A Tasmanian Aboriginal artist says he has already received responses to his advertisement seeking an Australian of British descent to donate their future dead body for an art installation.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images of people who have died.
Nathan Maynard's artwork, Relict Act, will be part of the Hobart Current arts festival, where he wants the public to draw comparisons between the historic theft of Aboriginal remains and artefacts, and the voluntary donation of white Australian remains.
The advertisement was published anonymously last week, noting the work would "speak to sacrifice for past sins perpetrated against the palawa [Aboriginal inhabitants]" and that "potential applicants should see this opportunity as an honour".
Maynard promises the remains will be "treated with the utmost respect at all stages of the project".
He said the advertisement was the first of several stages of the project, with the second being the interview phase with applicants, and the final stages being the artwork itself.
"This is a huge ask for someone," Maynard said.
"I hope they've really thought this through before we have a yarn, that they've talked to their family, and that they've had a really deep, long think about this, that is this something that they are really willing to do, because I am really serious about this project."
Maynard would not say exactly what the artwork would look like, what form it would take, or whether the chosen person would need to die before or after the exhibit in November.
Any legal issues — including the wishes of other family members — would be addressed should they arise.
Maynard said his work would be a response to what he sees as "virtue signalling" among non-Aboriginal Australians who claim to support Aboriginal causes.
"I want them to think, when they're at their office meeting and they start the meeting with 'always was, always will be Aboriginal land, sovereignty never ceded', who are they saying that for?" Maynard said.
"Are they saying that for the palawa people, or are they saying that for themselves?
"I want them to ask what would they literally, physically put on the line for First Nations people?"
Apology was 'tokenism', artist says
The Hobart Current arts festival is supported by the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) and the City of Hobart council.
The work was chosen by festival creative director Chris Twite.
Maynard will be one of 10 artists to feature in the exhibit, which attracted 150 expressions of interest.
In 2021, TMAG apologised to Tasmania's Aboriginal people for the removal of Aboriginal remains for collection and trade, as well as for its past resistance to the repatriation of remains. Such practice was common in Tasmania.
The apology also accepted "beyond dispute" that TMAG had "disrespected the remains" of Indigenous woman Truganini, including public displays and interpretations of her remains, and disregarded her wishes to be buried in the D'Entrecastreaux Channel.
Maynard was among those who refused to attend the apology, describing it as "tokenism", as the museum retained possession of Aboriginal artefacts.
TMAG is also hosting an exhibition where non-Tasmanian museums have loaned Aboriginal artefacts to be exhibited.
Maynard said this was inappropriate, and urged TMAG to do all it could to have them fully repatriated.
He said anyone who opposed his installation should consider it was voluntary, as opposed to the past forced removal of Aboriginal remains.
"If you're aware that it's First Nations remains that have been illegally stolen and removed from their countries, and from their ancestors and descendants, and you're aware that these remains are in institutions around the world, not with the people they belong to, and you haven't said anything about that, but you're upset about this — someone who is voluntarily going to give up their body — I think you've got to ask yourself another question," he said.
In 2021, Spanish artist Santiago Sierra was widely criticised for proposing an installation that required Aboriginal blood to be donated and used to soak a Union Jack flag.
The criticism centred on the lack of Aboriginal involvement in the development of the concept.
Person 'will be respected', gallery says
TMAG director Mary Mulcahy said Maynard's work would "highlight our hurtful past practices, particularly the treatment of Tasmanian Aboriginal remains".
"While we are aware that Nathan Maynard's proposed work may be confrontational, and that some members of the community may be uncomfortable with the work, we believe it is an important part of our commitment to the apology and truth-telling," she said.
"In his advertisement, Nathan has committed to treating the potential donor's body with the utmost respect at all stages of the project.
"TMAG will ensure that the person, their ashes and their memory is respected, and that Relics Act complies with all relevant legislation and health requirements."
Mulcahy said the 2021 apology included a commitment to facilitating projects that tell First Nations stories.
The City of Hobart is also working towards altering or removing the statue of William Crowther, which has a prominent position in Franklin Square in the CBD.
Crowther was involved in the removal of Aboriginal remains.
Hobart Current receives $220,000 from the council to run the event, with TMAG selecting the creative director who can independently commission artists.
Council acting chief executive officer Kat Panjari said the festival was designed to challenge viewers.
"Art is powerful when it is thought provoking and challenging," she said.
"This is certainly the case with Trawlwoolway writer, producer and artist Nathan Maynard's Epoch contribution Relics Act."
Individuals regularly choose to donate their bodies to medical research, or to help others as organ donors.
Dead bodies for art not a new concept
Executive director of the Ethics Centre, Simon Longstaff, said this proposal had similar ethical undertones.
"It's possible that a person listening to this request would say, 'Here's the kind of good I would like to do in the world, and therefore for purely altruistic reasons I will donate my body to that cause,'" he said.
"The artist should not receive a body unless the person who's donating it does so under free, prior and informed consent, and that means they have to be competent to do that.
"You can't get bored with the project and just put [the body] in a locker somewhere, although terribly and tragically that did happen to the bodies of many Indigenous people, or parts of them that were taken away."
Dr Longstaff said using dead bodies for art was not a new concept in human history, but in the past it was often done without prior consent.
"There have been other cases, of course, where art has used bodies without their consent. So it's not uncommon for artists to have taken the cadavers of people from an execution, where they didn't agree to it … sometimes it was done for purely artistic reasons, not for medical research," he said.
"This is a fresh approach, certainly within Australia, as far as I know."
