Taking place at the MARS booth on the Vernissage night of Thursday 19 February, this enthralling and interactive performance will see artist Damien Shen delve into the guise of a professional magician as he explores storytelling, magic, Aboriginal excellence and optimism to visitors of the stand through eye-catching card tricks. This performance will act as an extension to Shen’s moving image work, which will also be exhibited in the booth, titled My Cuzzy Nate and the 654 Club.

Over the past year, Shen has mastered these card tricks stemming from his long-held fascination with stage magic and hard-won skills in sleight of hand. My Cuzzy Nate and the 654 Club adapts magician Bill Malone’s narrative-based, multi-part card trick ‘Sam the Bellhop’ into a warm and personal story. Shen will use his custom-designed set of playing cards, which features historic images of Aboriginal men and women, adorned with Shen’s Ngarrindjerri motifs. Each card extends the imagery of Shen’s tintype series into an object of play, exchange, and collection.