Illuminate Adelaide lights up Mount Gambier
Visitors will see Mount Gambier’s iconic Cave Garden in a whole new light this winter as part of Illuminate Adelaide, Australia’s new major event.
Digital Garden in Mount Gambier is the first of three South Australian regional activations in Illuminate Adelaide’s extensive program of events.
Mount Gambier’s Cave Garden, located in the heart of the city, will be transformed by local and international collaborations, and immersive experiences exploring the union of future technologies and the creative industries. Digital Garden will open on 9 June and run until 4 July, ahead of the inaugural Illuminate Adelaide event, which will kick off on 16 July 2021.
Illuminate Adelaide Co-Founders and Creative Directors, Rachael Azzopardi and Lee Cumberlidge said: “Illuminate Adelaide is delighted to be programming and presenting Digital Garden in Mount Gambier as a regional, satellite event and a precursor to our inaugural flagship event in Adelaide that will open just over a month later. It is something very special for the South East region and has been specifically curated for the location.”
Illuminate Adelaide has collaboration at its core and celebrates a partnership with the South Australian Tourism Commission and City of Mount Gambier, as well as many other local businesses to showcase award-winning artists.
South Australian Tourism Commission chief executive Rodney Harrex said Digital Garden would help drive visitation to the Limestone Coast over the colder months, giving people a reason to visit and explore.
“Tourism is vital to the Limestone Coast, generating $358 million in visitor expenditure and directly employing 2,100 people,” Mr Harrex said.
“The region has so much to offer visitors from spectacular natural wonders to stunning cellar doors and with Qantas recently commencing its Melbourne – Mount Gambier – Adelaide flight, it’s never been easier to visit.”
This event will shine a light on Mount Gambier as visitors follow a trail of installations, lasers and light projections around the Cave Garden. Digital Garden will reimagine the popular local hub with a series works from renowned international companies.
In an eye-catching light installation created by Studio Toer (Netherlands) Firefly Field is a large-scale natural phenomenon that has toured the globe, appearing in Shanghai, the Faroe Islands, Diriyah and Vivid Sydney.
Firefly Field, presented with thanks to RAA, will now transform Mount Gambier into a shimmering display of 200 floating LED lights that glow, dance and enchant.
Kaylene Whiskey’s colourful world of desert pop art is a playful window into contemporary Aṉangu life and culture.
Whiskey's stunning works will be screened and brought to life in animations the artist has produced in collaboration with Jackson Lee.
Drawing on a rich and eclectic set of influences to remix celebrity culture and remote community life, pop idols including Tina Turner, Dolly Parton and Wonder Woman are dropped into the red dirt and blue skies of Central Australia.
Digital Garden audiences can experience the big humour, big characters and big colours of Whiskey’s work on a grand scale.
St Petersburg-based collective TUNDRA’s Row uses a series of high-speed LED fans to suspend a hypnotic array of shapes and patterns into the air.
This installation offers a fascinating new way of visualising and sharing seemingly abstract data and messages through light and sound.
Digital Garden will run 9 June – 4 July. Event details: illuminateadelaide.com/events/digital-garden
Two additional Illuminate Adelaide regional events are scheduled for later this year: Tumby Bay (13 August – 21 August 2021) and Renmark (16 September – 9 October 2021) with details to be announced closer to the time.
