Ballarat’s highly anticipated 1000 Doors art installation will have special protection, thanks to Federation University historian and anthropologist, Dr David Waldron.
The labyrinth-like installation of doors, gateways, portraits and screens has been created by artists Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney, who were the masterminds behind the highly successful House of Mirrors, now located at MONA in Hobart.
From 25 August until 3 October, 1000 Doors will be located in Ballarat’s Armstrong Street South (between the Town Hall and Myer).
Every entrance into the unique exhibition will begin at the same door, but no two visitors will leave the same as they entered.
1000 Doors previously sold out at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Brisbane Festival, and the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
“We are so thrilled to be presenting 1000 Doors in the heart of Ballarat, particularly when countless doors were originally sourced here,” artists Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney said.
“It’s like these doors have been on this extraordinary journey and led us back here to Ballarat.”
Anthropologist, Dr Waldron has applied ‘witch marks’ to several of the doors to help protect the artistic labyrinth from evil spirits.
“When people came to Australia in the goldrush and of course in the earlier era of transportation, the bulk of the people who came here originated in poorer rural sectors of Britain,” Dr Waldron said.
“These people brought much of their old folk traditions and beliefs with them. This included a wide array of folk customs, medicines, and rituals, many of which were designed to protect the home and loved ones from evil spirits and death.
“It is worth noting that the germ theory of medicine did not really take off until the 1860s (so) for these people, their fears of illness and death were still closely tied to older medieval notions of evil spirits, curses and witchcraft.
“There is evidence of these old folk beliefs in the walls of early to mid-19th century homes and outbuildings in the form of concealed objects, such as poppets (dolls), witch bottles and boots and marks to ward off evil on thresholds and fireplaces, such as hexafoils, “spectacle marks” and VV for the Virgin Mary (Veneratus Virginum).
“The people who made these marks and were consulted on these matters were known as “Cunning women (or men).”
Dr Waldron said Federation University hosted and supported an archaeological survey of 40 central and western Victorian properties in 2019, funded by the University of Hertfordshire, LaTrobe University, and the Society for Vernacular Architecture.
“A number of hexafoils, inscriptions, spectacle marks, ritual burn and soot marks and concealed objects were located across western Victoria.
“For the 1000 Doors project, I have been asked to recreate these marks and folk charms according to the surviving evidence of their practices, to give the installation a closer connection to those folk traditions and customs of the early goldfields.
“These will be hidden and concealed throughout the many passages, doors and tunnels of the installation and recreated with the tools and customs of the mid-19th century.”
City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Daniel Moloney said the witch marks would add an extra layer of interest to the already fascinating art installation.
“1000 Doors already promises to be one of the most interesting installations ever seen in Ballarat, and these witch marks will add an extra historic touch to the atmosphere,” Cr Moloney said.
“We don’t know which door they will be behind or what they will look like but I think it’s a great way to link the folk traditions and customs of the early goldfields and 1000 Doors together.”
The exhibition (25 August until 3 October) will be open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays 12pm-7pm and Fridays and Saturdays 12pm-9pm.
Tickets are $10 per person – with under 5s and over 75s free.
