Aussie artist to be buried under street for three days at festival

sydney: An Australian artist will be buried alive in a container under a city street for three days as part of an art festival, local media reported.

Mike Parr will be buried in the container under Tasmania’s capital city Hobart for the annual wintertime festival in a statement about the state’s violent colonial past, Australian Associated Press (AAP) said yesterday.

“We try to present new artists each year, but when Mike ask to be buried under the streets of Hobart, it’s hard to say no,” the festival’s creative director, Leigh Carmichael, said.

“The fact that (his) work will happen underground, just out of sight, as everyday life continues above it, is clearly no coincidence.” Parr will be lowered into the container below Macquarie Street on June 14 with a sketchpad, pencils, water, bedding and a meditation stool, AAP reported.

The 73-year-old wants 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.

The festival will erect signs to let people know Parr is just below their feet.

The festival is produced by Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art, and is no stranger to headline-making performances. In 2017, it was heavily criticised by animal rights groups for conducting a sacrificial ritual which included a bloody bull carcass.