HYDE PARK BARRACKS WAS NOT ON OUR ITINERARY but with the "Museum Open" sign up front as we walked by, I thought why not.
The first two floors housed a fairly straightforward display of artifacts that aim to educate about life as an Irish convict aboard the prison hulk and in the barracks.
Apart from male convicts, the building had also accommodated women prisoners kept for rehabilitation, as well as impoverished orphan girls taken in to be trained for service in colonial households.
A bit depressing so I leave out the details.
I wasn't too excited for us to climb up yet another staircase to a third floor of even more sadness on display. But after getting up there, I was glad we did.
The big empty room, the dark faceless figures, the whispers playing on the speakers and the light peeking in from outside. The setup invites you to enter into the inner world of the prisoners, not with another history lesson but through art and introspection.
Wonderful proof that installation is not just for the avant garde.
And wonderfully creepy don't you think how this particular silhouette looks so much like Jaime:
Characters at Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie Street, Sydney. Cutout profiles by Heather Dorrough and sound by Sound Design Studio.
COMMENTS
yeah, installations can be pretty esoteric at times. but this one looks accessible and intersting! :)
I did go to one that was so cool but sooooo unbelievably strange... think I might do a post if I could find photos of it online.
My darlings, how do I know if it's Mike or if it's Karlo? You share an account right? :-)
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