BAC Brighton Army Camp

BAC was commissioned by Ten Days on the Island for Sites of Love and Neglect, the major visual arts project in their 2017 program. Nine artists were invited to respond to 9 different sites across Tasmania that have under-acknowledged histories. Ozolins responded to the Brighton Army Camp, which was established in 1939, extending her ongoing engagement with lesser known aspects of Tasmanian history. The work depicts the Brighton Army Camp's varied roles as an airfield, an army barracks and a temporary home for refugees, prisoners and other displaced people. It was created using site-specific installation and community engagement to encourage reflection on the site as a place of continual coming and going, and to acknowledge those who have passed through its doors. A sense of history and nostalgia was evoked by creating a replica of an original Army Barracks hut (built by participants in the Work for the Dole), accompanied by a sound track featuring the voices of people relating stories about their personal associations with the camp. Forty large scale images were hung across the width of the room, offering glimpses into the camp's rich history. To the author's knowledge, such a broad history of the site has not previously been interpreted through contemporary art.