T en D ay s on the I sland , T he Tasmanian S chool o f A rt, U ni v ersit y o f Tasmania
& N ational T rust o f A ustralia ( Tasmania ) present
T R US T
E X H I B I T I O N D AT E S 1 6 M A R C H – 1 9 A P R I L , 2 0 0 9
A ground-breaking series of site-specific art installations presented at five significant National Trust properties
Trust
16 March – 19 April 2009
Clarendon, Evandale: Lucy Bleach, Julie Gough, Michael McWilliams, John Vella
Home Hill, Devonport: Mary Scott
Oak Lodge, Richmond: Ruth Frost
Penghana, Queenstown: Martin Walch
Runnymede, Hobart: Pat Brassington
© Artists, writers and University of Tasmania, 2009
All rights reserved. This publication is copyright. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any
process, electronic or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publisher, artists and authors. Enquiries should be directed to the publisher. All
opinions expressed in the material contained in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the publisher.
Published by the Tasmanian School of Art, University of Tasmania
Private Bag 57
Hobart, Tas 7001
Australia
ISBN 978-1-86295-498-4
http://www.utas.edu.au
Design: Roar Film
Editing: Noel Frankham and Delia Nicholls
Photography: Noel Frankham or National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) unless otherwise stated
Back cover image: (Detail of Home Hill and Penghana) Travis Tiddy
Printer: Geon
Paper stock: TBC
Contributors
The Artists, Emily Arnold, Lisa Carminati, Delia Nicholls, Paula Silva, Elizabeth Walsh, Chris Tassell and Noel Frankham
Coordinating curator: Noel Frankham, Professor of Art, Head of School, Tasmanian School of Art, University of Tasmania
Associate curator: Paula Silva
Curatorial assistants: Emily Arnold, Lisa Carminati and Delia Nicholls
Public program: Jane Deeth
Project advisory committee comprised: Noel Frankham, Professor of Art, Head of School, Tasmanian School of Art, University of Tasmania; Elizabeth
Walsh, Artistic Director, Ten Days on the Island: Chris Tassell, Managing Director, National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) and Jennie Chapman, State
Promotions Officer, National Trust of Australia (Tasmania).
INTRODUCTION
T
he Trust partners are Ten Days on the Island, the National Trust of
Australia (Tasmania) and the Tasmanian School of Art, University
of Tasmania. Trust builds on the success of Port Arthur Project in 2007,
and continues our presentation of site-specific exhibitions outside the
traditional museum and gallery environment.
What we choose to preserve, both through these special places and
their stories, reflects our understanding not only of the past but also of
the present. In these five properties site-specific installations entice us to
enter the lives and times that are revealed through their fabric, history,
secrets and lies. We are asked to focus our attention, consider questions
The National Trust of Tasmania conserves some of the island’s and
Australia’s most significant cultural heritage for present and future
generations. Oak Lodge (1831) is an impressive ‘gentleman’s’ town
residence constructed in the village of Richmond; Clarendon (1838)
near Evandale was built by convict labour on a land grant given to a
wealthy middle class immigrant as part of the deliberate strategy to
create a landed gentry and a little England on the open grazing land that
Aboriginal people had created over millennia; Runnymede in Hobart
(1840) was originally the home of a wealthy whaling family; Penghana
(1898) was the residence of the first mine manager of the vast Mount Lyell
mine at Queenstown and is also an Aboriginal word meaning where two
rivers meet; and Home Hill (1916) in Devonport was the home of Joseph
Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia (1932-39), his wife Enid, the first woman
to be elected to the Federal House of Representatives (1943-51), and their
12 children.
and even challenge our perceptions. With properties located across the
state, visitor access is greatly increased. We look forward to discussion
and debate, reward and enjoyment that Trust will surely provide.
