Sunbeam Foods Sweatbox Art

The Sweatbox Art competition returns for 2008!

• Sweatbox Entry Form

The sixth annual Sweatbox Competition and Exhibition is about to get underway and will this year be preceded by a series of workshops on sweatbox deconstruction and creative concepts. Sponsored by Sunbeam Foods the competition attracts a total prize money of $3500 over 8 categories such as sculpture, furniture and one for first time entrants. ‘It’s a competition for anyone wanting to explore that creative bone in their body’ enthused West Darling Arts Development Officer and Sweatbox organizer, James Giddey. Made of hardwood or pine, the boxes were originally used to transport dried fruit from the vineyard drying ground to the packing sheds, allowing the fruit to breathe or ‘sweat’ without mould developing.
Workshops and the Exhibition will be held in Wentworth however entries are open to anyone within the region of West Darling Arts. Sweatboxes can be ordered through West Darling Arts in Broken Hill or Wentworth Arts in Wentworth.

What is a Sweatbox?

The sweatbox has been a district icon for the dried fruit regions of Mildura, Robinvale, Swan Hill and The Riverland of South Australia for generations.

Its significance relates to the start of irrigated settlement in those areas that goes back as far as 1888 and the very beginnings of the Australian dried fruit industry. The sweatbox was a standard box used to transport dried fruit from the vineyard drying ground to the packing shed for processing. The boxes are 95cm by 67cm by 22cm deep holding almost 70 kilos of fruit and requiring two strong men to lift them when fully loaded. Initially they were delivered to packing sheds by horse drawn cart. These were later replaced by trucks. The boxes were made of hardwood or pine. Wood was found to be a perfect material for transport and storage of dried fruit because it allowed the fruit to breathe or ‘sweat’ without mould developing, hence the name ‘sweatbox’. This was an important factor given that fruit absorbs and releases moisture depending on the atmosphere. Some, however, after handling many of the boxes on a hot day would say that the name had a very different origin….

Sweatboxes in their original form… and... Winner 2006 sculpture category, now in the collection at The Mildura Art Centre.