Highwire artist Philippe Petit was the most high-profile international guest who performed at the 2023 Aquarius50 festival.
His most famous highwire walks were between the towers of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in 1971, between the north pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, and between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City in 1974.
Before the Sydney Harbour Bridge walk, Philippe was a guest performer at the 1973 Nimbin Aquarius Festival, where he walked a little rope between the posts flanking the hotel entrance in town, performed as a street-juggler throughout the festival, and saw an impromptu opportunity to perform on the rope for a tug of war that brought together the established settler community of Nimbin with the newcomer community of the Festival.
In early 2023 Benny Zable, then president of Nimbin Aquarius Foundation Incorporated (NAFI), invited Philippe to the 50th Anniversary of the 1973 Nimbin Aquarius Festival (Aquarius50) with the support of Johnny Allen (co-organiser of the 1973 Festival). Allen described Philippe as a consummate impromptu performer who required little to no programming, and who would lift the entire atmosphere of Aquarius50 as he ha at the 1973 Festival fifty years earlier. Jagad Samuel offered free accommodation for Philippe to stay at Flourish Sanctuary (aka Black Sheep Farm) in Nimbin.
Benny Zable was committed to inviting Philippe Philippe to Aquarius50 as part of a dream and vision that he held with NAFI for thirty years, since it began in 1993; for a re-creation of the 1973 tug of war, now a “tug of peace”, to close out Aquarius50. His dream was that Philippe would once again traverse a rope uniting all members of diverse communities, this time as part of the vertical axis of a peace symbol when photographed (by a drone) from above. Into this formation a skydiver would parachute in from above with the Peace Carnival giant Rainbow dove flag. This spectacle would be broadcast to the world as a major event in the peace movement, sending the Aquarius message of harmony and understanding far and wide.
Various people tried to raise money to pay for the travel expenses of Philippe and his manager, but they were not successful. Estimates of the cost for airfare were more thatn US$30,000! When it seemed impossible, Benny offered to pay for the flights out of his savings, and Philippe’s manager promised to get them there for half the originally estimated costs.
I organised a contingency plan and contacted Simone O’Brien, who was working on a large- scale highwire event The Xrossing as Artistic Director / CEO of socially engaged community arts organisation SeedArts to honour the incredible story of world-famous Lismore-born Aboriginal tightwire artist Con Colleano, a story and project she had been developing for seven years. I asked O’Brien for recommendations for local highwire artists who could pay tribute to Philippe for Aquarius50 if Philippe could not attend. When I presented this alternative to Benny Zable I realised a contingency was already in place with the Tuntable community circus group, and that Zable saw any interest from the circus community as an opportunity for engagement with Philippe, only adding to his motivation for bringing Philippe to Australia.
When Philippe was confirmed, word spread through the circus community and O’Brien contacted me to get in touch with Zable. A special launch event was organised for SeedArts’ The Xrossing highwire project where Philippe paid tribute to Con Colleano and gave a demonstration of wire-walking technique to the community in Lismore.
At the Aquarius50 Festival Philippe performed at the Channon Market, on the streets of Nimbin in front of the Mad Hattery and at the basketball court. He also participated in a forum with James Ricketsen at the Nimbin Town Hall, moderated by Angela Catterns, joined in the event titled What is Art? and attended the Elders Dinner and other Festival events with the community.
Although the closing ceremony was more modest than Zable’s vision of an international publicity event, and the flag for a skydiver had since been lost, Philippe made his anticipated appearance at the Tug of Peace.
Following Aquarius50, Philippe went to Sydney where Johnny Allen had arranged various events and press. He gave a benefit talk for the Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, and did a Q&A following a screening of the film about him, Man on Wire, at the Randwick Ritz Cinema. He was appeared live on Channel Ten’s The Project also live with Richard Glover on ABC National among others.
As with all arts events it is difficult to estimate the fiscal return to the community on investment. The entire cost of Philippe’s 50th anniversary visit to Australia was drawn from
Benny Zable’s pension. Benny Zable is one of Nimbin’s most well-known artists for over 50 years including multiple projects for Aquarius50. Philippe’s 1973 visit is part of the story of not only Nimbin, but all of Australia and the world as part of Benny’s seminal acts that mark him as a renowned artist and peace activist. In 2023 Philippe honoured Nimbin and Australia’s part in his legacy by making a series of appearances with and for the community in Nimbin, Lismore and Sydney. Always approachable, Philippe brought all the joy and atmosphere that Allen envisioned, elevating the 2023 Aquarius50 Festival to an occasion as connecting and as memorable as the 1973 Nimbin Aquarius Festival.
While Benny Zable’s vision for an international publicity spectacle “Tug of Peace” as the finale for Aquarius50 was scaled down to a very modest and heartfelt community event, the enthusiastic contribution of Philippe Petit to Nimbin Aquarius and wider communities and culture was a resounding success and a fitting, memorable contribution to 50th anniversary celebrations.
The following feedback was submitted online for SeedArts’ The Xrossing highwire project.
Q1. What was your role & how long were you engaged on the project?
I saw the installation. Got to hear and see Phillip Petit. That alone would have been enough to praise. I Participated in the walk on the wire workshop for 4 days with my 10 year old son and participated in the wizards of the wire performance.
Q2. What was your overall experience of the project? Feel free to explain.
It has been incredible. From start to finish. Even just hearing that someone was going to walk across the river (is what I heard initially) sparked huge joy and imagination. As a consequence of being inspired by Phillip petit I took myself home bought beautiful juggling balls and YouTube taught myself to juggle. I joined the workshop after seeing my son struggle immensely at the 1/2 year theatre/singing performance at his school. He was completely lit up with joy to attend the workshop everyday. He was eager and engaged. It was a deeply wholesome imperfect wonderful experience. That we felt very comfortable coming along to.
The following feedback was recorded during a yarn with Lisa de Koster and is part of the report “Rekindling the Spirit at 2023 Aquarius50 Festival”.
Lisa: I said (to my kids) on Mother’s Day I’m taking you to Nimbin. They loved it. They saw Philippe Petit, up towards the hospital he had a little space there and he did a magic act.
Juggling and on the unicycle and stuff. My kids love Nimbin, they just thought they were a bit too dressed up.
Greg: What did they make of Philippe Petit?
Lisa: Oh, loved him, blown away. They knew who he was anyway, on TikTok and all that. Yeah, he’s known. My youngest, especially, he said, yeah, that’s the man that walked across the two towers in New York. Yeah. Incredible. But it was understated as well, which is so lovely. You know, it wasn’t like, drum roll and a big fanfare. Philippe Petit, extraordinary man, just there he is sitting there in the park. Yeah, just Nimbin isn’t it.