#landscapesofprejudice stacie ng
Title: Landscapes of Prejudice Audience: Public Location: Melbourne General Cemetery, Carlton Date/Time: 29th March 2014, 11am Duration: 2 hours
Intervention Summary Consciously or not, there are spaces/topics which we avoid. For example, hospitals, cemeteries, dark alleys and sometimes your mother-in-law’s place. I refer to these as landscapes of fear.
The urban intervention was taken as an opportunity to test whether knowledge, affinity, or awareness would then alter/add to our prejudice towards these spaces.
3 _ Introduction
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Chapel
4 _ Site
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Before the Colony of Victoria or even Carlton existed, the Melbourne General Cemetery was a remote bushland. In 1849, it was chosen by Superintendent C.J. La Trobe and charted by Robert Hoddle. This year, it celebrates its 161 years after formally opening its gates in June 1853. The cemetery began its operations during the chaos of Victoria’s main alluvial gold rush. Its first major extension happened between 1858 and 1860. It also coincided with the depletion of alluvial gold and the return of disillusioned “diggers� to the colonial metropolis. The cemetery experienced another significant development during the years of the Great Depression.
The cemetery has 4 entrances, North, South, East and West. Visitors can enter from the northern gate at Princess Hill, the eastern gate along Lygon Street or the main entry off College Crescent. Having 161 years of history meant that this cemetery was rich in diverse memorials and tombstones that reflect every wave of immigration that has occurred in Melbourne. 5_ Site
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Map of Tour
6 _ Journey
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Ornamented Celtic Cross memorial to Sir John O’Shanassy.
Before the Tour
Social Media
Mausoleum
For this urban intervention, it was crucial to track the changes in perception. Participants were asked the day before to fill in a survey based on their existing ideas of cemetery and spaces related to death.
All the survey’s used for the intervention were created using “Survey Monkey”. Links were then emailed, messaged and posted on friend’s walls. A public Facebook event was also created as a platform to mass link friends and family. The hashtag #cemeteryparty was created as a means to compile and track pictures posted by the participants.
A Whatsapp chat group was also created as a means of organising timing, venue and programme with the participants.
7 _ Planning
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The tour began at the North entrance, along Macpherson Street. The lucky participants who came got beef pies to avoid grumpy friends who might potentially give grumpy feedbacks. The tour was planned to finished within an hour but as we entered the gates, I began to realise the cemetery grounds was huge. I used the book “The Melbourne General Cemetery� by Don Chambers to guide the tour. As we walked deeper, i began to realise how neat and well signed the cemetery was. Many of the participants have never been into the Melbourne General Cemetery as 80% of the participants were not local. Many also mentioned they have never been a part of a cemetery tour. Though the advantage of having this group of participants were that they each came from different cities around the world. Eg. Ecuador, Malaysia, Singapore, UK, Australia. There was opportunity then, to have conversations comparing the differences. 8 _ Intervention
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Observations: Symbolisms The cemetery is divided according to culture, religion and burial methods. It was very easy to identify differences through symbols and contrast materials between each section.
Representation Level of detailing and formal representation reflected major periods of immigration into Australia. Eg. Meditteranean Immigrants, Italian Immigrants, Polish families, etc.
Scale The size of each burial plots often reflect status, wealth and influence. Some as if reaching for the skies, others, finished to the normal scale of the human body. Others, in niches.
9 _ Intervention
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Intensity Note the cemetery is often perceived as a destination and not part of a journey. Throughout the tour, there were low levels of activity. The cemetery is spread across the ground level only.
Survey 1 outcomes: Survey 1 was done as a documentation of the public’s perception towards cemetery spaces. There were a total of 134 responses. The survey was carried out through an online platform to widen the demographics of the study group. Table 1 shows the range in age group that participated in the survey. Table 2 illustrates the frequency of visiting a cemetery annually. The amount of feedback received was overwhelming. I did not expect to get any more than 20 responses but the creation of a public Facebook event helped gain publicity and momentum.
Feedback Diagram
Do you explicitly avoid the cemetery when you travel?
Conversation outcomes: I interviewed a few friends who were not able to make it to the tour but were willing to verbally share their ideas on cemeteries. From one of those conversations, I came to realise that some are not allowed onto cemetery grounds. They avoided such spaces as were concerned that it was intruding on spaces that are meant for the dead. Another conversation led me to realise that there was just no reason to go to a cemetery. It wasn’t that they wanted to avoid it, but there was no programme to go to.
