Canning keeps the culture coming

The opening of a new heritage-listed live entertainment space in Northbridge later this year is the latest example of Marcus Canning’s cultural impact on WA.

With a knack for creating innovative arts experiences in unique settings, Fringe World chief executive Marcus Canning is a key driver behind the project to turn the heritage-listed Rechabite Hall in Northbridge into a live entertainment venue.

Mr Canning and property developer Adrian Fini formed a new partnership, Happy Heart, to oversee the $3 million refurbishment, which was granted approval in late 2016 by the Barnett government and is set for an October 2018 opening.

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The building was erected in 1925 by English society the Independent Order of Rechabites, before custodianship was vested to the Perth Theatre Trust.

Ironically, while the Rechabites promoted complete abstinence from alcohol, Mr Canning plans for the venue to provide fresh, creative life within Perth city.

“The Rechabite will be brought back to life as a multi-level palace of surprise and delight that will house all sorts of live performance from bands to cabaret to comedy to circus in very novel settings,” Mr Canning told Business News.

“We’re taking an approach that’s more akin to occupying the ruin than restoring to former glory.

“The special patina and texture of old buildings speaks to their history and it’s a special kind of energy that continues to exude – it just doesn’t exist in new buildings.”

Mr Canning said Mr Fini’s youngest son, Christian, was spearheading the development with architect Michael Patroni and his company Spaceagency, working with them to design the four levels of the complex.

“Each of the four levels will have its own identity and feel and program, a bit like Curtin House in Melbourne,” he said.

“There will definitely be lashings of Fringe in the programming, but also a greater emphasis on live music programming.

“From the basement club to the hall, The Rechabite will become a home for a real diversity of talent from across the world and a place where local artists are also launched and discovered.”

Mr Canning said any long-term empty space, whether it was heritage or not, offered great opportunity for activation.

“Dormant space is dead space and local economies and communities need life to thrive and survive,” he said.

“When done well, the conversion of long-empty heritage fabric can totally transform a precinct and the commercial potential as well as the culture of a place.

“The State Buildings development is a good example.”

Mr Canning said cultural occupation of long-term empty buildings had been a part of every program he was involved with over the past 20 years.

“When I was in my early 20s I was interested in really underground culture and didn’t care if it was experienced by many people,” he said.

“My first entrepreneurial outing was during art school when I took out the lease on a huge old warehouse in the west end of Murray Street with some friends and we started a big gallery (Jacksue Gallery), live-in studios and ‘happenings’ space, which became quite notorious for underground stuff in the 1990s.

“Now I’m in my 40s I find myself obsessively passionate about finding ways to make Fringe reach as large a mainstream audience as possible.”

Another major heritage project recently undertaken by Mr Canning, as a part of Fringe World Festival, is the Girls School Creative Precinct, which launched its first initiative last month – the Girls Schools Cinema.

“There’s an amazing hub at Edinburgh Fringe called Summerhall that’s housed in a sprawling old Victorian veterinary college and hospital; The Old Perth Girls School building reminds me of it a lot,” Mr Canning said.

“Summerhall is a year-round centre where very interesting work gets developed and then shown during the Edinburgh Fringe.

“Our aspirations for the Girls School Creative Precinct are a bit similar, but also more diverse.

“We’re interested in how a building can house different types of creative industry throughout the year, not just traditional artistic practices, and how this might lead to interesting collaborations and a richer local scene for people who are creating here.”

The remaining Girls School Creative Precinct plans would be announced from September this year.