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The Wharfies Mural (Piece 5)

Maker Maritime Union of Australia

Artist Roderick Shaw (1915-1992)

Artist Harry McDonald (1914-1978)

Artist Evelyn Walters (1912-2009)

Artist Vi Campbell

Artist Sonny Glynn (1915-2006) (Australian, 1915 - 2006)

Artist Clem Millward (Australian, born 1929)

Artist Harry Reade (1927-1998) (Australian, 1927 - 1998)

Artist Ralph Sawyer (Australian, 1927 - 2007)

Date1953 - 1965

Object number00040192

NameMural panel

MediumPaint on plaster, steel

DimensionsOverall: 2200 × 260 × 115 mm, 29 kg

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Maritime Union of Australia

Terms

DescriptionThe Sydney Wharfies Mural was painted by wharfies and artists from 1953 to 1965 on the walls of the lunchroom at the old Waterside Workers Federation (WWF) headquarters on the 'Hungry Mile', now Barangaroo. The mural expresses the history and political philosophy of the WWF and other maritime industry trade unions. Its subjects range from the late 19th century to the 1940s and include the struggle for the eight hour day, union leaders, anti-conscription, the general strike, police confrontations, and the Communist Party.HistoryThe mural was produced mainly in the 1950s at the height of the influence of and support for the Waterside Workers Federation (WWF). The trade union organisation for maritime workers on the docks and at the ports around Australia had conducted many campaigns to achieve better working conditions for their members. Their work was historically dangerous, casual and backbreaking. By the 1940s, it was more permanent and well paid - at a time when goods were still carried manually onto ships. The WWF had its largest membership of 12,000 in Sydney. The mural illustrates major themes of Australian history that influenced the trade union as well as events that the union were involved in. The first panels include the first industrial campaigns in the 1850s, and continue through to the end of World War II. The mural reflects the concerns of a generation of waterside workers who had grown up during the 1930s Great Depression and lived through World War II. Originally conceived by Rod Shaw, the mural reflects an active cultural movement in the union. Shaw was not a wharfie; he was a painter in a small craft printing firm that occupied one of the original small stone buildings in Sussex Street that backed onto the wharves close to Pyrmont Bridge. He was a founding member of SORA and together with fellow SORA (Studio of Realist Art ) artist, James Cant, decided to start an art class for wharfies on the top floor of the union building. It was there with the wharfies that the idea for the mural was conceived, planned and the original drawings, which gave structure to the whole mural, were developed. Shaw, with the aid of other SORA artists transferred them onto the wall. The mural originally covered 11 different adjacent surfaces of varying shapes and sizes. It covered one wall that divided the ground floor of 60 Sussex Street, Sydney, into two rooms, the larger meeting hall, and the smaller canteen. The New Theatre Company also occupied the meeting hall, with its stage, at that time. Shaw's concept was that the major themes of waterside history, labour history and Australian history portrayed in the mural would be woven like a tapestry. The mural was executed on the plaster walls in paint, crayon, pastel and pencil. There were three distinct periods in the making of the mural. Firstly, in the early 1950s, Rod and the SORA group transferred the drawings onto the wall, leaving blank areas reserved for specific incidents to be illustrated by individual artists. By 1955, SORA was no longer a functioning group and work on the mural ceased. In 1955 wharfie artist Clem Millward became interested in the unfinished work on the canteen wall. With Shaw's approval, he began working over some of the monochrome areas with colour. Fellow wharfie artist Harry Reade also joined in the work and distinctive styles emerged as the mural developed. They worked together on it until 1961 when Reade went to Cuba and Millward began teaching at the National Art School at East Sydney. Later in the 1960s, wharfie artists Sonny Glynn and Ralph Sawyer filled in all the blank areas with illustrations of significant historical events. The following scene is represented on this panel: "19. A series of waterside workers symbolising union resistance to dangerous working conditions on the waterfront and the systematic exploitation of wharfies under the "Bull System" of employment. Such conditions included the widespread use of overloaded and dangerous slings, carrying up to thirty sacks or boxes when sixteen would have been safe." - Reeves, Andrew, A Tapestry of Australia: The Sydney Wharfies Mural, Waterside Workers Federation Sydney Port, 1992. During 1991 and 1992 the mural was removed, conserved and installed at the Australian National Maritime Museum.SignificanceThe Sydney Wharfies Mural is an iconic example of working class cultural expression. It is held in great esteem by ex and current maritime workers as part of the history of waterfront trade unionism and waterside workers' role in Australian history. It captures the ideals and aspirations of a movement that was cirtical to the industrial development of Australia and to the achievement of better working conditions, often beyond the maritime industries.

The mural is a rare example of a collective artwork by maritime workers and their supporters. It reflects the long tradition of leftist politics that was central to the WWF for many years. It is a rare example of Australian painting in the socialist realist tradition and reflects an outward looking internationalist vision at a time of insular Australian politics and society.