“Vault” (dancefilm)

Vault was my second dance film project. I have always been interested in the Old Museum building and I wanted to continue making dance films that drew inspiration from the space.

Superficially, Vault was Inspired by ‘progressive eclecticism’ of the architecture of the Old Museum Building. Vault is also drew inspiration from Patricia Mather’s “A Time for a Museum: The History of the Queensland Museum 1862 – 1886”, specifically some of the people/ characters who worked there. The cast themselves become relics of the space, passing by each other sharing memories of the space them inhabit.

In 1983 I remember my Dad dropping me to the Old Museum after a ballet exam to catch up with my primary school class excursion. I got lost finding my class, and the sense of exploring the building is layered into the abstract narrative of Vault.

In 1983 I remember being fascinated a painting of a dinosaur on a wall. It wasn’t a graffiti job, but rather looked like a painting by child. I wondered why it was on the wall of the museum. Filming Vault in 2012, I was keen to see if the dinosaur painting was still there. It was!! Furthermore, I noticed that it was signed by M.Oakden. The name Margaret Oakden appeared in Mather’s “A Time for a Museum”. I was able to get in touch with Margaret Oakden and ask her about the painting. Margaret Oakden worked at the museum from 1972- 1980 as a staff artist who would prepare prints for marketing by the museum. Margaret informed that that in her son had won a drawing competition and was invited to do the dinosaur mural. Mystery solved.

Some behind the scene images of the Vault shoot by Gemma Blake and Frances Hannaway: