Photography by Keelan O'Hehir
Showtime Night Market (2019)
Two night market events at Testing Grounds in collaboration with Rose St Markets
Showtime Night Market reimagined the exhibition format by placing live creative process at the centre of the audience experience.
I developed this curatorial concept when working as a Program Director at Testing Grounds. The project responded to a recurring tension: the gap between experimental making in residencies and the polished outcomes typically presented in exhibitions.
Instead of finished works, artists were invited to demonstrate their practice in real time. Each participant was given a simple setup; a trestle table and an open brief to share what genuinely interested them. There were no schedules, statements or expectations of outcomes. Demonstrations unfolded simultaneously, colliding and overlapping across the site.
Framed within the familiar and accessible language of a night market, the event attracted broad audiences who came for the atmosphere and stayed to engage directly with artists.
The project prioritised people over objects, revealing creativity as something social, messy and contagious, where the most meaningful moments emerged through participation, chance and exchange.
Artists included Public Assembly, Lichen Kelp, T.R. Carter, Nat Grant, Darcey Bella-Arnold, Adam Seymour, Nick Breedon, Sarah Aiken, Georgia Banks, QueerTech, Tenfingerz, Andrew Styan and many more.