The Dark Turn: history and performance at an emerging Tasmanian tourist site

The University of Tasmania’s Ross Female Factory Project, a research initiative of its College of Arts, Law and Education, aims to “re-animate” a Tasmanian convict tourist site affected by multiple historical silencings, the Ross Female Factory. This article considers the second author’s script, “The Caorthann Amulet and the Turkey”, which was developed to address these silencings by telling the story of four female inmates. It also surveys the cultural and political context that informed the script’s development. It is concerned with what history is presented at Tasmanian convict sites, and also how that history is presented; furthermore, however, it addresses how former and existing forms of presentation reinforce conservative settler values within history. The first part of the article explores the “dark turn” in heritage performances at Tasmanian convict sites, and the relation of this phenomenon to an authorised heritage discourse that represents convicts as victims and heroes. The second part of the article explains how, considering past and present trends in heritage interpretation, the second author crafted the script.