FUSE Festival @ Northcote Town Hall
Next date: Friday, 05 September 2025 | 06:00 PM
to Sunday, 07 September 2025 | 04:00 PM
Large-scale works from some of Australia’s most celebrated puppet companies
Presented by Darebin FUSE Festival
For one special weekend, Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre and Civic Square will be transformed into a vibrant festival hub.
Take a seat at Civic Square and experience Tarutharu – The Kaurna Skink, a 27-metre luminous skink created by Elizabeth Close Arts (Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara) and Jack Buckskin (Kaurna and Nurungga), as a representative of the Kaurna Peoples, in collaboration with Darebin-based puppet company A Blanck Canvas.
Walk through the main hall of Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre and into Cochlea - a giant inflatable installation celebrating voices from the frontlines of gender. Amorphous puppets invite you to enter a winding cavern of interlocking tubes and passages, culminating in the spiral vortex at the centre of the inner ear. A world of soft-edged chambers, geometric forms, and colour-saturated light. Inside the huge 15-meter Cochlea, OPAL presents immersive interviews with trans, non binary and gender diverse locals.
Also on offer is a colouring in sheet by visual artist Arkie Barton (Kalkadoon and Bidjara) for kids to colour in while they are listening to the stories.
Friday 5th September Opening Night: A special opening night for our community, beginning with a Welcome to Country and followed by roving performances by celebrated local drag icons Cerulean and Stone Motherless Cold. The opening night event will be Auslan interpreted.
Tarutharu - The Kaurna Skink image by Topbunk Pty Ltd. Cochlea image by Cameron Grant.
About the Artists: Tarutharu - The Kaurna Skink
Anangu artist Elizabeth Close is an established Contemporary Aboriginal Visual Artist that has spent the past 14 years crafting a dynamic multi-disciplinary artform that she often expresses through mediums such as 2D art, large-scale muralist installations and digital medias. Her unique and vivid works convey her connection to country. She created the art piece that the skink is wrapped in, in collaboration with Jack Buckskin. The design, in her own words, is a reflection of the connection to Country that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have. Relationships with Country are complex dualities that are reflected in nature itself.
JACK BUCKSKIN
Kaurna and Nurungga man Jack Buckskin has been a strong icon in the revitalisation process of Kaurna language, passing on his knowledge and language to future generations of Kaurna people. Jack worked closely with the elders to translate the story of the skink, which had been passed down from generations. This was in fact the first time the Kaurna people’s story of the skink had been interpreted and shared with the public. Jack Buckskin has dedicated his life to learning and passing on his knowledge and language of the Adelaide Plains to future generations of Kaurna people.
A BLANCK CANVAS
A Blank Canvas believes in infinite possibilities. Founded in 2013, we are a multidisciplinary creative company that encourages social change and continuously leaves a lasting impact on audiences. A Blanck Canvas founder Joe Blanck has collected and curated a team of wondrous talent, housed in a creative super-ship in Melbourne. Specialising in large scale roving puppets, props, sets and site-specific illuminated installations for film, theatre and major events. Our end-to-end approach, including all aspects of design, fabrication, illumination, automation and performance has seen a number of memorable installations both here in Australia and internationally.
https://ablanckcanvas.com
About the Artists: Cochlea
For 33 years Snuff Puppets have unleashed giant spectacles at festivals in over 30 countries worldwide and amassing 1.3 BILLION viral video views! Snuff Puppets art is for everybody!
“In an age defined by digital spectacle, there is a renewed sense of wonder in these handcrafted illusions.” – The Age
About the Artists: Opening Night
The following artists will only be present at the Friday 5th September opening event.
CERULEAN
Cerulean is one of Naarm/Melbourne’s most dynamic and vibrant conceptual performers bringing a refreshing cloud of excitement and pleasure to the stage. As the reigning winner of the national Miss First Nation pageant in 2021 and the Supreme Queen pageant at Sydney World Pride 2023, she is set to propel her way into shaping the future of drag. With 4 and a half years of drag under her belt, she’s performed and hosted at various festivals, clubs and community events around the nation. As a visionary performer, you can expect her to deliver compelling stories through exceptionally fierce and entertaining drag performances that will leave audiences salivating for more.
Stone Motherless Cold is an Arrernte drag gem, currently based in Naarm. Smooth and sensual, bold and graphic, this crystalline trophy posing as humanoid. She is a drag artist, producer, writer and visual artist, celebrating spaces of Blak queer futurism. Ms Cold is part of First Nations drag collective, MoCo. 1st Runner Miss First Nations 2021 and title winner of the VIC NAIDOC LGBTQIA+ 2019 event.
Darebin Arts and Darebin FUSE Festival acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the Traditional Owners, custodians and cultural leaders of this land. We pay respects to Elders past and present, and acknowledge the continuing connection to Land, Water and Culture of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
When
-
Friday, 05 September 2025 | 06:00 PM
- Sunday, 07 September 2025 | 04:00 PM
Location
Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre, 189 High Street, Northcote, 3070, View Map
-37.7744444,144.9975
189 High Street ,
Northcote 3070
Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre
189 High Street ,
Northcote 3070
FUSE Festival @ Northcote Town Hall