The Circus Diaries: Minyak, Perry Bros Circus. Deer Park, Vic.

Welcome

The Circus Diaries is a wonderful oral history and photographic project documenting traditional Australian circus life from the 1920's to the present. Over the past three years I have travelled through much of Australia interviewing and photographing circus elders and families, and living with traditional circuses.

The Circus Diaries is a PhD project in partnership with The Australian Centre of Melbourne University and the Performing Arts Collection of the Arts Centre, Victoria.The Circus Diaries exhibition opened at the George Adams Gallery of the Arts Centre, 100 St. Kilda Rd, Melbourne, on May 18th, and ran till July 15th, 2007. The exhibition was an outcome from my Australian Circus Oral History PhD research and features photographs by Cal MacKinnon. To see some of Cal's contemporary images from The Circus Diaries exhibition, please click on the link to her website on the right.

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Minyak, Perry Bros Circus. Deer Park, Vic.

Minyak is one of three elephants with Perry Bros Circus. She was originally with Sole Bros Circus, and was the sole elephant to survive when a truck ploughed into the back of the stationary circus vehicles in 1983. They were parked on the side of the Newell Highway, outside Moree, fixing one of the circus trucks that had broken down. Young clown, Doug Buchal was also killed. Minyak is now happily living with Lorraine and Fred Maynard.