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In the middle of Parramatta’s Centenary Square, between the historic St John’s Church and the soon-to-be Intercontinental Hotel, dangles a two-metre high plush bear.
It is held up by a pole and a small rotating handle that individually shakes every limb. Its left eye is a button, and its right eye is a camera, barely protruding from the thin, life-like hair that covers its face and round tummy.
Bhuvana Sundaram (right) and her 11 month old son Skandan look at the installation Dancing Teddy 2.0 by artist EJ SON as part of the Parramatta Lanes festival.Credit: Kate Geraghty
It’s a point of fascination to a mother and her young child walking past, but not even the bear or its two siblings of various sizes, is out of place at the Parramatta Lanes festival, beginning on Wednesday night.
About 70,000 people are expected to attend the four-day festival, now in its 12th year. But new Parramatta Mayor Pierre Esber reckons attendance numbers will be 20 per cent higher than last year.
Why? Well, Parramatta is “where heaven touches earth,” he insists. But the more pragmatic reason involves dogs.
Just next to the Riverside Theatre, over the Parramatta River, Lennox Bridge has been transformed into a “pup culture zone”.
Pierre Esbe is the new mayor of Parramatta.Credit: Kate Geraghty
The doggy dreamland will feature a silent cinema – to entertain owners while the dogs remain the stars of the show – and a dog agility course, along with treats for dogs and humans.
Artist EJ SON created the animatronic bears, which will appear in Phillip Lane, near the bridge, as a reflection on labour and the entertainment industry.