It's PIAF season again, and with it comes the exhilarating highs of culture, film, and entertainment injected by the festival into the heart of Perth. Here are some of the events we are looking forward to: 

The Secret Garden
11 Feb – 24 Apr, Perth Cultural Centre

Immerse yourself into an Alice in Wonderland style dreamland created by Swedish artists Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg. Appealing to nearly all senses, Djurberg and Berg use sculpture, light, sound and film to transport you to strange world filled with giant leaves, bluebells and golden-capped acorns, gelato-coloured cushions and dripping icecreams. A shaman rabbit presides over a playground of the subconscious that can only be fully activated by each audience member’s internal direction. Described as a “netherworld of strange delights and encounters”, it is sure to be a trip like no other, and it’s completely free too.

No Guts No Heart No Glory
23 Feb – 28 Feb, Queen St Gym

Held in the boxing ring at the Queen St Gym, Aisha Zia’s play about young Muslim women wanting to break out of convention is sure to be a knockout. With a live electronic sound score, compelling visual design, cinematic lighting, and the raw energy from the bare brick walls of the gym itself, this immersive show explores how bravery and fearlessness can come from what seems to be the most unexpected of places.

Blackmarket

16 Feb – 27 Feb, Streets of Subiaco

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually live the Grand Theft Auto life? Part roaming artwork, part real-life video game, blackmarket invites you into the dark underworld of unlicensed street selling and entrepreneurial trading. Set in a dystopian world where a global financial crisis has rendered money meaningless, you need to maneuver your way through this underground economic structure bartering for goods and services in return for survival skills and services.

A Mile In My Shoes
18 Feb – 6 Mar 2016, Stirling Gardens

There ain’t nothin’ but feels in this art installation produced by The Empathy Museum and Centre for Stories. In this extraordinary premiere, you will get to explore the empathy shoe shop, where visitors are invited to walk a mile in the shoes of a strangers, literally and figuratively. Choose a pair of shoes, which could belong to a refugee, a sex worker of a FIFO worker, and walk a mile listening to the personal story of the shoe owner’s life.

Plexus
17 Feb – 20 Feb, State Theatre Centre of WA

Aurélien Bory is renowned for making breathtaking visual theatre that combines dance, puppetry and visual art. In this piece, a warrior-woman is encased in a string prison and conquers her environment by floating across the strings, striving for freedom through a series of movements that seem to defy gravity.

Little Simz
26 Feb, Chevron Festival Gardens

Hailed by Kendrick Lamar as “the illest doing it right now”, Little Simz is a force to be reckoned with. She’s been busy over the past couple of years, having released a series of mixtapes and 5 EPs since 2013, and her life is set to get even more hectic with her first full-length album released earlier this year. With honest lyrics delivered at lightning speed and incredible technical expertise for someone of her age over club-ready beats, it is no wonder that the rap, hip-hop and R&B world took notice.

Which PIAF events are you looking forward to the most?