The Wall In The Wilderness

Built to commemorate those “who helped shape the past and present of Tasmania’s central highlands,” the Wall in the Wilderness is a three-meter-high work in progress. Carved panels tell - or will tell, when complete - the complete history of the harsh Central Highlands region dating back to the indigenous people. The panels will progress through the pioneering timber harvesters, pastoralists, miners, and Hydro workers.

Carved by renowned sculptor Greg Duncan, when finished, the Wall in the Wilderness will be 100 meters long and serve as a major tourist attraction in Tasmania. Critically, Duncan’s work has been compared to Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel and Tasmania’s Premier Paul Lennon described the project as having world significance.

“I’m not trying to push any particular line,” Duncan said of his work. “I just want to bring the history of the area into the light. There were mistakes and successes in our past. If I am trying to say anything it is that we must learn from the past, good and bad, in order to move into a better future. I want The Wall to be an educational as well as an artistic experience.”

“The idea for The Wall is quite a simple one,” Duncan explained. “I’m carving a series of 100 panels. Each panel is one metre wide and three metres high. The panels will be placed back-to-back. So, by the time I finish, I’ll have created a wall 50 metres long with carvings on both sides - 100 metres all up.”

Duncan estimates that the carving of the wall will take ten full years to complete.