Elizabeth walsh
Artistic Director
Ten Days on the Island
Chris Tassell
Managing Director
National Trust of Australia (Tasmania)
Image: Ruth Frost
Trust creatively combines Tasmania’s acknowledged strengths in history,
art, environment, tourism and education. This year we’ve included
properties that span Tasmania’s development and that are located across
the state, ensuring broad accessibility; inviting audiences into attics,
cellars, gardens, music, drawing and dining rooms of five extraordinary
houses. Their diverse stories have provided the artists with opportunities
to consider contemporary as well as historical issues.
Special discounted entry fees are available; get a Trust stamp at Home Hill, Runnymede or Clarendon and
receive reduced entry at subsequent Trust project properties.
1
TRUST
A
rtists provided Europeans with the first images of Tasmanian flora
and fauna; documenting the landscape and the evolution of the
buildings, properties and towns – artists recorded and interpreted
environments and histories. Trust continues this tradition providing
contemporary artists with access to properties, the people who made
With Trust, artists could work with 20th century as well as colonial
them and those who present them for our enjoyment and education.
is emblematic of the ‘company town’ an industrial mining marvel
It is always fascinating to participate in the processes through which
upon which much of Tasmania’s prosperity, and more recently our
artists refine their areas of interest and resolve the means of realising
understanding of environmental sustainability, have developed. Oak
them in visual form for public presentation. With Trust, the people directly
Lodge housed the local doctor for over 40 years, providing a focus for
associated with each of the five properties have been partners with the
the development of a rural community that was and remains significant
artists in this process, increasing the depth and richness of the experience
in the development of the state. The significance of Runnymede, located
for all involved: National Trust staff members, the artists and curators and
in the midst of Hobart’s early suburban development, is more than the
visitors. The processes of reading, looking, talking, thinking, drawing and
industry and enterprise of its residents; its presence in New Town has
then talking and thinking again helped the artists identify a number of
influenced generations of Tasmanians who passed it on the way to school
quite special projects for each of the properties.
or sport, visited it as children on school trips, attended it for weddings,
Power and influence, control and authority, emerged as common themes
structures, histories and people. Home Hill is more about the woman
who lived there, than the building itself, whereas Clarendon is such an
imposing edifice, that the people become somewhat secondary, even
though at its peak some 100 people worked in the house. Penghana
christenings, and other community occasions.
across the projects. These are most obvious in the work created for
Along with ideas of power and influence, the roles of men and women,
Clarendon and Penghana, both homes were established as direct symbols
National Trust properties share a curious quality – perhaps even
of power and affluence. The role of women within the Trust properties
voyeurism, as we are permitted access to private homes, the family
is also significant, especially with Home Hill, Dame Enid Lyons’ family
domain, we wouldn’t otherwise have experienced. From this personal
home, sanctuary and seat of personal power and influence as Dame Enid
view point perhaps we can reflect on the rich, complex and often
resolved to focus her life achievements through her home as a public
contested implications of development and change in Tasmania as
museum. Whilst the Trust properties were established as symbols of
European settlement and industry became entrenched. Accordingly, Trust
traditional and generally male achievement, four of the five properties
lets us view and consider the responses that eight leading Tasmanian
were preserved for public benefit by women – surviving wives, daughters
artists bring to these properties. Trust has extended the artists’ creative
and sisters. Without these strong, visionary and generous women, the
practices and reveals aspects of the properties perhaps not previously
history ‘written’ by men, might not have been available for us today. In
known or emphasised in interpretation material. In achieving these
this sense the project theme of power and influence was controlled by the
objectives, the Trust projects will give visitors special insights into
women of the houses.
contemporary artistic practice and National Trust properties.
N oel Fran k ham
Curator
Image: (Detail of Home Hill & Penghana) Travis Tiddy
2
Home hill
M ar y S cott
O
f all the National Trust houses in this exhibition Home Hill is the only
one that reflects the actual style and vision of its original owner.
Built in 1916, this simple, white weatherboard bungalow was the home of
Mary also looks at the public versus the private life of the woman who
Australia’s first public political couple, Joseph and Enid Lyons.
