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Modernism, Modernisation and Modernity in Australia, 1919 –1939

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Modernism, Modernisation and Modernity in Australia, 1919 –1939

Lighting the Way: New technologies, new materials, new cities.

Modernism transformed life in Australia across five tumultuous decades from 1917 to 1967 , it spans all aspect of Australian culture including art, design, architecture, advertising, film, photography and fashion. The process of modernisation has had a profound affect, changing our perspectives and the course of our everyday living.

Change is inevitable, man-made environments are changing all the time, people are getting higher, living in apartments and skyscrapers, human subconscious perspective is changing the world. Towards the end of the 19th century, newly creative forces were emerging, which looked …show more content…

The decline in goldfields activity earlier in the century, which caused to an immigration boom, had now left many English immigrants unemployed. At the end of the century, despite rapid industrialisation the manufacturing sector was still dominated by many smaller factories. The older trades in small workshops, such as saddlemaking, coachbuilding and dressmaking still outnumbered the new engineering trades; however growing tram and railways industries would soon change that.

By 1929, 440,000 people were employed in Australian manufacturing. The previously dominant clothing and textiles industry had steadily declined in employment, while the metals and machinery industry emerged as a major contributor to both employment and production. In particular, the new motor vehicle industry of the 1920s strengthened this sector. With Holden already well established, Ford soon followed with a large motor body assembly plant in Geelong, in response to the exponential growth in demand for motor cars.
Melbourne and Sydney embraced the fact that the world was getting more technologically advanced, that new styles and movements were emerging and that experimentation was everywhere. Australia was not in a time lapse during this movement and followed closely behind American and Europe with use of technologies and trends.

Australia being very rich in its minerals, allowed easy access to develop modern

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