2019 HMNS Seminar: 'Physical Culture and the Making and Preservation of Bondi Beach' by Prof Booth

Event Details

Date:

Friday, 28 June 2019

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

127

UQ Location:

Human Performance Laboratories (St Lucia)

URL:

http://www.hms.uq.edu.au/

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Bondi, arguably Australia’s best known surf beach, raises questions about the relationships between physical cultures and the natural and built environments. I will explore these relationships through an historical analysis of swimming, surfbathing, surf lifesaving, and surfing, and their contributions to the making and preservation of Bondi Beach. The physical cultures that formed at Bondi in the late XIXth and early XXth centuries were based on engagement with sea, surf, and sand. Today, the Bondi Pavilion, the local surf lifesaving clubhouses, and the Bondi Baths are as emblematic of Bondi Beach as its natural features. However, the now iconic built structures contain a paradox. While they are the creations for physical cultures that claim an affinity to nature, they simultaneously break up and disrupt Bondi’s natural contours, colours, textures, forms, and geomorphological processes.
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Douglas Booth is Emeritus Professor of Sport Studies at the University of Otago.
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All welcome, no RSVP required