The 'Endeavour cycle' has significance in material culture due to its role in the 'Tin Symphony' segment of the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games, an important event in the social history of Sydney and NSW. It has the potential to communicate in exhibitions and publications about the Sydney Olympic Games and has historical significance in its design, making, use and in the cultural meanings ascribed to it.

Described by the NSW premier Bob Carr as 'the greatest spectacle Australia has produced', the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games took place at Stadium Australia, Homebush Bay on Friday 15 September 2000.

The opening ceremony was the subject of much public expectation. After years of controversy and insecurity around issues like Ric Birch's infamous kangaroos on bicycles (from the Atlanta closing ceremony) and the recruitment of American musicians in a proposed marching band for Sydney's opening ceremony, it was perceived as a test of Australia's cultural competence. Could Australia deliver a modern, sophisticated performance or were we to embarrass ourselves?

The overwhelmingly positive public response to the opening ceremony inspired a sense of relief among Sydneysiders. In the upsurge of goodwill and excitement (which began when the torch relay arrived in Sydney) the media dropped its negative attacks on the Games' organisers and embraced the extraordinary spirit that had gripped the city. The public had finally claimed ownership of the Games. Cynicism melted away for two weeks as locals revelled in the rare carnival atmosphere.

The opening ceremony had anthems, speeches, oaths, flags, a marching band, pop singers and a parade of the athletes from 199 competing nations. However the daring conceptual sequences ('Deep Sea Dreaming', 'Awakening', 'Nature', 'Tin Symphony', 'Arrivals' and 'Eternity') will be remembered as the ceremony's great imaginative works. Each segment commenced without interruption, following on from the last to form an overall narrative. The purpose was to project a national image to a worldwide audience, to form the world's vision of Australian culture. This image embraced tolerance, social progress, multiculturalism and reconciliation, as well as nature, history and creativity. Designed to stimulate emotional responses from the audience, these segments delivered a refreshing mixture of youth, naivety and larrikinism.

The creative team comprised 13,000 artists and performers, including designers, choreographers, circus artists, costume makers, set builders and painters, singers, composers, writers, arrangers, dancers, musicians. Even more than the high quality costume design, choreography and music, the props were talking points, with the Endeavour cycle and the Ned Kelly horse attracting the most attention.

The complex and inventive 'Tin Symphony' segment, directed by Nigel Jamieson, involved 850 performers. It examined the impact of Europeans' arrival on the land after 60,000 years of Aboriginal habitation. 'Tin Symphony' began with the arrival on the spectacular Endeavour cycle carrying a gently parodied Captain Cook and his crew (accompanied by a caged rabbit). It consisted of three linked tricycles, propelled by conventional bicycle pedals, with a total length of 11 metres and a height of 3 metres. The explorers carried telescopes and sketchbooks, looking in wonder at the unfamiliar flora and fauna.

As 'Tin Symphony' unfolded, the colonists brought new technologies and materials, symbolised by corrugated iron, metal windmills and steel farming machinery. Even Ned Kelly encased himself in metal, continuing the theme of mechanisation. The segment cleverly linked icons of colonial and rural Australia, such as Captain Cook, resourceful pioneers, Ned Kelly, Irish girls, a sheep-making machine, corrugated iron windmills, derricks, water tanks and farm machinery, with modern images of suburbia, lawn mowers and the beach. The segment had an implicit theme of the settlers' humour and resourcefulness in the face of adversity. It ended with the descendents of the settlers, the modern Australians, who has tamed and transformed the land, symbolised by the lawnmower ballet, a kind of serenade to suburbia, its backyards and barbecues.

Alan Robertson, Melbourne, Victoria, 1999 The Endeavour cycle was built by Alan Robertson who, in the 1970s, was a co-founder with Sue Broadway of Circus Oz. The majority of manufacturing was carried out in Melbourne. The cycle was brought to the ceremonies workshop at Eveleigh for finish detailing of paint work and final assembly. Adjustments and alterations for durability took place between rehearsal periods.
The design of the Endeavour cycle was in keeping with the element of 'human' power for the 'Tin Symphony' segment. The design was discussed with and eventually given to Alan Robertson for construction with various changes for performance viability. The original design was one complete unit as the entire cycle. The need for an immediate exit of the Endeavour cycle changed the design to three connected units that could easily be separated for a quicker exit. A scale model of the Endeavour cycle existed, but its location is unknown. The original Endeavour cycle costumes (except an able seaman's costume) were kept by the performers and hence reproductions were made for the Oi! Oi! Oi! exhibition at the Dome at Olympic Park in January 2001. At the opening ceremony the Captain Cook costume was worn by a performer called Cameron, who gave it to its maker, a woman whose first name was Loris or Lauris. A few days after the opening ceremony the Captain Cook costume was lent out for a re- enactment in which the participants walked a flame from Uluru for 50 days and covered Captain Cook in ochre, leaving the costume a mess. It was washed, but remained a mess. This is why the reproduction costume 2001/84/342 was needed for the Oi! Oi! Oi! exhibition.
Made: Alan Robertson, Melbourne, Victoria, 1999
The Endeavour cycle was built by Alan Robertson who, in the 1970s, was a co-founder with Sue Broadway of Circus Oz. The majority of manufacturing was carried out in Melbourne. The cycle was brought to the ceremonies workshop at Eveleigh for finish detailing of paint work and final assembly. Adjustments and alterations for durability took place between rehearsal periods.

The original Endeavour cycle costumes (except an able seaman's costume) were kept by the performers and hence reproductions were made for the Oi! Oi! Oi! exhibition at the Dome at Olympic Park in January 2001. At the opening ceremony the Captain Cook costume was worn by a performer called Cameron, who gave it to its maker, a woman whose first name was Loris or Lauris. A few days after the opening ceremony the Captain Cook costume was lent out for a re-enactment in which the participants walked a flame from Uluru for 50 days and covered Captain Cook in ochre, leaving the costume a mess. It was washed, but remained a mess. This is why the reproduction costume 2001/84/342 was needed for the Oi! Oi! Oi! exhibition.

Sydney 2000 Olympic games- Opening Ceremony- Tin Symphony segment, Stadium Australia, Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush, 15 September 2000.

Made for and owned by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, and donated to the Powerhouse Museum after the Games.

Tricycle, 'Endeavour', performance prop, aluminium/wood/foam/ paper/fur, designed by Dan Potra, made by Alan Robertson, Melbourne 1999, used at the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Sydney 2000

Consists of three linked tricycles. The frames of the tricycles are made from aluminium tubing that has been painted brown to give them a wooden appearance. When linked the three tricycles form a sailing boat shape. The Endeavor cycle has four battery covers made from cardboard to look like chests. Tricycle 2 has various attachments including a taxidermied white rabbit in a cage, a telescope constructed from metal tubing and foam that has been painted gold; an acrylic imitation quill and an imitation book made from chipboard, foam and paper and a mast extension made from aluminium tubing. There is a spare exterior light in a box and box of spare parts containing cogs, nuts and bolts.

Made: 1999

2001/84/5

1999

4130 mm

3110 mm