PROJECT: THE CITY SPEAKS SOFTLY
ARTIST: TAL FITZPATRICK AND MELISSA SPRATT
PROJECT PARTNERS: TBC

The City Speaks Softly is a collaboration between Melissa Spratt and Tal Fitzpatrick that uses the comforting nature of textiles to explore how art can soften our experience of public space. The built environment can be overwhelming and at times feel unsafe. This project seeks to shed light on how art might create moments of gentle sensorial reprieve and to explore the potential to gently surprise audiences.

Tal and Melissa completed their research and development in June 2024. During this phase they tested out their idea by presenting a maquette, a street pole banner prototype, and co-facilitating a workshop. Bringing together a cross-section of the Gold Coast community at Broadbeach Cultural Precinct, the workshop taught participants how to finger knit whilst engaging them in critical conversations about how art might soften our experience of public space.

The City Speaks Softly is intended to be created through a process of artist-led storytelling and community engagement, resulting in bespoke textile-based works being produced by the artists, translated to print and exhibited on the City’s street pole banners.