Therese Sweeney

Born 1961

I have been engaging communities, industry & families in photography, digital media & oral history recordings since the early 1990’s. I bring solid experience in strategy & communications to project work & commissions as: oral historian, media technician, artist, researcher, curator, digital archivist, writer & publish under Sweeney Ink.

For 30 years or more I have exhibited photography, video installations & sound recordings at major galleries throughout Sydney; at key libraries & museums across Sydney; in the landscape and built environment as video projections; online archives; & at key community sites such as clubs & resource centres. My work is held in both private collections and major State & National public institutions.

I have written, trained & delivered media courses with residents, transferring my skills in Green Valley, Airds, Macquarie Fields & sites within Liverpool for many years. All these projects have resulted in successful exhibition outcomes, including national recognition by way of nomination for media training at ATOM (Australian Teachers of Media) awards in 2001. In recent years I have trained at regional libraries & galleries in oral history technologies & protocols as consultant to State Library NSW & Oral History NSW.

I have received numerous scholarships throughout my creative life, including a research fellowship at UTS through Shopfront & NSW Dept. of Women in 2000.

Prior to above I was employed in NSW government for over a decade, resigning as Senior Policy Officer, Legal Aid Commission in 1991, a human resource specialist.

Today, I continue my work on the South Coast of NSW and have in recent years written a number of oral history books via commission from private clients, industry & government.

Sweeney Ink has been publishing family, company and regional history books from 2016 as private commissions and government contracts.

Major works :

2025: 28 Jan Live: Podcaster, writer & producer:'Therese Makes History'

Season 1 Podcast.The Dairy Lane project, Berry to Bomaderry.

January-February 25: launch web site theresesweeney.com.au

Purchase limited ed. photography prints, books, maps and merchandise; a consultancy service is offered by Therese on all areas history & production as well as publishing & recordings. Podcast episodes will host archives as still images on website.

*Site built & maintained by Therese’s long-term web collaborator Robin Thebe WP guru wpguru.com.au

2024-­‐25:  Writer/Social Historian: ‘The Sacred Heart of Green Valley’, Vol 1.

Publication available in mid 2025. Public housing pioneering residents of St Therese Parish, Sadleir & Sacred Heart Order who migrated from Kincoppal Rosebay. +Additionally, undertaking research & dialogue toward funding a comprehensive digital 20th century dairying history & publication on the Shoalhaven region, capturing knowledge & history before it is lost. Starting with the current podcast Season 1.

1994-­‐2024: Social Historian: On the Fringes: Green Valley Public Housing Estate,

(known as Ashcroft, Miller, Busby, Heckenberg, Sadleir, Cartwright from ‘72) South-­‐West Sydney.

-­‐Major initiative to engage residents from my community-of-origin in film & digital photography, analogue & digital sound recordings as oral history, video production & installations to exhibit, project, archive, print & publish; at Local, State & National cultural institutions. Introducing residents to new media technologies through engagement.

-­‐Inspired to reframe & redress the perpetuation of negativity toward our Estate from the mid ‘60s, plain ignorance held by the wider Sydney metropolis and press. I engaged residents through established groups, homes, as well as my own extensive networks in Green Valley: capturing their lives, stories, voices, portraits in the landscape. Demonstrating respectful collaboration to honour their contributions to society as our resilient pioneering residents. I aimed for high standards of practise to achieve outcomes that would endure for future residents.

-­‐Demonstrated an enduring reciprocal model of multi-media engagement & exchange with residents, embedding myself in community producing an enormous body of digital & analogue work, held in State cultural institutions and hosted as an online archive through UTS Library network. A series of prints over the years have been purchased by State Library N.S.W. Major publications pending by Sweeney in 25-26.

Major archive: sweeney.lib.uts.edu.au & theresesweeney.com.au

2008-­‐2014: Social Historian: A Memory Bank project: Sweeney established a not-for-profit charity, Memory Bank Cultural Media: Raised private funds to engage ageing pioneering market gardeners, many from South-East Europe, the aim to collect their knowledge & history before lost as many residents in their 80s. Impending transformation of lands into built environment and airport.

-­‐Outcomes included extensive engagement, creating important digital archives as: sound recordings as oral histories; community soundscapes; documentary photography & portraiture in the semi-rural environment; video production in the landscape; personal collections secured & digitised. Digital works have been exhibited as installations in galleries, museums and libraries and on walls of buildings & railways through out Liverpool CBD.

-­‐Engagement occurred on farms, Austral Bowling Club, Leppington Bocce Club, Outer Liverpool Community Services & other community centres, on buses and referrals.

