City of Sydney Archives: Desperately Seeking Champions of Ephemera

The City of Sydney Council is looking to build its archives ephemera collection of Sydney. This is an opportunity for Sydney's DIY community to influence the shape of the collection called The Past in Print for historical purposes by donating ephemera including their own DIY projects.

As any zinester or archivist will tell you, ephemera is short-lived printed material such as pamphlets, flyers, tickets, beer coasters, business cards, postcards, badges, and zines. Treated as archival documentation, it becomes an excellent source of information about the diverse and changing face of Sydney's local communities.

I see The Past in Print as a vital project in helping save the history of Sydney. The city is rapidly changing thanks to rampant over-development in the inner city and throughout the suburbs. Small fry such as The Annandale Hotel and The Mu-Meson Archives are hanging on, but will eventually be eaten by the greed that surrounds them. It is important to document the existence of these places and how they provide colour and character to their otherwise soul-less and gentrified surroundings. From a DIY perspective, The Past in Print will give a snap-shot of Sydney's underground culture in the early millennium for future Sydney-slickers to marvel at.

For further information or possible donations, please contact the city archives at  archives@cityofsydney.nsw.

I have included a little ditty called My City of Sydney covered by 70s indie-punk band XL Capris which, in 2012, seems kinda ironic.