<p>Asylums and their inhabitants were kept out of sight and out of mind. Escapes, violence, murders, and suicides were all splashed across the headlines of the papers. But most importantly, behind the high walls, people lived out their lives, squirreling away what precious few items they held dear, working in the gardens and kitchens, and waiting for the day when they might be free. </p>

Asylums and their inhabitants were kept out of sight and out of mind. Escapes, violence, murders, and suicides were all splashed across the headlines of the papers. But most importantly, behind the high walls, people lived out their lives, squirreling away what precious few items they held dear, working in the gardens and kitchens, and waiting for the day when they might be free.

Lunatic Asylums

Australia. The Antipodes. The gothic dungeon at the bottom of the world. A land of reversals. Where swans are black instead of white. Where colonisers brought their own dark subconscious and had it realised huge and grotesque upon the landscape. 

This series will examine colonial and post-colonial history to understand where we’ve come from and how this shapes who we are today. How did we get from there to here? And after such bloody beginnings, what spectres still haunt the Australian subconscious? 

Who are the Ghosts of the Australian Psyche?

History

Australia. The Antipodes. The gothic dungeon at the bottom of the world. A land of reversals. Where swans are black instead of white. Where colonisers brought their own dark subconscious and had it realised huge and grotesque upon the landscape. This series will examine colonial and post-colonial history to understand where we’ve come from and how this shapes who we are today. How did we get from there to here? And after such bloody beginnings, what spectres still haunt the Australian subconscious? Who are the Ghosts of the Australian Psyche?

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Lunatic Asylums

Lunatic Asylums