-­‐The actual launch of Memory Bank at Casula Powerhouse in 2010 was attended by Govt. officials: Mayor, Liverpool Council, NSW & Federal MPs. Launched by Noelene Brown, Ambassador for Ageing, and hosted by Sweeney in the theatre as a multi-­‐media presentation.

-­‐ It was the most attended launch in the galleries history at that point in time. Sweeney with local transport services organised buses to bring in residents from the semi-­‐rural landscape.

*Website built as a pioneering multi-media archive hosting the community project from 2009 under Memory Bank; prior to the UTS archive going live. Robin Thebe as volunteer to this project fresh from Nepal…built us a site to host videos, stills, text, private historical collections from residents-in collaboration with UTS Design students & Shopfront. It was groundbreaking.

Publication pending by Sweeney in late 25 & a podcast season.

Major archive: sweeney.lib.uts.edu.au

2019: Archivist: Digitisation of all multi-­‐media material for UTS Library to host.

Digitisation of entire Sweeney archive on south-west Syd. requiring: sound recordings from tape, minidisc, and H2Zoom- to produce wav files and MP3s. Scanning entire negative collection to high & low res. jpg. & tiff. Digitising VHS tape, digital tape to digital files for 14 videos. Produced all meta-data for UTS library for each image, sound recording & video. Images selected by Dr Paul Ashton, Dr Penny Stannard and Therese over a period of weeks at UTS Shopfront. Videos hosted on YouTube.

Archive: sweeney.lib.uts.edu.au

2011-­‐2017 Consultant Historian: Belgenny Farm Oral History Project,

Camden Park Estate. (N.S.W Dept. Primary Industries).

-­‐Awarded competitive consultancy to produce an oral history project on 20th century Camden Park. To identify knowledge, images and work practises at Belgenny Farm and key dairies, no longer in operation. For heritage to re-imagine, re-build & restore important sites for purposes associated with heritage, education and tourism.

-­‐Initially Sweeney’s identified key former personnel who held relevant knowledge- then engaged those employees, family members & others connected to C.P.E throughout 20th century. Then undertake a recording as oral historian & digital sound recordist, portraiture as photographer, archivist-digitising private collections, technician/ editor. Project transcribed externally, supervised by Sweeney.

-­‐Maintained technical filing system for delivery to N.S.W State Library, local libraries & NSW Dept. Primary Industries. Recorded, scanned, edited and delivered to meet digital archival standards set by National Library, Australia.

-­‐Final digital outcomes included 70 sound recordings, thousands of late 19th & 20th century photographs- digitised & collected from participants through engagement, additionally securing family & business records from 19th century uncovered by Sweeney. Produced & shot contemporary portraits of all participants -all delivered to State Library of NSW and Camden library. Two editions of the book, Camden Park Estate, The Community Story, edited and produced by Sweeney for N.S.W Dept. Primary Industries. Podcast pending subject to approval from State Govt.

2007: Social Historian: ‘Conversations at the Diner’, New York Restaurant Kings X.

Post WWII Diner in KX, renowned for quality home cooked comfort food for the working class clientele. Serving schnitzels, steaks, tripe, chicken roasts, meat cuts & desserts like prunes & rice. The clientele were ageing as was the cook and maître de. I worked 1 night p.w as waitress to be seen & known by diners/staff. Then I received funding to undertake a contemporary digital history project as extensive sound recordings, photography & text with clientele & staff. The project is archived through Sydney of City Libraries. The Diner closed its doors in 2010. Publication pending by Sweeney & podcast.

2005: Consultant Historian: Bringelly City on the Edge, Western Sydney Regional Councils & Liverpool City Library.

An extensive research & engagement project in the market gardening communities of south-­‐west Sydney with a focus on contemporary growing practises, capturing the second wave of migration with market gardeners from Vietnam, Thailand, Lebanon, China, Germany, Netherlands & Sudan. A multi-­‐ media project with photography & video oral histories. Reported to a committee of 12 repr’s. from Western Sydney. 30 images printed, framed and held by Liverpool Library collection & digital data. Publication in late 25.

1995-­‐1998: Photographer: Leichhardt gentrification: Norton St.

A photographic study on the gentrification of Leichhardt. Engaging residents, business owners and builders in the main street (Norton St.) as the landscape transformed from single dwellings to medium & high density accommodation. Archived & purchased by State Library of NSW (large prints purchased) & Leichhardt Library (prints purchased). Therese undertook darkroom printing.

