The river which runs through Melbourne is one of the city’s key geographical assets. It has been transformed and damaged since colonisation and invasion. These days it is a site for sporting and leisurely rowing. Its banks are a vital pathway for commuter cyclists and recreational joggers.
How are the tensions between cultural heritage and sportized landscapes negotiated? What are the implications of the sportization (sportification) upon the landscape?
Australian Rules Football, the national game of Australia, is linked strongly with hetero-normative values. The game at its elite level, is dominated by men. The game’s legendary players – Jack Dyer, Ron Barrassi, Leigh Matthews, Dermott Brereton, Luke Hodge etc – played the role of physical enforcers as well as exhibiting some of the best…
Manipulating the ball is a long-tradition in cricket, but, even the Australian cricket public couldn’t stomach the cheating of their national team. The culprits sought redemption through dramatic displays of grovelling and tears.
There is a book, Swimming Studies, by a Canadian author Leanne Shapton, which documents her notes on swimming and the shapes of pools she swims in. The book also contains photographs of the swim-suits she has collected over time as a swimmer – both serious and recreational. She writes of the smells of pools and…
Melbourne promotes itself as not only the world’s most liveable city, but also one of the world’s premier sporting cities. The 2006 Commonwealth Games, however, was a moment in which the city’s Indigenous ownership and history was asserted through the Camp Sovereignty protests in King’s Domain.
Elsewhere: I had been in Indonesia during most of 2005, and then, I came back to Melbourne in February 2006. Not long afterwards, my father invited me to watch some of the table tennis as part of the Commonwealth Games. I was ambivalent about the ‘Commonwealth Games’ and its heritage as a colonial hangover, but,…
Team Portraits Charles Edward Boyles (1888-1971) established the practice of having team photographs in front of the grandstand of their home ground. Many of the Boyles photos are available online through the State Library of Victoria. They can be downloaded and are out of copy-right. Ken Mansell, has written an excellent article about Boyles photographs,…