Active Culture
My day today had more active culture than a grocery store worth of yogurt. Between Bienalle exhibits, civic institutions, and museums, I covered a lot of ground today, and got to see quite a lot.
I got up before 9:00 this morning and was out to the bus stop by 9:30 to head into the city. I knew I would be doing a lot of walking, and I wanted to make the first ferry to Cockatoo Island, so I decided the bus was the best way to get down to Circular Quay. I lucked out and got to Circular Quay about 9:55, just in time to be the last person to hop aboard the free ferry that is being run to Cockatoo Island, one of the installation sites for the Sydney Bienalle, located 10km west into Sydney Harbour from the city (at the confluence of the Parramatta River and Lane Cove River).
Cockatoo Island, the largest island in Sydney Harbour, became a prison in 1839, and slowly transitioned to a dockyard, becoming the sole usage in 1869. The docks grew, and today there are over 100 buildings scattered across the island dating from its days as a gaol all the way through the 1970s. It has a great industrial feel, some fantastic old architecture, and breathtaking views of the Harbour and Bridge.
As far as explaining the Biennale, I find it best to not reinvent the wheel... From their website:
Basically, there are 100s of art installations across five sites in the city, the largest of which is Cockatoo Island. I was on Cockatoo Island exploring and taking in the art installations for a few hours. I really am not a huge art person (as I think I mentioned previously); I am not going to stand and contemplate for any period of time. That being said, I love when art and architecture work in conjunction, and there were some incredible instances of that on Cockatoo Island, where the old warehouses worked very well with specific installations. I made it to the wharf at midday, in time to see a full ferry (around 400) unload - it is impressive how many people take advantage of the Biennale!
Soon I was aboard and off to Walsh Bay, a much smaller site with only three (admittedly very large) installations inside an old wharf building. After checking out the art I began the climb up the cliff face into the heart of the Rocks. My first stop was the Royal Sydney Oberservatory on the highest hill in the old part of the city. While I didn't actually go into the observatory, constructed in the 1850s, the view of the Harbour, Bridge, and City was phenomenal from Observatory Hill. After getting my fill of the scene I came down the hill onto Kent Street and cut across the Rocks back toward Circular Quay.
I arrived at my intended destination, Susannah Place, by way of Cumberland from Grosvenor. Like with the Biennale, I will let the Historic Houses Trust (the group that operates the site) explain the museum:
I got my ticket for the 2:00 tour and wandered off to explore the 'Big Dig' site across the street (excavated anthropological remains of the rest of the neighbourhood, rediscovered and researched in 1994 - http://www.thebigdig.com.au/history/) and to grab a quick lunch (all the walking had made me really hungry). I went down to George Street through the Rocks Market and grabbed some fish and chips from a cafe. Nothing to write home about, but it did the trick. I headed back up to Gloucester Street at 1:45 to meet up with the tour. It was really fascinating, as the four terraces were continuously occupied, with very little upgrades, from 1844 to 1990. I cannot fathom people living in a major world city (Sydney, no less) without electricity (until the 1950s), cooking in fire places (until the 1950s, and then on small gas appliances shoved into fire places), and not having indoor plumbing (THROUGH THE 1990s!!!).
After the tour I headed down the hill to the Museum of Contemporary Art (where I have been a few times) to check out their installations for the Biennale. I blazed through the MCA (more small scale art stuff, not really having a dialogue with architecture, so not really my thing). I then went next door to Cadmans Cottage, the oldest residential building in Sydney (built in 1816) and then down to the end of Circular Quay and up the observation tower at the Overseas Passenger Terminal for some nice views.
I then began a trek that took me along the coast line from the eastern side of Circular Quay out past the Opera House on Bennelong Point, and around Farm Cove through the Royal Botanic Gardens and out to Mrs. Macquerie Point and Mrs. Macquerie's Chair. Named for the wife of the Governor in the early 1800s, the area is home to a large carved bench ('Chair'), carved by convicts at the command of the Governor for his wife to sit in and look out over the Harbour. I continued up from Macquerie Point, peeling off from the coastal walk at Woolloomooloo to explore the Botanic Gardens a bit before walking south through the Domain to get to the Art Gallery of NSW. Like the MCA, some of the space in the museum was devoted to Biennale stuff, and I did a quick tour of that as well as the art in the permanent collections before heading off into the sunset back toward home via Hyde Park.
On the walk through Hyde Park I happened to notice a very large pop-up building that had appeared in front of St. Mary's Cathedral. Intrigued, I went over and discovered the tv show Masterchef (the Aussie version) had set up a temporary restaurant.
