Circus Oz at 40: From Self-Made Tent to Global Success, in Many Tricky Moves - CircusTalk

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Circus Oz at 40: From Self-Made Tent to Global Success, in Many Tricky Moves

Tim Coldwell tosses a bolt of old canvas painted a faded green and gold on to a benchtop. He turns it to expose the stitching. It is supported along the seams by a strip of what turns out to be a car seatbelt.

He doesn’t say it, but there is careful pride in the casual way he displays this odd remnant. Indeed, carefully framed behind glass on a wall nearby is another gaily painted canvas fragment.

Here, then, are the remains of what was the first Circus Oz big-top, preserved as testament to one of the most enduring and widely loved excursions into the fantastic in the history of Australian arts.

The canvas patches are 40 years old.

They tell a story that remains breathtaking in its audacity.

Circus Oz rejoices in a permanent, multimillion-dollar home these days in what was the old Collingwood Tech School.

Link to Full Article at The Age

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