Island Shrine
Extreme change and generational traumas
Walk across rings of ochre, burnt spears, charcoal and maireener shells, and take a seat. Island Shrine is a brooding video and sound installation inspired by tarenorerer (also known as walyer, c. 1800–1831), a Tasmanian Aboriginal warrior woman and tyrelore (island wife) who fought white colonists in Tasmania’s genocidal Black War.
Creative Lead: Fiona Hamilton & K.Verell. Community consulation: Aunty Netty Shaw, Rob Anders. Writers: Fiona Hamilton + K.Verell. Edit: K.Verell. Sound design: K.Verell. Master: Brian Denny. Producer: K.Verell. Presenter: Dark Mofo. · CREATIVE LEAD: FIONA HAMILTON & K.VERELL. COMMUNITY CONSULATION: AUNTY NETTY SHAW, ROB ANDERS. WRITERS: FIONA HAMILTON + K.VERELL. EDIT: K.VERELL. SOUND DESIGN: K.VERELL. MASTER: BRIAN DENNY. PRODUCER: K.VERELL. PRESENTER: DARK MOFO. ·
Island Shrine is a brooding and expansive video and sound installation that challenges the colonial stories of Tasmanian Aboriginal leader tarenorerer (c.1800-1831), also known as Walyer, by artists Keith Deverell and Fiona Hamilton. This cross-cultural collaboration was commissioned by Dark Mofo, with support from The Australia Council for the Arts.
The work speaks of the lives of the tyrelore (Island Wives) of the Bass Strait Islands of Tasmania where tarenorerer spent much of her life. Audiences navigate the places where tarenorerer’s own story continues to inform the trauma and conflicts still present in the lives of Tasmanian Aboriginal people today. The experiences of this woman, during the early colonisation of Tasmania, are represented in the work and still resonate throughout time with chilling currency and poised relevance. The resulting voice is questioning and resolute.
Island Shrine was first presented at the Carnegie Gallery, Maritime Museum of Tasmania, as part of Dark Mofo, 2018.
Island Shrine is a significant contribution to cross-cultural artistic practice. Whilst the work focuses on events and reflections of Tasmanian Aboriginal people, its speaks with a voice that has significance to the broader cultural landscape of Australia.
Island Shrine was developed through a challenging and exploratory cultural process lead by Fiona Hamilton, a Trawlwulway woman of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Nations, in partnership with K.Verell. The main narratives where developed through a series of conversations between Aunty Netty Shaw, Uncle Rob Anders, Fiona Hamilton, and Keith Deverell.
The themes of the work were further considered through cultural activites including workshops on Preservation and Swan Islands, sound and video recordings at significant locations in Tasmania, and the activation of cultural licenses to gather materials used to make artifacts for the installation.
Swan and Preservation Island's research trip
Island Shrine was commissioned by Dark Mofo and supported by Creative Australia ·
Drying kelp, curshing charcoal, and making spears