Federal Cabinet. In today’s terms, Enid is something of a superwoman: as
Joseph Lyons became prime minister in 1932 and died in office in 1939. A
well as being a politician’s wife, she bore 12 children in 17 years, lobbied
shattered Enid and the children returned from Canberra to their home in
Devonport to grieve, and to begin a new life. But in less than four years,
without Joe but fortified with all she had learned working beside him,
Enid was back in politics as the Federal member for Bass for the United
became known not only as ‘Australia’s Greatest Mother’, but also the first
woman elected to the Australian House of Representatives and to serve in
and worked for her husband’s career and women’s social rights, travelled
extensively, while simultaneously running a household in this somewhat
remote cottage. Although they were a public couple, particularly Enid
who savoured public adoration, Joseph and Enid rarely brought strangers
Australia Party that went on to become the Liberal Party.
into their private world; they kept the house as their sanctuary.
It was the determined Enid who lobbied local and state governments to
Mary Scott lives in Hobart and works in painting and digital print. She has
purchase Home Hill, so that it could become a National Trust museum.
Mary Scott’s paintings and large format digital prints capture the collision
and tensions between public and private, display and intimacy. Mary’s
response to Home Hill considers what Enid revealed and hid about
herself as she turned her family home and life into a museum exhibition.
And it was Enid who maintained Home Hill: she wallpapered, painted,
and sewed curtains and bedspreads – all on a shoe-string budget –
creating what we see today.
Before public image became a cliché, Enid used the media and even
her parliamentary speeches to craft her persona with care, and she is
renowned for her use of homely and household metaphors to make
political points. Mary Scott’s work for Trust employs the metaphor of the
exhibited extensively nationally for almost 20 years. Mary is represented
in significant collections, including: National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank,
Sydney, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Devonport Regional
Gallery, and many private collections. Mary is Senior Lecturer and Head
of Drawing at the Tasmanian School of Art, University of Tasmania. She
graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the University in 1987 and a
PhD in Fine Art in 2000.
Mary Scott gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Tasmanian
Embroiders Guild.
D elia N icholls
Curatorial Assistant
dining table to explore Enid’s carefully crafted dual image of mother
home hill
and public person. Her work also reflects on the determined way Enid
77 Middle Road
Devonport
Tel: 03 6424 8055
controlled, embellished and defended her and Joe’s political ambitions.
dates
16 March – 19 April
(Closed Good Friday)
openin g hours
During Ten Days (27 March – 5 April)
10am – 4pm daily
Otherwise (16 March – 19 April)
tuesday, wednesday, thursday,
Saturday and Sunday
1.30pm – 4pm
S ite entr y f ee
Admission: $8, concessions $6,
National Trust members and children
(18 years and under) enter free.
Disability access available
Image: (Main) Travis Tiddy, (Details) Mary Scott
3
Clarendon
L uc y B leach , J ulie Gou g h ,
M ichael M cWilliams and J ohn Vella
C
larendon is set on the banks of the South Esk River between
Evandale and The Nile. The house was completed in 1838 by James
Cox, second son of William Cox of Clarendon, NSW. The house is a
neo-classical mansion, often referred to as The Flag Ship of Tasmania’s
National Trust, housing a remarkable collection of artifacts reflecting the
history of James’ life here with his second wife, Eliza Eddington-Collins,
the daughter of Lt. Gov. David Collins, and their 11 children. The estate
once covered in excess of 20,000 acres as a celebrated Merino sheep and
James Cox arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1814 with his first wife, Mary
Hereford cattle stud.
which became the seat of an extraordinary family enterprise.
History tells us that several distinct groups of newcomers arrived in
The eminence of Clarendon in the Tasmanian landscape is unequivocal.
Australia during the 1800s, and Van Diemen’s Land was no exception.
The architecture, inspired by the European classical tradition, is testimony
One was formed by people convicted to transportation, forced to leave
to its master’s hierarchic aspirations and status anxieties, which John
England, Scotland and Ireland and sail to a faraway, unknown, ‘wild’ land.
