Victoria Park Design Project
Aboriginal histories of the land known as Victoria Park, Camperdown, NSW, be-gan before time was written, and before the British landed and claimed it as their own. New histories continue to be laid over this place, but many of these histories remain unseen.
Victoria Park is located approximately three kilome-tres west of Sydney’s CBD, a city which is regarded significant as the site of the fi rst settlement of the British in 1788. With the cities early expansion and sub-sequent suburban development, Victoria Park became a popular public park to urban inner west communities, including local Aboriginal communities in the adjacent suburbs of Redfern, Glebe, Newtown and Petersham.
Victoria Park is overlooked by the University of Sydney, and resides under long term lease to the Sydney City Council. The Park is open to the public as a public recreation area, contains a public swimming pool and children’s playground and is regu-larly used for large scale community events such as Live Green, Yabun (Survival Day), and Carols by Candlelight.
An application to the Sydney City Council’s for a Lord Mayor’s grant to facilitate a community based project of benefit to local precincts [villages] and common open space. The application was lodged by Col James; Director of the Fell Housing Centre, and sought to raise cultural awareness about the long history [including pre European contact] of ‘Victoria Park’ and surrounds through the medium of public art enacted by art students from Eora TAFE College and architecture students from the University of Sydney.
Five skilled, expert, master sculptors were engaged to supervise and assist the students with proposals capable of attracting sponsors, and capable of installation next year. These included -Djon Mundine OAM Aboriginal Art Curator; Dorsey Smith Aboriginal EORA artist; Hillk Mlrankar ; Nici Long; Christina Land + partner Chicka Monk; With consultations from : Chicka Madden; Cathy Craigie; Lyn Riley, Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative.
The Park was also noted for Aboriginal demonstrations including the ‘Tent Embassy ‘Reconciliation events, Sea of Hands, Mardi Gras, Live Green, and recently protests concerning the Federal Intervention into Aboriginal communities in the NT
The proposals included:
1. An Aboriginal ‘totem’ pole is to join the Canadian First Nation gift which with a ‘Maori’ pole would constitute an eternal triangle of resistance to cease discrimination against Aboriginal peoples.
2. An information pole about the Aboriginal ‘Tent Embassy’ and a reminder that a treaty with Aboriginal Australia is over due. It would be visible from the new Law School nearing completion adjacent to the Park.
3. An agreed extension from the University of Sydney Fisher Library into the Park of a ‘Bush Library’ of various native plants and accompanying empathetic information panels and/or recorded voices [listening posts] unfolding past environments, compositions, extinctions and growth rates and uses.
4. Signposts, expressions of interest’s application to the Sydney City Council to refurbish the former Gardeners Lodge now designed for an Aboriginal Care with appropriate fare and log seating and furniture, museum and meeting place
5. An ‘elders’ place nearby for snacks and a place to watch over a kid’s play-area close to the lake.
6. A specific Educational Journey and events for schools, kids and students Is planned to link all special features with a fast print table wide enough for a cycle circuit and solar lighting for evening security and events
7. It is also proposed that this Park’s name be changed Council with an Aboriginal name.
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Spin 1 Design 