Jon Tjhia and Fayen d’Evie The Maze: Reimagined, back ↑ notes

The Maze is a large-scale, immersive papier mâché installation crafted in 1991 under the guidance of artist Suesy Circosta, with the participation of more than 100 young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in the former City of Springvale. More than 30 years later, the work returns reinterpreted through contemporary activations by multidisciplinary artists Jon Tjhia and Fayen d’Evie. Working with local schools, some of The Maze’s original participants, Dandenong-based artists and wider community members, they have developed a contemporary response to this significant work from our collection.

The result is a participatory, intersensory engagement with the ideas at the heart of the original work. This new installation reflects on the value of polyvocality (many voices together), as well as annotation and marginalia as both artistic practice and community-building methodologies. As the work continues to change over the course of exhibition, it will take in new contributions from visitors and collaborators — who will be invited to join this collective consideration of feelings and dreams, past and future, difference and unity, survival and conflict resolution.

The Maze at Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre is complemented by a museum collection exhibition at Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens. Together, the two exhibitions invite audiences to reflect on the transformative power of art to build bridges — between generations, across cultures and through time.