TEN THOUSAND inflatable ‘speech bubbles’, nearly 42,000 metres of string and 120 square metres of netting are about to float around in King’s Hall at Old Parliament House.

It’s all part of Enlighten 2016 and the director of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, Daryl Karp, couldn’t be more pleased.

“Democracy isn’t a passive sport; we want people to get involved and we are always looking for newways to engage and involve our visitors,” Ms Karp says.

The installation ‘Free Speech Floats’ is a collaborative, all ages, art project that invites visitors to write or draw messages which celebrate their freedom of expression on inflatable speech bubbles. These speech bubbles will then become a unique art installation in King’s Hall that will continue to grow with the ‘voices’ of thousands during Enlighten. The project will encourage families and friends to collaborate and create their words, stories and images together.

“We hope our visitors will take each other on a journey and inspire discussions about the vitality and significance of freedom of expression,” says Nanette Louchart-Fletcher, Community Learning Coordinator at MoAD.

‘Free Speech Floats’, FREE EVENT, King’s Hall, 6 – 10pm on Friday March 4, Saturday March 5,Friday March 11 and March Saturday 12. On these same dates, the museum will be OPEN until 10pm. But the words will remain on display during the museum’s daily opening hours (9am–5pm) from until Tuesday March 15.