1/2doz. Summer Festival 2006 5/6 Clearing Customs - Museum of Sydney

CLEARING CUSTOMS:
Australia Day performances

Thur Jan 26, 2006 at 11am-12pm & 2pm to 3pm (Free Entry)

Museum of Sydney, Cnr Bridge and Phillip Streets, Sydney

Artists: Brian Fuata, Christian Thompson, The Fondue Set (Jane McKernan, Elizabeth Ryan, & Emma Saunders)

Curated by Dougal Phillips and Oliver Watts

Every Australia Day, questions of nationhood must be faced, whether in public debate, or over a friendly barbecue. This year, as racial tension simmered in the suburbs, our national identity had never been more at stake. Who owns the symbols of Australia? What does it mean to be Australian?

The Museum of Sydney plays a key role in writing official narratives of colonization and cultural identity. Clearing Customs intervened in these narratives, turning the museum into a platform for critical performance art. Five of the country's most exciting, emerging performance artists led audiences on an alternative, guided tour of the museum, with an innovative fusion of history and politics in sound, video and live performance.

In this time of war, of sedition and subversion, these performances shed new light on the museum's collection, its audience, and its role in defining Australian identity. Clearing Customs' three site-specific interventions were commissioned especially by Half Dozen for this event.



images: (top left) Brian Fuata; (left) Christian Thompson, Ethno-Aerobics; (above) The Fondue Set. Photography by Jai Odell.