This was published 13 years ago
Kirby joins fight to save indigenous art collection
By Alicia Wood
THE campaign to salvage The Keeping Place, one of the largest collections of indigenous art in Australia, has found a staunch ally in the former High Court judge Michael Kirby.
Kirby opened an exhibition of selected works from the collection at the Australian Museum last week.
Gordon and Elaine Syron with the art collection in the railway shed in Eveleigh.Credit: Jacky Ghossein
The collection is held in a railway shed in Eveleigh by Gordon Syron, an Aboriginal artist, and his wife Elaine.
They have been served an eviction notice and must vacate the property by the end of the month.
''It is an urgent and serious problem, and I hope that a proper solution can be found,'' Kirby said.
''Wherever it is placed, it ought to be placed with honour and properly safeguarded as an indication of the beauty of indigenous art in Australia.''
Kirby, recently appointed to a Commonwealth ''eminent persons group'', gave a speech in support of the Syrons days before travelling to England. He took one of Syron's paintings to present to the Queen.
''We are hoping that the
powers that be take [the collection] and put it in a suitable building,'' Gordon Syron said. ''You wouldn't put the Mona Lisa in a shed. There would be an outcry.''
The Syrons are putting in a proposal for the collection to go into a new cultural centre at Barangaroo.
They have been unable to discuss the nature of their eviction, because they were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement by the Redfern Waterloo Authority.
The Greens MP Sylvia Hale tabled questions in Parliament last month about this agreement and the future of the collection.
Premier Kristina Keneally will respond to the questions at the end of the month, and the Redfern Waterloo Authority has confirmed it is seeking a location for the works.
''In moving the art, the RWA will hire a professional removalist, and is considering one specifically recommended by the Arts Law Centre of NSW,'' a spokeswoman said.
"The art is currently stored in a tin shed at Eveleigh. In finding an alternative location, the RWA is looking for storage which, of course, exceeds those conditions.''