RISE AND FALL

January 2018 - September 2018

The trajectory of cultures, cities, life. Change may be incremental, evolutionary - or sudden and unpredictable. Patterns and unplanned obsolescence. How will it pan out? We cannot know, and our assumptions may be unreliable guides.

RISE AND FALL: The Batavia Arch

Working in Croke Lane, Fremantle, in the 1980’s was Gordon Kay, the toymaker of the much-loved Timothy’s Toys. Here is his Batavia Arch. Carried as ballast in 1629 in The Batavia, these pre-shaped stones were destined to form an impressive entrance portico for the Dutch East India Company town of Batavia (now Jakarta). They never rose, but sank when the ship was wrecked in the Abrolhos Islands. They are now a mere sideline compared to the events that followed.

Thanks to KC for the loan of the Arch