Talks: Sedition 2019 in association with the Power Institute, the State Library of New South Wales and the City of Sydney presents:
It could be argued that of all the major capital cities in Australia, Sydney takes the least care of its cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. While Melbourne has celebrated modernism at Heide, recognised the Carlton Set, and more lately treasured Nick Cave’s influential brilliance, Sydney yearns for a record of its own urban and cultural history. Not many Sydneysiders would recognize, for example, that an entire film culture began in the 1970s at the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op; or that the Nimrod Theatre Company nourished stories and artists with a distinctly Australian vernacular. The question we’d like to ask is: did 70s Sydney have a style of its own? We think the answer is yes. A tough, cynical era of great upheaval followed in Whitlam’s wake: Blue Poles, Malcolm Fraser, women's liberation the war on youth, land rights, green bans, and the attempt to shed the cultural cringe. Did Sydney’s art scene inspire this moment of upheaval, or feast vampirically on its bleeding energy?
Convener: Dr Catriona Moore
Panelists:
- Professor Mark Ledbury
- Christopher Allen
- Stephen Sewell
- Peter Kingston
- Kate Fitzpatrick
A panel discussion about the 1970s and growing up after Women's Lib.
In the 1970s the young artists who grew up with 2nd Wave Feminism began to come into their own and put women's stories front and centre of the public discussion. This conversation is about what happened, what shaped female discourse in the arts and what was the push-back from the patriarchy.
Convener: Vivien Johnson
Panelists:
- Professor Catharine Lumby
- Lindy Lee
- Wendy Whiteley
- Dr Catriona Moore
- Julie Bates
- Elizabeth Burton
A panel discussion on the hotly contested topic of whether artists make social change or are just wankers.
Marie McMahon made a poster that depicted flames coming out of the windows and walls of St Mary's Cathedral and two people in the foreground having a great time. The slogan on the picture was "Keep Warm This Winter: Make Trouble". That poster was one of the fundamental inspirations for Sedition. St Mary's has a different connotation now, not just of patriarchal power but also terrible acts. So much of the art of the 1970s from posters to music, fine art, the theatre commented on and was an insurrection against the ruling paradigm. And we have come a long way. But has that struggle been aided by the artists and does the struggle continue in the arts?
Convener: Professor Mark Ledbury
Panelists:
- Reg Mombassa
- Vivien Johnson
- Marie McMahon
- Blak Douglas
