It could be argued that of all the major capital cities in Australia, Sydney takes the least care of its cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. While Melbourne has celebrated modernism at Heide, recognised the Carlton Set, and more lately treasured Nick Cave’s influential brilliance, Sydney yearns for a record of its own urban and cultural history. Not many Sydneysiders would recognize, for example, that an entire film culture began in the 1970s at the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op; or that the Nimrod Theatre Company nourished stories and artists with a distinctly Australian vernacular. The question we’d like to ask is: did 70s Sydney have a style of its own? We think the answer is yes. A tough, cynical era of great upheaval followed in Whitlam’s wake: Blue Poles, Malcolm Fraser, women's liberation the war on youth, land rights, green bans, and the attempt to shed the cultural cringe. Did Sydney’s art scene inspire this moment of upheaval, or feast vampirically on its bleeding energy.

Convener: Toby Creswell
Panelists:
- Professor Mark Ledbury
- Christopher Allen
- Stephen Sewell
- Peter Kingston
- Kate Fitzpatrick