The Macquarie Australian Dictionary lists eleven potential meanings / uses of the word ‘vernacular’. The most common usage of the word relates to language, and to a common form of approach and taste; i.e. ‘…a native or peculiar to popular taste, as a style of architecture’. This personal reflection given in a talk to the NMA Friends in 2010 traced my affection for the Australian vernacular, by means of text and image relating to journeys, dwellings, and research.
1835 drawing by the Indigenous artist mickey of ulladulla from SLoNSW no. a128453hDetail from c1870 sketch by Samuel Elyard of the Sydney Harbour shores
1857 watercolour by the surveyor / artist Edward Forde at the Ballina Heads ML SLoNSW
