Keeping the Keeping Place

"The Keeping Place is an amazing collection of contemporary and traditional Aboriginal art including oral histories, figurines and an historic photograph and poster collection." Clr Doutney said.  "It is currently located in a warehouse in Redfern, which is unsatisfactory as it is, but to make matters worse the collection will be evicted by the state Government within a month. It is a crime that our State, Federal and Local Governments are doing nothing to preserve and promote this collection and I am calling on the Redfern Waterloo Authority (RWA) and the Barangaroo Delivery Authority (BDA) to take up the challenge of finding it a permanent home." 

"I believe that Barangaroo would be the perfect place to create a national Indigenous art gallery and the Keeping Place, based on this collection which has been acquired by Aboriginal artist Gordon Syron and his photographer wife Elaine over many years, could serve as a wonderful foundation for it.  But instead of government helping to save the Keeping Place it is soon to be chucked into some commercial storage shed and forgotten." 

Councillor Doutney has begun talks with both the RWA and the BDA about the future of the collection but has been stymied by the secrecy of the RWA and the complex processes of the BDA. 

"The RWA has given the Syrons a month to move to an undisclosed location, by undisclosed means while they try and deal with upcoming exhibitions, health problems and the prospect of temporarily moving the collection with no future in sight. It is so short-sighted it's hard to believe" the Councillor said. 

"When you think about the potential of the Barangaroo development, the City of Sydney Council's much vaunted Eora Journey and the RWA's so called commitment to regenerating Redfern I cannot believe none of these bodies can find a place for the Keeping Place collection." 

"An Aboriginal cultural centre at Barangaroo is a no brainer and if created and managed with the input of local Aboriginal artists and collectors, with the Keeping Place incorporated into it, it could be one of the great cultural galleries of the world. It's time for all levels of government to get behind the idea of a national Keeping Place and to find an enlightened solution to the survival of the Redfern Keeping Place." She concluded.