Building Angels Palace
Building Angel's Palace
Alexis Wright’s vision brought to life
Touring Opportunities
Contact us for an Information Pack.
When Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria was first published in 2007, it ignited conversation, imagination, and presented an ambitious, beautiful and epic literary achievement. The novel shares the interconnected stories of several inhabitants of the fictional town of Desperance, situated in the Gulf of Carpentaria. There, the Aboriginal people of the Pricklebush clan are engaged in a number of combative disputes with various enemies in the community, including the white inhabitants of Desperance, the local law enforcement, and government officials.
Turning this into an interactive experience was a monumental task beginning with the Palace design by Gordon Hookey, and building the interactive dome by Iceworks Design. Multi-media artistry included: video design by Ken Weston, sound design by Guy Webster and lighting designer by Ben Hughes. This was all brought together by the utterly inspiring direction by Alethea Beetson.
She thought the dump was magnificent, as anyone dirt poor would. The way she talked you would have thought she was a very rich woman, and it was nothing for her to walk back and forth to the dump two dozen times a day to cart back pieces of sheet iron, jerry cans, bits of car bodies, pieces of rope, logs, plastic, discarded curtain and old clothing … until she ended up with an igloo made of rubbish.
Alexis Wright, 'Carpentaria'
#The Design
Angel’s Palace, in a large dome shape will stand at 7.5m tall and 15 m in diameter. The shape reflects traditional Aboriginal architecture, especially that of traditional ‘humpies’. Using Alexis’ words as inspiration, Gordon has created a visual design which will be transferred onto a canvas and encompass the entire outside of the artwork. Initially designed on a small model of Angel’s Palace, pictured below, Gordon’s work will be reprinted on a massive scale, to cover the 300 square meter canopy.
#Inside Angel's Palace
Entering inside Angel’s Palace, audiences will experience an evocative digital landscape, transporting them across time and place to Alexis’ mystical world.
Video designer Ken Weston, sound designer Guy Webster, and Lighting Designer Ben Hughes have collaborated with the teams at Iceworks Design and Reverse Garbage in an unforgettable immersive venture, with Brisbane Design Company DWDC Designs, creating a beautiful site design.
#Bring Angel's Palace to your hometown
Angel's Palace is available for touring and co-presentation. To find out more, or to request an information pack, contact us below