Join us for the official launch of the Juvenilia exhibition with curator and internationally award-winning author Aimee Chan at the State Library of Western Australia.

Juvenilia is work produced by an author or artist while they were a child.

This very special exhibition showcases the juvenilia of Australia’s kids’ authors and illustrators like Australian Children’s Laureate Andy Griffiths, Graeme Base, Alison Lester, Ursual Dubosarsky and more.

Everyone starts somewhere. Whether it is handwriting stories on scrap paper or drawing pictures in pencil and then rubbing them out, today’s most prominent creators of children’s books all started as children too, dreaming about being able to publish their own story.

This unique and intimate collection is an insight into the early writing and drawing of some of the most established authors and illustrators in Australia. And, after three years of touring the eastern side of Australia, Juvenilia is finally coming to WA as part of the Awesome Festival 2026!

At the launch you will have the opportunity to meet author Aimee Chan, who gathered all the pieces for this display, and hear her talk about what this collection represents about the importance of early childhood storytelling.

PRESENTED BY: Aimee Chan

ARTISTS AND CREATORS:

Aimee Chan

MAIN VENUE: State Library of WA

ROOM: Story Place

AGES: All ages

TICKETS:  Free

DURATION: Open all day

BOOK NOW: https://barkinggecko.com.au/awesome-festival/perth/2026-juvenilia

She has a musical-saw and a zeal for the many and varied voices of birds. Madame Lark offers her own vocal interpretations of the things around her… Along with her particular interest in hair, drawings, shapes and pedestrian elements of society, she gives an affectionate nod to the chatter and warblings of the air dwellers with surprisingly accurate Australian bird-calls.

PRESENTED BY: Christine Johnston & the 2026 AWESOME Festival present

ARTISTS AND CREATORS:

Christine Johnston

Recorded Music – Peter Nelson

MAIN VENUE: Subiaco Arts Centre

ROOM: Amphitheatre

AGES: All ages

TICKETS: Free

DURATION: 60 mins

BOOK NOW: https://barkinggecko.com.au/awesome-festival/subiaco/2026-madame-lark

Touch & Go is a dancing game devised especially for children aged two and three years. Featuring dance-theatre and minimal verbal language, Touch & Go entices, dares and entertains children in a playful environment shaped by two friendly dancers and a live guitarist, several rolls of masking tape, and lots of imagination. The children and their adults are invited to enter this cheerful world of pathways, stepping-stones and lines. The children become part of the performance themselves or observe from a safe distance, touching and going – just as they need to.

PRESENTED BY: Sally Chance Dance

ARTISTS AND CREATORS:

Sally Chance Dance

MAIN VENUE: State Theatre Centre of WA

ROOM: Rehearsal Room 1

AGES: Under 5 yo

TICKETS:  $10.00 per person

PERFORMANCE DURATION: 55 mins

BOOK NOW: https://www.trybooking.com/DOEIU