Good karma

Everyone calls me Kabi, which dates back to when I was living in Japan and the Japanese can’t pronounce the phonetic V, so I got Kabi instead. The name means extroverted, and it just stuck.

I have no background in theatre, performance or design at all. I work as an engineer in industrial process control, so there is some contrast there for what people would expect from me.

I arrived in Sydney from Geelong in 1987 and saw my first Mardi Gras in 1988 from an awning of the Exchange Hotel. I was dressed in a frock as Pearl Nicholas.

It has always been a case that I am not a spectator, I am a participant. And for me, Mardi Gras is not a spectator sport. So the next year, I arrived at the workshop and said I wanted to help. And it was in that old Mardi Gras workshop that my artistic bent came out.

The first year, I made the wings for the kewpie dolls that were a part of the Fred Nile float. When I said I wanted to be in the parade as well, I pushed a giant robot up the street.

Mardi Gras at that time was such a focal point for the community and it dealt with the issues of the time, particularly with HIV and AIDS. I think my political aspect came out because of that, as well as the artistic side. I am more involved in the community as a result.

I did a few solo entries, like the year I dressed as Cher with the battleship wrapped around me, but the first group entry I did was Joan Sutherland in La Stupenda Bond.

It was the year she retired and we had made papier-m??asks and, as it was a humid Sydney summer, they were not drying out fast enough, so I baked them in my oven like scones. There are better ways to do things now, but that is the way we got things done then.

Other group entries I set up were the Keith Haring Party Of Life, Dick Van Dykes On Bikes -“ Mary Poppin Pills and the Happy Little Sodomites, all of which won Mardi Gras awards. They had layers to them, which were political and aesthetic, and also comical.

Last year when we did the Kate Moss Line Dancers, we did not expect the reaction we had. We had sound problems and then the dancing was not working, but it turned out to be a good one. People got really involved and participated, and it took out the Funniest Parade Group award.

I am good at coming up with the original idea and something that captures attention. But when people see the value of the idea, they jump on board and then add their own dimension to it, which makes it build. So it is not all about Kabi, it is about collaboration.

When someone says to me they want to join in but they are not artistic at all, that is the kind of person I want. I want someone who wants to explore an artistic side as they are the people who surprise you and they have no fear when they take that step. Every year, there is someone new who is like that.

The idea for this year’s float came to me in December and there was a lot of planning over the Christmas break, and it has been working from then on, with rehearsals every weekend. Our group is the Karma Kleaners and, while I am not saying too much about it yet, let’s say it will be aesthetically pleasing and also multi-layered.

The issues we are addressing are celebrity and the double-edged sword the celebrity treads between when things are good and things go bad. And it ties in with this year’s Mardi Gras theme of Objects Of Love, as everyone loves being photographed.

But we are also addressing the cleaning and sanitising of our culture, and the way Oxford Street has gone with the clean-up and lost some of its bohemian side, and the way I don’t feel comfortable on that strip any more. It has to be much more than just one day of the year that we feel this is our street -“ and that’s from within as well as outside.

My advice to anyone doing a float is to think of things that make a connection and make a statement, and you can make that with either humour or poignancy. You don’t need lights or sound or enormous costumes. It can be as simple as a sign -“ that is the secret to a lot of the favourite entries. Look at all the years of Miss New Zealand.

Every year you do stop for a moment and think, why am I doing this, as people can be difficult to deal with or someone pulls out. But this year, it has been all good news. And when you have people come up to talk about the years they remember we did this entry or that, in those moments you realise you have made a difference and that someone has taken notice.

It is not about getting the attention, it is about adding to the effect of Mardi Gras. This is our one day of the year of how we see things and we can make a statement. I never want to waste that opportunity.

Interview by John Burfitt.