ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) invites you to journey down the rabbit hole into an enchanted world, where expectations are upended and curiosity is rewarded, as they present the world premiere exhibition, Wonderland as part of the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series from April 2018.
Our enduring fascination with Carroll’s stories and characters uniquely traces the evolution of filmmaking. Wonderland will chart the cultural, technological and societal shifts that have compelled artists, filmmakers and fans to return to the Alice tales again and again since the birth of cinema.
Wonderland celebrates the screen history of Lewis Carroll’s timeless stories: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There – in an entirely original experiential exhibition.
“This latest ACMI-created Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition showcases the moving image adaptations of Carroll’s seminal works through celebrating the evolution of filmmaking, right from the earliest optical toys through to new technologies,” said ACMI CEO & Director, Katrina Sedgwick.
“With Wonderland, ACMI has created an interactive exhibition where audiences will explore the magic of film craft and its integral role embedding this much loved story in our imaginations for generations.”
Rich with inspiration for visual interpretation, Carroll’s tales have been the subject of more than 40 film versions and over 30 television programs. Today Alice remains an icon; omnipresent and continually relevant through her presence across music videos, video games, high fashion and advertising. Wonderland will take audiences on Alice’s journey through popular culture, demonstrating how her story has been brought to life on screen for more than a century.
The exhibition illustrates our ongoing fascination with new visual technologies and the role of the moving image to quench our desire to make the impossible seem possible. From the first screen adaptation in 1903 to Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016), Wonderland will reveal the development of special effects from pre-cinematic entertainment and silent film, to animation, puppetry, live-action cinema, video games, CGI, 3D and beyond.
This wholly original ACMI exhibition brings the museum’s extensive creative and curatorial expertise together with a leading team of Australian collaborators to create an immersive experience complete with playful environments and bespoke digital activities that draw on the wonder and curiosity of Carroll’s stories.
Together with the ACMI team, exhibition and theatrical designer Anna Tregloan, digital creative studios Sandpit, Grumpy Sailor and Mosster Studio, sound designer Byron Scullin and composer Cornel Wilczek, come together to create an interactive experience that will delight and surprise adults and children alike.
Wonderland
ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne
Exhibition: 5 April – 7 October 2018
Information and Bookings: www.acmi.net.au
Image: Jan Švankmajer’s Alice, 1988 (film still)