“SOMETHING beautiful could happen,” renowned potter Joan Campbell told the Herald in 1990.
She had been referring to Bathers Beach and the timber structures she’d had erected outside her workshop (now Kidogo Art House).
The jetty, an artistic interpretation of the long jetty that used to grace the beach, was her legacy to Fremantle and generations of kids.
No doubt Campbell enjoyed watching kids climbing and jumping off the structures, but she didn’t live to see new life breathed into the area with the recent Sculptures by the Sea, the food market and the new boardwalk.
Local musician Gary Burke knew Campbell from childhood and says she was a “mentor” to him and other musicians. Wading through a sea of people flocking to the beach sculptures/markets he was inspired to put together a DVD tribute, aptly calling it Something Beautiful Could Happen.
“The whole time we were there, Joan’s words were running through my mind, and I couldn’t help but answer, ‘it is happening Joan, it is happening’.”
Campbell was inspired by the sea, gathering seaweed to create her signature pottery.
Just before her death she wrote, “my studio…looks out onto the sea and I can hear the moods of the sea, I hear different energies being played”.
“I know that when I am gone the sea will still be there in continual motion.”
The seven-minute film shows Campbell overseeing the erection of the large timber structures and working in her studio—backed by Kavisha Mazzella singing the John Masefield poem I Must Go Down to the Sea Again.
Burke has formed a group of well-known Fremantle musicians to play at the Fremantle Workers Club at the launch of the DVD, as part of Fremantle’s Heritage Festival, Friday June 3.
With musos Peter Grayling a renowned botanist, John Reed a geologist, Rachel Armstrong completing a PhD in cultural economic development and Gary Burke’s work in sustainability, calling themselves the Sustainables seemed apt.
The musos hadn’t played together before but after a” great” rehearsal, Burke is hoping the first show won’t be the last.
The heritage festival runs until June 3, with a wealth of activities, exhibitions and fascinating talks—there’s even a chance to grab some fashion of yesteryear, at the Vintage Vixens and Vamps fair in the town hall, Sunday May 26, noon–5pm.
Check the council’s website for the full program of events, times and locations.
by JENNY D’ANGER