Vella’s intervention in the façade of the house emphasises. John was
Another group was made of people who travelled driven by the search
intrigued by Clarendon as a statement of class and culture – an ironic
of new opportunities and wealth. This distinction was perpetuated by
arcadia in the antipodes. The house’s design, especially the imposing
the designations ‘convict’ and ‘free settler’. The main social difference
portico, affirms status and power. John resolved an artwork that
between these two groups was land ownership: the free settlers arrived
masquerades as a structural device, striving to slyly challenge the veracity
with the promise of land, for which they were responsible to make
of our ‘first impressions’ whilst simultaneously outing the house as an
productive, and convicts arrived with no promises other than a life of hard
architectural ruse. John’s intervention engages our universal delusions of
work on behalf of the free settlers, and cruel punishment for reoffending.
grandeur. Tackling the architecture’s desire to impress, he exposes the
Together these two distinct groups shaped a new landscape, but more
façade as part pretence, but also recognises it as a statement of how an
importantly new industries, communities and society – a new state.
incoming ‘civilised’ society established a new order in the wild land.
Their story, of which Clarendon is a crucial part, is not very different from
Michael McWilliams’s paintings ironically portray the conflict between
contemporary stories of communities that define themselves through
the order of the natural and order of the artificial, recognising the tense
their relationship with each other and their environments. Enquiry into the
co-existence between the native and the introduced. Michael presents
sense of belonging to a community and to a culture, seeking what binds
past and new work at Clarendon. Painted on wood panels or furniture
these together into an identity and to a place, is what brings Lucy Bleach
and large canvasses, his landscapes present almost surrealistic scenarios
to Trust and to Clarendon.
where familiar fauna and flora seem at the same time at home and out
Lucy Bleach’s most significant work relates to concepts of creation and
of place. The land portrayed in Michael’s paintings is inhabited by native
demarcation of place. Her interest in the ways we create place, leads her
and introduced species that strive to coexist. Some animals stand as if
to look into things that bind us to others at the same time we inhabit our
persisting and guarding the ownership of their land allowing others to
own individual place. For Trust, Lucy looked to Clarendon house itself
comfortably settle in, as others appear to fade in the background.
and its contents as the frame through which its inhabitants, masters and
The stories told in Michael’s paintings and painted furniture displayed
servants, see the world. A window on a landing invites us to reflect on the
in Clarendon’s rooms strive to coexist with the stories that the family
concept of cultural landscape related to possession of property and its
objects tell us, reminding us that decisions made by European immigrants
uses. Our interactions change the environment we inhabit. Lucy suggests
generations ago continue to impact the Tasmanian environment.
with this installation that we are also changed by that interaction.
4
Connell, to take up a land grant of 700 acres. He brought Merino sheep
with him from John Macarthur’s NSW flock. At a time when wool was
becoming the main industry of Van Diemen’s Land, it was not difficult to
expand the Cox property, and five years later James petitioned for and
was granted a further 6,000 acres. Mary died delivering their eighth child
in 1828. Cox married his second wife, Eliza Collins, in 1829 and soon
afterwards commenced construction of the grand house, Clarendon,
The ‘granting’ or rather taking of half a million acres of land across the
Michael McWilliams lives in Perth, Tasmania. He has exhibited widely
counties of Van Diemen’s Land by newcomers between 1808-1832 forms
locally and nationally over the past 15 years. Highlights include the
the basis of Julie Gough’s negotiation with the place now known as
exhibitions Michael McWilliams: Friends, Foes & Favourites, Lauraine
Clarendon. Julie retreats to the cellar of the main house and from there
Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, 2003, and The Waterhouse Natural History
she reminds us of when land was bounty, with acreage gifted to some for
Art Prize, The South Australian Museum, which Michael won in 2008 and
participating in the Black Line campaign of 1830 to remove Aboriginal
2005. In 2004, Michael’s painting Bandicoot on a Log won the Glover Prize
people from this much sought after pastoral land.
for a Landscape Painting of Tasmania. When not painting, Michael works
Julie Gough’s most significant work relates to the uncovering and
in the Longford antique shop he inherited from his parents.
re-presentation of historical stories as part of an ongoing project that
Julie Gough lives in Hobart and works in sculpture and installation art.
questions and re-evaluates the impact of the past on our present lives.
