10 August 2008
Spectacle and the City: Sydney's Garden Palace
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The only thing more spectacular than Sydney's Garden Palace was the mysterious fire that destroyed it. Set in the Governor's Domain overlooking Farm Cove, the Garden Palace briefly dominated the Sydney skyline with its immense facade and lofty dome. Pulled together in nine months to host Sydney's first big gig as a global city, the Garden Palace lived fast, died young and is now forgotten. But in 1879 the Garden Palace achieved global fame, and put the new metropolis of Sydney on the map, as the gracious host of Australia's first International Exhibition.
In today's Hindsight we pay a visit to the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition to admire the Garden Palace, and consider the cornucopia of arts, industry and social Darwinism within. We assess the legacy of the Garden Palace Exhibition for Sydney's urban identity, global reputation, and institutional development. And we examine the impact of the archival losses sustained in the Garden Palace fire of 1882.
With special thanks to Sarah Barns for sharing her knowledge about the Garden Palace, and for contributing valuable ideas to the realisation of this radio feature.
Images
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Guests
Linda Young
Senior Lecturer in Museum Studies
Deakin University
Shirley Fitzgerald
Historian
City of Sydney
Graeme Davison
Professor in History
Monash University
Peter Orlovich
Visiting Research Fellow
School of History and Philosophy
University of New South Wales
Kimberley Webber
Curator in Australian History
Powerhouse Museum
Publications
Title: Colonial City, Global City: Sydney's International Exhibition 1879
Author: Peter Proudfoot, Roslyn Maguire and Robert Freestone (eds)
Publisher: Crossing Press 2000
Title: "Let them see how like England we can be!" An Account of the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879
Author: Linda Young
Publisher: PhD Thesis, Sydney University 1983
Title: Seize the Day: Exhibitions, Australia and the World
Author: Kate Darian-Smith, Richard Gillespie, Caroline Jordan and Elizabeth Willis (eds)
Publisher: Monash University ePress 2008
Title: Significant Sites: History and Public Works in New South Wales
Author: Lenore Coltheart (ed.)
Publisher: Hale and Iremonger 1989
Title: The Little Giant: The Life and Work of Joseph Henry Maiden 1859-1925
Author: Lionel Gilbert
Publisher: Kardoorair Press 2001
Title: James Barnet: Colonial Architect
Author: Peter Bridges and Don McDonald
Publisher: Hale and Iremonger 1988
Title: Yesterday's Tomorrow: The Powerhouse Museum and its Precursors 1880-2005
Author: Graeme Davison and Kimberley Webber (eds)
Publisher: Powerhouse Publishing in association with UNSW Press, 2005
Presenter
Catherine Freyne
Story Researcher and Producer
Catherine Freyne
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