We created “20 years later” with shadow puppets, tracing our journeys and rites of passage as migrants in Australia. The story begins with the character Matsu, known as Jack, arriving by train at Spencer Street Station, heart pounding, uncertain, yet hopeful.
Each scene was developed through a reflective process undertaken during the early stages of our creation: the lively streets of Brunswick, the sting of alienation, the ongoing search for identity, the citizenship ceremony, a deepening appreciation of First Peoples culture and history, and the everyday realities of a multicultural society - leading to the final scene, where we are creating this work in the studio, 20 years later.
Through this work, we wish to acknowledge all the migrants who paved the way before us and contributed to shaping Australia into what it is today.
20 Years Later
We created “20 years later” with shadow puppets, tracing our journeys and rites of passage as migrants in Australia. The story begins with the character Matsu, known as Jack, arriving by train at Spencer Street Station, heart pounding, uncertain, yet hopeful.
About
Who is this for?
The digital work is designed for ages 4 + but welcomes audiences of all ages.
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When is the next event?
Upcoming events
2026
> Melbourne Museum as part of Culture Maker Progream - Carlton, VIC, Aus (Oct)
Past events
2025
> Immersive screen at Melbourne Museum - Carlton, VIC, Aus (Oct)
Team
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Youbi Lee is a Korean-heritage, multidisciplinary artist based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her practice encompasses installation, performance, animation, puppetry, and facilitation. Drawing on her diverse skill set and experience, she has created large-scale collaborative arts projects with various communities, councils, and festivals. She works with established organisations like Lemony S Puppet Theatre, Threshold, and Polyglot as a puppeteer, concept designer, and art facilitator.
Youbi has participated in several competitive residency and development programs, including SITUATE Arts in Festival (2018), ArtPlay New Idea Lab (2020), and Lemony S Puppet Lab (2022). Her work has been recognized with nominations for Obang: Theatre for Baby at the Green Room Awards (2024) and Asian Grocery at the Melbourne Fringe Festival’s Best Live Art (2017). She also contributed to the visual design of Best Party Ever by Threshold, a project that won the Innovate Award by NBN (2024). She was also commissioned to create large-scale interactive shadow puppets by the City of Melbourne in 2022 as part of ‘Flash Forward’.
https://ubtopia.net/project/ -
Taka Takiguchi (滝口貴) is a Naarm/Melbourne-based independent artist and producer of Japanese (Hiroshima) heritage.His practice delves into personal stories, places, their historical contexts, and our presence within them today. He explores relational phenomena—between memory, time, and language—bringing them to life through poetry, scriptwriting, and movement-based techniques including the Suzuki Method, Butoh, and shamanic/trance dance.
The recent projects include: "Lost in Place" - Performer at Mona Foma (2022) & Mona Museum (2023) | "Obang – Theatre for babies" - Producer & Performer at Sydney Opera House (2024), Bunjil Place (2023) & Bowery Theatre (2023) | "Humans in between" - Director & Performer at Pavilion Melbourne (2023), “Apologia” - Performer at Malthouse (2024) | "Kiki and Zuki" - Co-creator at Banyule Council
Acknowledgement of support
20 Years Later was assisted by Cultural Maker Program through Melbourne Museum.
20 Years Later was conceived, developed, and will be screened in April 2026 (TBC) with immense support from the Rena Singh (Inclusion Experience Program), Richard Greenhalgh and Ben Noonan (Digital content studio team).
