"History will be kind to us, because we will write it"
The ACT Ambulance Service is currently on scene at the Hyatt Hotel Canberra, on Commonwealth Avenue, where an art display has collapsed.
Five people were injured in the collapse and were treated on scene by ACT Ambulance Service Intensive Care Paramedics. Four patients are currently being transferred to The Canberra Hospital for further assessment.
12:14pm Sunday 14 March 2012
[Courtesy ESA]
UPDATE 11/03/12 13:22: The Canberra Times is now reporting that they are in fact responsible for the injuries.
Four people have been taken to hospital after temporary walls displaying art works collapsed at the Hyatt Hotel, Canberra, earlier today.
ACT paramedics treated seven people at the scene of The Canberra Times Art Show.
It is believed someone leaned on the temporary wall, knocking it over and triggering a domino effect.One person has a suspected fractured arm, while two others will be assessed at hospital for possible neck injuries.
How long will the scourge of newspapers be allowed to wreak such carnage on our fair city?
UPDATE 11/03/12 22:45 Dacquiri has sent in pictures and video of the aftermath taken with an ancient Nokia:
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With photo here http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/four-hurt-in-art-show-mishap-20120311-1us65.html
They were framed.
I guess that’s one way of ‘making the news’.
At least now I understand why these events have signs like “Please don’t touch the paintings”. I used to think that was just because they didn’t want people damaging or stealing the artworks.
I’m just wondering if tomorrow’s “Beautifully Balanced Boulders” festival event will go ahead now on Corin Dam Road.
We went along to see this this afternoon, not knowing what had happened. We found the doors all closed and some poor kid at the welcome table meekly telling people that the show was closed. They had obviously sent the poor young guy out to deal with the arriving visitors and he really didn’t know what to say, so he just said “something happened and the show is closed.”
Perhaps the other workers/volunteers were dealing with more important things, but I felt sorry for the poor guy who had obviously been told not to tell what had actually happened and he was really uncomfortable..
I was there when it happened. Pretty scary — we were lucky to have been towards the end, rather than in the middle, at the time and were able to get out quickly. We saw many fairly elderly people who did receive injuries, and most people seemed in a state of shock at what was a very surreal event. There are a number of obvious issues that no doubt will be looked at, including: whether the type of panels & their footings were simply insufficient to accomodate the weight of the artwork; whether the panel sections should have been smaller (would have probably minimised the diaster); whether the rows were too close together (they were — you couldn’t stand back to view the artwork); and whether some imbalance of the panels could have been due to artwork being removed as soon as it was purchased (a really bad decision, which turned the ‘art show’ into a mere ‘art sale’ and should have been advertised as such).
The ninemsn site has it described that the people there were mostly elderly, and that someone had leant against a wall which caused a domino effect. Why if it was to have a heap of elderly there, wouldn’t someone put chairs for people to sit rather to lean on temporary walls that are not designed to have weight against them like a regular wall so to speak.
So the walls at The Canberra Times Art Show are collapsing. A bit of a metaphor for the paper itself, eh?
Battlecat said :
I work there and I’m virtually certain the guy would have known, everyone knew. The thing is that staff have been ingrained, from the experience of multiple foreign delegation visits, to be incredibly secretive about everything (even if it’s blindingly obvious and people in the lobby are talking about it) to the point of farce.
TheDancingDjinn said :
There were chairs around the room and also mulitple couches just outside the room. But I guess if we had put a chair at the exact point where the person leaned against the wall than none of this would have happened, right?
Dacquiri said :
From the picture in the CT, it looks as though there were no feet.
Andrew Bolt (I know, the lynch mob of left-wingers ready to drive me out of Canberra is forming as I speak), has this take on it:
PantsMan said :
That Hyatt needs a massive upgrade ive stayed there a lot and I mean a huge amount of time. Its not on the same level of class as a lot of overseas 5 star hotels. Not blaming the long time staff in anyway.
The walls would have been hired by CT for the event and setup by the supplier. They look to be the same type (probably even the same ones) I’ve seen used at other temporary art displays, e.g the Royal Canberra Show. I saw how it was built yesterday..stabilised at the ends and linked at the top for stability, which unfortunately also meant that they all fell together. Obviously they needed better bracing. This is sad for the charity that now won’t receive as much funding from the event, if anything at all. Worse still if CT decide such public events are just not worth the risk. I don’t suppose RA would step up? Somehow I doubt it.
I’ve got photos and video clips on my phone taken just after it happened, but can’t upload them anywhere unless someone’s got a cable for a Nokia 6131.
PantsMan said :
Now he’s removed it! Not in great taste me thinks.
can you email to john@the-riotact.com ?
Brucer said :
Well brucer if we got even a tiny fraction of the Government ad money the CT gets you’d be amazed what we could do for Charity.
How can today be the 11th and 14th March?
simonleeds said :
Obviously not enough – as a person who has worked with the elderly, and cared for many elderly family – the couches outside the room? seriously? old people find it difficult to stand in one spot for long periods, they get tired, how would they have walked out to your couches? were the couches taken up by wine drinkers who had too much “art” and had to rest themselves? (Personally i would have told them to move had i seen a elderly person needing a seat). Did staff realise there were many elderly going there? was it a day trip from a local nursing home?, or retirement village? if people knew the elderly were going to be there then yes they should have put more chairs.
But as it were, the walls fell down, maybe because whoever was in charge of their installation didn’t do their job properly.
the CT can look forward to a whole lot of lawsuits to be thrown in their direction
“How long will the scourge of newspapers be allowed to wreak such carnage on our fair city?”
Your kidding right ?
Dacquiri said :
Bluetooth?
threepaws said :
Hahaha, awesome.
Who in their right mind wouldn’t domino those boards? Just asking for it really. Glad everyone is ok though.
TheDancingDjinn said :
This was an annual festival event open to the general public, not targeted to the elderly. Obviously there were some elderly present and as such would be more traumatised by the accident as reflected in the reporting, but to suggest that it all could have been avoided merely by putting some chairs in the room.. you’re kidding aren’t you?
It’s pretty clear the fault lies with the installer of the display partitions. Be it a marquee or whatever, when you hire this stuff you expect the team that arrive to assemble it know what they’re doing. You certainly don’t expect it to fall down, injure your patrons, destroy your event and make the evening news! I’d be surprised if CT do the art show again, which would be a real shame as I’ve always enjoyed it.
poetix said :
You need to get out more.
Jethro said :
I would but I hear that it can give you an art attack…
firebrand said :
I recommend Saul Goodman & Associates http://www.bettercallsaul.com/
The Canberra Times’ own article on the incident quotes General Manager of the Canberra Times Ken Nichols as saying his thoughts were with those who had been injured but the quote used is:
”What has happened is unfortunate and disappointing, and we regret the inconvenience and disruption to visitors, artists and the charity the event was supporting.”
So that’s his take-home message from this??
The aftermath looks quite postmodernistic.
chris820 said :
Maybe it’s performance art?
Canberra Times have now updated their story and are reporting 7 injured. (This doesn’t include my son, and perhaps others, who decided that they didn’t need medical treatment for their injuries.) It’s interesting that the call for ambulances was allegedly made at about 11.45am, given that the collapse actually occured at 11.19am (our mobile phone photos & videos were taken within a minute or two of the collapse, at 11.20am & 11.21am).