The Worldwide Online Museum for Mural Art
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King George V Mural

King George V Mural
Photo by: 
Bianca Nandzik

This Community Mural, located within the King George V Recreation Centre at the Rocks, is one of the largest murals in the Southern Hemisphere. It depicts the history of the Rocks and acknowledges the Gadigal, a group of Aboriginal people.

This clan originally inhabited the Sydney area. Day shows the first contact between the Aboriginal people and the British. The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 not only meant that the Aborigines were forced off their land, the European occupation also brought diseases, which the Gadigal had no immunity. The smallpox epidemic from 1789 killed over 50 % of Sydney's indigenous population. Day reconstructed with the help of the Aborigines the natural landscape before the formation of the Rocks. The first European settlers called this area the Rocks because of its steep and rocky geography.

In contrast to the other Community Murals in Sydney the King George V Mural is painted in the Tromp L'Oeil technique. Day created a optical illusion by an imagined landscape and arcades painted on the viaduct wall of the southern approaches to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The mural was painted before the King George V Recreation Centre was built and got integrated into the architecture of the building. Some parts of the mural were never completed.

In 2010 the mural was restored and extended. Some of the original residents, which were painting with the artist 27 years ago as well as new community groups, helped to compete the mural. The King George V Mural was nominated for the 2011 Local Government Cultural Awards.

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