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by Phoebe Repeti


Image: The Village by The Kids, by Hamish Ta-mé

The Village by The Kids

Saturday 28 October 2023
 10 am to 4 pm, 45 minute sessions
Lalor Park Community Centre
1 Freeman Street, Lalor Park

Blacktown Arts presents The Village by The Kids.

Get ready for an exhilarating audio adventure like no other! The Village by The Kids is a tour through the Lalor Park neighbourhood created and produced by Claudia Chidiac.

Put on your headphones, download the app and join the kids of Lalor Park Public School as they traverse a surreal landscape of their own making and weave a tale of love, acceptance and…severed eyeballs

Equipped with a map and a survival kit, see installations and artworks created by The Kids along the way.

Buckle up for an immersive thrill ride through the heart of Lalor Park!

Co-designed and curated with Bentley, Callum, Fifi, Jet, Lily, Lola, Maria, Nevaeh and Obie from Lalor Park Public School in collaboration with artists Danielle RG, Nitin Vengurlekar and Nick Wishart.

VoiceMap App - Image Guide

VoiceAppDirection - EventBrite Reminder

45 minute sessions
10:15 am to 11:00 am
11:15 am to 12:00 pm 
12:15 pm to 1:00 pm
1:15 pm to 2:00 pm
2:15 pm to 3:00 pm
3:15 pm to 4:00 pm

General Admission $5
Family Ticket (2 adults + 2 kids) $12

+ booking fee

General info: 

  • Please be aware the walking route terrain may not be suitable for those with limited mobility. Please let our staff know of any access requirements by calling 02 9839 6558 or emailing artscentre@blacktown.nsw.gov.au.
  • We think you’ll enjoy the walk more if you wear comfortable shoes and come light-handed, as you will be on the move.
  • Please come prepared for the weather. Bring a hat, wear sun cream, pack an umbrella and or raincoat. The walk will go ahead rain or shine!
  • You’ll need a mobile device with internet connection (4G or 5G) and your best pair of headphones.
  • You’ll gather at least 10 minutes before the time of the event, to sign in.
  • You’ll put your headphones in and when it’s go-time, the experience begins!
  • The audio you will listen to is in English.
  • This is a stroller friendly walk and service animals are allowed.
  • You can get started by downloading the Voice Map Audio Tours app on  the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/voicemap-gps-audio-guides/id852027939 or you can get in on
  • Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.voicemap.android&pli=1
  • After your walk, you are invited to head to Lalor Park Public School for The Village Markets hosted by Lalor Park Public School for a BBQ, car boot sale, art and craft stalls!

Creative team

Claudia Chidiac is a creative producer and arts worker. For twenty years, she has worked with diverse communities and organisations creating intimate and large scale experiences across Greater Sydney. She is the founder and curator of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre’s Way Out West (WOW) Festival for Children (2011-2013 and 2017-2020). Chidiac is the creator and producer of The Village by The Kids, a series of audio walks and tours of neighbourhoods, created by children for an intergenerational audience. Its premise is to centre children as producers of their own narratives and to support and encourage children to present their perspective of their community, by introducing the audience to local stories both real and imagined.

In 2008 Claudia was one of the Australian delegates selected to participate in the inaugural Next Generation Symposium as part of the 16th ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival. In 2006, she was awarded the Australia Council for the Arts Community Cultural Development Young Leaders Award.

 

Image: Claudia Chidiac, courtesy of the artist

Danielle RG is a western Sydney community artist known for her mural work throughout western Sydney schools and communities. Danielle is a leader in developing community art-based projects with a social and mental health impact for the past 17 years.

Image: Danielle RG, courtesy of the artist

Nitin Vengurlekar is a writer and performer from Revesby who works across a range of contemporary performance practices. He has performed his nonsensical prose, poetry, and full-length theatre works at various festivals and literary/alternative comedy events around Sydney including Late Night Library, Parramasala, Bondi Feast, Batch Festival, Griffin Up Late, and the Sydney Writers’ Festival.

He has previously performed in and written material for Bankstown Art Centre’s large-scale community-based works The Prophet: Remix and The Night Sky. In 2018, he hosted audiences for Right Here Right Now, a multi-site project in the heart of Blacktown, presented by Urban Theatre Projects. He recently completed a PhD in Theatre and Film Studies at the University of New South Wales.

Image: Nitin Vengurlekar, courtesy of the artist

Nick Wishart adapts and re-purposes existing and emerging domestic technologies and intuitive physical interfaces to create new audio/visual interfaces. Wishart uses embedded electronics, sensors, audio-visual production and circuit bending to create interactive devices such as the bio-luminescent jellyfish featured in ERTH’s Prehistoric Aquarium as well as an RGB-sensitive chameleon commissioned for Vivid at Taronga Zoo 2016.

Nick also creates unique electronic instruments using circuit bending techniques and is a founding member of the all toy band Toydeath. Formed in 1995 Toydeath have played throughout Australia with notable performances at the Sydney Biennale 2010, Big Day Out, The Great Escape as well as international tours to Europe, USA and Asia.

Image: Nick Wishart, courtesy of the artist

Lalor Park Public School is a community-based school which focuses on meeting the particular needs of our students. There is a strong emphasis on literacy development particularly in the early years. The integration of students with special needs is a feature of the educational program. A strong emphasis on the welfare of students exists with a combined caring approach from all staff, parents and the wider community.

The Village by The Kids is presented by Blacktown Arts and proudly funded by Creative Australia and NSW Government through Create NSW and Blacktown City Council.