Inside Tony Hawkins’ outer-Melbourne house there’s a teapot on the table surrounded by homely clutter. His ginger cat is also never far away.
He’s sitting with Tasmanian Aboriginal artist Nathan Maynard and tells him he’s not a religious man and he doesn’t believe in God but he’s spiritual.
The two men seem comfortable in each other’s presence. They were brought together when Mr Hawkins responded to an ad Maynard placed in The Age newspaper in March asking for an Australian of British descent to donate their future dead body to an art project.
They’ve just bonded over the cricket and the intimacy created by Mr Hawkins’ commitment to giving his body to Maynard when he dies.
Mr Hawkins, 71, is apologetic that he doesn’t know when that will be, which Maynard shrugs off.
“I don’t want you thinking you have to die anytime soon,” Maynard says.
Since starting the project, Maynard has learnt that legally he can only accept Mr Hawkins’ ashes.
For now, the intention is that the ashes will be placed in a traditionally crafted canoe and sent to sea, symbolising their return to England.
Maynard knows that the idea of the work will be uncomfortable for some, and so the artist has promised the body and memory of the applicant would be treated with “utmost respect at all stages of the project”.
Sharing secrets
Maynard received 50 applications to his newspaper ad, which attracted global media attention.
The advertisement was published anonymously, noting the work would “speak to sacrifice for past sins perpetrated against the palawa [Aboriginal inhabitants]” and that “potential applicants should see this opportunity as an honour”.
“It was a nice surprise. They were so genuine,” Maynard says of the response.
“They felt shame for sins committed against my people, Australian Aboriginal people. They wanted to do their little bit to help appease that.
“And if they could make a difference for our cause, they were willing to help and put their body on the line.”
He made a short list, ruling out people who were younger than him for logistical reasons.
“And then I met Tony, and straight away this fella from Naarm/Melbourne was sincere and interesting,” he says.
“Sometimes you meet someone and you’re sharing secrets straight off the bat. And that’s what we were doing. In two seconds we were both opening up to each other.”
“When it comes to talking about him one day giving me his body, it’s strangely normal,” he says.
The meetings are being captured by filmmaker Ursula Woods for Maynard’s project Relics Act, which forms part of arts program Hobart Current: Epoch.
Project a response to Aboriginal ‘tokenism’
The film is the second phase of Relics Act, after the advertisement, and is being shown at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), one of the co-sponsors of the biennial arts festival.
The film is projected onto three walls in one of the galleries, to give the viewer an immersive experience.
Maynard is unsure what the artwork’s following phases will be but for now, this is a start.
He says he came up with the idea as a response to what he sees as “virtue signalling” among non-Aboriginal Australians who claim to support Aboriginal causes.
Virtue signalling is broad ranging. For Maynard, it’s in social media filters about Aboriginal land rights and acknowledgements of country that seem insincere.
“The question that got in my head was, would these fellas put their body on the line?” he says.
“Tokenistic virtue signalling doesn’t help the advancement of Aboriginal Australia into a brighter future, it actually sends an incorrect narrative to the country and the world.
“You would also think when everyone is acknowledging that they’re living on stolen land, that some of this stolen land is being handed back to Aboriginal people.
“But that’s not the case. Here in lutruwita/Tasmania, we own a measly 1 per cent of our land.”
Maynard said he wasn’t against acknowledgements of country, but that people should go further.
“Share our political posts that won’t necessarily get you likes; march alongside us for our rights. If you’re a wealthy landowner, donate some of that land back to the Palawa community.”
The project is also fuelled by the hurt Aboriginal people feel by the historic mistreatment of remains by Europeans.
“I want to raise awareness about the thousands of First Nations remains around the world that are wrongfully stuck in white museums and institutions,” he says.
Speaking in March, TMAG director Mary Mulcahy said Maynard’s work would “highlight our hurtful past practices, particularly the treatment of Tasmanian Aboriginal remains”.
“While we are aware that Nathan Maynard’s proposed work may be confrontational, and that some members of the community may be uncomfortable with the work, we believe it is an important part of our commitment to the apology and truth-telling,” she said.
“TMAG will ensure that the person, their ashes and their memory is respected, and that Relics Act complies with all relevant legislation and health requirements.”
Remains sent ‘home’
After the viewer gets to know Mr Hawkins in his home, the film shows the pair travelling from Victoria to putalina in Tasmania’s south, which was reclaimed by Aboriginal people in 1984.
It symbolises Maynard taking Mr Hawkins on the journey his remains will one day make.
As the pair wander through palawa country, Maynard explains the significance of putalina.
“I’m doing this to make a statement,” Mr Hawkins says to him.
“I can’t thank you enough, mate,” Maynard replies.
Mr Hawkins jokes that he can’t afford to go on a cruise, so Maynard’s plans for his remains will have to do.
Mr Hawkins plans to take the ashes of his dog with him.
A lifelong learner
Maynard said Mr Hawkin’s application appealed to him because he had admitted that ignorance had made him racist in the past.
“Over the years he’s been a lifelong learner,” Maynard says.
The artist said he started having second thoughts about taking possession of someone’s body, but as the project evolved he discovered he could only legally accept ashes.
While there’s no legal contract between the two yet, Mr Hawkins says it’s something he will sort out.
“He wants to follow it through,” Maynard says.
“When he passes, hopefully it’s not for a long time and I’m still here, I’ll get his remains.”
Maynard is reluctant to say the burial will be the last phase.
“I’ve just got a feeling there’ll be other phases to this work,” he says.
Maynard will be one of 10 artists to feature in Hobart Current: Epoch, which runs until February 11, 2024.
