Cover image: Shaun Tan. Supplied

– Tales From Outer Suburbia – Exhibition of Shaun Tan’s prints at the Margaret River HEART (19^th Aug- 8^th Sept)

 –  Screening of ABC TV series at CinefestOz (5^th, 6^th and 7^th September)

Imagine if in a warm summer night, you had a visit of a marine animal in your front lawn? Or perhaps having a giant buffalo living down the road?  It may seem hard to believe but this is what the award-winning WA author, illustrator and filmmaker Shaun Tan wished to unlock in our imagination when he wrote Tales from Outer Suburbia in 2008.  Nearly twenty years later, Tan’s book is the focus of an exclusive exhibition of prints at the Margaret River HEART – Nala Bardip Mia during the 18^th edition of CinefestOz.

As Mark Naglazas wrote earlier, of a major interest at this year’s instalment of the film festival will be the preview screening of two episodes of a new ABC’s original series based on Tan’s homonymous picture book. The show tells the story of a clever “almost 13 years old” Klara and her younger brother Pim, and their extraordinary adventures when they move, with their newly single mother Lucy, to Outer Suburbia.

Although the TV series has captured the spirit of the original book, it will be centred on key characters to follow a more continuous narrative. A major production that counts with a participation of international acclaimed cast, such as British actress and comedian, Dawn French. Episode 3 Distant Rain and episode 5 Eric will screen on the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th of September in Busselton and Margaret River with Q&A session with director Noel Cleary.

Tales From Outer Suburbia is an anthology of fifteen short, illustrated stories that were inspired by Shaun Tan’s memories of growing up in Perth northern suburbs in the 1980s. Memories of a persistent stillness, sense of order and unwavering silence in the suburbia that always intrigued the artist. Adding fantastical creatures and inconceivable happenings to this otherwise ordinary suburban landscape, would give the perfect recipe for these stories to become intemporal.

A seamless fusion of fantasy and reality emerges through his illustrations. Images of toothed TVs running down a hill chasing a young couple, a huge reindeer leaping across a quiet suburban playground, or a pink and grey galah on the top of a missile planted on someone’s backyard can be equally disturbing and honest, absurd and surprisingly familiar.

For instance, in Amnesia Machine (2007), our attention is drawn into the big metallic piece of engineering at the centre of the print. As we move closer, we’re invited to join the crowd already on the ground looking into the multipipe machine hovering above their heads. In the corner, a look-alike Mr. Whippy van announcing free ice-creams to the most curious provides a counterbalance to the sinister event and a sense of grounding. The strong contrast of light and shadow accentuates the dramatic atmosphere that Tan achieved by drawing in pencil in the original work.  

Amongst the prints, more recent studies for a TV series concept drawing which culminated in the upcoming adaptation of Tales from Outer Suburbia. Character- building scenes featuring older characters such as the Sea Diver, the Giant Buffalo, or the boat lady in Sunday Afternoon (2007). As Shaun Tan assumes the role of creative director of this TV adaptation, working within a multidisciplinary team of writers and the director Noel Cleary, it is expected to see punctual revisitations of his iconic imagery on the big screen like the crows, the transmission towers or the red brick one storey houses so common in suburban Western Australia.

As this exhibition sets as the perfect opening for a second life given to Tan’s tales, it also sets as a reminder of a sense of familiarity and beauty in a strange environment without a specific meaning or a plausible explanation. An invitation to engage in a philosophical journey where the viewers, as the readers once before, are challenged to observe and reflect on the ordinary events of daily life.

Tales From Outer Suburbia Exhibition at Margaret River HEART – Nala Bardip Mia until the 8^th of September

CinefestOz Film Festival from 30^th of August to the 7^th of September

Tales from Outer Suburbia screenings:

FRI  5^th September   I   6:15pm I   Orana Cinemas Busselton  I  Q&A dir Noel Cleary and Mark Naglazas

SAT  6^th September  I    6:30pm  I Margaret River HEART I  Q&A dir Noel Cleary and Janine Carter

SUN  7^th September  I    4:30pm  I Orana Cinemas Busselton