World Heritage – Australian Convict Sites

A new exhibition at the Hyde Park Barracks celebrates the recent World Heritage listing of 11 places of significance from Australia’s convict past, including the barracks itself. Under the collective title Australian Convict Sites, the listing of this unusually large assembly of diverse and eerie ‘attractions’, scattered across Tasmania, Norfolk Island and the mainland, recognises the global story of convict transportation in the 18th and 19th centuries, including its role in colonial expansion and its transformative impact on modern society. Exhibited are both contemporary and historic images, which illuminate the building blocks of an evocative ‘sandstone ruin’. It is revealed that the transportation of around 166,000 British convicts to Australia, on 840 ships over eight decades, was a more ambitious, enduring and complex undertaking than was embarked upon by any other European power. As a whole, the 11 sites reflect the diversity of worksites, settlements, landscapes and administrative frameworks that shaped convict life between 1787 and 1868.