This costume titled Harlequin was designed by Norma Moriceau. It appeared on the Europe float in the Arrivals segment of the Olympic Opening Ceremony held on September 15, 2000. The 'Harlequin' design is a modern take on the traditional harlequin clown of Commedia Del'Arte. It was made at the Ceremonies Costume Department, and by TAFE students and Jean Carroll The costume was worn in the ceremony by Scott Neilson.

The Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games was comprised of three major sections: the mandatory formalities and protocol sections, the cultural display and the entrance of the athletes. Within the cultural display, there were eight segments titled: Welcome, Deep Sea Dreaming, Awakening, Fire, Nature, Tin Symphony, Arrivals and Eternity.

This costume was used in the Arrivals segment of the Opening Ceremony. This segment aimed to produce a theatrical representation of Australia's multiculturalism. The programme for the Olympic Opening Ceremony states: The history of Australia is the history of migration. We have come from all corners of the planet to form a vibrant, culturally rich and constantly evolving society. In this segment, a new group of arrivals form the Olympic symbol that unites the five continents of the world. They disperse, leaving behind their children - our hope for the future. More children appear until two thousand gather to form the pattern of the night sky, containing the distinctive Southern Cross constellation. From the centre of the structure Nikki Webster performs "Under Southern Skies' to celebrate the unity of all our people.

There were five floats in the Arrivals segment. Each float represented a continent. Using the symbolism of the colours of Olympic rings, each continent/float was represented by a colour. Black was used to represent the African nations, yellow the Asian nations, red the Americas, green was used for Europe and blue for Oceania, which includes Australia

Fashion and film designers rather than theatrical designers were chosen to provide a contemporary, cutting edge, high fashion look to the costumes. The designers were Jenny Kee - Africa and Americas, Lisa Ho - Asia, Norma Moriceau - Europe and Peter Morrissey - Oceania. Norma Moriceau, the designer of this costume, is one of Australia's most awarded and prolific film costume and production designers.

Performers were selected from schools, community groups and from cultural and ethnic support groups. Approximately 500 performers danced around and on each of the five floats in the costumes created by the designers.

The approach to the Europe float in the initial design brief was to use the artistic, musical and scientific achievements of Europe as basic themes for the costumes.

Norma Moriceau is one of Australia's most awarded and prolific film costume and production designers. Her credits include Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee and Babe Pig in the City. She has won three AFI awards for Best Costume Design for Newsfront (1978), Fatty Finn (1980) and Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior (1981). In addition to this she has received two AFI nominations for her costume designs for Street Hero (1984) and The Chain Reaction (1980).

Moriceau has a bold signature style, often incorporating tribal symbolism, off beat surrealism and the use of found objects in her designs.

She was assisted in the realisation of the costumes for the Europe float by another Australian production and costume designer, Lisa Meagher.

The initial design brief for the Europe float was to use the artistic, musical and scientific achievements of Europe as basic themes for the costumes. Moriceau added touches of pink, fluorescent yellow and metallic gold to the base palette of green to give added depth and vibrancy to the costumes.

The 'Harlequin' design is a modern take on the traditional harlequin clown of Commedia Del'Arte.

Maker name Ceremonies Costume Department, TAFE and Jean Carroll.

Worn by Scott Neilson on the Europe float.

Presented to the Powerhouse Museum by the Olympic Coordination Authority, on behalf of the NSW Government

Performance costume, 'Harlequin', fabric/plastic/metal, designed by Norma Moriceau, made by Ceremonies Costume Department, TAFE and Jean Carroll, used in Opening Ceremony of Olympic Games, Sydney, 2000

Consists of a pair of green pleated polyester satin pants and a net top made from gold lurex tulle with 'Reflexite' diamond and slash shapes ironed onto the surface of the top. The top has a roll collar made from green 'crush' pleated polyester satin. Also included in the costume is a headdress that fits over the crown of the head and is constructed from heavy collar canvas that has been covered with green synthetic fabric. A pair of green canvas shoes and a gold glitter mask complete the costume.

Made: 2000

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