Amateur Histories reflects upon memory, subjectivity, reliability and interpretation in the telling of tales and in the authoritative formation of histories, with particular reference to the Rocks and Millers Point communities. Amateur Histories is being made through the NEIA, UNSW (National Institute for Experimental Arts, University of NSW) studio in partnership with SHFA.
The title attempts to remove historical hierarchy, and infers that in accounting for time, an amateur’s account is as valid and vital as a professional’s. Lived experience and learnt experience meet halfway.
The video works in this exhibition set out to characterize Sydney through its inhabitants and to form an image of a city whose modern timeline is still in its infancy.
