STREETSCAPES // surry hills

The Surry Hills Festival seems to grow bigger every year and this time there were various activities throughout the whole area. There was plenty on offer with food and market stalls to indulge in while listening to the live music and entertainment. The artistic side of the suburb shined through with creative projects celebrating and supporting this urban community.

I loved the film projection shown in the alleyways and in the window of the library and community centre. Local creative studio Esem Projects created a stunning piece using historic images including rare footage from the ABC documentary called Living on the Fringe from 1965. Classic images depicting the people of Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Redfern on the streets. This was a period when these areas were poor and defined as the slum fringes of inner city Sydney. This heritage is emotionally moving especially since there have been radical changes to the social and economic demographics after this era. Time does move on but it is always good to reflect on how we have changed - and ideally where we want to be in the future!