triple j celebrates 40th with free exhibition

Triple J is officially 40-years-old today and whilst it’s celebrating a myriad ways with special broadcast series', a TV documentary which airs tonight, on-air interviews and of course, Friday's seven-hour Beat The Drum festival (where Daniel Johns covered Nirvana), the station first briefed by Gough Whitlam’s government in 1975 has launched an exhibition today.

Hosted at the ABC Ultimo foyer in Sydney, the free Beat The Drum exhibition showcases rarely seen photos, artwork, articles, video, audio, memorabilia and a lawn installationfrom the station’s four decades of existence.

Mark Scott, managing director at ABC, spoke at the launch this morning; he gave particular praise to the station’s band-competition-turned-station triple j Unearthed.

“There’s been a vital cultural role of Double J and triple j and we’ve heard about that over the weekend and we’ll see more of it on ABC Television tonight,” said Scott,"but as the Chairman said I think one of the most vital credentials of triple j over the past decade has been the creation of the triple j Unearthed radio station."

“[…] In fact, today you can go online and you can hear 50,000 different Australian artists," he added."Some are brilliant, some not quite so brilliant.”

Scott also said Unearthed is one of the biggest talking points during conversations with public broadcasters across the globe. "[As] I talk about the initiatives that we’ve undertaken, the one that always generates the greatest interest, and they see the greatest opportunity forlocal development, iswhen I talk about the achievements of triple j Unearthed.”

“[…] It’s a lifeline of music and culture,news and information," Scott said of the national youth radio broadcaster."And it is an important alternative to the overwhelming mainstream that can dominate so much of media today.

“[…] There‘s no time or opportunity for a mid-life crisis at triple j," Scott concluded."And besides we can’t afford a red convertible, so we’re just going to have to continue to beat the drum and keep going as we do.”

triple j manager Chris Scaddan thanked the creators, designers and facilitators of the exhibition and hinted to an eventful celebration at the producer’s dinner and festival over the weekend.

“I won’t swear like I did on the weekend but God bless the bloody lot of us.”

The Beat The Drum Exhibition is open to the public from 7am-7pm Monday to Friday, from today until mid April in the ABC Foyer at 700 Harris Street, Ultimo.