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'The Lottery of Life': Convict Tourism at Port Arthur Historic Site, Australia

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 20:54 authored by Hamish Maxwell-StewartHamish Maxwell-Stewart
This article will explore the design process behind the ‘Lottery of Life’ interpretation gallery opened at the Port Arthur Historic Site, Tasmania, in 1999. A penal station designed as a site of discipline for secondarily convicted and recalcitrant convicts, Port Arthur operated from 1830-1877. Following its closure as a corrective institution it became a significant tourist destination. As such it has a long history of prison tourism. Prior to the opening of the 1999 exhibition, a number of prominent Australian historians and writers attacked the interpretation of convict and institutional life in this ultra-coercive penal station. The local criticism levelled at the site shared much in common with wider critiques of heritage tourism in the Englishspeaking world. The construction of a new visitor centre and interpretation gallery presented an opportunity to try and address some of the concerns levelled in the local and international literature. It also provided a rare chance to turn academic findings into an interactive display that could communicate a complex picture of penal station life to a diverse audience.

Funding

Australian Research Council

History

Publication title

Prison Service Journal

Volume

2013

Issue

210

Pagination

24-28

ISSN

0300-3558

Department/School

School of Humanities

Publisher

H M Prison Service

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Crown Copyright 2013

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in human society

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