The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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21st Biennale of Sydney
Ai Weiwei, Law of the Journey, 2017 reinforced PVC with aluminium frame, 312 figures 60 x 6 x 3 m Installation view (2018) at Cockatoo Island for the 21st Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin Presentation at the…
Sydney's Lost Cemeteries
We're very excited here at Dictionary HQ this week as Dr Lisa Murray (our former chair, Dictionary contributor, City of Sydney Historian, renowned taphophile and absolute all-round legend) has just launched her book Sydney Cemeteries: A Field Guide (published by NewSouth…
NAISDA celebrates 40 years
NAISDA Dance College is partnering with Carriageworks to celebrate NAISDA’s 40th anniversary with Circle of Cultures – a very special season which will take place at Carriageworks from 15-24 November 2016 Listen now Today I want to acknowledge a significant…
The Garden Palace, objects and memories
Garden Palace, Sydney c1879-1882 by JT Richardson Credit: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a128953 / XV1/ Pub/ Gar P/2) On 17 September 1879 the Sydney International Exhibition opened in the newly built Garden Palace in the Botanic Gardens, along with…
Sydney sayings
Like 'Not happy Jan' in the 1990s, the 1940s advertising slogan 'Gone to Gowings' (referring to the iconic Sydney department store on the corner of George & Market Streets) quickly made it into the local vernacular. In 1946 when notorious underworld…
Colonial neighbours: Reynolds' cottages
Reynolds Cottages on the left, Harrington Street, The Rocks 1901 Courtesy State Records NSW (4481_a026_000192) Did you know there are three cottages side by side on Harrington Street in The Rocks which have survived for 187 years! Writer and historian, Melissa Holmes,…
The Bubonic Plague in Sydney
wp-image-12965https://home.dictionaryofsydney.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Plague_Proclamation_SRNSW_CGS4917_SR_Doc_31-1.jpgPlague Proclamation poster, 1 February 1905 Source: State Records NSW (CGS 4917, [SR Document 31])357528/> Plague Proclamation poster, 1 February 1905 Source: State Records NSW (CGS 4917, [SR Document 31])GS4917_SR_Doc_31 Have you been struck down by the lurgy this winter? Lisa's been looking…
Sydney's Rum Hospital
Old Sydney Hospital, Macquarie Street c1865-85, Mitchell LIbrary, State Library of NSW (a089177 / SPF / 177) It seems rum is good for your health. Or it was 200 years ago in Sydney. Sydney in 1810 was in desperate need of a permanent…
Sydney's wild weather
Wild weather just hit Sydney and parts of Australia’s east coast, causing four deaths and an estimated $38 million in damage. It seems each time this occurs, photographs and film footage captured by awestruck residents dominate the news, and this…
White Bay Power Station
White Bay power station c1930, City of Sydney Archives (SRC352) Sydney Harbour was once a bustling maritime port and industrial waterfront. The White Bay Power Station is a landmark industrial complex on the shoreline of White Bay, an abandoned reminder of…