The opening night of SALA at the silos 2024 was an amazing spectacle of art and photography.

When the sky turned dark enough the show began, and as promised it was under the stars.

The clear night made it a cold evening but it wasn’t bothering too many in the big crowd who were enjoying the brilliant show.

This art festival theme was ‘Think Big’ and the aim was to explore the scale of possibility and imagination of public art. The purpose was to challenge artists to dream big and see their art in a form that stretches beyond conventional gallery walls, magnified under the dark sky in this part of regional South Australia.

Thirty one artists and photographers were chosen to have their work illuminated on the Karoonda silos and I was one of the lucky ones. It was a real honour to have my photos shown amongst the other artists and I would absolutely encourage anyone if they have the chance to visit Karoonda during the month of August, where the show will be on every night on rotation every half hour until late at night.

I can highly recommend a stay at the Karoonda Tourist Park too. It’s a comfortable and spacious park to base yourself with a small number of caravan sites which you can book and pay for online starting from $20 per night.

Staying here enables you to walk to the town centre, less than a kilometre from the park, and find all the basics you’d need to make your stay a comfortable one. There are cafes, a hotel and supermarket as well as a craft shop, but Karoonda has so much more, with amazing attractions that make this little town of around 500 people, a hidden gem.

On the eastern edge of town is Pioneer Park, an open air museum managed by the Karoonda & District Historical Society and the local council. The way the park is setup makes you feel like you’re walking through an abandoned historic town. Buildings and even railway carriages bring various aspects of the farming district’s past to life, showing scenes of everyday life in the farming community from times long ago.

For a donation, visitors can visit anytime during daylight hours and wander through the park to see some original buildings which were relocated, like the Methodist Church and tiny Post and Telephone Office, and other buildings which have been replicated. Old wares and relics of the time can be seen inside the buildings as well as original signage.

Just behind the Pioneer Park is a nature park where you can take a walk along pathways and see some approximately 70 native plant species in the reserve. A number of trails can be taken and a variety of birds, lizards spotted and if you’re lucky, possibly even echidnas.

Karoonda has a few sculptural and painted works of art to see on the edge of the highway which you can view best during daylight hours. There’s plenty of car parking spaces to see the various works and view the silos artwork which were painted by artist Heesco. They feature a typical rural scene from the area as well as two well-known locals, Diamond the sheep and Whiskey the kelpie.

Heading back towards the caravan park you’ll pass a big playground for the kids to enjoy and a few more sculptures to see. Nearby is The Big Ram, a sculpture which recognises the sheep industry and in particular, stud Merinos in the area. The artist was Andrew Stock and the ram statue sits atop a base covered with art tiles created by local students and residents.

The final sculptural pieces to see are a series of 6 old silo pads which depict grain crops in various stages over a growing season. This sculpture was created by Garry Duncan and is titled ‘Karoonda Shuffle’.
Visitors are encouraged to walk or jog around and through the structures and see the cutout silhouettes of a wheat crop appear to move as you pass by them.

The six structures represent the six months of a growing season and best of all, this is another art piece you can appreciate day and night, with the sky becoming part of the experience during the day and lights illuminating the structures at night for another perspective.

More Information:
*Karoonda is 150 kilometres south east of Adelaide
*The Karoonda Tourist Park is managed by the District Council of Karoonda East Murray and bookings can be made online or by calling the council office during business hours, Monday to Friday. The small and neat park is located just off the Karoonda Highway and has 12 powered sites starting from $20 per night, a camp kitchen, communal fire pit, cabins and a dump point.
*Pioneer Park is open 7 days a week for self-guided tours by donation.
*For a calendar of upcoming Karoonda silo projection artists, visit Karoonda.com

Cheers
Glenys