Garage Graphix

Garage Graphix was an Australian community group of women artists, active between 1981 and 1998.[1] It included an Aboriginal Arts Program (1983 - 1984), which was led by Aboriginal arts workers, and it was the first of its kind in Australia; it employed Alice Hinton-Bateup and undertook commissions and design work for Aboriginal organisations around Sydney.[2]

History

Based in Mount Druitt, Sydney, Garage Graphix was a community group of women artists committed to creating a space for members to freely express their cultural heritage and identity and it was established with support from Blacktown City Council.[3][4] It evolved from Mt Druitt Street Art Workers, a loose art collective who created various community mural projects in Lethbridge Park in 1981 and hosted cultural events.[5]

In 1981 a Management Committee was formed and was created in the garage of an opera singer and it was adjacent to the community centre.[5] The development was described by early key members and coordinators as follows:

Garage Graphix was.. developed by arts workers active in the women's movement, who were committed to working with and for communities to facilitate expression of their values and beliefs: to illuminate issues of concern. A collective in its early days. Garage Graphix became and incorporated entity in 1982. It was governed by a management committee comprising local residents and community works providing communities throughout western Sydney with access to specialist skills, printmaking equipment and facilities

— Lin Mountstephen and Marla Guppy, 2019, Text supplied by Blacktown Arts Centre, Significance Assessment: Garage Graphix Community Art Workshop Poster Archive, 2021

A screen printing workshop and design space, the "Garage" produced political and affirmative action posters during the 1980s related to Indigenous Land Rights, Indigenous Women's rights, and other women's rights issues.[6] Garage Graphix exhibited along with Redback Graphix at University Fine Arts Gallery in 1988 in an exhibition titled Shocking Diversity.[7]

The "Garage" operated on the principle that "the people of Western Sydney have the right to play an active role in the way their culture develops".[8] Facilities provided included a photocopier, photographic darkroom, process camera, layout and design area, screen printing workshop, and t-shirt printing "jig".[8]

It closed due to a number of factors including a loss of key staff, a reduced focus and funding from government and screen-printing beginning to be viewed as 'old technology'.[5]

When the Garage closed its archives, including objects, records and approximately 400 posters, were placed in storage at Blacktown City Council. In 2021, through the assistance of a Community Heritage Grant, made available by the National Library of Australia, a significance assessment of this collection was completed.[2]

The Powerhouse Museum holds over 50 prints by Garage Graphix in its collection including Dispossessed (1980s) a poster by Alice Hinton-Bateup. This work includes text and focuses on the forced relocation of Aboriginal people (Kamilaroi/Wonnarua) and their loss of connection to Country.[9][10] Hinton-Bateup's Ruth's Story (1988) is included in the National Gallery of Australia's travelling exhibition Know My Name which aims to increase the representation of women artists.[11]

Further reading

References

  1. ^ "Talking Poster Garage Graphix 1981-1998". Blacktown Memories. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  2. ^ a b "The Garage In Operation". Blacktown Arts. 2022-03-18. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  3. ^ Guppy, Marla. "Cultural Identities in Post Suburbia" (PDF). Western Sydney University. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Garage Graphix". www.visitpenrith.com.au. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  5. ^ a b c "Significance Assessment: Garage Graphix Community Art Workshop Poster Archive, 2021". Blacktown Memories. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  6. ^ "'Australia Day Invasion Day' by Wendy Dunn". Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  7. ^ Ewins, Rod (19 March 1988). "Posters to shake lotus eaters". The Mercury, Hobart.
  8. ^ a b Information leaflet, "Garage Graphix", n.d.. Garage Graphix: Art & Artist Files, held in the National Gallery of Australia Research Library & Archive Collection.
  9. ^ "Powerhouse Collection - 'Dispossessed' by Alice Hinton-Bateup". collection.powerhouse.com.au. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  10. ^ Printmaking, Prints and. "Dispossessed". www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  11. ^ "Know My Name: Australian Women Artists". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 2024-02-10.