[UMA-SRE-20170076] VIDEO RECORDINGS PRODUCED BY GERMAINE GREER

Description

Content Warning

The Greer Archive has been made available because of its historical and research importance. Statements which form part of the collection are not made on behalf of the University and do not represent the University's views. It contains material that some researchers might find confronting. This includes: explicit language and images that reflect either the attitudes of the era in which the material was originally published or the views of the creators of the material but may not be considered appropriate today; names, images and voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in published and unpublished printed material, audio recordings and photographs; discussion and descriptions of sexual violence, medical conditions and treatment.

IdentifierUMA-SRE-20170076Extentnot specifiedScope and ContentThis series consists of videos that were either recorded by Germaine Greer or on her behalf. The physical collection is made up of 27 videos recorded onto magnetic media such as mini DV and Hi8 cassettes. Many of the items in this series were labelled prior to their UMA accession and where applicable these inscriptions have been used to title the items within the collection. The arrangement of the series is consistent with the order in which it was received and is therefore not in chronological order. While the physical items have been retained in the repository, digitised copies are provided for access to researchers in the University of Melbourne Reading Room. Other videos in the Greer Archive, digitised at a later date, will be listed in the AV Series [not yet catalogued]. In accordance with UMA’s Access Management Framework some original video files contain information that is currently non-disclosable. In these instances, redactions have been completed on the access copies only. All preservation masters [digitised] have been retained with their original contents for preservation and future access. All the videos within this series were captured using hand held video cameras and in available light. While this series is quite small the scope is broad, and includes videos captured in England, Poland, Egypt, Venice, Florence and Australia. Footage of Greer’s pet poodles Molly, Margot and Michael is included in the series. Together with a brief glimpse of Greer’s garden at ‘The Mills’ and a longer capture of hanging bird feeders, these videos are the only documentation in this series of Greer’s property in Essex [for additional images of ‘The Mills’ see Photographs series 2014.0054]. England, however, is represented again in a research video shot by Greer in preparation for a collaboration between herself and visual artist Elke Andreas Boon. The video in the series documents a Brownfield site in the town of Tilbury. Greer captures footage of the industrial landscape and muses on its beauty, found in clusters of rubble [relates to 2014.0046.00938]. A video captured while Greer was in Florence in 2003 shows fountains, sculptures, paintings and people, principally young men and boys. Greer was completing research for her book ‘The Boy’ at the time and whilst shooting this footage Greer herself was being captured by a film crew for British television program ‘The Southbank Show’. A number of Greer’s friends have been documented in their interactions with Greer: Jenny Morton and her family took Greer on their visit to Egypt, and Ann Polis and Hannah Fink were visited by Greer while she was in Australia. Footage captured in Venice, Poland and Egypt shows buildings, monuments and manicured gardens. While the series shows evidence of Greer’s interest in culture and history as she admires architectural ruins and artefacts, the overwhelming majority of videos in the series highlight her fondness of the natural world. Videos captured by Greer and others document the native flora and fauna of Australia, primarily at her Queensland property ‘Cave Creek’. In many of these videos Greer’s breath can be heard as she focuses her attention on what is seen: Two snakes mating, an army of toads in the night (one jumps onto Greer’s back), a bower bird’s nest of blue treasures, a spider web glistening in the morning light, an eel in the shallow water of a creek bed, numerous birds and insects, and several pythons with their bellies swollen after a substantial feed. Footage of the landscape documents the vegetation: weeds, trees, flowers, new growth and frost damage. A bridge is destroyed by a fallen tree in the neighbouring national park and another is erected as Greer videos a helicopter removing damaged materials and delivering replacements. The videos in this series act not only as evidence of what was seen by Greer but also her response to the experience. Whether complaining of tourists bathing at a nearby waterhole or observing a bird in a tree, hoping that it would take flight up and out of the shot, Greer is ready to commentate, poised, with her video camera in hand.Collection CategoryCulture and the ArtsAccess StatusAccess restrictions applyAccess ConditionsResearchers are advised that they must attend a reference interview to discuss their project and sign a deed of undertaking prior to receiving access to records in the papers of Germaine Greer. Contact the archives to make arrangementsRequest Access to RecordsRequest records from this SeriesSearch within this Series

Provenance

CreatorGreer, Germaine

Dates

Date1996-2007

Description Control

Previous System ID2017.0076State of ListFully listed

Relationships

Feature CollectionThe Germaine Greer Archive

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[UMA-SRE-20170076] VIDEO RECORDINGS PRODUCED BY GERMAINE GREER