Cockatoo Island on Sydney Harbour had been closed for ten years until recently. Everything had stood still since the island stopped operations as the largest dockyard in the southern hemisphere of the time. The marks of the navy and dockyard workers from that era (entirely male of course) tell an interesting story – all written on the walls. Although mostly offensive, these toilets have been earmarked for heritage preservation with the graffiti to be preserved forever behind plastic coverings. Despite the content, what the walls have to share provides a fascinating insight into the socio-cultural milieu of working class Australia. From an anthropological perspective its important that we don’t "sugar-coat" the past (or the present) and pretend that the uglier side of humanity never existed. Everything is history and helps us understand who we are and where we came from. Before the island was used to build ships and submarines, its was a school for naughty girls and before that a lock-up for convicts.
The toilets may stink but the entertainment value is high.
Read the walls at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahimsa/sets/1542211/
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