12/16/2023 0 Comments Folsom prison blues sooey![]() ![]() ![]() Wilson, in her analysis of the redevelopment of the decommissioned Pentridge Prison in Melbourne, notes the damage to a shared history when it is misappropriated for profit. The difficult lessons of such commentary will not be learned so long as arts programming deflects attention away from these narratives, rendering the associated historical sites as mere empty vessels for the imposition of more palatable events. In addition, the testimonies of survivors of Parramatta Girls’ Training School were heard this year by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Parramatta represents the struggle for those Australians trapped by the systemic abuse in Australia’s punitive welfare regime.įormer Parramatta Gaol inmate and journalist Bernie Matthews has described the institutionalised violence inherent in Australian child welfare policy. Parramatta has been a continuous site of confinement since 1821 and includes the history of convict women, the Stolen Generations, Forgotten Australians, and those living with mental illness. What is likely to be glossed over, by what I see as an act of American imperialism, is a rich and significant local history. The former prison yard is now seemingly treated by Lieven Bertels as a mere hall for hire, a site for a disembodied spectacle in a bid to ensure bums on seats.
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