She has exhibited widely nationally and internationally over the past 18
For Trust she utilised Colonial Office correspondence and land grant
years. Highlights include a New York residency; the exhibition/installation
records to create a film work drawing on travels along the South Esk
Chase, Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria in 2001, and the
River and roadways of Van Diemen’s Land districts, including Cornwall, of
Australia Council for the Arts, Visual Arts Fellowship in 2007. She has a
which Clarendon estate is part. Records of colonial cross-cultural affrays
PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Tasmania. Julie is currently working
on river-ways merge with a contemporary journey across forgotten, out
with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery curating the exhibition
of place counties: Buckingham, Cornwall, Cumberland, Devon, Dorset,
Tayenebe, a Tasmanian Aboriginal women’s fibre exhibition.
Glamorgan, Kent, Lincoln, Monmouth, Montagu, Montgomery, Pembroke,
Russell, Somerset, Wellington and Westmorland. In making this work
PA U L a S I LVA
Julie sought traces of ancestors amongst places still colonially concealed
Associate Curator
by hedgerows and deed titles. Revealing how land was usurped and this
island was overrun by river and by road, Julie questions how and whose
heritage has been demarcated on the ‘Heritage Highways’ and byways of
our tourist Tasmania.
Lucy Bleach lives in Hobart and works with sculpture and installation art.
Lucy has exhibited widely locally and nationally over the past eight years.
Highlights include participation in the Sculpture by the Sea in 2001, a
residency at the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens and New Work and
CLARENDON
and Arts Tasmania. She has Master of Fine Arts from the University of
234 Clarendon Station Road,
Evandale
Tel: 03 6398 6220
Tasmania and lectures in sculpture at the university’s School of Art.
dates
Professional Development grants from the Australia Council for the Arts
John Vella lives in Hobart and works in sculpture. John has exhibited
16 MARCH–19 APRIL
(Closed Good Friday)
widely locally and nationally over the past 14 years, with his most
openin g hours
significant work relating to arts industry and community collaboration
and public art. Highlights include a New York residency and a new
work grant, both from the Australian Council for the Arts; Fume, a solo
exhibition commissioned by Devonport Regional Gallery; and the public
art installation Scape produced in collaboration with Glasgow-based
artist Stephen Hurrel. He has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of
Tasmania’s School of Art, where he is Head of Sculpture.
Monday – Sunday 10am – 4pm
S ite entr y f ee
Admission: $10, concessions $8,
National Trust members and children
(18 years and under) enter free.
Disability access to service wing,
grounds, tearoom – additional
access may be arranged by
telephoning 0402 307 277
5
Penghana
M artin Walch
B
uilt in 1898 and perched atop a hill on the edge of Queenstown’s
centre, Penghana, the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
general manager’s house makes a commanding statement about power
Walch has a strong interest in west coast Tasmanian mining and was an
and control, recalling castles and forts of old.
and how they shape our visual perception of reality, theory of landscape
The name ‘penghana’ attracted photographer Martin Walch as it was
representation and redefining popular conceptions of wilderness.
taken from the early shanty settlement a kilometre or two from the
formal ‘company’ town of Queenstown. Penghana means ‘where two
rivers meet’ in the local Aborigine language, and perhaps coincidentally,
minus the ‘h’, it means ‘the head of the river’ in Welsh – how many Welsh
Artist-in-Residence with Copper Mines of Tasmania at Mount Lyell. Over
the last decade his art practice has focused on systems of measurement
Complementing the work at Penghana, two of Martin Walch’s video
works Sticks and Stones (2008) and Drowning by Numbers - (mapping
four seasons at one location) (2008) (Hobart Art Prize 2008) will also be
screening at the historical and recently restored Paragon Theatre on
miners were among the early pioneers of Tasmania’s west coast? Walch
McNamara Street, Queenstown, 27 March – 5 April.
explores the ways in which the mining company’s general manager,
Martin Walch lives in Hobart and works in photography and new media.
