Cochlear by Snuff Puppets @ Alexandra Gardens

A 14-metre inflatable performance-installation, Cochlear invites you to ‘whisper loudly’ into the inner ear of the general public

Cochlear by Snuff Puppets is part of Midsumma X Ignite Melbourne program.

Welcome to the unexpectedly beautiful interior of Snuff Puppets ornate 15-metre giant inflatable spectacle, Cochlear. 

You will enter through an airlock into a winding cavern of interlocking tubes and passages, culminating in the spiral vortex at the centre of the inner ear. It’s a world of curving lines, soft-edged chambers, geometric forms, and colour-saturated light diffusing through fabric. Strange puppet creatures appear and disappear, inviting you to listen deeper to some of the quietest voices in the city.

Cochlear draws on Snuff Puppets’ portrayal of giant human body parts as potent symbols of our shared humanity and adds to the company’s 30-year legacy of subversive and thought-provoking public spectacles. 

Inspired by the need for more active and engaged ‘listening’ in safe spaces for gender non-conforming people, multidisciplinary queer artist OPAL will host an immersive, interactive performance piece as the locus of Cochlear’s hearing, inviting you to ‘whisper loudly’ into the inner ear of the general public.

Creatives

• Director/Designer/Lead builder - Nick Wilson
• Lead Artist/Puppeteer – Opal
• Producer – Ro Bright