BAMBUCO is the group of artists and climbers brought together by Artistic Director Simon Barley to create unique aerial performance construction events.
Simon has been designing performance space and building site specific installations for some years, with an emphasis on exploration of aerial space.

Study of bamboo construction followed from an interest in lightweight structures. After research in SE Asia and a period as a trainee scaffolder at Kowloon Bay CITA, Hong Kong, he collaborated with the contemporary dance company Danceworks to produce the giant bamboo installation BRIDGE for Melbourne International Festival 1995.
The structure used eight tonnes of bamboo cantilevered from the parabolic arch of a footbridge over the Yarra River.
The crowds gathering to watch the builders at work confirmed the idea of a spectacular construction process viewed as a performance event.

BAMBUCO has a core artistic and management group based in Melbourne, Australia. Construction crews are drawn from many countries. Company members have come from Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Germany, UK and The Philippines, where the first version of ARCH was built in Manila, October 1998.
They have one passion in common - rock climbing. The work is strenuous and mentally demanding so on our rest days most of the crew will be found climbing crags nearby!
Construction involves techniques adapted from modern rock climbing - although the work appears dangerous, attention to safety at height is given the highest priority. Once on site we add to this a sense of humour in several languages and a willingness to engage with the audience.

The intention is always upward, the imagery muscular, architectural.