Woolloomooloo murals

Women of Woolloomooloo is devoted to the women who lived and worked in Woolloomooloo throughout its history. It commemorates the everyday lives of the working class – school girls, seamstresses, domestics, textile and laundry workers – as well as the strong, courageous women who led the fight to save the suburb during the 1970s.

Brenda Humble and Honora Wilkinson, founding members of Residents of Woolloomooloo, and Nellie Leonard, founding member of Woolloomooloo Resident Action Group, are given pride of place in this artwork.

The artwork also depicts the local villains, like notorious gangster Tilly Devine. Devine terrorised the neighbourhood in the 1920s and 1930s with a vicious razor gang, and ran the biggest and most lucrative brothel network Sydney has ever seen.

In the centre of the artwork is the face of an Aboriginal woman – a stark reminder that the original inhabitants of the valley were driven from their homes by European settlers. By the time this artwork was painted only a small Aboriginal community survived in Woolloomooloo and their way of life had been changed forever.

Painted using details drawn from historical records, newspapers, archives, photographs and the personal memories of the local community, Women of Woolloomooloo celebrates the diverse roles played by women in the suburb’s unique history.

BLF Green Bans commemorates the role played by the NSW Builders’ Labourers’ Federation (BLF) in helping the people of Woolloomooloo save their homes. Without the union’s ‘green bans’, which meant that no union member would work within the suburb, residents may never have won their battle against rampant development.

At that time the BLF was led by Jack Mundey, Joe Owens and Bob Pringle – strong communist party activists who believed in ‘ethical labour’ and who knew how much impact their work could have on society and the environment.

When the people of Woolloomooloo reached out to them for help the BLF came to their defence. At the residents’ request the BLF placed a green ban over the entire suburb in February 1973. Due to their actions, the NSW Government was eventually forced to shelve its plans for large-scale high-rise redevelopment in Woolloomooloo. They saved 65% of existing buildings for public housing.

The top of this mural shows the politicians, developers and bankers behind the scheme to redevelop Woolloomooloo. But it’s the power and determination of the union men that dominate this scene.

BLF Green Bans is a powerful record of union action that was the first of its kind in the world. It was painted using details drawn from historical records, newspapers, archives, photographs and the personal memories of the local community.

A Balcony View shows the area’s vibrant street life and some of the unforgettable characters who have lived and worked in this community. A Balcony View reveals a time when community life was lived out on the street.

The mural shows 2 vivid scenes. The top half of the panel is a portrait of Woolloomooloo life in the late 19th century, based on cartoons published in the Sydney Bulletin. Look out for the larrikin and his moll – members of the Plunket Street Push, a vicious street gang that terrorised the area until World War 1. The bottom half shows images of residents at the time the mural was painted.

At the centre of this artwork is one of the balconied terrace houses that residents fought so hard to save. Many of those distinctive terraces were restored by the Housing Commission once the private developers had been defeated.

It’s only thanks to the determination of resident groups that they survive today – and that families can still afford to live in the suburb that’s always been their home. Through this artwork the community’s efforts will always be remembered.

Wallamullah Land of Plenty shares the story of the Gadigal people, Woolloomooloo’s traditional owners, and the devastating impact of European settlers on their way of life.

The overall design is based on the Aboriginal land rights flag – black at the top, to represent the colour of the people, a yellow circle at the centre for the Australian sun, and red at the bottom for the land.

The mural depicts a time of unspoiled landscape, when the Gadigal people hunted, fished and foraged, and ‘Wallamullah’ was an important ceremonial gathering place.

Further down the mural the artwork illustrates this traditional lifestyle being stripped away. At first the Gadigal people lived alongside the settlers but as time passed the newcomers built on their sacred lands and imposed their own customs and way of life.

It was more than 150 years before the Gadigal people of Woolloomooloo and other Aboriginal peoples across Australia began to reclaim their traditional homes. In the lower section of their mural Dolk and Fairskye capture the determination of the people who fought to win back those rights and rebuild their communities.

Painted using details from historical records, newspapers, paintings, photographs and the personal memories of the local community, Wallamullah Land of Plenty acknowledges the sorrow and suffering of the Gadigal people and their rightful place at the heart of Woolloomooloo’s community.

