Shadowgram
Within Horizon's Urban Gallery, Shadowgram invites audiences to contribute to a wall of ideas expressed through shadows and words.
Shadowgram is a community-focused project inspired by 19th-century photogenic drawings, bringing this unique image-making process to the digital age. Audiences generate their own shadowgram portraits and display them with an associated statement, contributing thoughts and ideas to the ever-growing collective of voices.
The Sunshine Coast community will be able to participate in social brainstorming through images and text to generate engaging insights into how they envision the Sunshine Coast of tomorrow.
Please note: Shadowgram will be closed on Monday 5 May.
Download the Urban Gallery Map here.
About the Urban Gallery
This work is part of the Festival Precinct, where we invite you to wander and wonder through our Urban Gallery every day of Horizon 2025.
Situated in Ocean St, Maroochydore (Kabi Kabi Country), you’ll find a diverse collection of works nestled into streets, laneways and Big Top Shopping Centre — blurring the lines between physical, artistic and digital realms.
Suitable for all ages, this free-to-enjoy 10-day art-trail will feature inspiring work from visionary Queensland and Australian contemporary artists, including First Nations artists.
Experimenta: Curatorial statement
The festival's provocation of radical hope is the inspiration for Experimenta's public art presentation. Radical hope is a transformative framework that challenges us to move beyond passive optimism, instead embracing collective action, shared goals and resilience.
Radical hope is rooted in the belief that social change emerges from community-driven efforts. It calls on diverse groups to coalesce, transcend societal limitations, and actively imagine and walk towards a just and equitable future.
The works featured in this presentation by Experimenta, as part of Horizon 2025, reflect this ethos. These works go beyond a single act of art making; they are part of long-term projects embodying the artists' acts of radical hope.
Creative Team - Sunshine Coast
- Artists – Art Thinking
- Producer (Art Thinking) – Kristefan Minski
- Experimenta Curator – Lubi Thomas
- Experimenta Creative Producer – Anna Nalpantidis
- Wall Commissioned Artist – Samantha Taylor
Shadowgram Original Idea and Concept
Ars Electronica Futurelab / Matthew Gardiner, Roland Haring, Christopher Lindinger, Hide Ogawa
Shadowgram Original R&D Team
Ars Electronica Futurelab / Matthew Gardiner, Roland Haring, Christopher Lindinger, Martina Mara, Emiko Ogawa, Hideaki Ogawa, David Stolarsky
Shadowgram Australia Fabrication Design and Production
davisthomas
Ars Electronica Shadowgram Australia Producer and Licensee
Kristefan Minski / Art Thinking Australia
Art Thinking
Art Thinking is a Transdisciplinary Studio based in Newcastle, Australia. They focus on exploring tomorrow’s questions to experiment, prototype and produce products for community engagement and social innovation. They do this using an Art Thinking model. Art Thinking is a project partner of Ars Electronica, pioneers of the Art Thinking philosophy. Ars Electronica is an Austrian cultural, educational and scientific institute founded in Linz in 1979. Over the last 45 years, they have been analysing and commenting on the Digital Revolution and developing projects, strategies and competencies for the Digital Transformation. Together with artists, scientists, technologists, designers, developers, entrepreneurs and activists from all over the world, Ars Electronica addresses the central questions of our future. The focus is on new technologies and how they change the way we live and work together.
Dr Kristefan Minski is the founder of Art Thinking Australia and official Ambassador to Ars Electronica. Since 2024, he has been based in Vietnam as a manager for RMIT Vietnam’s Office of Research and Innovation.
Experimenta
Experimenta is Australia’s leading organisation dedicated to commissioning, exhibiting and touring contemporary art driven by ideas and shaped by technology.
In the age of technological acceleration, Experimenta’s role is vital to understanding what it is to be human. Their programs, exhibitions, and events encourage the exploration of contemporary issues through visual arts engagement.
Lubi Thomas – Curator for Experimenta
Lubi Thomas is an experienced digital/new media curator whose practice has significantly contributed to the cultural landscape through exhibitions, projects, festivals, residencies, mentorships, and transdisciplinary programming.
With over forty exhibitions — several touring nationally and internationally — Lubi has extensive experience collaborating with a diversity of artists through various programming structures and deliverables. Her curation focus resides at the intersection of ‘Art – Technology – Science – Society’, allowing her to engage with artists who explore cutting-edge art forms, tools, and concepts relevant to the issues of the environment and society. Lubi’s adaptable approach to curation, programming, and presentation has enabled her to successfully showcase projects in both traditional galleries and unconventional spaces.
Lubi’s key curation tenet is that Art is a language of ideas, and through this she aims to present contemporary art that ignites emotional and intellectual responses within the broader community.
Samantha Taylor - Commissioned Artist
Based in Buderim, Sunshine Coast, Samantha is an Australian woman, architect, and artist. Samantha's regional arts practice bridges imagination and experience, exploring relationships between constructed forms and natural elements through drawing and installation. Samantha's work embraces themes of human interactions with the environment, Identity, and Experience, often approached with absurdity and playful curiosity.
For Shadowgram, Samantha created the wall artworks and designs you'll encounter in the space, titled 'Shadowgram – A Vision of Radical Hope'.
Acknowledgements
Shadowgram is curated by Experimenta and presented by Horizon 2025 as part of the Festival Precinct Urban Gallery supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and Big Top Shopping Centre.
This is an indoor participatory installation suitable for all ages.
You will be guided through the process by our friendly festival crew.
Wheelchair Accessibility
This event is wheelchair accessible.
Level Access
This event will take place in a public place on Ocean St, Maroochydore, where there is level access.
Bathroom Access
This event takes place in a public space. The closest public facilities are available inside the Big Top Shopping Centre, Solbar, Old Soul and other open restaurants along Ocean Street.
Any other access requirements
We welcome all audiences to Horizon and strive to make every event and performance as accessible as possible.
We are always open to discussing your individual requirements to assist wherever possible. If you’d like to speak to someone about your access requirements, please contact us during business hours at (07) 5475 7272 or [email protected].
If you are travelling by car there is free, three-hour parking available at the Big Top Shopping Centre carpark located on Ocean Street. Parking is limited, we advise you use alternative transport, carpool or park and walk.
Solbar is within easy walking distance of the Maroochydore Station Bus Interchange. Plan your journey to festival from the Translink Website.
Car Parking is limited on Ocean Street so ride your bike to the Duporth Ave bike parking hub. You can lock your bike in the Council facility that has 24hr security cameras active.