Khaled Sabsabi, ‘Wonderland’ (2013-2014), community responses developed by Khaled Sabsabi in consultation with the Red and Black Bloc and Western Sydney Wanderers FC, artist collaborator and filmmaker: Ludwig El Haddad, 2023. Commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre supported by Create NSW’s Audience Development Fund, a devolved funding program administered by Museums & Galleries of NSW on behalf of the NSW Government. Photo: Silversalt Photography

Exhibition: Saturday 8 July – Sunday 15 October 2023

COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE, a new initiative by Campbelltown Arts Centre, brings together community knowledge and perspectives to enrich our collective understanding of artworks in the Campbelltown City Council Collection.  The project aims to present and honour community voices at Campbelltown Arts Centre and beyond. 

In 2023, for the first iteration, COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE looks at renowned Western Sydney artist Khaled Sabsabi’s artwork ‘Wonderland’. Created between 2013-2014, the artwork is a two-screen video which depicts the Red and Black Bloc (RBB), the Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club fan group.  

The project celebrates the unique spirit, dedication of supporters and culture of solidarity around the Western Sydney Wanderers FC. Working closely with the RBB fans, Khaled Sabsabi and artist collaborator Ludwig El Haddad sought community responses drawing on the key themes of the work as described by Khaled Sabsabi – “Solidarity, identity and Western Sydney”.  

A decade after the making of the artwork, the project looks at what the RBB symbolises, why building a community is so important to the Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club and how the Red and Black Bloc has changed the face of football fanaticism in Australia.  

Living and working in Western Sydney, Khaled Sabsabi is a celebrated contemporary artist who contemplates difference, identity and reconciliation through his videos, films, paintings, documentaries, sculpture, music, public art, and work on an intimate scale. 

Sabsabi’s work has been exhibited at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Marrakech Biennale, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Serpentine Galleries, Shanghai, Sharjah and Yinchuan Biennales, and the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Biennale of Sydney, Blacktown Arts Centre, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Carriageworks, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Kaldor Public Art Projects, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.   

Sabsabi’s works are held in several public collections including the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Liverpool and Campbelltown City Council Collection.  For the project, Sabsabi has collaborated with artist Ludwig El Haddad. Ludwig El Haddad is a film maker and performer who lives and works in Western Sydney.  

The community responses to ‘Wonderland’ are available to view both on the COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE bespoke digital platform, and in C-A-C’s Collections Gallery from Saturday 8 July – Sunday 15 October 2023.

The project’s bespoke digital platform is proudly designed by Studio MASS and built in collaboration with Daniel Reid, Digital Developer. ‘Collective Knowledge: Khaled Sabsabi, Wonderland (2013 – 2014)’ is commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre.   

This project is supported by Create NSW’s Audience Development Fund, a devolved funding program administered by Museums & Galleries of NSW on behalf of the NSW Government. 

Project Team
Artist: Khaled Sabsabi
Artist Collaborator & Filmmaker: Ludwig El Haddad
Curator & Project Producer: Isabelle Morgan