There’s no place like home. And there’s no sense of nostalgia quite like the one we feel when we see a photograph of a home – our house, the house of someone close to us, the house where we spent our formative years. The exhibition Home: A Suburban Obsession exposed the social and emotional power of house and home, and the myriad connections between where we live and who we are.
This exploration of the social and emotional foundations of our houses was achieved through the incredible legacy of Frank and Eunice Corley. From the 1960s to the 1970s, this entrepreneurial couple drove the suburban streets of Queensland in their pink Cadillac, taking photographs of houses and selling them to homeowners as calendar inserts, Christmas cards or standalone images.
Frank and Eunice are thought to have taken over a quarter of a million photographs of houses throughout South East Queensland and as far north as Bundaberg. Around two-thirds of the photographs were sold to householders, and the remaining 61,000 unsold images were donated to State Library of Queensland in 1995.
The State Library of Queensland, The University of Queensland’s Architecture Theory Culture History (ATCH) research centre and the Annerley Stephens History Group weaved together notable stories involving houses and homes featured in the Corley Collection. Together, these stories disrupt our conceptions of a uniform suburban experience.
The exhibition consisted of three parts:
- “The Corley Story” fleshed out the narrative behind the material within historical and geographical contexts
- “Recreating House” exhibited commissioned creative responses to the Corley Collection by artists Dr Muge Belek Fialho Teixeira and Dr Frederico Fialho Teixeira, Jennifer Marchant, Ian Strange, and Seth Ellis
- “Recollecting Home” revealed narratives of homes (within the Corley Collection) while disseminating the house typology of the Queenslander, paying respect to the brick, fibro and the “not” Queensland house.
The exhibition arrangement was almost entirely monochromatic, with the gallery’s perimeter walls blackened, the floor space punctuated with freestanding white walls for containment, and a rare splash of orange. Thousands of black-and-white postcard-sized prints lined the entry, from floor to ceiling.
The Corley Explorer, the collection’s digital database, offers the opportunity for users to add to the growing knowledge base: a house number, street name or details of construction materials, or enhance the entry with a story.
| Exhibition curators | State Library of Queensland (Chenoa Pettrup and Adam Jefford) in collaboration with The University of Queensland’s ATCH research centre (Dr Deborah van der Plaat, Dr Nicole Sully, Dr Andrew Wilson) and the Annerley Stephens History Group. |
|---|---|
| Recreating House artworks | Dr Frederico Fialho Teixeira and Muge Belek Fialho Teixeira; Jennifer Marchant; Ian Strange; Seth Ellis. |
| Corley Explorer digital archive | Designed and developed by Mitchell Whitelaw and Geoff Hinchcliffe at the Data Design Lab, ANU School of Art and Design. |
Panel discussions
“Art of the Suburb.” Speakers: Elishia Whitchurch (moderator), Jennifer Marchant, Dr Nicole Sully, Dr Frederico Teixeira and Dr Muge Belek Fialho Teixeira, 18 May 2019, SLQ.
“Guided Exhibition Tour – Home: A Suburban Obsession” and panel talk. Speakers: Adam Jefford (moderator), Dr Deborah van der Plaat, Kate Dyson, Dr Muge Belek Fialho Teixeira, 9 December 2018, SLQ.
Award
Winner, Heritage Interpretation and Promotion category, 2019 National Trust Queensland Heritage Awards.
Panel discussions
“Art of the Suburb.” Speakers: Elishia Whitchurch (moderator), Jennifer Marchant, Dr Nicole Sully, Dr Frederico Teixeira and Dr Muge Belek Fialho Teixeira, 18 May 2019, SLQ.
“Guided Exhibition Tour – Home: A Suburban Obsession” and panel talk. Speakers: Adam Jefford (moderator), Dr Deborah van der Plaat, Kate Dyson, Dr Muge Belek Fialho Teixeira, 9 December 2018, SLQ.
Award
Winner, Heritage Interpretation and Promotion category, 2019 National Trust Queensland Heritage Awards.