For 20 years Daniel Thomas lived and worked in Sydney. In the 2 decades since he has left he has remained a frequent visitor, but he still sees Sydney from afar.
Sydney thinks of itself as the centre of the country, the only part that matters, but in the lucrative art market, Sydney is subsidiary to the old moneyed city of the south -- Melbourne.
Exhibition review Aroha Terrace, Forestville
June 1994
In the last issue of Artlink 9Vol 14 No 2 - the art of survival) we looked at an innovative art program being run in Adelaide. The 1994 bilboard project at Aroha Terrace Forestville continued until the end of the year, with different artists represented each month.
In the air, on the ground ( and water too). Sydney is undergoing an unprecedented interest in public art. Artists, curators, academics, contemporary art spaces, museums. commercial galleries, architects, urban designers, town planners, local government, arts councils and ministries - all are involved in varying degrees in making, discussing, supporting or promoting public art. Major fold out of William Yang's photographs.
Editorial by guest editor Joanna Mendelssohn. What after all is different about Sydney? I have tried to give some idea of the debates which are not always expressed in writing - the incestuous nature of the mighty arts organisations; the way that words influence or corrupt understandings of art; and the limits on public debate because of fear of the consequences.
Western Sydney can be seen as another city with another culture. This is not quite accurate, but it is the fasted growing region where the bulk of the younger population of the city live. And it has art.
Since their inception, galleries and museums around the world have entertained the principles of marketing, but perhaps never so consciously as now. Of all Australian arts institutions, the Art Gallery of New South Wales has been most aware of the need to market its image.