Created a decade ago (2013-14) by leading Western Sydney artist, Khaled Sabsabi, ‘Wonderland’ is a two-channel video which depicts the official supporter group of the Western Sydney Wanderers, known as the Red and Black Bloc (RBB).  

‘Wonderland’, centres on the crowd. Sabsabi’s minimally edited footage of the crowd’s vociferous chanting and impassioned grandstand surveillance gives rise to a breadth of ideas—what the viewer sees and hears occupies only a superficial part of the work’s whole. In this work, the Red and Black Bloc are the exposed aspect of a much larger project about unity, identity, power and wonderment.

The work suggests that the unbridled fanaticism of the Red and Black Bloc stems as much from a pride in its wider, largely migrant community as of its beloved team’s on-field performance. This is a triumph of a sporting team, and the triumph of self-determination.  

The history of the Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club is known to many as that of a fairy tale. After years of lobbying, the Wanderers entered the A-league in the 2012-13 season, and have since become something of a cultural phenomenon. They have enjoyed record breaking winning streaks, and, in their debut season, rapid ascension to the finals.

For Sabsabi, the success story of the Wanderers is the success story of one of the most culturally diverse and politically significant communities in Australia—his community of Western Sydney.