I joined Ten Days on the Island in 2018 after an organisational review in 2017 directed it to refresh the brand’s original regional Pan-Tasmanian remit and prioritise Tasmanian innovation and the development of new work by local artists within an international festival context. To amplify these priorities, Ten Days on the Island relocated its operations from Hobart to the coastal/industrial city of Burnie (population 20,000) in the North West of the state. This physical move, which surprised many observers, has proven to be strategically effective, while still a work-in-progress.
For 20 years Ten Days on the Island has forged an alternative path as an international festival by resisting the idea that ‘mainland cities, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, were the arbiters of whatever came into Australia’ (Elizabeth Walsh 2021). While embracing this history, the 3 festivals under my leadership depart significantly from the previous two decades’ programming convention. Most obviously, from 2019 Ten Days on the Island evolved into...
"An epic adventure spread over three action packed weekend programs, (North West, North East and South). Each weekend will have its own character while staying true to the Ten Days ethos: experiencing our extraordinary island through art that brings us together to celebrate our shared, diverse humanity and sense of place... Upon this foundation, international works are selected to complement, resonate with, and amplify the impact of locally made work..."
Hume, 2018
"An epic adventure spread over three action packed weekend programs, (North West, North East and South). Each weekend will have its own character while staying true to the Ten Days ethos: experiencing our extraordinary island through art that brings us together to celebrate our shared, diverse humanity and sense of place... Upon this foundation, international works are selected to complement, resonate with, and amplify the impact of locally made work..."
Hume, 2018
"An epic adventure spread over three action packed weekend programs, (North West, North East and South). Each weekend will have its own character while staying true to the Ten Days ethos: experiencing our extraordinary island through art that brings us together to celebrate our shared, diverse humanity and sense of place... Upon this foundation, international works are selected to complement, resonate with, and amplify the impact of locally made work..."
Hume, 2018
"An epic adventure spread over three action packed weekend programs, (North West, North East and South). Each weekend will have its own character while staying true to the Ten Days ethos: experiencing our extraordinary island through art that brings us together to celebrate our shared, diverse humanity and sense of place... Upon this foundation, international works are selected to complement, resonate with, and amplify the impact of locally made work..."
Hume, 2018
After a covid-impacted 2021 Festival focused almost entirely on local artists and featuring smaller venues spread across the island, limited international/national programming returns for 2023 (my final festival as Artistic Director) with a program featuring works of ambition and scale in parallel with the regional, site-specific, socially engaged practice and First Nations work that Ten Days audiences love and expect.
© 2022 Lindy Hume
© 2022 Lindy Hume
© 2022 Lindy Hume