<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/24/william-crowther-statue-franklin-square-hobart-taken-down-beheaded-aboriginal-man>
"The statue of a former Tasmanian premier who beheaded the body of an
Aboriginal man will be taken down after passing a final vote.
William Crowther, a prominent surgeon, broke into a Hobart morgue in 1869,
removed the skull of William Lanne and sent it to the Royal College of Surgeons
in London.
To hide what he had done, he replaced the skull with one he had stolen from
another corpse.
Lanne, also known as King Billy, was a whaler and the partner of Truganini and
a well-respected Aboriginal activist. He died in 1869, at the age of 34 from
cholera and dysentery.
A conversation around the statue’s future has been going on for almost four
years, with a series of artists “reinterpreting” it in 2021, including painting
the hands red and draping the Aboriginal flag over it.
But on Wednesday night Hobart city council voted to remove the statue, 8-2, but
the statue’s fiercest supporter, Councillor Louise Elliot, missed the vote
because she was appearing on
Sky News.
In a statement, Elliot said she “unfortunately” had a TV interview at the same
time, which she chose to prioritise."
Via Clarice Boomshakala Bouvier.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