Robert Sticht, an American of Scandinavian/German descent, used
He has exhibited in significant national and international exhibitions;
the house, now owned by the National Trust and operated as a guest
recent highlights include winning the 2008 City of Hobart Art Prize and
house, to impose authority over his developing dominion. The top of
a commission (with Raef Sawford) by ABC television and the National
the hill was levelled to accommodate the two storey brick house; its attic
Portrait Gallery to produce a video portrait of Senator Bob Brown. Martin
served as a communication pathway along which servants traversed the
lectures at the University of Tasmania’s School of Art where he is currently
home avoiding the formal rooms and areas below, keeping them firmly
completing a PhD in Fine Art.
in their place. Ironically that same attic boardwalk also provided Sticht
with the means to monitor both the mine and the town centre through
E mily A rnold
strategically located windows. The image of Sticht and his servants
Curatorial Assistant
negotiating the attic – small of scale, low ceilinged and rather dark – for
their respective roles is almost amusing.
In his efforts to establish himself as a cultured man and community
leader, Sticht aspired to the trappings of sophistication. During his
25-year tenure, Sticht developed a significant collection comprising
several thousand objects: artworks, books and manuscripts, artefacts
and specimens; things to excite interest, learning and amusement. The
P en g hana
collection was eventually sold off, but Martin has researched it for Trust.
Martin’s art work asks visitors to consider power and control through the
32 The Esplanade,
Queenstown
Tel: 03 6471 2560
building of Penghana, the class system and Sticht’s surveillance of his
dates
mine and town – giving unprecedented behind the scenes access to this
16 March – 19 April
(Closed Good Friday)
important house.
openin g hours
11am – 3pm daily
S ite entr y f ee
Admission: GOLD COIN DONATION,
National Trust members and children
(18 years and under) enter free.
Disability access TO FRONT GROUND
FLOOR ROOMS BUT LIMITED TO STAIRS
FOR UPPER FLOORS
Image: (Main) Travis Tiddy
6
OAK
LODGE
R uth Frost
O
ak Lodge is a ‘gentleman’s’ town residence in the historic town of
Richmond. Built between 1831 and 1842, the two-storey Georgian
home has changed hands often and housed many people. Initially the
residence of Henry Buscombe, it was then the home of Captain James
Richard Booth until his return to England. Oak Lodge was leased until
1855, when Reverend David Galer became its owner and St Luke’s
Church (Richmond) rectory until 1880. During William Stevens’ ownership,
Oak Lodge accommodated a Methodist school. In 1909 the home was
rented to Dr William Clark, its most famous resident. Born in the United
States and educated at Harvard University, Dr. Clark lived and worked
in Richmond until the 1940s; during this period, Oak Lodge was also his
surgery. In 1962 the house was sold to the Horsfall sisters, who gave the
For Ruth Frost, Oak Lodge is all about the home – not a house or a building,
home and much of its contents to the National Trust in 1998.
Noel Frankham and Julia Clark, for Ten Days on the Island; and a 2003 grant
Oak Lodge and its residents have been a constant presence in the
community, involved in providing assistance for its needs, whether spiritual,
educational or health related. Respect for this community influence is
but as the place where families have lived and stories have been told.
Transient personal lives and professional roles are embedded as memories
within the fabric of Oak Lodge. Ruth seeks to tie these together as a
continuous cycle of being – once living people whose presence at Oak
Lodge enriched and enlivened the Coal Valley communities. Utilising stories
about the house and its occupants, Ruth employs the physical character
of the house to evoke memories and the ephemeral quality of life.
