Shape Mandurah are on the lookout for crafty designers, startups, artists, performers, creators, inventors and more to take part in the first Mandurah Prototype Festival.
Inspired by the Market Street Prototype festival in San Francisco, the local space activation group decided the city needed a way to bring whimsy and wonder to Mandjar Square and Smart Street Mall.
“It’s anything and everything, it could be something useful, or fanciful, creative, just different ways of interacting with your environment,” Shape committee member Heloise Lorimer said.
“Having that human creativity, and things happening, and activation, it makes people want to come back, and want to stay and linger. It’s good for Mandurah.”
Shape Mandurah have partnered with Mandurah Performing Arts Centre to run the Prototype Festival alongside MPAC’s annual HubBub Fringe World events, from January 31- February 5.
“I see it as Fringe Festival being more experimental, smaller, exciting ways of presenting theatre… Prototype Festival is the same sort of idea, it’s like trying out ideas maybe as precursors to more permanent urban interventions, or ways of interacting outside,” Ms Lorimer said.
MPAC director Guy Boyce said he was glad to partner with Shape Mandurah to give local creatives an opportunity to take part in something with international acclaim.
“This is bringing the world to Mandurah… everything we do, there has to be a place for local artists, but they also need to be given the opportunity to sit alongside and strive to raise the bar, and that bar with these international performers is quite a good opportunity,” Mr Boyce said.
“There’s quite a lot of talent in this community, but finding a good vehicle for them to try new things is really difficult… so for us to partner with the Prototype Festival and Shape Mandurah, it’s a really good partnership.”
Submissions can be granted up to $1000 in funding, and are due before December 22.
Submissions for Prototype Festival can be made at shapemandurah.com.au/events/mandurah-hubbub-smart-street-prototype-festival/