We Can Be Heroes (Paul Gazzola Collaboration)

We Can Be Heroes was an interdisciplinary public art project that found its debut at the Free State Art Festival in South Africa. It consisted of four large inflatables inspired by the Southern sky, imagined worlds and local mythologies.

Locals in and around the city of Bloemfontein were invited to hold a giant balloon and to share their thoughts on what they think of when they look to the sky. The balloons came together on one site at the festival, forming a unit outlining the footprint of the city during the last two days of the festival. During these two days of the festival, the collected thoughts of the locals were projected onto the surface of these inflatables.

We Can Be Heroes was presented as part of the Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD), an initiative of the University of the Free State and the Vrystaat Arts Festival, generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in partnership with OSCA – Open Space Contemporary Arts (Australia).

Conceived by Australian artist Paul Gazzola and designed by local artist Marius Jansen van Vuuren.