Ruth Frost lives in Hobart and works in photography, digital imagery,
video and sound. She has exhibited in Australia and New Zealand; recent
highlights include participation in the 2007 Port Arthur Project, curated by
from the New Media Board of the Australia Council. Also in 2003 Ruth
completed her PhD research at the Tasmanian School of Art, University of
Tasmania, where she lectures in photography.
reflected in the Coal Valley Historical Society’s commitment to maintain
Ruth Frost is especially grateful to the Coal Valley Historical Society Inc.
and present the house on behalf of the National Trust. The stories about
for its assistance with her project.
Oak Lodge attracted, photographer, Ruth Frost’s attention and provided
the basis of her art project. Wanting to include all the people who
E lisa carminati
called it home, Ruth’s project re-establishes a private dimension to Oak
Curatorial Assistant
Lodge and provides visitors with an interior depicted as a continuously
lived-in space. A space which draws our attention to the memories of its
residents, kept alive and contained within the solid walls of Oak Lodge.
O a k L od g e
18 Bridge Street
Richmond
Tel: 03 6260 4153
dates
16 March – 19 April
(Closed Good Friday)
openin g hours
During Ten Days (27 March – 5 April)
10am – 4pm daily
Otherwise (16 March – 19 April)
Monday – SUNDAY 11.30am – 3.30pm
S ite entr y f ee
Admission: GOLD COIN DONATION,
National Trust members and children
(18 years and under) enter free.
Disability access TO FRONT GROUND
FLOOR ROOMS BUT LIMITED TO STAIRS
FOR OTHER AREAS AND UPPER FLOORS
Image: (Details) Ruth Frost
7
runnymede
Pat B rassin g ton
R
unnymede, a colonial Regency-style sandstone residence, is located
in the Hobart suburb of New Town. It was built c1840 by the Scottishborn lawyer, Robert Pitcairn and his wife Dorothea. Pitcairn was a leading
campaigner against transportation of convicts. In 1850, the house was
sold to Francis Russell Nixon and his wife Anna Maria. Nixon was the
first Anglican Bishop of the colony, holding services and meetings of the
clergy in the house. In 1864, whaling pioneer and maritime trader, Charles
Bayley and his wife Eliza, acquired the property; they gave it the name
Runnymede. Bayley descendants lived there for the following 100 years.
Runnymede was sold to the State Government in 1965 and leased to the
National Trust, ‘for preservation and development as a state monument.’
Runnymede residents played a major role in shaping the society they
lived in. Overlooking New Town Bay and connected to the Queen’s Walk
Esplanade, Runnymede is the physical manifestation of these families’
achievements. The house, its site, design, gardens and contents, all
contribute to establishing reputation and influence. The decision by Hally
and Emma Bayly (daughters of Harriet Bayley and Henry Vincent Bayly) to
make their private family home a public monument added another level
of intrigue for photo-media artist Pat Brassington as she considered her
responses to this significant property. The things that are made public and
those that remain concealed have long fascinated Pat, an artist whose
practice is often compared to an archaeological investigation. Utilising
Runnymede is a personal affair for Pat; she grew up nearby, and its
surroundings formed the backdrop of her childhood adventures. It was
a constant feature for her, as well as for the community of the then
evolving suburb of New Town – reclamation for the sports grounds and
development of the bisecting Brooker Highway was beginning and the
house was still firmly in private hands.
Approaching the house through her childhood memories, and wondering
about the people who lived in it, the work Pat has made for Trust reflects
on the hidden, concealed and neglected – those things not profiled in
the home-as-museum. In taking this approach, Pat asks visitors to reflect
on the decisions made by museums and by us as individuals about what
we are prepared and able to share with others, how we present for public
consumption, and reminds us that some things remain forever private,
hidden from view – behind the facade.
