Dear Clover, and fellow Councillors
It
is with great concern that I am writing to you all about the future of the
Syron’s Keeping Place collection which is currently in storage at Kennards
Waterloo storage facility. The Redfern Waterloo Authority funded six months of
storage for the Syrons at Kennards last year and that funding expires on May 23rd
leaving the collection in grave danger of being seized by Kennards and put up
for auction which is their policy if storage rental dates are not met.
The
Syrons are personally having financial difficulties and are unable to meet the
thousands of dollars in storage fees that will come due on that date. It would
be a crime if this incredible collection is allowed to be taken by Kennards and
sold off with no recompense coming back to the Syrons who would lose everything
they have spent the last 30 years creating.
The
core collection of over 547 paintings, (only 16 are Syron
paintings) has been valued at over $1.5 million and the Syrons have
desperately tried to keep it as one whole collection in the face of no ongoing
support from the government or arts institutions.
The
situation is desperate and Kennards have rejected all appeals for deferment of
the fees. I am asking the Council members if there is any way we can help the
Syrons at this late point in time by either providing free storage, purchasing
one or two of the more important paintings such as that of Mum Shirl ,
purchasing some of Elaine’s historic photos or considering how we could use the
collection in connection with our plans for a local Aboriginal Culture Centre.
I
am also asking Council members if they can use their connections to help lobby
the new Government (Arts, Indigenous Affairs and Tourism) and any potential
philanthropists they may know who may be interested in providing storage,
purchase or helping fulfill the Syron’s dream of creating an Aboriginal run
Keeping Place/Cultural Centre in NSW.
I
know that many of you know of the collection and some of you have visited the
Keeping Place when it was in Redfern while others have known the Syrons for
years and have been sympathetic to their guardianship of the Keeping Place in
the past.
Time
is of the utmost importance and if anyone can help us or offer any alternative
suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. A solution must be found before
the middle of May and I am at my wits end in knowing where to go or what to do
next to stop what would be a disaster for the Syrons and for Aboriginal art and
culture if the collection is seized by Kennards.
Hoping
to hear from you soon
Irene
Doutney
Greens
Councillor
City
of Sydney
Ph:
02 9265 9812