I discovered that it will only be around for two weeks, and reservations filled up weeks ago. Shame, it would have been an interesting (although undoubtedly expensive) experience. I was lucky to catch a 555 (free bus - thanks Transport NSW!) from Hyde Park back to Central, and then walked home - tired but quite happy with everything I had gotten to see.
Dinner will be a leftover burger. I really should clean my room. Before I know it I will need to start packing.
I got up before 9:00 this morning and was out to the bus stop by 9:30 to head into the city. I knew I would be doing a lot of walking, and I wanted to make the first ferry to Cockatoo Island, so I decided the bus was the best way to get down to Circular Quay. I lucked out and got to Circular Quay about 9:55, just in time to be the last person to hop aboard the free ferry that is being run to Cockatoo Island, one of the installation sites for the Sydney Bienalle, located 10km west into Sydney Harbour from the city (at the confluence of the Parramatta River and Lane Cove River).
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| Arriving at Cockatoo Island. |
As far as explaining the Biennale, I find it best to not reinvent the wheel... From their website:
Australia's largest and most exciting contemporary visual arts event. Held every two years, the Biennale presents a three-month exhibition, plus a program of artist talks, performances, forums, film screenings, family events, guided tours and other special events, all FREE to the public.
The Biennale of Sydney has positioned Australia internationally amongst its peers and has developed an enthusiastic group of constituents locally; attested by its extraordinary growth in visitation and 17 groundbreaking exhibitions. In Australia, it is the only completely free festival of any scale, offering free programs, free educational resources and, where possible, free transport.
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| A full ferry approaching Cockatoo Island. |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge from the ferry to Walsh Bay. |
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| Downtown on the approach to Walsh Bay. |
I arrived at my intended destination, Susannah Place, by way of Cumberland from Grosvenor. Like with the Biennale, I will let the Historic Houses Trust (the group that operates the site) explain the museum:
Located in the heart of The Rocks, Susannah Place is a rare surviving example of a simple working-class terrace. Built in 1844, by Irish immigrants and continuously occupied until 1990 this typically English terrace was home to over 100 different families. The museum tells the stories of the often overlooked lives of working class people and the neighbourhood in which they lived, played, worked and struggled.
The four houses survived largely unchanged through the slum clearances of the early 20th century and the area’s redevelopment in the 1970s. Ongoing research, photographs from public and private collections, oral history interviews and the surviving layers in each of the houses has allowed the museum to re-create the lives of individual families of the 19th and 20th centuries.
I got my ticket for the 2:00 tour and wandered off to explore the 'Big Dig' site across the street (excavated anthropological remains of the rest of the neighbourhood, rediscovered and researched in 1994 - http://www.thebigdig.com.au/history/) and to grab a quick lunch (all the walking had made me really hungry). I went down to George Street through the Rocks Market and grabbed some fish and chips from a cafe. Nothing to write home about, but it did the trick. I headed back up to Gloucester Street at 1:45 to meet up with the tour. It was really fascinating, as the four terraces were continuously occupied, with very little upgrades, from 1844 to 1990. I cannot fathom people living in a major world city (Sydney, no less) without electricity (until the 1950s), cooking in fire places (until the 1950s, and then on small gas appliances shoved into fire places), and not having indoor plumbing (THROUGH THE 1990s!!!).
After the tour I headed down the hill to the Museum of Contemporary Art (where I have been a few times) to check out their installations for the Biennale. I blazed through the MCA (more small scale art stuff, not really having a dialogue with architecture, so not really my thing). I then went next door to Cadmans Cottage, the oldest residential building in Sydney (built in 1816) and then down to the end of Circular Quay and up the observation tower at the Overseas Passenger Terminal for some nice views.
I then began a trek that took me along the coast line from the eastern side of Circular Quay out past the Opera House on Bennelong Point, and around Farm Cove through the Royal Botanic Gardens and out to Mrs. Macquerie Point and Mrs. Macquerie's Chair. Named for the wife of the Governor in the early 1800s, the area is home to a large carved bench ('Chair'), carved by convicts at the command of the Governor for his wife to sit in and look out over the Harbour. I continued up from Macquerie Point, peeling off from the coastal walk at Woolloomooloo to explore the Botanic Gardens a bit before walking south through the Domain to get to the Art Gallery of NSW. Like the MCA, some of the space in the museum was devoted to Biennale stuff, and I did a quick tour of that as well as the art in the permanent collections before heading off into the sunset back toward home via Hyde Park.
On the walk through Hyde Park I happened to notice a very large pop-up building that had appeared in front of St. Mary's Cathedral. Intrigued, I went over and discovered the tv show Masterchef (the Aussie version) had set up a temporary restaurant.
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| Buildings can magically appear. |
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| Hooray for explanatory infographics! Red is bus, blue is ferry, and purple is walking. |
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