Photographic print/Print

Maker & role
Gerwyn Davies (b.1985)
Production date
01 Nov 2021
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Object detail

Title
Susannah Place
Measurements
H: 150 x W: 100cm (H: 1500 x W: 1000mm)
Production notes
Produced as part of a series of 12 images to be exhibited with associated costumes in Iridescent exhibition at Museum of Sydney 4 Dec 2021- 24 April 2022
Credit line
Commission, 2021
Corporate Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caption
Susannah Place, Gerwyn Davies, 2021, archival inkjet print
Description
Queer contemporary photographic artist and costume maker Gerwyn Davies was commissioned to create 12 original photographs responding to 12 sites managed by what was Sydney Living Museums (SLM) and the NSW State Archives and Records Authority (SARA) now Museums of History NSW. Davies makes a series of queer interventions into the sites, dramatically transforming them into stages upon which extravagant performances are played out for the camera. Rather than recount the familiar narratives of these properties, Davies has drawn upon the whispers and slivers of their lesser-known histories, reimagining them in a way that often challenges the official narratives using humour and subversion.

This image, taken at the rear of Susannah Place Museum in the Rocks, pays homage to the story of Emmanuel Sarantides, a former resident of Susannah Place. The Sarantides were a family of Greek migrants who settled in the Rocks in the 1920s. Emmanuel, who worked as a cook at the Trocadero dance club, was known to also enjoy dancing there in the evenings.
Accession number
HHT2021/17

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