9/4: Aboriginal Art & Australia's Convict Past

After relaxing by the Botanic Gardens, we then headed over to the adjacent, and free, Art Gallery of NSW which was established in 1871. We wanted to visit particularly the colonial and 19^th C. Australian art and especially the dedicated Aboriginal art galleries, neither of which we had been exposed to before coming here.

Upon entering the Gallery, we were immediately struck by the massive rendering of Mahatma Ghandi’s Salt Marsh speech, all recreated in bone-like letters.

We both read most of the speech that was on the wall
above and also on the opposing wall, so it took quite a while.

Our 1st exposure to Aboriginal art; it was very powerful seeing these grave markings.

Sorry this description of the poles loaded sidewise.

Bark paintings were made using eucalyptus tree bark which is very common in Australia.

Not sure if you can discern from the photos above but the Aboriginal paintings are almost always comprised using gazillion of dots of paint. At first, I wasn't sure whether I 'liked'  them or just found them unique. But after seeing as many as we have in the last few days and especially learning a bit about Aboriginal art in the process, the painting style has really begun to work its way under my skin. The stories depicted in the paintings through the use of many different colors and the depth and complexity of designs grew on me.

I am sure you are all aware to some degree or another of Australia's convict heritage. The main example of it in Sydney is the Hyde Park Barracks which was the center of the world’s largest, longest-running and most diverse system of transported convict labor. Our next stop on the 4th was to the Barracks so we could begin to understand this part of Australia's history.

Steven in front of the Hyde Park Barracks. Remember seeing him also here a couple of
days ago while on our walking tour? The building was designed by famed convict architect
Francis Greenway and its construction was commissioned by Governor Macquarie
who was so impressed with Greenway’s design that he granted him full pardon.

 Between 1819 and 1848, an estimated 50,000 convicts passed through the Hyde Park Barracks. Both Steven and I must admit to being ignorant of this part of early American history as we had no idea that Britain had sent its convicts to the US until they were no longer able to after the American Revolution. That is why Britain began sending convists to Australia, we learned.

Each man's personal space was limitied to his hammock.

According to one source I read, the convicts slept in the Hyde Park Barracks dormitories once they arrived in Sydney. The dorms were meant to house 600 men; at times though, as many as 1400 men lived there.

Another source stated that for the first 30 years of the colony, convicts had extraordinary freedom: there was no jail or barracks so convicts had to find their own lodging in town. In addition it stated that the Hyde Park Barracks was established to control convicts’ working and living arrangements. I wonder which source is the true version of what actually transpired.

In 1848 the Hyde Park Barracks became an Immigration Depot and provided for the next 38 years a safe haven for about 40,000 immigrant women, some accompanied by their children. The women slept on iron beds in the dormitories. 

The bunks each had separate stories, on linen pillowcases,
of women who stayed there. This is one of those storues.

Beginning in 1862, the Barracks became a government asylum for aged, infirm or destitute women for the next six years when the complex became a bustling center of courts and government departments.

 We were amazed to discover from our self guiding tour of the Barracks that France, Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, Russia and Argentina all transported criminals to dedicated penal colonies too. The scale of the British transportation to Australia however was far greater in terms of numbers of people sent, duration of the journey and the area settled. The 24,500 km journey took anywhere from 4-8 months.

The last official transport to land convicts in Sydney was on 12/18/1840 but convicts were still sent to Tasmania til 1853 and the final convict vessel landed in the state of WA (Western Australia) in 1860. 

The ghost or invisible stairs. It was pretty freaky looking straight up through empty spots in the ceiling and imagine where the stairs had actually been back in the late 18th C.

It is estimated that 1 in 10 Australians has a convict ancestor. Now finding a convict in one’s family tree has become a badge of honor in Australia but long after the convict era ended, the stigma attached to having convict ancestry remained. The ‘stain’ of convict heritage was something to be hidden and not celebrated. The 70’s were a turning point with changing social values and a new openness to understanding the past.

In 2010, the Barracks, along with 10 other Australian convict sites was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. 

When we left the Barracks, a number of Chinese people were holding massive signs protesting organ harvesting from executed prisoners, including prisoners of conscience. According to the pamphlets handed out, approximately 130 people in China signed up to donate their organs between 2003-2009 and yet wait times for organs are implausibly short, averaging just 1-4 weeks. Alexander: do you know anything about this?

There was still enough light in the day and just enough spring in our step to walk to the nearby ANZAC Memorial. It commemorates the soldiers of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in WW1. The interior dome is studded with 120,000 stars – one for each New South Welsh (i.e. the state where Sydney is located) man and woman who served.  The pines at the SW entry grew from seeds gathered at Gallipoli in Turkey, the site of the Anzacs’ most renowned battle. 

Too bad that the path in front of the Pool of Remembrance was marred by young skateboarders practicing their skills in defiance of the signs. Guess I'm just an ol' fogy.

Just steps away was the Aboriginal Memorial dedicated only in March of this year. There was no reference to it in any of the tourist info I had seen because of its newness. 

I found the following info online:

The artwork is composed of four standing bullets and three fallen shells. The bullet is a universal signifier for conflict. The arrangement of the bullets, with some standing and some fallen, represents those who survived and those who were sacrificed.

The artwork also references the circumstances faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women when they returned to Australia. They were treated differently from their white Australian comrades who were given land for their service while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were still having their land taken away.

Wishing you all peace.
Annie & Steven, Sydney, 9/9