\ Challenge

As the Perth CulturalCentre undergoes a major transformation, the Perth Institute of ContemporaryArts (PICA) is temporarily surrounded by a construction site. Rather than retreat during this period of upheaval, PICA chose to lean in—using the disruption as an opportunity to bring its mission into the public realm. 

 PICA exists to provoke. Guided by the brand idea Cultivating the Provocative. Provoking theCulture., the institution wanted to use this moment of urban flux to invite curiosity, encourage reflection, and engage audiences outside the gallery’s walls. The challenge was to make that invitation visible and unavoidable, even during demolition fencing and cranes. 

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\ Outcome

The result is along-term out-of-home campaign that transforms construction hoardings, bus backs, street posters and billboards into platforms for open-ended inquiry.Rather than promoting exhibitions or programming, the campaign simply asks questions. Big ones. Small ones. Questions with no clear answers—if any at all. 

 Each question is designed to stop passersby in their tracks. “Who decides?” “What are you looking for?” “Why is it uncomfortable?” These aren’t rhetorical flourishes—they’re prompts intended to disorient, reframe, and provoke dialogue. As the tagline puts it: Where answers are questioned. 

 The campaign is a rare example of advertising that doesn’t try to sell, solve, or simplify.Instead, it mirrors the role of contemporary art itself: to raise questions, challenge norms, and sit comfortably with ambiguity. It’s a campaign that does what PICA does best—invite curiosity and stir conversation—even when its doors are temporarily harder to reach. 

For the next 18months, the site of cultural construction won’t just be a physical one. It’ll be ideological, intellectual, and emotional too. Because in a time when answers are often shouted, PICA is asking for a little more thought. 

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