Books:

2020-­‐2022 : Commissioned writer & publisher Sweeney Ink

‘Our  Smartest  Horseman,  Vic  Gough,  The  North  Queensland  Cowboy’. An extensive written & pictorial history on a pioneering master horseman from the 1930s til present day. Published in print and as an ebook under Sweeney Ink in September 2022, National Library Australia & NSW State Library. Distributed by family. 272 pages.

2017-­‐2019: Commissioned writer and publisher Sweeney Ink

‘A  journey  from  Pasman:  Biserka  Skontra’, a memoir on a migrant chef from Croatia. Published in November 2019 in print/ebook under Sweeney Ink. National Library Australia & NSW State Library. Distributed by family. 180 pages.

2016-­‐2018: Commissioned writer and publisher Sweeney Ink

‘  Farming  was  our  University’:  The  Perich  family’. A comprehensive written & pictorial history on a leading migrant agricultural family from Bringelly, NSW. Published as a printed book in 2018 under Sweeney Ink. National Library Australia & local libraries. NSW State Library.

Not for sale. 280 pages.

2016-­‐2019: Commissioned writer & editor

‘Camden Park Estate, The Community Story’. Editions 1& 2.

Printed through Belgenny Farm Trust, NSW Dept. Primary Industries. A comprehensive pictorial book with extracts from oral histories recorded on 70 participants from 2011-­‐2017. Available through Belgenny Farm. 240 pages.

Exhibition History:

2023-­‐24: Photographer: Shoot exhibition, State Library N.S.W,

Official opening of photography gallery, 300 years, 400 prints and 300 photographers. Print selected from 94 : image of Graffiti Art by Sweeney.

2022-­‐Photographer: On the Fringes, South West Sydney,

Many photographs reimagined on fabric, UTS library, May-­‐September

2019-­‐Photographic  print: Marriage-­‐Love-­‐Law:Penrith Regional Gallery, Wedding portrait, West Hoxton 2001.

2018-­‐Photographer: ‘Duhk-­‐Ling’:Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Portrait Series on Wood, large paper & plaster.

2016 Photographer & Video Artist: On the Fringes Collection,

Retrospective-­‐photographic series + 4 x video projections, U.T.S.

2015-­‐Trainer & mentor: Postcard series: Greetings from Macquarie Fields.

Archived at National Gallery, gifted by Lisa Havallah (Campbelltown Regional Gallery).

2014-­‐Photographer & Video Artist: ‘Creative Moments’

Shoalhaven Regional Gallery-­‐Series of photographs & video projections, South West Sydney series.

2014-­‐ Archivist: On the Fringes 1994-­‐2014-­‐Launch of UTS library archive, Sydney.

2010- ­ ‐ Video Installation x 2: Our migrant farmers’, video artist x 2 , Forum held in theatre, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.

2010- ­ ‐ Host, Photographer & Documentary Video:  ‘Tomato Stories’, Panel forum in theatre, interviewing market gardeners (6 ageing females from south-­‐east Europe) and screening a 7 min film.

2008-­‐Video Artist x 4 projections: ‘Intimate moments,’ On building surfaces throughout Liverpool CBD. Females on the fringes who are not in the consciousness of the city folk.

2007-­‐Photographer & oral Historian: ‘Conversations at the Diner:’ 17 Sound recordings, text & photography. Exhibited across 3 sites in Kings Cross; at the Diner itself, KX library screened all the dishes plus a photographic series, framed. Menus in diner included text from the stories and recordings. Transcribed by my mother Bernadette from a minidisc recorder.

2007-­‐Photographer: Rightous suburbs, Cross Art Projects. Photography in Macquarie Fields.

2007-­‐Documentary: Love & Music, an 8 min video on an ageing dramatic soprano.

2006-­‐Photographer&Video Historian: ‘Bringelly, City on the Edge’, A series of 30 framed photography prints. Toured Narellan library, Hawkesbury Regional gallery & Liverpool library.

2005-­‐Video editor and operator: Tunnel Vision, Greed & Stupidity, video artist, Cross Art projects.

2004-­‐Photographer: ‘Reframing the Valley’, 10 year retrospective, Photography, curator Liz Muller. Leichhardt.

1997-­‐Photographer: Fibro-­‐Perspecta 97. 22 canvas photography panels, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (through Art Gallery of NSW), reviewed by Photofile, published a series of the works.

1996-­‐Photographer: A published series of photographs, ‘On  the  Frontier,  a  Social  History  of Liverpool, Hale & Iremonger, by Chris Keating.

1994- ­ ‐ Photographer: ‘Legal Walls Project’, Ran over 8 weekends culminating in an exhibition and booklet. Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.

