“WITH war graves to one side and Anglican tombstones to the other, an exhibition of contemporary sculpture at Rookwood Cemetery is raising eyebrows.
“Scattered over the cemetery’s Remembrance Lawn, the works in Hidden: A Rookwood Sculpture Walk include a skull made from white bricks, a hanging mobile of bloodshot plastic eyeballs and a sequined hand resembling Michael Jackson’s famous glove clawing out of the earth.
“The organisation behind the exhibition, the Rookwood Anglican and General Cemetery Trust, hopes it will draw people into the cemetery.
”In years gone by there would be whole families picnicking at Rookwood on a Sunday,” said the exhibition’s curator, David Capra.
”That doesn’t happen so much any more. This is a way of engaging with the community and reminding people of the cemetery’s rich history.”
“The 24 featured artists have created works that explore grief, love and loss but some visitors to the cemetery recently felt it was an inappropriate venue for an art show. ”People come here to pay respect to the dead, not to be entertained,” said Duncan Lee, visiting a relative’s grave with his family. ”They should put it in a park somewhere or in some other public place.”
Some say it’s crook, but art is worth a look at Rookwood, Louise Schwartzkoff, Sydney Morning Herald, April 6, 2010.
