Bringing SA’s history to life
South Australia’s History Festival is inviting everyone this May to reimagine how we think about and share our past.
History Trust of South Australia CEO Greg Mackie said the month-long festival allows South Australians to discover local history that is often not taught in school or discussed in society.
“We don’t know our history,” Mackie said.
“In our school system, the national curriculum dominates and so school children these days growing up in South Australia aren’t as alive to their local history as they were perhaps in generations past.”
Changing this is part of the mission of South Australia’s History Festival.
“Our mission is to foster and promote a greater awareness of the history of this place and the recognition that it helps to shape who we are and how we might face the future,” Mackie said.
Returning for its eighteenth year, the festival will feature more than 500 events spread across the state for people to enjoy and learn from throughout May.
Mackie said that reflecting on the past two years of a global pandemic, this year’s History Festival explores the stories we tell, the lessons we take from the past – and how this might help us shape and re-imagine our future.
“This year’s theme of ‘reimagine’ honours both our unique history and the many people across our state who keep local stories alive,” he said.
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To bring order to the more than 500 events scheduled, the festival has been divided into focus programs: First Nations, Open Doors, Family Friendly, From Many Places and Rainbow History.
“Most of us don’t know our First Nations history, and that goes back for tens of thousands of years in the area that is now South Australia,” Mackie said.
“While Open Doors is hugely popular because it provides an opportunity for members of the public to gain access to buildings that aren’t always open and accessible. And to engage and learn about the stories that have lived or happened in that place.”
From Many Places provides the opportunity to learn about South Australia’s multicultural history, and Rainbow History highlights historical events for our local LGBTIQA+ community.
Mackie said that the festival has evolved over its 18 years to include many different ways of experiencing what’s on offer.
“A lot more of the events are indoors, but there’s fantastic history walks,” he said.
“And, of course, history is not only the things that human beings create. The environment has a history as well, and so the lenses through which an audience member can dive into the history festival programme diversifies more with every passing year.
Mackie said the world-leading festival strived to be inclusive, which is reflected in about 80 per cent of the events being free of charge.
“There’s a handful of events that are ticketed, such as our opening night event at Woodville Town Hall,” he said of the events that have capacity limits.
History isn’t just about facts and figures, Mackie said.
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“Another aspect of history and heritage is collecting. And it’s not only state institutions that build collections,” he said.
“As human beings, it’s in our DNA to acquire things to collect, from bottle tops to coins to stamps, all of the things.
“I was an avid record collector, vinyl record collector back in the day, also had a stamp collection. That didn’t make me an expert, but it made me an enthusiastic amateur, a dilettante. And I’m all for the dilettante.”
These volunteers who share their passion for the state’s history are the people who make the History Festival so unique.
“Every year a groundswell of community support and enthusiasm for our state’s rich history sees thousands of South Australians volunteer to make the History Festival a success,” Mackie said.
“With around 500 events registered across South Australia, by some 350 event organisers, this year’s festival offers the macabre to the fascinating, the shocking to the heart-warming – and everything in between.”
The full program is available at historyfestival.sa.gov.au while printed programs will be available from Foodland, public libraries, council offices and museums.
“You can slice and dice it horizontally, vertically, geographically, by subject matter. There’s lots of different ways to explore South Australia’s past,” Mackie said.
“You can choose your own adventure.”
Special events include:
- History Festival 2022 Opening Night – A Lawyer, a journalist, an artist— and a historian walk into a bar….’ For one night only at the historic Woodville Town Hall as MC, Dr Gertrude Glossip hosts: The Honourable Justice Mark Livesey QC, President of the Court of Appeal (SA); Simon Royal, journalist and author; Dr Sera Waters, textile artist and academic; and Assoc. Professor Katie Barclay, Head of Department of History, University of Adelaide, as they debate the case for history in volatile times. Savour wine tastings from the iconic and equally historic South Australian wine producer Penfolds from 5-6 pm. Then settle in for a rollicking ride of relevance, rebuttal, interrogation and irreverence, as four professionals explore universal truths through the lenses of the ‘what, why and how’ of South Australia’s history.
- Shaping a Democracy: South Australian Politics and Its Leaders in the 1860s –Professor Alan Reid explores political life in South Australia in the 1860s. He focuses particularly on the lives and contributions of the fifth to eighth Premiers of the State – ‘Teapot Tommy’ Reynolds, George Waterhouse, Francis Dutton and Henry Ayers – and how they tried to (re)imagine democracy in the first decade of responsible government in South Australia. This talk is part of a broader project on the 47 premiers of South Australia. The presentation will build on last year’s lecture about the first four premiers and explore various issues and events that tested and shaped our democracy, including the famous ‘Justice Boothby Affair’ which dogged successive premiers in the 1860s.
- World Premier Screening: Von Loves her Modernist -Precocious, brilliant and energetic poet, Max Harris, is Adelaide’s own enfent terrible. In the late 1930s he sets out to throw hand grenades at the cultural establishment. He falls in love with Von Hutton while still at school and they marry and stay together for 55 years. Max promotes modernism in art and literature founding the radical magazine Angry Penguins and the SA Contemporary Art Society. He teams up with art patrons John and Sunday Reed in Melbourne and is riding high when two Sydney poets target him in the notorious Ern Malley hoax which leads to Max being tried for obscenity. Humiliated, Max turns to book-selling, publishing, editing and writing newspaper columns. He remains a promoter of Modernism to the end. World Premiere Screening (65 minutes) followed by Q&A
The following events celebrate significant anniversaries in 2022:
- The 50th Anniversary of Dr George Duncan’s death – 50 Years on…We Will Remember Him! Join Dr Gertrude Glossip on a tour as she details the drowning of Dr George Duncan in 1972 and the unsuccessful attempts to solve the crime.
- North v Glenelg – SANFL Round 6 1922 Centenary Rematch – A football match celebrating 100 years since North Adelaide first played Glenelg at Prospect Oval.
- 150 Years of the Adelaide General Post Office – Display of photographs and philately of the post offices in the city of Adelaide.
- Commemorating 100 years of Farm Mechanisation in the Milang District Milang, Sunday 29 May Event illustrating how farming in the Milang District has become mechanised.
- Zion Lutheran Church Centenary Celebration Gawler, Saturday 14 May Historic displays and guided tours of the buildings including the church, hall, nearby historic stables and old Manse.
- Book Launch “Stories of Prospect Past” Prospect, Sunday 22 May Prospect Local History Group launch their new book celebrating their 150th anniversary.
Browse and search the full program at historyfestival.sa.gov.au
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