
Issue No 113		28 September 2001

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News

Olympic Builders Honoured in Oil

By Phil Davey

A Sydney artist this week unveiled a series of works capturing the work of the men and women who built the 2000 Olympic venues, ensuring their role is never forgotten.

Building workers rubbed shoulders with the arts community and a cabinet minister at the launch of the Olympic Construction Art Exhibition.

Artist Ingrid Skirka spent two and a half years painting CFMEU members at work building Stadium Australia and the Olympic precinct.

The result of her work was officially opened by NSW Attorney General Bob Debus at the new CFMEU Headquarters in Lidcombe.

Many of the workers who built the Olympics were on hand to admire the work and receive praise from Debus, who said in his remarks that the paintings on display ensured that the contribution of building workers to the Olympics would not be written out of the history books.

Ingrid Skirka was the only visual artist to record and paint the unsung heroes of the Olympics- the working women and men who built Stadium Australia on time and on budget.

All are welcome to come and admire Ingrid's work. It will be open to the public and on display for the next month, at the CFMEU (Construction Division) headquarters, 8-12 Railway Street Lidcombe-two minutes walk from Lidcombe station. The office is open 8am-5pm.

A Note from the Artist

My name is Ingrid Skirka, I am a visual artist currently living in Sydney. Three years ago I set out on my own with a vision to record and paint the workers and the construction of Stadium Australia, which we all know intimately from the success of the Olympics and Paralympics. My story of how I finally achieved that goal, which was fought with many obstacles and what inspired me is something I would like to share.

In essence it is more about the workers and their stories, it's about recognising their achievements and bringing some of the Olympics and Paralympics back to the community to those unsung Aussie heroes who built a place for others to become heroes.

When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built an artist named Grace Cossington-Smith was moved by this amazing new structure being stretched over the Sydney landscape. She did what comes natural to any artist, she painted the scene that was unfolding. We can look back at those paintings and not only see the emerging beauty of the structure itself but also her artistic inspiration flowing through it. With all the black and white photographs and sketches of the times Grace's stands out in the colour and style she incorporated. Those images are part of Australia's collective psyche now; they allow us to look deeper at the construction process but also the times, the feelings and the mood of the people who built it.

Inspired by Grace and other female artists depicting urban landscapes I felt a great need to be part of and record what I felt at the time to be the building of a new Australian icon. With my energy and enthusiasm I put together a game plan and set forth, I couldn't wait to get out there and do it.

It was here at this point where I have learned a lesson that will always stay with me, beware of the corporate and government minefield. Caught somewhere between 'ego city' and absolutely no idea I encountered some of the strangest creatures I have ever come across. Have you ever tried to communicate with a vacuum, well let me

tell you I've been there. All I wanted was to gain access to the site and be allowed to record through photographs and sketches the process. I wanted to meet the workers and get to know them so that I could do justice to their images in paint. I remember one such entity who after just being to another corporate luncheon with slurred speech told me to wait and go on a bus tour with the other tourists when they become available in a year or so. Can you imagine?

Well, after six months of bouncing around endless professional deflector types I finally made a real human connection, it was with Alan Patching the CEO of MTM Stadium Australia, Ed Obiala the construction manager at Multiplex and Chris Chapman the

CEO of Stadium Australia. Fortunately they were able to appreciate my vision and I was granted access to the site. I was on my way. I was to become the only visual artist in the world to record this construction and the people who built it.

Its funny, you know as soon as I passed through the induction course with the other workers and donned my safety vest, hardhat and steel capped boots I new I was where I belonged. The workers too, they asked what I was doing and when I told them they connected, all of them opening up to me expressing their genuine interest. I guess the first thing that really struck me was that for all their bad reputation, you know bum cracks and all, I never felt unsafe amongst them in fact I was surrounded by intelligent, funny and interesting peoples the entire time.

My paintings are filled with the inspiration of sights, sounds and feelings of going out there repeatedly for a period of 2.5 years. I recall one story of a worker who remembers the first time in his life as a little boy in his native Paraguay being taken by his father to the local football stadium and how impressed he was. Now he takes his little boy by the hand to this stadium, the best in the world, and it gives him some meaning for where he has come in his life and how Australia has helped him achieve it. He has pride in what he's done it means something.

My works are not insular or self - obsessed. They are influenced by the computer age. They are important without having to take themselves too seriously. Out of all my 10 paintings one stands out in particular, it is called Mates. This painting incorporates over 900 individual workers who were onsite. Together they make up a true reflection of what and who Australians are right now in the 21st Century. They all come together to create one united image of a worker, tired and happy that built Stadium Australia. This piece of work took over 12 months to complete, every face tells a story and I loved each and every one of them. I know that must sound crazy, but in order to paint a subject I think an artist must fall in love with what they are painting. Perhaps they are not the best words to describe my point, I don't know, but I definitely feel like I know each and every one of those people.

My other paintings capture the spirit of the place and the beauty of the process. I like using a bright and colorful palette with all its energy and excitement. Each painting tells a story and relates back to Stadium Australia and the workers.

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  Issue 113 contents

Interview: The Custodian
Labor's arts spokesman Bob McMullan on the role government can play in nurturing national culture.

Media: Chucking a Wobbly
Veronica Apap meets Dan Buhagiar, the programmer of Labor Council's new online initiative, Wobbly Radio.

E-Change: 3.3 Unleashing a Networked Culture
Politics does not occur in a vacuum - it's is as much a product of its culture as it is an influence on it. In the post-Industrial Age how will this relationship change?

Unions: Are You a Terrorist?
Away from the talkback noise, Mark Hearn reports on how a Sydney workforce is taking up the cause of racial understanding and tolerance.

Organising: STAA Performers
Film industry workers are acting collectively to ensure they don't become Mexicans with Mobiles.

Workplace: Making Art Work
The Workers Cultural Action Committee is a community cultural development provider. What is this? And what does it mean for the union movement?

History: Creative Alliances
Neale Towart wanders through the archives to look at how unions' have worked with artists to promote progressive casuses.

Performance: Tales from the Shop Floor
Peter Murphy profiles Sydney's New Theatre and the role it has played in fostering working culture.

Review: Homegroan
In an extract from her new book, The Money Shot, Jane Mills argues that the local film industry needs more than patriotism to get bums on seats.

Satire: PM Pleads To Nauru: Take Our Aborigines Too
In the wake of Nauru�s acceptance of the Tampa refugees, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has struck a new deal with the small island nation to take our Aborigines as well.

» Abbott Stacks Commission on Election Eve

» Trades Hall to Be Fit for the Arts

» Olympic Builders Honoured in Oil

» Terror Shockwaves Hit Security Workers

» The Ansett Phoenix Rises

» 'The General' Makes Ansett Stand

» One Dollar Workforce Highlights Workcover Concerns

» Email Workers Saved

» Union Power Gets Tilers Paid In Full

» NSW Nurses (Pro)Claim Their Worth

» AOL Sheds Non-Union Staff

» Building Inquiry Faces First Test of Integrity

» Telstra Guilty Over Union Discrimination

» Paint Workers Finish the Job

» New Project Agreement A Template

» The Workers United, Need a New Slogan!

» Activists Notebook