B Division Tour & Live Painting With Chris Austin
An exclusive opportunity to hear from The Torch artist and Keerraaywoorrong man, Chris Austin about his artwork that is deeply influenced and informed by his own time spent behind the bluestone walls of Pentridge, followed by a live painting in the Old Warders residence.
Pentridge Prison Tours commissioned work from Chris for both the Warder’s Residence and B Division. Chris’s personal and authentic storytelling is integral to the Pentridge Prison Tours experience.
Beginning with a tour of B Division alongside a National Trust Tour Guide, Chris Austin will talk about his time at Pentridge and how he came to use art to express the culture of First Nations people and their experience of incarceration. After a short break, guests will also have the privilege of witnessing Chris create a new masterpiece with the opportunity to ask him a question.
Christopher Austin is a Keerraaywoorrong man from the Gunditjmara Nation of south western Victoria. Chris is immensely proud of his culture and has found creating art and sharing stories has given him direction in his life. Chris believes that through creating art he is sharing his stories and passing it on to the younger generations.
Chris was featured in the documentary The Art of Incarceration that won the Best Australian Documentary at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival. https://bit.ly/ChrisAustin_Torch
Celebrating 50 years of the Victorian Heritage Register
Image: Mural in Warders painted in 2022 by artists Chris Austin, Thomas Marks, Peter Thurlow and Sean Miller of The Torch