Indigenous approaches to the past: ‘Creative histories’ at the Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney

Lindsey, K

Indigenous approaches to the past: ‘Creative histories’ at the Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney

Lindsey, K

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Publisher:: Intellect
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 2020, 9, (1), pp. 83-102
Issue Date:: 2020-03-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Lindsey, K https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7754-9662
dc.date.accessioned	2020-07-09T02:14:45Z
dc.date.available	2020-07-09T02:14:45Z
dc.date.issued	2020-03-01
dc.identifier.citation	The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 2020, 9, (1), pp. 83-102
dc.identifier.issn	2045-5852
dc.identifier.issn	2045-5860
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/141745
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p>This article discusses a recent art project created by the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathon Jones, which was commissioned to commemorate the opening of the revitalized Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney in early 2020. Jones’ work involves a dramatic installation of red and white crushed stones laid throughout the grounds of the barracks, merging the image of the emu footprint with that of the English broad convict arrow to ‘consider Australia’s layered history and contemporary cultural relations’. This work was accompanied by a ‘specially-curated programme’ of performances, workshops, storytelling and Artist Talks. Together, these elements were designed to unpack how certain ‘stories determine the ways we came together as a nation’. As one of the speakers of the Artist Talk’s programme, I had a unique opportunity to experiment with what colleagues and I have been calling ‘Creative histories’ in reference to the way some artists and historians are choosing to communicate their research about the past in ways that experiment with form and function and push disciplinary or generic boundaries. This article reflects upon how these two distinct creative history projects – one visual art, the other performative – renegotiate the complex and contested pasts of the Hyde Park Barracks. I suggest that both examples speak to the role of memory and creativity in shaping cultural responses to Australia’s colonial past, while Jones' programme illustrates how Indigenous artists and academics are making a profound intervention into contemporary understandings of how history is ‘done’ in Australia.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Intellect
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE180100379
dc.relation.ispartof	The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1386/ajpc_00017_1
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1902 Film, Television and Digital Media, 2002 Cultural Studies, 2005 Literary Studies
dc.title	Indigenous approaches to the past: ‘Creative histories’ at the Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	9
utslib.for	1902 Film, Television and Digital Media
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies
utslib.for	2005 Literary Studies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/Social and Political Sciences Program
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2020-07-09T02:14:38Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	9
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

This article discusses a recent art project created by the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathon Jones, which was commissioned to commemorate the opening of the revitalized Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney in early 2020. Jones’ work involves a dramatic installation of red and white crushed stones laid throughout the grounds of the barracks, merging the image of the emu footprint with that of the English broad convict arrow to ‘consider Australia’s layered history and contemporary cultural relations’. This work was accompanied by a ‘specially-curated programme’ of performances, workshops, storytelling and Artist Talks. Together, these elements were designed to unpack how certain ‘stories determine the ways we came together as a nation’. As one of the speakers of the Artist Talk’s programme, I had a unique opportunity to experiment with what colleagues and I have been calling ‘Creative histories’ in reference to the way some artists and historians are choosing to communicate their research about the past in ways that experiment with form and function and push disciplinary or generic boundaries. This article reflects upon how these two distinct creative history projects – one visual art, the other performative – renegotiate the complex and contested pasts of the Hyde Park Barracks. I suggest that both examples speak to the role of memory and creativity in shaping cultural responses to Australia’s colonial past, while Jones' programme illustrates how Indigenous artists and academics are making a profound intervention into contemporary understandings of how history is ‘done’ in Australia.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/141745