Port Arthur Project: Re-interpreting Port Arthur Historic Site through contemporary visual art

More than a century after the last prisoner departed the Port Arthur penal settlement, the Site remains an enduring reminder of Australia’s fraught beginnings. The iconic ruins, convict artefacts and even the paradoxical beauty of the place are rich with stories of despair, loneliness, hope and simply the everyday existences of the prisoners, guards, civil servants, women and children who lived there.

Port Arthur Project engages with Port Arthur’s history and culture through site‑specific visual art. 60 artists, all with an enduring commitment to and engagement with Tasmania, were invited to propose art works that would explore one of this country’s most visited, researched and recognisable places. Through processes of experimentation, research, consultation and negotiation 23 projects have come to fruition, comprising the four week exhibition which forms a highlight within the Ten Days on the Island 2007 festival.