Arts Media

The story and experiences of women and children of the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct has inspired a considerable number of creative works. Among these are Andree Greenwell's music- theatre work Dreaming Transportation and Alana Valentine's Parramatta Girls.

Gate 1

Imagine you're in a place,

A place surrounded by high walls

Gate 3 

You see a gate, it's closed and bolted. 

You ask , is there a way out?

Gate 5

Slowly you realise you're in a place...

A place of memories, a place you cannot leave...

Abandon all Hope

a history of the  Girls Industrial School & the Roman Catholic Orphanage Parramatta (media recording)

Eyes to the Floor

Eyes to the Floor

A play by Alana Valentine about the Hay Girls Institution and performed by Outback Theatre for Young People at Hay and Griffith in April 2008

Gate 2

A place that seems familiar yet is not... 

A place set apart where you're alone and yet you are not...

Gate 4 

Slowly you turn, again and again the gate appears,

One, two, three, four, five...

roses from the heart

Roses from the Heart- an iconic memorial project conceived by Tasmania based artist Christina Henri,  who uses BONNETS as a symbolic representation of the 25,566 convict women transported to Australia.

Join in - Christina invites you to sew a bonnet and be part of history more information here.

Convict women

Convict Women - from 1788 to 1853 over 25,000 women were transported in the dark holds of ships on a 16,000 mile journey to the other side of the world. Arriving alone with small children in the colonies, these women lived, loved, toiled and died under Australian skies. Convict Women is a pioneering film/TV series that fuses history, genealogy and dram to reveal the stories of these forgotten women for the first time.

inabsentia

inABSENTIA is inspired by the convict women of the Parramatta Female Factory. A site specific work in development by youMove.

Female Transport

Set in 1807, 'Female Transport' explores the lives of six women undergoing a 6-month imprisonment on board a converted Navy vessel. Cal State University.

Taking freedom from the past

Women's experiences in the Cascades and Parramatta Female Factories and Parramatta Girls Industrial & Training School. CAN

Parramatta Girls play

Parramatta Girls

a play by  Alana Valentine  about the Parramatta Girls reunion in 2003. 

Belvoir St Theatre 2007.

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