A statement released on the website of the annual Australian Dark Mofo Festival featuring an Australian artist that will be buried alive in a container under a city street for three days, said: “This work is thought to recall the memory of the victims of authoritarian violence in the 20th century, in all its ideological forms, among them the 19th century’s genocide committed by of British colonization in Australia.”
Mike Parr will be put in a container and buried under a busy street in Hobart, capital of Tasmania, as part of the Dark Mofo Festival, to recall the violent colonial past in the province, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Dark Mofo Creative Director Leigh Carmichael said: “We try to present new artists each year, but when Mike Parr asks to be buried under the streets of Hobart, it's hard to say no.”
"The fact that his work will happen underground, just out of sight, as everyday life continues above it,” he added.
Mike Parr will be put in a container that will be buried below Macquarie Street on June 14.
According to AP, he will have a sketchpad, pencils, water, bedding and a meditation stool with him.
The 73-year-old aims to acknowledge violence in the 19th century, particularly the near-total destruction of Tasmania's Aboriginal population after the arrival of 75,000 British and Irish convicts.
Signs will be put up to let people know that Parr is in a container underneath the street.
After he comes out of the container, concrete will be poured into it to preserve it as a "time capsule" for the future.
The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart organizes the "Dark Mofo" Festival featuring many presentations amid a wide media coverage.
In 2017, the festival copped criticism from animal rights groups over an animalistic sacrificial ritual that included a bloody bull carcass.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
