Inspiring Island Communities

Ever since the likes of Abel Tasman, James Cook, and Bruni d’Entrecasteaux made their intrepid journeys to explore the Great South Land, the island of Tasmania has attracted international attention.
These captains of adventure may have recorded the first observations about the mysterious Van Diemen's Land but with Australia’s only island state rich in history and nature, others no less celebrated have followed. Charles Darwin, the Marquis de Beauvoir and Mark Twain have all been charmed by the island’s splendour. [Read what they had to say].

Recently Tasmania has attracted the world’s attention through the mastery of novelist Matthew Kneale in the award-winning classic, The English Passengers; the work of Britain’s Poet Laureate Andrew Motion in Wainewright the Poisoner; and in the bio-novel In Tasmania, by Englishman and self-confessed ‘Tasmaniac’ Nicholas Shakespeare.

The work of Tasmanian artists and writers has also gained international acclaim. Significant literary works by Tasmanians explore the depths and many moods of their remote island home. Richard Flanagan, recipient of the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2002 for his novel, Gould’s Book of Fish, has drawn plaudits from literary critics in New York and London. Flanagan is now prominent among a wealth of Tasmanian talent, including internationally acclaimed novelists Christopher Koch and Amanda Lohrey. [See our comprehensive Tasmaniana bibliography].

Tasmania’s premier cultural event is the biennial festival Ten Days on the Island, celebrating Tasmania’s island culture. First held in April 2001, the community festival attracts dancers, writers, poets and musicians from islands around the world, celebrating and exploring island cultures.  
In Tasmania, the natural environment is a source for passion and concern. The United Nations recently awarded the Tasmanian exhibition, One Tree, with a World Environment Day award for its unique approach to community arts. The project shows what can be produced from one tree, with sculptures, furniture, textiles and instruments made by over 50 contributors. The whole tree was used, from the roots to the leaves.

Tasmania abounds in artistic inspiration; like Ireland and Iceland, we have a disproportionate number of artists and writers for our population. A special relationship between island communities and the arts seems to affect painters, sculptors, poets, musicians, dancers, writers, actors and singers.
Tasmania is an island on the edge of the world and with the world at its feet.

Stories in this section:

Tasmania's Creative Minds
Hobart Turns City Ways Upside Down
Drink in a Full-Bodied Launceston Lifestyle