From 20 November, Fremantle Arts Centre presents Hundreds & Thousands: an immersive kids’ colour adventure, bringing the magic of colour to life with dazzling interactive artworks, highly sensory installations and educational experiences that invite curiosity, discovery and play.

Meandering through a spectrum of colour-themed spaces, audiences will encounter soft sculptures to touch, kaleidoscopic wall installations and twinkling fields of colourful lights—designed to spark little imaginations while expanding boundaries of perception and understanding.

Hundreds & Thousands brings together more than 20 artists of national and international renown including Sydney Ball, Brian McKay, Laurel Nannup, Ngamuru Bidu, Giles Hohnen, Tarryn Gill, Jeremy Kirwan-Ward, Rohin Kickett, Penny Coss, and Darren Siwes.

Among the exhibition are nine newly commissioned works by artists including Phil Gamblen, Rosie Deacon, Angela Ferolla, Sohan Ariel Hayes and Rachel Riggs, including surprising participatory works and unique colour stories that engage the senses in unexpected ways.

Bringing together works of magnificent scale and imagination, Hundreds & Thousands invites children to marvel at the joys of colour, to explore the intimate relationship between colour and emotion, and to reflect on the colourful moments in their own daily lives.

Kate Rohde, Ornament Crimes, 2015, mixed media, dimensions variable, exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria

According to Glenn Iseger-Pilkington, Hundreds & Thousands co-curator, “The exhibition is a celebration of colour, an important aspect of visual language that many of us experience just months after entering the world. Hundreds & Thousands unites works from the City of Fremantle Collection and loans from private collections with recent commissions from leading Western Australian artists.”

Emma Buswell, who worked alongside Glenn as co-curator, commented, “Going to the Arts Centre as a kid was always a treasured time, walking through giant hallways, large than life galleries and grounds filled with flowers, birdsong and dappled light. It is exciting, decades on, to reimagine these spaces for a younger generation.”

Among the exhibition’s highlights, Perth-based artist Phil Gamblen will build an immersive installation of 3D-printed forms, each containing a programmed LED bulb. Upon first glance the forms appear white, but when the audience moves across them, they refract brilliant rays of colour that welcome movement and play.

Known for her intensely colourful sculptural objects, Melbourne-based artist Kate Rhode will create a large-scale kaleidoscopic wallpaper installation. Featuring dazzling neon patterns, this installation becomes an immersive point of entry to FAC’s galleries. The Ramsay Prize finalist will also exhibit a vivid series of whimsical cast-resin objects that speak to both real and imagined worlds.

Renowned puppet-maker Rachel Riggs will create a highly interactive work which encourages visitors to create stories using light and shadow, a tradition dating back in time. Meanwhile, Sydney-based artist Rox de Luca will present her extraordinary sculptural garlands of found-objects. The works, which feature hundreds of shards of plastic and debris collected from beaches in Bondi and Rose Bay, are a defiant commentary on the deluge of plastic waste that our species generates daily.

Local artists Catherine Taylor and Tyrown Waigana are working together to create a multitude of soft sculptures which audiences can touch and interact with. Created using recycled yellow fabric, these small minion-like creatures are an adaptation of one of Tyrown’s animations, made with the help of Catherine’s vast experience in costume design and textiles.

Taking place on 20 November, the Hundreds & Thousands exhibition opening will be a day-time affair for kids and families to enjoy, including family friendly entertainment, food, games and an array of interactive activities.

Following the opening event on Sunday 21 November, a specially curated edition of Sunday Music will brighten up the Front Garden, with Odette Mercy and her Soul Atomics’ Kids Soul Party offering up colourful tunes, dancing and kid-friendly fun.

A series of colourful public programs and special events will accompany Hundreds & Thousands, including pin-wheel flower making, community kite-flying days, special artist talks and education programs about the science and theory of colour.

Fremantle Arts Centre is also introducing a quiet hour to view the exhibition from 9-10am, available upon request. Groups and families wanting to experience Hundreds & Thousands in a more relaxed, unhurried environment can request access to the galleries for an hour before they open to the public. Enquiries can be emailed to [email protected].

Hundreds & Thousands runs from Sat 20 Nov till Sun 23 Jan, 10am – 5pm daily. Free entry. For more information, please visit fac.org.au

Media Contact: Rosamund Brennan, 08 9432 9565, [email protected]