The Wander Out West (WOW) Festival is designed to encourage people to do just that, with 11 days of concerts, installations, exhibitions, artists talks, events and experiences, including a shadow puppet opera.

The new festival is presented by Curate – a Perth-based collective of artists, musicians, designers and other creatives – and Djinda Boodja. Djinda Boodja, which means “Star Country” in Noongar, is a WA organisation dedicated to First Nations music, art, language and culture.

Nina Levy spoke to Patricia Alessi, creator of the WOW Festival and CEO of Perth Creative College and Djinda Boodja, to find out more.

Nina Levy: Firstly, tell us, what is the WOW Festival?

Patricia Alessi: Curate and Djinda Boodja created the WOW Festival in 2022 so that the people of Perth and Western Australia could know more about local arts and culture, driven by the organisations’ artists themselves.

We have placed the Festival at Perth Creative College, a registered training organisation specialising in creative courses, based in Waterford, WA. We wanted people to come and see the Indigenous training facilities that are available for high school Indigenous students. It is also a perfect venue for the Festival, as it includes a heritage house, exhibition hall, outdoor stage and more.

NL: What can punters expect to find at the WOW Festival?

PA: There is plenty to choose from at the Festival.

To start with there’s the “Sounds From Our Grounds” concert, featuring Zero Emcee, Emmet Hodder-Ryan and Lilly Gogos, and stalls by local artists, on Wednesday, 18 January.

There’s also an art exhibition by Tabatha Davison and community workshops such as Curate’s three-time award-winning Act Belong Commit Recycle Instrument Project Workshops, which include musical pinwheels and LPs. There’s even a shadow puppet opera!

There will also be the LP Listening Room, an installation by Tabatha Davison sponsored by the City of South Perth, that will be unveiled during the WOW Festival.

NL: How did the WOW Festival come to exist? Where did the idea come from and what has been the pathway to this point?

PA: Curate originally came up with the idea, and Djinda Boodja was able to offer the venue in Waterford for the Festival. It has taken a year from the concept to actually undertaking the entire inaugural festival.

NL: The Festival includes the grand opening of the Djinda Boodja Museum – can you tell me more about that?

PA: The Djinda Boodja Museum features memorabilia from the beginning (1986) to recent times of the now-retired Abmusic.

NL: Aside from the grand opening of the Museum, what’s a must-see/do event?

PA: We encourage people to come to the stalls on Wednesday, 18 January as well as the concert on the Saturday, 21 January, which features Zero Emcee and Lily Gogos. We are also really excited about the award-winning Act Belong Commit Recycle Instrument Project Workshops.

NL: Anything else we should know?

PA: Most of our events are free, so please come along!

The WOW Festival takes place at Djinda Boodja in Waterford,16-27 January 2023.

Pictured top: An exhibition by Tabatha Davison, who will be exhibiting again at the WOW Festival. Photo Jed Steele