Barangaroo - Where Art, Architecture, History, Politics and Economics meet

The discussion "Why the hullaballoo about Barangaroo? Where Art, Architecture, History, Politics and Economics meet" was held on Sunday 10th March, in the courtyard of the Frances Keevil Gallery, where my solo exhibition "From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo" continues until Sunday March 24th.

This was a brave experiment.

Neither Frances nor myself have ever put together anything like this before.

It was well worth it! The conversation between the panel members was informative, entertaining and at times passionate and stirring. The audience was enthralled - many of them stayed on afterwards to ask questions, take photos and even get autographs!

Meet the distinguished panel: 

From left to right : 

Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM

And the facilitator for the event, the renowned investigative journalist, Quentin Dempster.

From left to right - 

 Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM, Quentin Dempster, and Frances Keevil, Director of the Frances Keevil Gallery.

Dr Jack Mundey AO, is the legendary elder statesman of activism. He spoke movingly of the history of the famous Green Bans, in which as secretary of the New South Wales Builders' Labourers Federation (BLF), he led a successful campaign to protect the built and natural environment of Sydney from inappropriate development.
Apart from his unique credentials as a champion of heritage and sustainable urban planning, Jack had played an important part at the beginning of the story of the Barangaroo development.
 In 2006, Jack was a member of the jury to choose the design for Barangaroo. The jury had unanimously selected the design by the team headed by Philip Thalis - which bizarrely has now been completely discarded by LendLease, the developers of the site.
Incidentally, LendLease's design had come a distant second in the initial competition.

Philip Thalis, deep in thought.
Philip Thalis is the principal of Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects. 
His design team won the competition to design Barangaroo - yet their design has not been adopted for the actual construction.

Philip Thalis gave a thought-provoking speech pointing out flaws in both the process and the design.The contrast between the potential of what Barangaroo, could and should have been, and the unfortunate reality was made completely clear to the audience.

John McInerney, previously for many years a Councillor of the City of Sydney, is now the "President of Australians for Sustainable Development". He has a wealth of experience in how councils and the State government interact throughout the stages of planning and development, and provided startling images of the impact of the Barangaroo buildings which are currently under construction.

John McInerney examined many of the peculiarities of the entire planning process of the controversial Barangaroo project, and exposed some very disturbing implications for the future of Sydney. Most people in the audience had not previously grasped the consequences of some of these decisions and were completely gobsmacked.

 

Alex Greenwich MP in action. 
His speech about the development of Barangaroo being used as a "Trojan Horse" to  force the displacement of the residents of Millers Point, was passionate and articulate.

Dr Graham Jahn AM, Director of Planning and Transport at the City of Sydney.

Dr Graham Jahn AM, added some background detail.

Quentin Dempster was a wonderful choice as facilitator for the discussion. His polite, yet probing questions brought out the best in the panel. The chaotic and complex narrative of the planning process behind Barangaroo was revealed to the eager audience.

Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney - 3 champions of social justice.

Jack and me 

 

 

I can't thank all the participants enough for their wonderful efforts to make this discussion a success!
And I am just as grateful to Lynn and Frances, Directors of the Frances Keevil Gallery for stepping well outside their comfort zone to host this event at the gallery and to organize it so well.

Related posts

From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo 

Storm Warning, Goat Island 

Lashed to the Mast

An April update 

Why the Hullaballoo about Barangaroo

All fired up

Designer + Blacksmith = The Collaborative Effect

 This event, coordinated by Alain-Henri Chazelles of IN HOUSE GROUP3, brought designer Alex Ritchie, (Creative Director of experiential design agency E2) and metalworker Guido Gouverneur (Blacksmith and Metalworker of Wrought Artworks and Steel Windows and Doors), together to discuss forged iron and conceptually designed architectural metalwork in the built environment.

Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist,
painting the blacksmiths of 'Wrought Artworks'
 Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh Railway Workshops

Enquiries

Guido and his team of blacksmiths also gave an exciting forging demonstration. 

Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist
painting the blacksmiths of 'Wrought Artworks'
Australian Technology Park Eveleigh Railway Workshops

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Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist
painting the blacksmiths of 'Wrought Artworks'
Australian Technology Park Eveleigh Railway Workshops

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I also gave a demonstration of how I paint fast-moving artisans working in darkness, while attempting to dodge the twirling batons of red-hot metal that they waved around with such nonchalant grace.

Exhibition by Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist,
 painting the blacksmiths of 'Wrought Artworks'
 Australian Technology Park Eveleigh Railway Workshops

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I exhibited a selection of my paintings of the Blacksmiths of Wrought Artworks as well as paintings of the fascinating interior and Victorian era heritage industrial machinery of the site.
One of the great drawcards of the ATP has been the continual operation of Blacksmith’s shop in Bays 1 & 2 South at the ATP.  From the very beginning it has been seen as maintaining a link to the buildings industrial past. The construction of the ATP had even included the erection of an acoustic wall so that the workshop could continue to function close to the new occupants. However the existance of the Blacksmith's shop was threatened when the Redfern Waterloo Authority served them with a notice to quit by the 30th September 2008. After a successful campaign and Open Day the RWA and the Blacksmiths then signed a Lease that preserved the operating Blacksmiths and recognised the vital importance of heritage preservation in the operations of the Technology Park.
See the history of the campaign to save the blacksmith :
Redwatch "ATP's operating Blacksmith"

Exhibition by Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist,
painting the blacksmiths of 'Wrought Artworks'
Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh Railway Workshops

Enquiries

 The photos of me in action were taken by Frances Keevil, the Director of the Frances Keevil Gallery.

E83 'Blacksmith forging '
2011 ink pastel acrylic on paper 9 x 10cm  
WINNER 2nd Prize for Miniature Painting 
2011 Royal Easter Show 

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E64 The Blacksmith 2011
oil on canvas 75x100cm
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See "Designer + Blacksmith = Collaborative Effect"

Next year, for a single day on Saturday 25th February 2012, the whole Australian Technology Park will be open to the public.

There will be another forging demonstration and I will have an even larger exhibition of paintings, as well as giving a demonstration of painting the heritage interiors and the blacksmiths.

 Eveleigh paintings

Related posts

Irons in the fire
Watching the forge fires fade
Macdonaldtown - A Station without a suburb
Eveleigh- Industrial Heritage Artist at Work
The village smithy (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)
Time for Safety 
The slow return from the fire 
The fire within 
En plein air with street cred (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)