On close reflection it seems that parades like the one featured in this week’s Sepia Saturday image seem to have been rather infrequent in my life, or else they haven’t been photographed. However the combination of festivities and whacky designs took me back to the fun days of Expo 88, an event which turned Brisbane on its head and changed it forever, I think. I wrote about how we all enjoyed it in an earlier Sepia Saturday post.
Today I’m going to share with you some of the whacky statues that were tucked around the site, awaiting discovery and generating a giggle or two.
The Expo site, now the South Bank precinct, was once a rather unsalubrious area of Brisbane with dry docks and inadequate housing. These particular characters are a nod to that past.
And then there were the site workers:
And the Aussie themes:
The lifesavers:
And the entertainers:
And sometimes balancing all the things to see and do was quite a challenge.
If you’re wondering what happened to your favourite Expo Art you might find this Art Trail helpful. And to see some more of the whacky parades and people click here.
Why not parade over to Sepia Saturday and see what other festivities the Sepians have in store this week?
Tropical Territory & Travel 
Just loved Expo, great fun… what a pity I had to go almost every second day for work…
That would surely have taken the shine off it a little Chris 😉 All the Cass mob had a great time there, in various combos, with other family members. So pleased we splashed the cash with a season pass for the family – we surely got our money’s worth.
What wonderful statues, so full of movement and life. I wonder what they were made of.
I did a quick search Little Nell & it turns out they were mostly made of fibreglass. I’ve added links to where they went and other images from Expo to the bottom of my story.
Those were fun! Some could leave a person quite speechless!
Indeed…there were lots of things that were jaw-dropping..it was just so much fun.
Ah ! Thanks for the memories Pauleen. Those statues were fabulous.
It was the happiest six months, wasn’t it Alex. DD3 and I spent lots of time there while himself was studying.
I wonder what happened to them. I would have liked photographing them too.
Quite a few found their way around the city – in building foyers etc. Of course there were lots of photos with people taken to “fit in” with the statue theme.
All i remember from seeing the Brisbane Expo on TV was that giant kangaroo with the moving eyes, but those sculptures were fun, even though some look rather kitsch.
The giant kangaroo was the Commonwealth Games Jo ….I was tempted to include it 🙂 Kitsch but fun 🙂
What fun. Some great imaginations at work there!
They were very convincing and some have been incorporated into displays round town.
These were fantastic and very imaginative sculpture. Public art is very important for establishing a civic identity. Some grand patriotic monuments never really achieve much while good humored art like this is more memorable.
That’s quite true Mike…some “important” monuments don’t capture the mood of the place.
Lots of good humor in these statues. Thanks for the tour!
I’m glad you enjoyed them Wendy.