From Prison to Playground: conflicted heritages of a reimagined island paradise

Wadjemup – also known as Rottnest Island or, more affectionately, ‘Rotto’, is today an iconic holiday location, particularly for Western Australians, who enjoy the natural beautify of an idyllic location that sits in our own backyard. Described as an island of ‘simple pleasures’, it holds a special place in personal and collective memories, and the island experience is overlayed with a sense of innocence and a certain nostalgia for the past, connected to Australian ideals of democracy, neighbourliness, and freedom. 

But this is a reimagined view that has forgotten a devastating, horrific past that is hidden – in some ways quite literally – beneath the warm sand.