“First Impressions” Artwork, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW, Australia

The sandstone relief sculpture symbolises the origins and settlement of the colony of New South Wales, by depicting elements of Sydney history in the middle of the rocks area. The Rocks is a very popular spot where locals and tourists mingle at the open-air Markets, perusing handmade fashions and street food.

This fairly large sculpture is located at the intersection of Playfair and George Street. It has three sides, with a figure or figures carved into each side. Very popular spot for pictures. Each side represents a particular group of people that established themselves in Sydney early on: The Convicts, The Settlers, and The Soldier.

"First Impressions" was commissioned by the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority in 1979.

http://welchwrite.com/blog/2026/02/16/first-impressions/

#sculpture #artwork #soldier #settlers #convicts #therocks #history #historicaldistrict #architecture #sydney #australia #travel

Big Quarry Literature and Settlers Caught on Screen
The complex anxiety of quarry noir

"We dig holes in Australia...It’s what we do. It’s all we’ve ever done, we’re just the world’s quarry, an enormous pit, ever since we struck gold a hundred and fifty years ago." >>
https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-australias-quarry-noir-mines-our-anxiety-about-our-biggest-industry-239523

"Dr James Finlay reflects on how Australia’s convict past has been represented on screen, tracing shifts from early cinematic melodrama through to television drama and contemporary film, and considering how these visual narratives continue to shape national memory." >>
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/history-now-caught-on-screen-australias-convict-history/id1674476464?i=1000749142755

James Findlay, Caught on Screen, Australia’s Convict History in Film and Television, 2025 >>
https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/caught-on-screen-9798765100523/

#mining #extractivism #Literature #film #screen #culture #SettlerSociety #convicts #history #Australia #fiction #narratives #QuarryNoir #BigQuarry #books #NationalAnxiety #criminality #FirstNationsPeoples

am re-reading [atm ~60% thru] this oz classic, first time since childhood, really "enjoying" it albeit given the cruel subject matter that word seems quite inappropriate. my dim recollection across all the interspersed decades has been rather wrong; it's not feeling turgid & dense at all... now.

looked for several of the named locales, within here
openstreetmap.org/#map=8/-42.7…
and just thought "oh you poor bastards!" 😢

#Tasmania #convicts #ForTheTermOfHisNaturalLife #MarcusClarke #literature #reading #novels

Kazakhstan to Grant Amnesty to More Than 15,000 Inmates and Offenders

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://timesca.com/kazakhstan-to-grant-amnesty-to-more-than-15000-inmates-and-offenders/