Exhibition to showcase Geelong’s industrial history

A fascinating local exhibition is tracing Geelong’s ever-changing industrial identity by bringing together many of the historical elements which have shaped its past and set foundations for its future.

Industrial/De-Industrial is presented by Deakin University and features visual artefacts, real estate posters and photography and architectural plans from the Deakin Library collection and Deakin’s Architecture Vacancy Lab.

It includes a dynamic video to explain the historic past of Geelong rail-line and its industrial links to the areas of Lara, North Geelong and North Shore.

The exhibition also includes an interactive 360-degree historical architectural tour of buildings now demolished or built-over in Little Malop Street and examines Ford Geelong’s architectural legacy and the theory of Fordism.

Deakin Library Exhibitions Curator Pip Minney said the exhibition documents Geelong’s heritage in a critically and creatively.

“The visual artefacts, photography and architectural plans reveal Geelong’s culture of change as a response to shifting environmental, social and economic contexts.

“We are shown Geelong’s manufacturing and production industries during times of rapidly surging population and consumption growth.

“Real estate posters spruiking the benefits of buying land near industrial sites and smokestacks remind us how working conditions and lifestyles differ from today.”

“These works show the research outputs by Deakin’s Architecture Vacancy Lab extends beyond the renewal and reactivation of dis-used spaces into deep engagement with the social and cultural memories embedded within the region’s industrial architecture.”

The exhibition is viewable at the Waterfront Gallery in the Deakin University Geelong Waterfront Campus until September 15.