Passing Through Customs celebrates the wharves that were central to the life of this waterfront community, and the diversity of the people who lived and worked there – sailors, naval personnel, fishermen, factory workers and waterfront labourers of many nationalities.

By the early 20th century there was a growing fishing community in Woolloomooloo. Waterfront boarding houses were filled with single men from Italy and Malta who manned the fishing fleet or worked on the wharves as stevedores, painters and dockers.

The suburb was originally home to Sydney’s fish markets and even after the markets were moved in 1910 Woolloomooloo remained at the heart of the local fish trade. With the fishing fleet moored at Brown’s Wharf to the west of the iconic finger wharf, fishermen were always a part of Woolloomooloo’s street life.

As the embarkation point for troops leaving for war, arrival point for migrants and returned servicemen, and from 1956 as the city’s passenger terminal, Woolloomooloo’s wharves have played an important part in Sydney’s history.

The top half of Passing Through Customs is devoted to the people who passed through these docks over the decades.

Passing Through Customs was painted using details drawn from historical records, newspapers, archives, photographs and the personal memories of the local community.

FEDFA Green Bans celebrates the role played by the Federated Engine Drivers and Fireman’s Association (FEDFA) in Woolloomooloo. Without their staunch support, residents may never have been able to save their suburb from destruction.

In 1973 Woolloomooloo’s people were locked in a desperate battle to protect their homes. The NSW Government had approved plans to clear out the working class residents and replace their terraces with lucrative high-rise apartments and offices. With the might of both government and developers against them, the residents seemed doomed to fail.

When they turned to the unions Woolloomooloo’s residents found the help they needed. Since FEDFA members included bulldozer and crane drivers, developers couldn’t demolish buildings or clear land without their labour. When FEDFA and the NSW Builders Labourers’ Federation agreed on a ‘green ban’ for the area in 1973, they brought all demolition and construction in Woolloomooloo to a grinding halt.

FEDFA Green Bans features the local heroes and union champions who changed the course of the suburb’s history. These people included FEDFA leaders Jack Cambourn and Vic Fitzgerald, public housing activist Colin James, and Father Edmund Campion, the first secretary of the Woolloomooloo Resident Action Group.

Victoria Street tells the story of residents’ fight to save Victoria Street from developers. Ultimately, a battle they did not win.

The upper part of this artwork is dominated by the figures of developer Frank Theeman and crime boss Abe Saffron – men who would stop at nothing to get their way.

In one week in April 1973, Theeman evicted 393 people from properties in Victoria Street where some had lived for more than 40 years. Those who remained to resist Theeman’s plans, faced harassment and forcible eviction by thugs armed with crowbars and hammers. Despite Theeman’s brutal tactics, they did not give in lightly.

The rest of the mural is dedicated to the men and women who refused to be scared from their homes, and those who led the fierce but doomed fight for Victoria Street. The artwork celebrates the courage and resolve of local legends like Mark Fowler. He was the last man to be forced out by Theeman.

It also shows Juanita Nielsen, who paid for her defiance with her life. Nielsen disappeared in 1975, and was alleged to have been abducted and murdered by one of Saffron’s men.

A close look at the mural reveals fascinating details of the residents’ resistance – from the vital support of the NSW Builders Labourers’ Federation, to the last-ditch protest of resident squatters, who spent 17 hours perched on the chimneys of 115 Victoria Street before they were arrested and taken away.

Although Victoria Street was lost, the story of its residents’ brave battle lives on – in proud local memory and in this commemorative artwork.

The Waterfront shows the harsh reality of life on the wharf in the 1900s, and the struggles of the people who earned their living there. Under the ‘Bull’ system, only the strongest, fittest and most obedient men were chosen to work each day.

It took decades of strikes but by 1972 waterside workers finally had a 35-hour week, fair pay, paid holidays and safer, more sanitary working conditions. But just 10 years later Sydney’s port activity was transferred to Port Botany, and Woolloomooloo’s docks fell quiet.

Michiel Dolk and Merilyn Fairskye created this mural to ensure the story of the dock workers is never forgotten.

Painted using details drawn from historical records, newspapers, archives, photographs and the personal memories of the local community, The Waterfront captures the story and atmosphere of this important piece of Sydney’s history.