, 2 pm
- Workshop, State Library of WA, 3 pm
Travel to Creativity City! In this zine-making workshop with artist Sophie Minissale, young people aged 13–18 are invited to imagine themselves as the newly elected mayor of Creativity City. Through illustration, writing and collage, you'll design your own travel guide, deciding what the city looks like, what's worth seeing, and who runs it (and how). It's a playful way to share your real thoughts on creativity, access, and what you want the future of the arts and your Advisory Council to look like.
- Full day of Activities
- Performance of Walk of the Whales by Nick Bland, Subiaco Arts Centre, 2 pm
- Workshop, Subiaco Arts Centre, 3 pm
Hear what kids and teens shared with us at the "What If" workshops, then be among the first to apply for our new Children & Young People Advisory Council.
Join Barking Gecko Arts Chair and host, Hon David Templeman AM, at the launch event.
- Friday 2 October, 11:30 am
- Amphitheatre, Subiaco Theatre Gardens
For more information about the "What If" event, contact gecko@barkinggecko.com.au