Accompanying the Turn the Soil exhibition tour, a series of workshops will construct specific historical scenarios. Follow links to explore what might have happened the British hadn't colonised Australia.
| MELBOURNE Victoria |
 Shukkinak, a country to
dye for, tells the story of Australia as it might have been colonised by ancient
Phoenicians. This Semitic civilisation provides a haven for the lost souls of Western
countries, despite persisting in human sacrifice. The ruins of this continent tell an
obscure story of the hybrid cults developed from Levantine mysticism and Aboriginal
mythology. |
March 1997 |
| GLADSTONE Queensland |
 Yuzhem, a country
to believe in, imagines an Australia that resists change. Old Believers, persecuted in
Russia, take over from the abandoned convict settlement and find ways to consolidate their
simple lifestyles. Unfortunately, the world soon knocks at their door and they are
compelled to adopt the very hierarchies of power they tried to escape. |
May 1997 |
| PORT PIRIE South Australia |
 Shao-lin, where the foot is mightier than the sword, figures Australia as a centre for the martial arts, in which the creative skills of the far east have an opportunity to spread themselves freely, unhampered by imperial agendas. |
July 1997 |
| MT GAMBIER South Australia |
 Artemos,
where women have their way, depicts a population divided over claims to religious
mystery, with women expelling men from the land to enjoy their sacred rights |
Sept 1997 |
| HORSHAM Victoria |
 German colonisation put on hold for a later date. |
Dec 1997 |
| MORWELL Victoria |
 Nieuw Holland when the
Dutch blew in is a story of contact between the southern continent and South
Africa, where the outback becomes populated by escaped slaves, leading to a revolt by
joined Aboriginal and African forces. Meanwhile, the continent is marked by great
engineering feats. |
Feb 1998 |
| CANBERRA ACT |
 The three
options, either Australia gradually becomes an Islamic state, is exploited by
ruthless operators keen to play on tribal rivalries, or develops into a utopian settlement
where information technology merges with mythological dreaming. |
May 1998 |
| SYDNEY New South Wales |
 Mad Max meets Lord
of the Rings in the Viking scenario of Scandinavian
colonisation of Australia, where violent Nordic mythology is tempered by the rainbow
snake--Woomera. |
July 1998 |
| BROKEN HILL New South Wales |
 The Portuguese Promise the world a rose
garden in their antipodean colony, Lusitania. |
Oct 1998 |