One friend even wrote to me his views on the market for death. The conversation established the desire by some younger generations to invest in burial plots, even if it costs millions.
11 _ Feedback Diagram
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Photographs
Reflections: The experience of guiding a tour through the Melbourne General Cemetery was very strange. Prior to the tour, i had always carried with me the impression that cemeteries were amongst my favourite spaces in a cityscape. However, as we approached the cemetery, it felt like any other cemetery i saw on the TV. There were no excitement, no attachment, no memories to flash back on. Only the knowledge that this is a part of the urbanscape that i have stumbled upon.
As we walked deeper into the cemetery, i realised that symbolism and representation are crucial elements within the cemetery. Symbols and details are fragments of memories left behind. It is also a point of reference on the beliefs and ideologies that were practiced by the people in that point in time. CYCLIST! Who knew! As captured in the top picture on the previous page, he did not stop to visit a grave or niche. Instead, the cemetery became part of his journey into the city. Some of my friends have also remarked to me how they sometimes walk across or cycle across the cemetery as there was less traffic and was a shortcut between Carlton and Royal Parade, As we proceeded from the North entrance to the South entrance where we ended the tour. I also noticed the different ways people were now being buried. Some had well maintained by fairly young trees growing above their plots. Some buried in the same plot of their families. There was even a whole rose garden just at start of the South Entrance. All this have led me to realise there is a shift in perception of death. Perhaps even a move towards integrating life as part of the ceremony.
13 _ Observations
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Feedback Diagram
Added: The visit was really nice! Actually I didn’t knew there was an Elvis Memorial hehe, and you can learn about society in the past and how religious beliefs even affected the design of the cementery.
Added: I used to visit my grandparents every alternate month when i am home. and so i had a perception of closeness and affinity to cemeteries. but after today’s tour at the Melbourne Cemetery, i did not feel as attached or as relate-able to the one at home. but the history definitely opened my eyes on the styles and symbolism in cemeteries.
yes and no: I think it depends on the types of cemeteries that we visit. Melbourne’s Cemetery was well maintained and hence it was a peaceful visit. But some countries, we don’t have the opportunity and funds to maintain cemeteries, and hence, people often have a negative view on cemeteries.
Not really: But I think the reason that some people don’t pay frequent visits to the cemetery is just because of a lack of incentive or need to visit the cemetery, i.e. they have no reason to go/want to go. It may not necessarily be because they have their fears of visits, but just that there is no need for them to be there.
Yes: A cemetery can be a beautiful place too. Where history, art and culture of a city(place) is re-lived and re-experienced. Like going to a museum. Each own (religious) denominations and cultures (ie Irish, Italian, English, Polish, Chinese) expressed their own believes and cultural background though the art and design of tombstones or small structures. It’s almost like a tour of the different cultures of Melbourne!
Yes: i realised that it was actually less scarier to visit a western cemetery compared to Asian cemetery. The cemetery i visited today gave me an ambience which wasn’t the same as the cemetery at my homeland.
Yes: it has changed the way I view burial grounds and why burial grounds are important in remembering the death of a loved one or someone who is well respected. It (Tombstones and Monuments) also reflects the time and customs of the people living in that time.
Yes: it change mi view. I now think that is also a place to spend time in. Going with friends, and not just having fun, but also think about our lives, remembering that life is short and we should be happy. A cemetery is more like a museum for me, after going today.
15 _ Responses after tour
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Archangel guarding the Dawson’s family tomb
View of the city from the cemetery.
17 _ Photography
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Diagrams, Data
18
Conclusion: The research for the urban intervention led me to realise that there are indeed spaces that we has been victims to our imagination and prejudice. We then go on to consciously avoid or stigmatise these spaces.
In the feedbacks received, participants often described the cemetery using sensorial and emotional terms. Eg. Cold, depressing, scary, dark. The sense of place held by people regarding the cemetery often encapsulated a sense of place that is not inherently “positive�, and may even connote images of fear and horror. Therefore, conscious avoidance.
As a conclusion to the initial research question, the urban intervention indeed proved that knowledge can reveal and uncover the prejudices we can have towards certain spaces.
After the intervention and through analysing the verbal and written feedbacks, the research led me to ask the flip side of all this. What is the direct opposite to fear and horror? What is the reversal of conscious avoidance and subconscious automation? How can we invert the notion of death to be a part of life? How can journey be a part of the destination? What are the things in our lives that are carried out in automation? These questions will be further looked into as part of the final architectural project.
19 _ Conclusion
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