Fremantle's abandoned hotel has become a vibrant arts space for just two weeks. The building, with its stunning stained-glass windows and dark timber mouldings, was once a magnet for sailors and wharfies but fell into disrepair after decades of abandonment. Now, it is bursting with creativity as over 40 artists occupy the upper floor to create immersive performances and installations.
Musician Danielle Caruana AKA Mama Kin co-curated Room Service with Tom Mùller. The duo has taken the hotel's historic rooms to explore themes of loneliness, complicity and place. In one room, musician Iain Grandage and cellist Mel Robinson set up a cello duet inspired by 19th-century sailor songs. Meanwhile, Whadjuk Balladong and Wilman Noongar artist Zali Morgan painted watercolours in response to the hotel's colonial past.
Artist Guy Louden has turned his room into a dystopian climate game called Wet End, while architect Nic Brunsdon created a serene space using natural materials to imagine pre-colonial Fremantle. The installations showcase the power of art to transform abandoned spaces and ignite new creative possibilities.
For Mama Kin, Room Service highlights the importance of inviting artists into empty spaces. "Empty spaces are a vacuum," she says. "They create these kind of gaps in continuity. They create gaps in an experience of connectivity." By occupying the hotel's vacant rooms, artists can fill those gaps and create meaningful experiences for visitors.
Room Service takes place from November 29-30 at P&O hotel, 25 High Street, Fremantle, as part of the Fremantle Biennale.
Musician Danielle Caruana AKA Mama Kin co-curated Room Service with Tom Mùller. The duo has taken the hotel's historic rooms to explore themes of loneliness, complicity and place. In one room, musician Iain Grandage and cellist Mel Robinson set up a cello duet inspired by 19th-century sailor songs. Meanwhile, Whadjuk Balladong and Wilman Noongar artist Zali Morgan painted watercolours in response to the hotel's colonial past.
Artist Guy Louden has turned his room into a dystopian climate game called Wet End, while architect Nic Brunsdon created a serene space using natural materials to imagine pre-colonial Fremantle. The installations showcase the power of art to transform abandoned spaces and ignite new creative possibilities.
For Mama Kin, Room Service highlights the importance of inviting artists into empty spaces. "Empty spaces are a vacuum," she says. "They create these kind of gaps in continuity. They create gaps in an experience of connectivity." By occupying the hotel's vacant rooms, artists can fill those gaps and create meaningful experiences for visitors.
Room Service takes place from November 29-30 at P&O hotel, 25 High Street, Fremantle, as part of the Fremantle Biennale.
This is so cool! I mean, can you imagine walking into a old abandoned hotel and just finding out it's been taken over by artists for two whole weeks? It sounds like an amazing experience. The fact that they're exploring themes of loneliness and complicity in the rooms is really interesting... like how art can help us understand ourselves better and connect with others on a deeper level. And the way they've used the hotel's stained glass windows and dark timber mouldings as inspiration for their installations is just genius! 
The way they're using the space to explore themes of loneliness and complicity is so thought-provoking... I mean, who knew abandoned spaces could be so powerful? 
. Whadjuk Balladong and Zali Morgan's watercolours are stunning, too... like, have you seen the way they're responding to the hotel's colonial past? It's so important that we're having these conversations in art spaces.
And Nic Brunsdon's natural materials space is so serene... I need to see it for myself. Can't wait for the Fremantle Biennale and get my fix of all this amazing art! 
1 room got cellos playin sailor songs, another got ppl paintin about colonial past 
Guy Louden's room is a dystopian climate game Wet End lol what i love is how its transformin this empty space into somethin new & vibrant 
u gotta check it out at P&O hotel on Nov 29-30 part of freo biennale 
its all about fillin those gaps in connectivity & creatin meaningful experiences for visitors 
the way mama kin talks about filling gaps in spaces really resonates with me, we need more of these kinds of initiatives in our communities 
