Just like 1991 all over again.-The brickwork markets

Yesterday my husband and I visited the Brickwork Markets,  the first visit in nearly 20 years. We were excited, even though when I lived in Sydney and my work colleague visiting Adelaide fitted a visit into the brickwork markets as part of her itinerary, I was concerned it was a mistake. 

Why were we excited? It was a sense of revisiting a forgotten part of Adelaide that may have become regenerated, or alternatively, be appealing in its preservation (although as David Byrnes says, neglect=preservation).  To some extent, there was preservation. We drove past an art deco building holding a semi industrial business; a bakery; small mid century cottages; the Thebarton acquatic centre; a fast bus route into the city. Then we discovered that the Brickworks aren’t just markets, they are also a leisure centre. That was the peak of excitement, and then there was the reality. The carpark was filled by car models that used to be desirable and now seem dinosaur relics-like petrol guzzling Commodores and rusting Laser hatchbacks. People were wearing a lot of black: black ford tracksuit pants, black turned grey tshirst, red car label caps. Coffee was advertised as “cuppacinos”. A sign announced the markets had been constructed in 1984, and it did seem to be an 80s timezone. It was hard to pick whether any of the other crowd members were shoppers (like us) or under occupied stall owners. It reminded me of Piss Weak world in the Late Show; Pugwall (the TV series), seeing Geelong footballers at Spencer Street Station in the 90s and pretty much any Mt Gambier male aged over 25 spending his weekend leisure time in his best silky tracksuit. Gambier ghetto bling. 

Andy and I were both quite fascinated by the sights, took a good walk through the stalls and food court (where you could got baked spuds, or join in a stall where lots of males and one token female were playing Dungeons and Dragons style card games). There were many stalls that were closed; you could buy caps, cheap socks, cheap shoes, cheap tracksuits or expensive ug boots. There was an antique shop in the kilns advertising its closing down sale, and an upstairs kiln area pitching it’s desirability (compared to the rest of the retailers) by selling laminated art prints. The food stalls had a mid 90s menu (to my mind), and I said to Andy that it all took me back to the 1990 recession, when Keating was PM and we talked about recycling issues, not climate change. On the plus side, (preservation=neglect), the fruit and veg section was a winner. We spent $26 for 2 bags, overflowing with celery, carrots, lemons, mushrooms, leeks, capsicum, tomatoes, fennel etc (Five Gone Mad at Dorset overflowing!). There was also an Indian stall and another international grocery store that promised many a bargain with it’s sign admitting that some items may be past their best before date…. We loved the markets.