“A New Light Shines in City of Steel”
Sydney Morning Herald, 30 August 1999.
(newspaper)

There were mixed emotions when Ribbons of Steel opened in Newcastle’s near-defunct steelworks, writes Joyce Morgan.

The writing is on the tiles, if not the walls, at Newcastle’s BHP steelworks. “A future more bleak,” says one of dozens of ceramic tiles made by employees as part of a project to mark the end of steelmaking in the city next month. “Heaps of skills, but nowhere to go. What will we do?” asks another. Others are more optimistic. “Glad to be walking out of here” - a sentiment reinforced with the imprint of an industrial bootprint. A simple tree with “Life after BHP” above it expresses hope for a greener post-industrial future.

The tiles reflect the mixed emotions at the heart of Ribbons of Steel, a eight-day arts project under way to mark the end of 84 years of steelmaking in the city. It is part commemoration, part celebration and part wake, coming just a month before 1,900 steelworkers walk out of the plant for the last time - their jobs gone and the future uncertain.

Despite the harsh reality, the mood was upbeat at Thursday’s launch as about 700 guests attended a two-hour performance at the steelworks that included music, movement, theatre and pyrotechnics. Guests moved from the tool room housing a number of static displays, past the ceramic tiles to the main performance area, led by a group of percussionists, stilt walkers and a three-metre puppet of a steelworker, dubbed Blue, the Big Australian.

Five self-styled human fridge magnets suspended from the wall of the main performance area, a tin shed the size of an aircraft hangar, told the story of steelmaking, as guests filed in for performances, including the Cantata Brass Band - shades of Brassed Off - and a 60-voice choir. Performers representing four generations of steelworkers talked about their mixed emotions.

As the performance drew to a close the shed’s backcloth was pulled away to reveal an industrial landscape: a well-timed goods train passing metres away, the harsh lights of the plant and the distant steelmaking flame - a landmark in the city. It was a moment of great drama and eloquence, redolent of the ending of Neil Armfield’s production of Cloudstreet. Yet this was not a scene of a natural environment of water and starlight, but of a soon-to-be-demolished man-made landscape.

The Federal Arts Minister, Peter McGauran, who opened the Ribbons of Steel on Friday, said the depth and diversity of the event paid tribute to the work and dignity of the steelworkers. “Ribbons of Steel could forge a new future for Newcastle… A city of steel could well forge a new reputation as a city of art.”

The newly formed Men and Women of Steel Choir was a high point for Friday’s events. Dressed in industrial safety gear they sang with humour, dignity and defiance songs about the city. No doubt John Lennon, who penned Working Class Hero, would have approved the rewriting of the Beatles’ Yesterday as a humorous but biting lament for the lost earnings - Rosterday, when you can earn double pay.

A new play by Newcastle playwright John O’Donoghue is being staged at the steelworks this week. Freewheel’s Theatre’s No More the Fur Elise…No More the Bullied Bloom, looks at the impact of the steelworks on three generations of a fractured Newcastle family. It is a piece with strong performances, particularly from Colin Taylor as the irascible grandfather.

Beethoven’s, Fur Elise, still played at the steelworks to warn of danger when molten steel is poured into a ladle, was a theme too of Tailing Out: The Performance, which opened at the Newcastle Workers’ Club on Wednesday. It is a three-handed physical performance piece based on interviews with steelworkers. While the acrobatics at times sat uneasily and obscured the words, the physicality was well-realised in scenes dealing with the deaths of two steelworkers and the gassing of canaries in the coke ovens.

Ribbons of Steel has a strong visual arts component, which has seen the toolroom transformed into an art gallery and museum. Four large-scale commissioned works from Birgitte Hansen, with steel frames created by steelworkers, is one of several projects that have brought together steelworkers and artists.

Steve Ford, a steelworker for 37 years, says he’s learnt new skills, particularly in photography, as a result of Ribbons of Steel, skills he’s keen to explore further. He acknowledges some of his workmates are more ambivalent. “It’s just beginning to hit some of them that it’s about to close. One bloke was asking, “What am I going to do with an extra 50 hours a week?”

Ribbons of Steel, funded by BHP and the Australia Council, attempts to create something lasting for the community through bringing together steelworkers and artists, says its creative producer, Srebrenka Kunek. It is legacy-driven not event-driven.

More than 50 per cent of the steelworks’ employees have taken part in Ribbons of Steel, including in photographic exhibitions, creating ceramic tiles and in providing material for static displays.

Yet getting their co-operation was not easy, says Jenny Brown, a Ribbons of Steel curator. “There was a real resistance at first,” says Brown. “You’d have someone saying, ‘Look, I’m not interested in Ribbons of Steel at all - it’s a waste of money. It’s money that should be going to us.’ When they realized that money wouldn’t go to them anyway, they got involved, and see it as a valuable thing because it’s an opportunity for them to link with their families and the wider community.”