May 2021 – Pendragon Shoes

Powerhouse Stepping Out

In 1997, the powerhouse museum in Sydney, acquired several creations from Australian shoemakers including us and our dear friend and fellow shoemaker Grant Hunter (RIP) from Far out Footwear. We were fortunate to get a tour of the archives of the museum where we were overwhelmed by centuries of shoes in their collection. I remember being close to tears, wearing white gloves and handling shoes from the 1600s and earlier.

The pair of Pendragon shoes they acquired was the Prince of Autumn Leaves from our 1994 exhibition “Metamorphosis”. Made from individual leather leaf panels, embossed and hand-dyed, they were a men’s boot style, inspired by Oberon from Midsummer Night’s Dream.

There was a fabulous launch party at the museum and a publication to boot called “Stepping Out – Three Centuries of Shoes”.

In 1996 as its name suggests, “Visions of the Absurd in the Age of Reason” was a whimsical and rather eccentric exhibition. It included about 15 largely unwearable shoes and boots that fitted into the theme “the Age of Reason”…that period in the 1800s known for its discoveries and inventions. Some of the featured exhibits were prototypes of a fictional failed serial inventor Arthur Crump (wheel boot and “one size fits all” and a series of shoe animal specimens from Charles Darwin’s personal collection. These were later to influence his theory in “On the Origin of Footwear”. There were also nods to Lewis Carroll (teapot boot sole inscribed with the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party prose about the dormouse), and Salvador Dali (boot with drawers).

We staged a full costume arts ball with live acts from a string of performing artists, an absurd orchestra and a kissing booth! This was held at the Zoo nightclub in the Valley in Brisbane. A truly wonderful evening!