Latest news with #MarkThomson
ABC News
13-06-2025
- ABC News
Duo aim to speak to all 177 nationalities who now call Tasmania home
Tasmania is a small island, but there are 177 nations represented among its population. Mark Thomson and Andrew Wilson have set out to interview and photograph at least one person from each country.
ABC News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
177 Nations of Tasmania project aims to interview and photograph all nationalities in the island state
Podcaster Mark Thomson has put a call out to anyone from Belarus who is living in Tasmania to contact him. Anyone from El Salvador, Zambia, and Laos too. It may seem a novel request, but along with friend and photographer Andrew Wilson, he's set an ambitious goal to speak to and photograph at least one person from the 177 countries represented in Tasmania. After losing his job in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and unsure when it would end, Thomson set his sights on a long-term project. "A tip I got about podcasts was that you need to find something that's repeatable, so I was thinking of doing something relating to migrants and cultural diversity," he said. The Tasmanian government's Multicultural Access Point (MAP) listed 177 nations as being represented on the island, and so began Thomson's journey. It started as a podcast — 177 Nations of Tasmania — but now incorporates Mr Wilson's portraits in an exhibition currently on display in the State Library in Hobart. He's captured some amazing stories, such as Nick Anagnostis', whose parents put him on a boat by himself from Lesbos, Greece, aged just 15 years old, to escape civil unrest. Mr Anagnostis arrived in Melbourne, managing to make his way to Sydney by train without knowing a word of English. For Thomson, some of the stories have left a significant emotional impact. "I was interviewing this elderly Hungarian lady, she's 99 now, so she was at high school during the Nazi occupation of Austria," he said. But the story that stayed with Thomson most was hearing about her Jewish friend's father, who she saw taken away by German soldiers when she was just a child. "It really stuck with me, and it makes you realise that those personal stories can actually be so powerful, more powerful than if you could have told me about the history of Jews in Europe at the time," he said. For Thomson, finding all 177 nationalities was more about having a target than achieving the goal. However, he's slowly getting closer, with 115 nationalities represented in the project so far. "I've got to the stage where it's actually seeming a bit more realistic. I didn't expect to get to 115, so I think, 'well, why not?'" he said. "Hopefully having this public exhibition will give it a bit more momentum and a few more people will approach me. In 2024, a discussion with photographer Wilson set the wheels in motion for the project's scope to be expanded beyond a podcast. "As a portrait photographer, I thought that would be a really amazing series to do of the people he's interviewing," Wilson said. After securing a grant through Hobart City Council, the pair were able to realise their vision. Helping to highlight Tasmania's diversity is why Wilson was drawn to the project. "Tasmania is a small island and we're remote from lots of things in the world, but so many people from all around the world have chosen to come live here," he said. "They've brought their culture to us and that's not something we should be afraid of, that's something we are embracing and it's wonderful. "And as a visual storyteller, I was just as much interested in the backgrounds of the people as photographing them as well." For Andrew, the creative process begins with asking who they are, where they are from and what emotional state brought them to Tasmania. "I take a photo that hopefully captures that moment for them," Wilson said. "Some people have escaped persecution and it's been quite an emotional conversation because they've actually had to leave their whole family and move here for love or for work. "And now their parents might be getting older and they have this internal conflict of being here and not being able to care for their parents, who are aging on the other side of the world." The subjects of each shoot are asked to wear or bring something relevant to their culture. "It's been quite fascinating to see the different outfits and the different relics or objects that they've brought in that are significant to them in some way," Wilson said. "Marzi from Iran wore this incredible ornate silk face scarf and a crown with all this beading and ornate jewellery all over her hands. Joanna Sun was sitting for her portrait when the ABC visited. Ms Sun was born in Singapore and has Peranakan heritage. In her portrait, she holds an ornately decorated teapot. "The design of this teapot is very specific," Ms Sun said. "On a trip to Malacca [Malaysia], which is where my maternal grandmother's from, my parents bought this teapot, lugged it all the way back to Singapore and popped it in the luggage onto the plane to Tassie. "If you look at the motifs and the phoenix it's specific to the Chinese culture but the colours — the pink and the teal and the use of peonies as well — you can only find that within our Peranakan culture". Ms Sun moved to Tasmania in 2007 to live with her now-husband Simon, studying a TAFE course in nursing that introduced her to the aged care sector, an industry she continues to work in. "I think that's where Tassie has helped me grow in terms of my career and opportunities as well … I've had the opportunity to actually do a PhD, which I probably wouldn't have had [the opportunity] in Singapore." When the 177 Nations of Tasmania project is complete, Libraries Tasmania will acquire and archive it as a snapshot in time of Tasmania's history — an important aspect of the project for Ms Sun. "Being in a different country and now having kids — my husband's Tasmanian, so my kids are Tassie boys as well," she said. "It's not just a project for me but for my boys and their children as well into the future". Mark Thomson is interested in talking to people who came to Tasmania preferably as adults, or older teens, and who have now settled permanently in the state. EUROPE ASIA AFRICA AMERICAS (Mark believes there may also be people from the Bahamas and St Lucia living in Tasmania who could be part of the project) OCEANIA The 177 Nations of Tasmania exhibition is on display at the State Library of Tasmania. Anyone who wants to participate can visit the 177 Nations of Tasmania Facebook page.
