Representing Pentridge

This article examines the proposed popular historical interpretation of the decommissioned Pentridge Prison, in the course of its redevelopment as a residential and commercial precinct. The interpretation is judged to have been ‘appropriated’ by a ‘gatekeeper’ group comprising former prison officers in partnership with the commercially motivated site owners. In the process, it is argued, a wide range of ‘alternative’ narratives are excluded from the prison's public history. Examples of such narrative options are presented, including that of the author, who identifies as a stakeholder in the interpretation of the prison. This narrative ‘sampling’ is done with a view to asking how the consequent broader interpretation can be conveyed to visitors to the site. ‘The eternal questions that concern historians … are the ones with which we grapple endlessly. Whose history is being told? Whose history is left out? Whose collective memory should be celebrated? Whose is forgotten? Which past should be preserved? Which re-created?’