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The Sydney Opera House 10th Anniversary Mural 1983
A temporary installation in the Opera House forecourt.
Concept;David Humphries,
Size; 66meters x 6m
Directed by David Humphries & Rodney Monk, project artists Ashley Taylor, Zig Moskwa Commissioned by the Sydney Opera House Trust Funded by Streets
Icecream
Conducted through the Bennalong program the mural was targeted at young people. The artists visited Sydney high schools and
conducted brainstorming workshops to solicit ideas and encourage participation.
Many high school groups became involved travelling in groups with their teachers to participate in this huge undertaking.
The Department of Educations endorsement of the project resulted in the production of an educational video resource (Making a Mural) distributed to all high schools in the State.
The project became the subject of
the higher school certificate art examination.
The 66meter long mural was a temporary installation, sited in front of the Tarpian Wall along the Circular Quay approaches to
the Opera House. At such a high profile site it was watched by the public on and around SydneyHarbour every day, thousands of visitors and tourists photographed its evolution. Its major theme areas were designed to
develop with community participation. These 'half-way through' contributions give the mural its excitement and are the wedges for inspirational learning; its creation became a theatrical event in its own
right.
With contributions from over 150 community members the mural became a tribute to Jorn Utzon the architect of the Sydney Opera
House.
''Thank you very much for your letters of September 11th with the incredible photos of the mural. I think it is the most surprising letter I have ever received, and the friendliness and warmth it radiates has pleased me enormously...
What a feat to get sixty people together to produce such an enormous painting 'just like that'. This expression of your enthusiasm for the Opera House gives me very satisfying proof of how valuable my work
with the Opera House has been to the people of Sydney, and I am grateful to all the persons involved in producing this mural. There are so many fine and humorous details, I especially like the use of my own
caricature of myself on my lapel''
With kind regards
Yours sincerely
Jorn Utzon October 17 1983
* CD available
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