Tinkering Tank Call Out

Cairns Children's Festival imagery with a friendly green monster

We are looking for artists with concept ideas for Cairns Children's Festival Tinkering Tank.

The 2027 theme is Crazy Inventions

For Cairns Children’s Festival in May 2027, we are looking for ways in which we can play and create a space for families to ‘tinker’ with a range of materials, objects and ideas, finding ways of putting things together.

The activities are designed to encourage free play and creative collaboration between generations. It is also a space for children to explore and express ideas about the world they live in.

The Tinkering Tank has been a key project of the festival since its inception. Tinkering Tank has helped to develop projects from simple ideas to fully conceived installations that have subsequently toured to other festivals and galleries.

Applications close Monday 14 December 2027.

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Tinkering Tank artist's brief

Successful concepts will be:

Address the 2027 theme, Crazy Inventions
Are clever and original
Encourage creative collaboration between children and their parents/carers
Be engaging for children of a wide range of ages, but particularly 5-12 years old.
Hold a child’s attention and occupy them for at least half an hour
Occupy up to 200 participants at once
Have no session times – participants should be able to join in and leave any time
Require no explicit instructions and no supervision other than from parents/carers
May be trialled and developed, e.g. at Tanks Market Days, Tanks school holiday workshops or in schools

We will support artists to develop and deliver ideas through:

Engagements to run workshops, trials and deliveries at Creative Life events and in schools.
Provision of creative feedback and collaborative support.
gallery staff and technical assistance for a week of installation
staff and volunteer assistance on the day of the festival, Sunday 16 May 2027
Introductions to industry leaders to assist with creative and professional development of artists post production.
Photographic documentation and marketing support to develop apromotional kit.

Be quick! Applications close Monday 14 December 2027.

APPLY NOW

About the venue

Tinkering Tank, housed in one of the re-purposed World War II oil tanks that make up our unique Tanks Arts Centre, is a space for families to ‘tinker’ with a range of materials, objects and ideas, finding ways of putting things together, in the real world and in their heads.

Inspiration from previous projects

Explosive Art, presented by Cairns State high School in 2014; Rocket-a-Maze presented by Ruby Boussard 2014-16; Paper Town by Rosie Miller in 2018; Bamboo Connect by Anthony Ball and Hedy Verhulst 2019-21; Playing with Shadows / Me and My Shadow by Lilly Gill 2021-22.