WACRA’s history in images

WACRA’s history in images

Fernando Gonçalves

At a major community activist protest Save Our Beaches/No Boat Harbour in 1998, I was behind the camera. People were incensed that a stone wall was to be built out to sea despite ecological evidence declaring that this structure would permanently damage our coast. About 400 people had signed a pledge to be part of a campaign to Save Our Beaches. After several months of protest, we agreed to blockade the development at Barcoo. We wanted to stop developers from gaining access to the site. At the crack of dawn, we were on the beach with cameras. In the blockade, and at its most dramatic stage, people had locked arms and refused to budge when heavy machinery threatened to roll over their bodies. I was very disappointed with the result. The stone groyne was built. However, I filmed protest sessions for months and I can share my photographic record of this event.

Prior to the Save Our Beaches campaign, I had been filming with a focus on community development in the western area of Adelaide. In collaboration with Virginia Paterson, another WACRA member, we coordinated groups, mostly unemployed young people, to achieve growth and development. I filmed many of those groups, with the aim of showing the way in which these groups thrived when an effort was made to engage with them. We have maintained an archive of those videos.

I have always been interested in recording the struggles of populations who would otherwise not have a voice. For instance, I covered the struggle of Indigenous people opposed to the building of the Hindmarsh Island Bridge in 1997. I filmed the walk of the Ngarrindjeri people with Doreen Kartinyeri, an Indigenous Elder woman, who led the walk on Hindmarsh Island in protest against building a bridge to join the mainland with the island.

The South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival was established in 1998. Many visual artists are able to present their work in their own communities. In 2007, our group of residents (WACRA) promoted artists specifically from the western area of Adelaide to show their work. The first local exhibition was called Henley Variety, held near Henley Square. Alongside other WACRA members, I have held several photographic exhibitions under the SALA umbrella.

Since 2002, Charles Sturt Council no longer has a dedicated arts officer on its staff. It is not unusual for me to be contracted by the council for various jobs. I worked on the 2010 council’s calendar, showing one photograph for each month. I am often consulted about preparing and launching an exhibition.

In 2007, Jim Douglas as the project coordinator, together with a team of dedicated interviewers and writers, produced a book published by SA Unions called Movers and Shakers. It was based on interviews of 55 South Australian activists. In an effort to educate and empower the next generations, its narrators explore the history of the working class struggle. I produced all the photographs to accompany each story, including the book cover. About 600 people attended the launch of this book at Adelaide’s Festival Centre.