Held By:        This banner is held by the History Trust State of South Australia, State Heritage Collection. It was transferred from the United Trades & Labor Council when it shifted from Trades Hall, Adelaide in 2005.

Artist:           Daphne Stitt

Funded By:  UTLC Banner Project and BWIU&PF

Produced:   1986

The union obviously wanted a dignified banner that reflected the union’s very long history and the traditions hey are proud of. It was clear that the building workers have a particular pride in their artisan trade skills and that they wanted the banner to show something of that heritage.

I chose to work with unbleached calico and procion dyes. The raw quality of the cloth is in sympathy with the natural properties of the bricks, plaster, wood and concrete that BWIU members work with, and using dyes gave me fairly fine control in orchestrating the re colour range and the precise architectural detail. Daphne Stitt, Artist

Daphne did a lot of research on her own. She seemed to be aware of what was occurring in the industry. She presented a lot of design ideas and we just added a few extras here and there. She worked in a very collective manner.

The central building image reflects our concern for heritage. We are very active in maintaining old buildings and in the heritage movement. A lot of new buildings do not demonstrate the good workmanship that existed in the past and we wanted to express that.

It was a very successful collaboration. Ben Carslake, Secretary

Cited in : Modern Trade Union Banners: An exhibition of recently completed SA union banners, Kathie Muir, Union Arts, United Trades & Labor Council of South Australia, August 1987.