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2001/84/19 Banner with bag, 'Turtle cloth', silk / paint / nylon, designed by Jeffrey Samuels, made by Ceremonies Workshop, used in 'Nature' segment of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 1, 2001/84/19 Banner with bag, 'Turtle cloth', silk / paint / nylon, designed by Jeffrey Samuels, made by Ceremonies Workshop, used in 'Nature' segment of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000. Click to enlarge

'Turtle cloth' banner used in the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

Made
This turtle cloth has significance in material culture due to its role in the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games, an important event in the social history of Sydney and NSW. It has the potential to communicate in exhibitions and publications about the Sydney Olympic Games and has historical significance in its design, making, use and in the cultural meanings ascribed to it.

Described by the NSW premier Bob Carr as 'the greatest spectacle Australia has produced', the opening ceremony …

Summary

Object No.

2001/84/19

Object Statement

Banner with bag, 'Turtle cloth', silk / paint / nylon, designed by Jeffrey Samuels, made by Ceremonies Workshop, used in 'Nature' segment of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

Physical Description

Hand painted in mottled browns, oranges, white and ochre colours and featuring an Indigenous design in black and white of two turtles. The banner can be packed into a nylon drawstring bag.

Short URL

https://ma.as/345940

Dimensions

Width

10660 mm

Depth

5 mm

Production

Made

Designed

Notes

Jeffery Samuels, 1999-2000 The artist Jeffrey Samuels was commissioned to create an original contemporary Indigenous painting of fauna for the Nature segment. Then images of a platypus, kangaroo, echidna, swan, frog, turtle, lizard and fish were hand-painted onto large silk banners, copying Samuels' original design.

Samuels was a founding member of Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Co- operative, an Aboriginal-owned and run contemporary art space in Sydney. Boomalli's mediums of art practice include painting, print- making, photography, new media, sculpture, fabric design and mixed media. Works displayed at Boomalli illustrate the complexity and diversity of black cultural life and provide an opportunity for the wider community to participate in contemporary Indigenous cultural expression.

Born in 1956, Samuels grew up in the far north-west of NSW at Carinda on various sheep properties. His artistic education includes a diploma in fine art from the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education and a City Art Institute Bachelor of Fine Art. A founding member of Boomalli, Samuels' influence has been critical to the development of the urban art environment.

Olympic ceremonies workshop, Eveleigh, Redfern, NSW, 2000 The silk was cut and sewn together to shape. Jeffrey Samuels' design image was then painted onto the cloth. The carry bag was then sewn to the centre of the cloth's underside. An aluminium tubular ring, of 600mm diameter, was made for each cloth as part of the 'feeding' process when pulled from the bag by performers.

History

Notes

Sydney 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony, 'Nature' segment Stadium Australia, Sydney Olympic Park, Home Bush 15 September 2000 Each of the seven cloths based on Jeffrey Samuels' design was held by approximately 15 handlers, who shook the cloths to represent the animals' arrival.

Made for and owned by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, and donated to the Powerhouse Museum after the Games.

Source

Credit Line

Part of the Sydney 2000 Games Collection. Gift of the New South Wales Government, 2001

Acquisition Date

4 October 2001

Cite this Object

Harvard

'Turtle cloth' banner used in the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony 2023, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 30 May 2023, <https://ma.as/345940>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/345940 |title='Turtle cloth' banner used in the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=30 May 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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