Architect Taylor and Hinds Architects
A traditional Aboriginal shelter with a domed roof and bark cladding is the subject of George Tobin’s sketch Native Hut (or Wigwam) of Adventure Bay, Van Diemen’s Land, 1792. While at first glance Tobin’s drawing appears cheerful and benign, closer inspection reveals that something is clearly amiss. Neither of the blue-coated figures occupying the hut appears to be Aboriginal, nor does a third figure who watches from nearby. In the middle distance an entire boatload of identical blue-coated figures is making landfall on the beach, having disembarked from the tall ships at anchor in the background. A rifle lies at the entrance to the hut and another is propped against a tree, not far from an ominous pile
