‘We are tearing open that wound’: the First Nations artists reclaiming Tasmania

In Julie Gough’s new work The Missing, the artist reclaims a strip of highway that has been dotted with colonial silhouettes for more than a decade. Photograph: Jesse Hunniford/Mona

Launceston is one of Australia’s oldest and perhaps most characterful cities. It’s full of Georgian, Victorian and Federation-era buildings largely untouched by wrecking balls or developers, often bearing their year of construction a century ago or more.

With manicured lawns, flowerbeds and a classically inspired 1859 fountain, Prince’s Square pulls all that heritage charm together. But this week things are a little different. The bitumen around the fountain is painted with giant red letters spelling out messages of sin, theft and scars, while a foreboding soundscape envelops parkgoers.