Pat Brassington lives in Hobart and is a leading photomedia artist. Over
the past 20 years Pat has exhibited in Australia and overseas; highlights
include: a major survey of her work Pat Brassington: Works in Progress
held at the Ian Potter Gallery, University of Melbourne, in 2003; Reason
and Emotion, Biennale of Sydney in 2004. Pat obtained a Master of Fine
Arts in 1985 from the Tasmanian School of Art, University of Tasmania,
where she coordinates the Plimsoll Gallery.
Surrealist techniques and psychoanalytic theories, Pat manipulates
images to create ambiguous stories.
E lisa carminati
Curatorial Assistant
R unn y mede
61 Bay Road
New Town, Hobart
Tel: 03 6278 1269
dates
16 March – 19 April
(Closed Good Friday)
openin g hours
During Ten Days (27 March – 5 April)
10am – 4pm daily
Otherwise (16 March – 19 April)
Monday – Friday 10am – 4.30pm
Saturday – Sunday 12pm – 4.30pm
S ite entr y f ee
Admission: $8, concessions $6,
National Trust members and children
(18 years and under) enter free.
Disability access available
8
KING
ISLAND
FLINDERS
ISLAND
Naracoopa
Currie
Whitemark
CAPE BARREN
ISLAND
Stanley
Smithton
Barnbougle
Dunes
Wynyard
(Home Hill)
Latrobe
Bay of Fires
Gravelly Beach
Launceston
Deloraine
Longford
Cradle Mountain
Rosebery
Evandale
St Marys
(Clarendon)
Great Lake
Zeehan
Western Tiers
Queenstown
Derby
Rowella
Beaconsfield
Sheffield
Strahan
Bridport
Devonport George Town
Burnie
Penguin
Ulverstone
Gunns Plains
Campbell Town
Miena
Lake St Clair
Ross
Coles Bay
Swansea
(Penghana)
Freycinet
Oatlands
Bothwell
Gordon
River
Lake Pedder
Triabunna
Darlington
Richmond
(Oak Lodge)
Lake Gordon
MARIA ISLAND
Old Beach
New Norfolk
Sorell
Glenorchy
Rosny
New Town (Runnymede)
Dunalley
Bellerive
Hobart
Huonville
Kingston Beach
Margate
Franklin
Port Arthur
Cygnet
Adventure Bay
BRUNY ISLAND
Acknowledgements
Trust is an ambitious project instigated by the shared vision of the participating organisations. It has been
realised by the efforts of a large team comprising the eight artists: Lucy Bleach, Pat Brassington, Ruth Frost,
Julie Gough, Michael McWilliams, Mary Scott, John Vella and Martin Walch; the curatorial group, led by Noel
Frankham, and administrative, technical and discipline specialists from the three organisations, especially the
National Trust’s, Jennie Chapman, State Promotions Officer, and the managers of the five properties: Len Langan
(Clarendon), Pam Bartlett (Home Hill) Lois Green (Oak Lodge), Bill and Maureen Kerr (Penghana), and Gemma
Webberley (Runnymede) and their local teams, and Ten Days on the Island Program Manager, David Roberts,
and Visual Arts Coordinator, Jane Deeth. We’re especially pleased that the exhibition has been built into the
curatorial learning programs for four post-graduate students: Paula Silva, Delia Nicholls, Emily Arnold and Elisa
Carminati. All in the Trust team demonstrated their skill and commitment throughout the 12 months it’s taken
to realise the project. We acknowledge the contribution of Colonialism and its Aftermath Research Centre,
especially Prof Lucy Frost, Dr Linn Miller and Dr Hamish Maxwell-Stewart. All those mentioned, along with all the
National Trust volunteers, are congratulated and thanked.
Trust has been supported by funding provided by the Australia Council and the Ten Days on the Island Philos
Patrons without whose support this project would not have been realised..
Elizabeth walsh
Supported by
Artistic Director
Ten Days on the Island
Chris Tassell
Managing Director
National Trust of Australia (Tasmania)
P H I L O S PAT R O N S