ToadShow's multimedia department produced a number of documentaries and touch-screen interactives for the Museum of Brisbane's exhibition Taking to the Streets: two decades that changed Brisbane. The exhibition reflected on the years 1965 to 1985 - a divisive period in Queensland's history, and a time when young people in Brisbane sought to change the world through political activity, cultural expression and personal change.
ToadShow produced four short documentaries which played in semi-enclosed booths to complement the exhibition's impressive display of posters, newspaper clippings, badges, t-shirts, placards, banners and leaflets with the emotional power of video. Combining footage of the time - ranging from broadcast quality television archives to amateur hand-held Super-8 shot from the midst of jostling crowds - with individual interviews, music, clippings and photographs, we were able to tell the stories of specific incidents, important figures and alternative perspectives in an engaging and comprehensive style. These films are now being used by the Museum of Brisbane as an educational resource for schools in the form of a DVD.
We also produced an "historical overview" - a silent projection of iconic archival footage from the time (e.g.: the Vietnam War) with a scrolling text timeline - a number of touch-screen installations featuring the personal histories of many key figures from the time, and a projected slideshow of political cartoons from the time. ToadShow also worked closely with students from Visible Ink, giving post-production guidance and hardware support for their "digital stories" on young people and activism today.
"Taking to the Streets": Museum of Brisbane April - August 2006
Slideshow
A slideshow of photographs taken of the "Taking to the Streets" Exhibition while it was open at the Museum of Brisbane showing some of the multimedia installations produced by ToadShow. (Photographs credit: Carl Warner)