Marnie Karmelita, Photo by Mark Tantrum

What if Ten Days on the Island decided to do things differently? What if we built friendships with our artists through regular gatherings and conversation? What if we used our extraordinary environment to inspire creativity through collective dreaming? What if we invited people to join us at the edge of the world… and then asked them to leap?

Through our journey to plan the upcoming Ten Days on the Island 2025 and 2027 Festivals, we have developed an idea called “Ten Artists, Ten Days“. This bold concept aims to open a space for creativity, community, and connection across Lutruwita/Tasmania by bringing together a diverse group of artists from different disciplines, generations, and places – from Lutruwita/Tasmania, across Australia, and around the world. The artists have been thoughtfully selected for their passion as both makers and storytellers. They are visionary thinkers with an innovative approach to creative risk; and a fearless sense of leaning in from the edge.

But this plan is not only about Festival 2025, it’s also about the evolution and unfolding of ideas that will lead up to it. Our biennial timeline allows for a longer and deeper engagement that extends the Festival experience beyond just ten days every two years. It allows us to actively engage with artists and communities, and to invite them to join us on this journey.

Key to this is introducing our Ten Artists, who begin their adventure throughout the coming year with two gatherings designed to grow their connection to both the places and the people of Lutruwita/Tasmania. These gatherings will facilitate the sharing of stories, ideas, and artistic expression while nurturing creative relationships and new friendships.

In 2025, these are our key artists and their work provides a foundation for the full Festival program, creating connections into and around associated artists and works. But the story doesn’t end there; it extends to new work created by one or more of our artists for Festival 2027. The true significance of this idea lies not just in the wonder and delight that we will all feel engaging with this new work during Festival 2027 but in the potential for this work, which is inspired and evolved in Lutruwita/Tasmania, to reach a worldwide audience.

From our unique place in the world, we are all searching for joy and inspiration as we navigate big ideas and feelings, and our Ten Artists offer us the chance to tap into the spirit of our times in deeper ways.  Come with us as we explore this new chapter for Ten Days on the Island and take part in a conversation that promises to span time, cultures, and worlds.

Marnie Karmelita
Artistic Director

The Artists

Here are our first four extraordinary artists, and of course, there are six more and we’ll tell you all about them in the coming months.

We’re super excited to share their stories and artistic journeys with you and we’ll keep you updated with their progress on this webpage, through our newsletter (Subscribe here) and on our upcoming new Podcast program. We hope you’ll love following our artists and their projects as we head towards Festival 2025.