Hurstville City Council has partnered with a local performing arts company to present a thought provoking multimedia festival in the Hurstville CBD later this month.
The theatre company, Shopfront For Young People, is a contemporary arts centre for people aged under 25 years.
Hurstville Mayor, Councillor Vince Badalati, said Council will make available a number of public areas in the Hurstville City Centre for the theatre to stage an arts event involving over 100 young local performers and artists.
“Over four days, Shopfront’s (lost toy story) festival will explore true tales of lost toys and people’s hopes and fears across different generations and cultures,” he said.
“The festival has given young Hurstville residents the opportunity to gain skills in sculpture, installation and visual artistry, song writing, poetry, physical performance and digital production.”
A key feature of the festival will be large nightlight sculptures of lost toys. Using Chinese and Japanese lantern making techniques, a diverse range of young people have worked with professional sculptors/artistic mentors to create both small scale and extremely large glowing ‘lost toys’. These will be installed in and around the urban centre, along streets and lanes. Some will be permanent fixtures over the four day period, while others will be installed for specific musical and theatre performances each evening.
“Shopfront aims to engage young people from local high schools, youth organisations and multicultural communities in exploring important issues by participating in and experiencing (lost toy story),” Mayor Badalati said. “Council is committed to giving young people in our community opportunities to connect with culture.”
(lost toy story) follows the success of last year’s award winning ‘A City of Shadows’ and ‘Ice in Kogarah Town Square’. Over 1,000 people attended this event in the two days it was performed.
This year, Council and the theatre company have also joined with the Salvation Army to encourage visitors to the festival to bring along new toys, or those that are in good condition, so they can find a new home with people that need them.
For further information on (lost toy story), visit www.shopfront.org.au
