The Pool
Sunday 22 and 29 September at 7:40pm
The Pool is a two-part documentary series that evokes deep nostalgia and childhood memories to look at Australian identity through the prism of the Pool. The pool is a focal point for leisure and community, but beneath its allure as a hedonistic playground lies the surprising and untold story of a battleground where feminism, racism and sexuality were explored, and sporting heroes born.
We are the world capital of pools – Australia boasts more than 100 ocean pools, more than 1000 public pools and more than one million backyard pools. The pool is where we splash around as kids, chase Olympic-sized dreams as teens, keep fit as adults and gather as a multicultural community of equals.
Stripped to our budgie smugglers or boardies, bikinis or burqinis, we all have nostalgic memories of the pool – relief from the blistering heat, the sting of chlorine, the terror of the school swim carnival, poolside fashion, bombs and dives.
The pool is also our theatre of competition, where Olympic heroes are crowned. The pool has also been a battleground for more than 100 years – not just for its physical existence, but for race, gender, sexuality and religion.
Unlike any other country on Earth, our pools play a pivotal part in our lives.
The Pool is a Mint Pictures production for ABC. Principal production investment from Screen Australia and the ABC in association with Create NSW. Directed by Sally Aitken. Written by Christos Tsiolkas, Sally Aitken and Paul Clarke. Narrated by Richard Roxburgh. Executive Producer Mint Pictures: Adam Kay. Series Producer Mint Pictures, Dan Goldberg. ABC Commissioning Editor: Jo Chichester. ABC Executive Producer: Natasha Negrea. Commissioned by ABC R&L. 2 x 60 mins.
Doing It In Public: The Kaldor Projects
Tuesday 24 September at 9.30pm
Doing It In Public: The Kaldor Projects explores the private and public stories of the Kaldor Public Art Projects across fifty years and 34 public art projects in Australia.
The Kaldor Public Art Projects changed what happened in Sydney’s contemporary art landscape and Doing It In Public: The Kaldor Projects acts as a time capsule – documenting the impact on screen in seconds, that John Kaldor’s art philanthropy has had over the decades.
Doing It In Public: The Kaldor Projects interviews the artists of the featured projects, sharing the incredible artistic process.
Kaldor Public Art Projects have pushed the boundaries of architecture, performance and visual arts. From celebrity artist Marina Abramović’s “In Residence” (2015) where audiences invited them to participate in the ‘Abramović method’, enticing towards an artistic sensibility; ‘living sculpture’, Gilbert & George, enlivened the Art Gallery of NSW with their “Singing Sculpture” (1973); and Jeff Koons achieved an awesome feat of plant and steel construction with his much-loved “Puppy” (1995) standing guard at the forecourt of the Museum of Contemporary Arts, in Circular Quay.
Doing It In Public: The Kaldor Projects weaves together past and present stories of ephemeral works, as the narrative unfolds across many of the Kaldor projects, sharing the delights of his private passion for art. The program has layers and connections that form an intimate stratigraphy of the public art project in Sydney, from 1969 to 2019 and beyond.