Beneath the City – Uncovering the Old Melbourne Cemetery below the Queen Victoria Market
Work in progress with Scott Lewis
Beneath the City exhibition is a site-specific mixed media presentation by Julia Herfurth and Scott Lewis, a work in progress developed in January and February 2023 during their residency at Testing Grounds adjacent to the site of the Old Melbourne Cemetery. Julia and Scott recorded interviews, produced an experimental film, lino prints and photographs in response to archival material of the Old Melbourne Cemetery and the Queen Victoria Market, which will also be presented.
Little is known by the public about the Old Melbourne Cemetery that was established in 1837; the first cemetery to be divided into religious denominations, including an area for First Nations People. It was permanently closed in 1922. Between 7,000 and 9,000 graves were not relocated during the successive expansion of the Queen Victoria Market (est. in 1878) and still remain on the premises. The sculpture Passages and boundary markers are so far the only on-site reference to the cemetery.
The Queen Victoria Market is the largest roofed outdoor market in the southern hemisphere and sells food and other goods five days a week. In 2018, it was added to the National Heritage List. It has evolved from a livestock market to a wholesale market for fruits and vegetables and is now a retail market. It is characterized by a very diverse range of products. In hundreds of small stores you can buy Australian fruits and vegetables, local and imported gourmet products, clothes and souvenirs.
Much of what is known today about the graves in Old Melbourne Cemetery is based on the efforts of historian Isaac Selby (1859-1956). Selby recorded much of the history of the cemetery and published "The Old Pioneers' Memorial. History of Melbourne" (1924) in which he recorded the location of all the headstones and monuments in the cemetery. He also advocated for the preservation of the cemetery. Many of the first settlers were buried on the site, including John Batman, Charles la Trobe, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills. Another great source of information has been the publication “The Old Melbourne Cemetery 1837-1922” by Marjorie Jean Morgan (1982).
This presentation – a work in progress – contains
> “Beneath the City” – series of linocuts by Julia Herfurth
> A site specific wallpaper consisting of vegetables and fish relief prints by Julia Herfurth
> An experimental short film by Scott Lewis
> audio recordings of interviews with authorities on the themes that we are presenting
> A timeline contrasting the development of the Old Melbourne Cemetery and the Queen Victoria Market from 1837 to today, including current photographs, archival material and maps
> reproduction of photographs of the Old Melbourne Cemetery
> photographs of different cemeteries in Melbourne and Victoria taken by Julia Herfurth and Scott Lewis
> reproduction of photographs of the Queen Victoria Market
> map of the Old Melbourne Cemetery on the floor
We would like to thank everyone who supported our project and everyone who gave us an interview: Alison Cameron, Curator of the exhibition “Isaac Selby: Lecturer, Historian, Assassin!” at Royal Historical Society of Victoria, 2019 // Meyer Eidelson, Director of Melbourne Walks // Rabbi Gutnick, East Melbourne Synagogue // Dr. Chris McConville, Historian, Lecturer at Victoria University // Jenny Pyke, The Hat Project // Jeremy Smith, Principal Archaeologist, Heritage Victoria // Rokko, Queen's Harvest at QVM and several traders of the Queen Victoria Market
Main sources of archival material: City of Melbourne, Heritage Victoria, State Library of Victoria, Royal Historical Society of Victoria