Trainer/Curator

2013-­‐2017: Consultant to NSW State Library & OHNSW to write & deliver training in oral history protocols/technology to regional staff at Newcastle, Dubbo, Riverina & Lightening Ridge.

2012-­‐Photography mentor: UTS Social leaders group, Shopfront.

2010-­‐Trainer/Curator: Made  on  the  Kitchen  Table.  Trained 16 indigenous women to produce an extensive photography exhibit at Casula Powerhouse Arts centre. 3 months.

2007-­‐Photography Trainer/Curator: New Angles at Macfields, worked with residents of Macquarie Fields, to produce an exhibition over 6 months. Community selected me for role. Produced a postcard series, ‘Greetings from Macquarie Fields’. Also trained community of Airds.

2005-­‐Photography Trainer & Curator-­‐Light Stills Emotion, a card series for Liverpool Women’s Health Service.

2004-­‐Photography Trainer/Curator-­‐Women  Shoot  West. Residents from Women’s Resource Centre, Ashcroft(Green valley), produced exhibit at Liverpool Hospital.

Video production:

2012: Pioneers of the Fringe, South-­‐West Sydney, Sound & Image, 21mins. 2011: Fringe Dwellers, South West Sydney, Screened Sydney Fringe Festival.

2010: Tomato Stories, Tomato growers from South-­‐West Sydney, 7mins. Theatre, Casula Powerhouse. 2010: 2xVideo Installations: Pioneers of the fringe Part 1-­‐moving image-­‐farm scapes & Part 2, Sound and text, voices and names of pioneering farmers. Liverpool Bicentenary, Casula Powerhouse.

2008 x 4 Video projections for Intimate  Moments solo exhibit-­‐across Liverpool CBD Walls. Introspecting, Pioneering & Imagining, 3 women in spaces on the farming fringe (Tramachi, Boskovich & Choma) and Fostering, Heckenberg (G.V), Indigenous foster parent Colleen Thorne, observing daily tasks. 3 min each. No sound.

2007: Love & Music: performance by Soprano Noela Strange-­‐Muir, uncovered in The Diner project. 1999: Green Valley Snaps: Moving footage, sound and stills. Documentary on Green Valley 12mins. 1998: New estate: Soundtrack & Photography. Short film on new estate Cecil Hills. 3mins.

1996: A Green Valley Story: Short documentary on Fay Smith, Ashcroft.

Keynote Speaker

2021-­‐History Week-­‐From the Ground Up-­‐Collecting in South West Sydney, September.

2018-­‐Guest Speaker,  Artists working with oral history, oral historians working with artists, November. Oral History NSW & Verge Gallery.

Qualifications/Awards/Nominations

1993: Associate Diploma in Health Sciences-TAFE 1999-Bachelor of Arts (Communications) U.T.S Sydney 2001-Research Scholarship, UTS, Shopfront & NSW Dept. for Women. Media teacher & producer, Miller High school, (Green Valley). Mentored 12 young women in film production skills to shoot, direct & edit 3 short films. Won awards: Penrith Valley Film Festival, State Youth Week & National nomination for ATOM awards (Australian Teachers of Media), held in Melbourne. Touted as ‘the best project ever ran’ by CEO, NSW Dept. for Women. 2005-Scholarship Photography, Charles Sturt University, Wagga. 2007-Scholarship-Editing-Final Cut Pro, Metro Screen Paddington. 2010-Not-for-Profit Management, Business School, U.T.S 2009-Nominated by National Oral History Assoc. for The Memory Bank Project. 2008-2012 as nation’s nomination for the ‘09 International Oral History Award.

Other employment: 1980-'91

11 years in NSW Govt.-Personnel Management & Policy roles specialising in Occupational Health, Safety and Employee Relations. Resigned as Senior Policy Analyst, Legal Aid Commission in 91.

Instructions

There are lots of ways to find your way around the site. These instructions will get you started.

Hit the explore button at the top of the page. This will take you to the browse page, where a selection of photographs are displayed. Select an image. On the right hand side of each image there is a list of keywords and subjects. Sometimes, there is also a bank of related images. Select a keyword or subject term or a related image to browse the collection.

To return to the brows page, hit the Browse button at the top of the page. To return to the front page, hit the Therese Sweeney Ink button.

License

Unless otherwise noted, content on the sweeney.lib.uts.edu.au website is owned by Therese Sweeney. To request a license for non-commercial or commercial use of her work, please contact Therese Sweeney by phone on 0415900320, or by email.