Starting in July, SPARK Ipswich is a city-wide festival of arts and culture in Ipswich, showcasing local talent and creating a uniquely Ipswich experience.
Now entering its fourth year, SPARK Ipswich is an annual celebration of live music, theatre, arts, and hands-on cultural experiences. The 2024 event runs across various locations in Ipswich – a place which is home to an array of world-class artists, musicians and performers.
Leading Queensland projection artist James Muller, who has 20 years' experience in creating immersive and transformative visual experiences, will be involved across all 11 nights of SPARK in one of its key events: deLight.
deLight will light up St Paul's Anglican Church and 143 Brisbane Street with projections of works from local artists including Kacey Fahey, Jacob Sarra, Kylie Hill, Kate Douglas and more.
James Muller shares some of his insights for this year's event.
“This is my fourth year involved with SPARK. Each year has been like a journey of discovery as Ipswich reveals its amazing artistic talent and unique spaces and places,” he says.
Check out the programme here.
“I work closely with local artists to create deLight. DeLight activates three large scale projection experiences across three very different spaces in the Ipswich City Centre. You can view it every night during the festival.”
James shares five reasons to head along to SPARK Ipswich this year: “I get the sense that Ipswich is beginning to emerge as unique cultural entity. SPARK is a great representation of this with an expansive programme which includes a large musical component. Being a light-based artist, I’ll share some of the night time activities that will give you a different perspective on Ipswich.”
One
An outstanding selection of local First Nations artwork projection mapped to the historic St Paul’s building. The depth of talent displayed by descendants of First Nations peoples is outstanding and you can see it every night of SPARK for free.Two
You won’t expect to walk through those amazing projections and then hear one of Queensland’s oldest pipe organs inside St Paul’s. It’s huge and has been fully restored. Organists use both their hands and legs to play it.Three
Little-known fact is that legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar makes a bee line for Indian Mehfil Restaurant every time he plays in Brisbane. It’s situated in a historic building right in the hub of SPARK. You can enjoy a curry and check out all the events including a huge sand circle projection at d'Arcy Doyle Place featuring amazing local artist Renee Yates.Four
In contrast to the historic architecture of Ipswich, a tall modern building on Brisbane Street will be lit up with large scale projections. This will be a vibrant and varied animated showcase of local artists and musicians over 11 nights. Not to be missed.Five
Many people might not know that the Metro B building in the brand-new Nicholas Street precinct has embedded lighting design that allows the whole outside of the building to become a gigantic animated artwork. Head on down every night of SPARK to see what the local design students have created.SPARK Ipswich runs 4-14 July at various locations throughout Ipswich.
