August 26, 2019

Digital history of Sydney’s Mardi Gras shortlisted for prestigious award

UOW researcher Dr Scott McKinnon among team recognised for fascinating ABC program

A radio program that explores the turbulent history of Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has been shortlisted for a Digital History prize in the NSW Premier’s History Award.

University of Wollongong researcher Dr Scott McKinnon, from the School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, was one of the co-producers behind the two-part series, The Making of Mardi Gras and Mardi Gras Supernova, which was created for The History Listen on ABC’s Radio National.

Dr McKinnon was invited to work on the project by Catherine Freyne, an award-winning historian and media producer currently completing a PhD at the University of Technology Sydney. The team, which also included ABC sound engineer Mark Don, was thrilled to be shortlisted in the prestigious awards.

“The other shortlisted projects in our category are brilliant works of digital history, so it is great to be included alongside them,” Dr McKinnon said. “The judging panel includes some of Australia’s leading historians, so I’m extremely pleased to have our work recognised by them.”

The Making of Mardi Gras and Mardi Gras Supernova focused on the lesser-known, yet pivotal, moments in the event’s history. Ms Freyne and Dr McKinnon were approached by the ABC to contribute a chapter to The History Listen, and decided to delve into Mardi Gras’ longevity, to become one of Australia’s most treasured festivals.

“There were a lot of events happening for the 40^th anniversary last year,” Dr McKinnon said, “and we decided that the story of the first Mardi Gras was pretty well covered. So, we came up with the idea of doing two episodes. One would be on Mardi Gras 1979 to 1981, which would explore the decision to hold a second Mardi Gras in 1979 and then the decision to move Mardi Gras to summer in 1981 (the 1978 Mardi Gras was held on a very cold night in June).

“The second episode, Mardi Gras Supernova, is about the years in the 2000s when Mardi Gras nearly collapsed and the decision by a small group of people to keep it going. Across the two episodes, the aim was to mark the 40^th anniversary by asking how it became an annual event and how it managed to survive this long.”

To create the program, Dr McKinnon and Ms Freyne drew on their knowledge of Sydney’s LGBTIQ community as well as archival resources from the City of Sydney and The Pride History Group, a volunteer organisation dedicated to recording memories of Sydney’s LGBTIQ history.

The Judges of the NSW Premier History Awards said the two-part Mardi Gras program was a meticulously researched and observed work of history.

“The evocative use of music, sound and excellent narration transports us back to the heady, if often conflictual days of the 1980s and 2000s, but teaches us important lessons about the personal and political history of gay, lesbian and queer life in the decades since and now.”

Dr McKinnon, who is based in the Australian Centre for Culture, Environment, Society and Space, is a geographer and historian who has researched the history of sexuality and of the LGBTIQ community.

He said the radio documentary format was a great way to create engaging and entertaining histories.

“One of the most exciting aspects of this project to me was that we could tell some stories that haven’t been explored elsewhere, and we could do it in a way that would be accessible to a wide audience.

“This is particularly important for LGBTIQ history, which isn’t generally taught in schools. Unless you study history at university, which most people don’t, there is very little opportunity for LGBTIQ people to learn about the history of their community.

“Projects like this are really important, and I’m grateful to Radio National for their interest and support.”

The winners of the NSW Premier’s History Award will be announced on Friday 30 August, ahead of the state’s annual History Week.

You can listen to The Making of Mardi Gras and Mardi Gras Supernova at The History Listen.