House of Dreams
Barking Spider Visual Theatre
Projects Between $50,000-$150,000 2019


“In waking life, some houses clearly symbolise and embody the people who live in them. So it is in the dream symbolisation of the inner world, where houses reflect the person that they contain / are.” Carl Jung (1875–1961)
In 2016 Melbourne-based independent arts company, Barking Spider Visual Theatre, was invited to curate the House of Ideas series in Fairhall exhibition-house, at The Johnston Collection (TJC), a not-for-profit and award-winning museum in East Melbourne.
HOUSE OF DREAMS (12 July 2016 – 20 September 2016) was their response.
Taking their inspiration from Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s dream theories, a team of visual and performance artists from the theatre company, transformed TJC into a transformative space with a series of extraordinary dreamscapes. Selected objects from the permanent Collection, found object assemblages, commissioned works including sound and lighting design made especially for the exhibition, and visual and creative writing, were all used to create the metaphors and symbols of dreams with which to convey stories exploring the history of William Johnston and his residence, Fairhall.
Project Team:
1. Penelope Bartlau, Artistic Director of Barking Spider Visual Theatre
2. Louis Le Vaillant, Director | Curator, The Johnston Collection
3. Kyoko Imazu, visual artist
4. Jason Lehane, lighting designer and co-designer
5. Darius Kedros, sound designer
6. Luc Favre, Design Assistant
7. Sarah Walker, Promotional Photographer
8. Adam Luts, Documentation photography
9. Warren Dowley, Documentation videographer