Zanko captures the spirit of the Regent Theatre
Our Collection has the capacity to tell many varied stories that help illuminate who we are as a community. In 2023, we commissioned local artist Christopher Zanko to create a series of works that capture the history and heritage of the former Regent Theatre in the Wollongong CBD. We’re thrilled to announce that we have recently acquired these pieces for our Collection, with Zanko capturing the essence and beauty of the iconic and much-loved Regent.
Christopher Zanko is an artist based in Austinmer, in the Illawarra/Dharawal region of New South Wales. Taking great inspiration from the architecture, culture and history of his hometown and influenced heavily by Japanese woodblock carving and wood-relief printing, Zanko has configured a practice using these principles but has importantly brought it to life through his own lens and lived experience.
His works, Regent I – V, are a welcome addition to our Collection and celebrate a local site of historical importance as captured through the eyes of a significant local contemporary artist.
Artist Statement
Plans for the building were first drafted in 1935, but it wasn’t until Boxing Day 1957 that the Regent Theatre opened its doors to the public. Serving a growing post-war population in the Illawarra, the Regent quickly became an integral part of the community, hosting films and events until its closure in 2004. Designed by Reginald Magoffin with interiors by Marion Hall Best, the Regent was a theatre of a calibre more commonly enjoyed in major metropolitan centres.
My personal experiences with the theatre date back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, when I visited to watch films as a child. Even then, I could sense the duality of the space - its former grandeur and its gradual decline. Since those days, I’ve seen the surrounding area change drastically, while the Regent itself has remained stationary, slowly falling further into disrepair. Plans and ideas for its restoration have been floated, entertained, and ultimately disregarded, leaving the building caught in a state of limbo.
In preparing for this collection of works, I revisited the Regent to spend time within its walls - looking, smelling, and touching. It was my first time inside the building since 2003, and to my surprise, I discovered a movie sticker for the last film I remember seeing there, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, still clinging to a grubby section of the wall in the projector room. That discovery brought back a flood of memories and emotions. While I had never forgotten the overall impression of the place, the finer details - the light fixtures, the angles of the walls, the patterns of the tiles - had blurred with time.
The facade of the Regent is crucial. It’s likely what we all still think of when we reflect on its presence in our collective built landscape. However, during my visit, I was struck by the immersive elements of its design - the way the space was crafted to envelop and transport its audience. These layers of memory, both collective and personal, became the foundation for this series.
The use of wood relief carving in these works symbolises marks that cannot be undone, much like the imprint of the Regent on my memory and the community’s identity. Through this medium, I aim to bring those memories into sharp focus, capturing the intersection of permanence and decay, grandeur and shambles, history and nostalgia.
Images: Christopher Zanko, Regent II, Regent V, Regent III, 2024, Acrylic on wood relief carving. Photography by Jessica Maurer.
Image: Christopher Zanko, Regent (V) 2024, Acrylic on wood relief carving. Photography by Jessica Maurer.