This poster has significance as a record of music in youth culture around the turn of the 21st century. It helps to illustrate how poster art was used to communicate information to a mass audience about rock music performers and specifically to promote concerts and CDs.

Human Nature, an Australian all-male vocal pop group (or 'boy band'), achieved success in the 1990s, when their first album 'Telling Everybody', went quadruple platinum. In 1997 they shared the vocals with John Farnham on a huge hit, 'Every Time You Cry'. In recent years they have released two albums of Motown songs, the ARIA award-winning 'Reach Out: The Motown Record' (2005) and 'Dancing In The Street: The Songs of Motown II' (2006).

Coming from a collection of posters that Peta Wilcox accumulated through her extensive contacts in the music business, this poster helps to document the work of the Australian Rock Company (ARC), which Wilcox established in 1984 as a not-for-profit cultural organisation, to develop cultural activities for young people. The ARC has promoted general access performances by professional Australian rock music artists, often in isolated suburban and regional centres that are deprived of cultural activities for youth. Since the 1980s the ARC has presented up to 500 shows and workshops, many for under 18s and all-age audiences, providing entertainment that is both contemporary and relevant. These have taken place in community venues around the country, in association with schools, community groups and local councils. Wilcox worked with a public-spirited, entrepreneurial passion to create entertainment opportunities for young people and to generate gigs for local bands. The ARC's initiatives developed leisure activities for young people in a non-alcohol environment. This has helped many young music fans experience the excitement of rock 'n' roll concerts without the presence of alcohol as a signifier of cultural status.

Peter Cox
Curator
May 2008

Source:

Powerhouse Museum