Reviewed by: The List
Review by Jo Laidlaw | 26 February 2024
When we think of our recent heritage, it’s all too easy to overlook the mundane. It’s the public buildings or the places that have been deemed historically significant that tend to draw attention when we’re trying to make sense of our collective past. But there’s often great beauty and interest to be found in the ordinary and the industrial; the things that weren’t fashioned with public acclamation in mind. This is why Sleep’s Hill Tunnel, open to the public for the length of the Fringe, is such a jewel. An abandoned railway tunnel, it’s variously been used to store documents during the war, as a wine cellar and as a mushroom farm. Its carefully overlapped bricks hold a million stories within them, and this sense of history is enhanced by the various light and projection installations. So Stephen Axford’s Planet Fungi shows the intricate beauty of the hidden world of fungi; Infinite creates an illusion of infinite possibilities and Transcendent shows all of Adelaide stretching out into the endless distance. From railway buffs to social historians, art fans to curious citizens, this is a fascinating glimpse into Adelaide’s recent industrial past. Bonus points if you manage to catch one of owner and custodian Dave Munro’s informative and informal talks about the tunnel’s history and future.