For more than two years Ian Terry followed the route of George Augustus Robinson’s 1831 Big River Mission, which was credited with ending frontier violence in Van Diemen’s Land. Accompanied by 13 Aboriginal envoys Robinson spent two months walking around central Tasmania before meeting 26 survivors of the Lairmerrener and Paredarerme people west of Lake Echo promising them that if they stopped resisting invasion and agreed to exile they would later be able to return to their Country. They accompanied Robinson to Hobart and after meeting with Governor Arthur were transferred to Flinders Island. They never returned to Country. Ian’s project was to photograph the landscapes the Big River Mission passed through as an act of documentation of change and truth-telling about colonisation and dispossession.
To view Ian's slide show while listening to his talk, click here.