Dr Astrid Wootton, director of The Design Centre, Tasmania

I moved here in 1999. I like to think it was before everybody else discovered Tasmania. It was a genuine Sea Change. I had just finished my PhD at Melbourne University, and after 10 years at university I was basically sick of the whole thing.
I had previously been to Tasmania with my then boyfriend who was working here as a doctor. I just fell in love with the place. Every weekend we went on trips around the State. Then, a couple of years later, when I was looking to move somewhere, I chose Tasmania. In my mind it was this wonderful, mysterious, wild island.
When I saw the job at the Design Centre advertised I was living on the north west coast of Tasmania, where I hadn’t been able to get work in the Arts. At the time it didn’t bother me. I sold advertising, worked at a computer centre – all sorts of things.
When my current job came up I thought ‘this is something I would really enjoy; this is where I should be’. That was in 2003. When I came here there was no one acting in the position of manager or curator of the collection, so I had to learn ‘on my feet’.
Five years ago I would have said that I would have to leave Tasmania if I wanted to further my career, but these days I think the worst thing to do would be to leave.
Increasingly, it is possible to take on senior roles without moving from Tasmania. I have just been elected to the Board of the Council for Humanities, Art and Social Sciences based in Canberra. Being on a body like that gives me a great amount of say in how the ideas of design and creativity might be embedded in future federal government policies. I was also a participant in the Towards a Creative Australia stream at the recent 2020 Summit.
It’s also possible for organisations in Tasmania, like the Design Centre, to become very infl uential within Australia. Increasingly, I can see a time when Tasmania leads in creativity and innovation.
Tasmania is a happy place to be, and living is simpler. You don’t have the complex logistics of working your way around a big city every day. It’s very stressful to drive for an hour and a half to work.
Living in Launceston, one of the things that I appreciate is that I buy all of my food from local producers. I know the person that supplies my honey. I know the people that make the wine I drink. It just adds so much to my experience of the small things in life.
The pace of life in Launceston is so much better. My work takes me around Australia and every time I arrive back in Launceston I breathe a sigh of relief.
I walk to work, and I have a community like I never thought I would have. It is almost like living on Sesame Street. When I was little, Kermit used to sing, ‘Who are the people in your neighbourhood? The people are your friends next door.’ That was never my experience while growing up in an inner-city Melbourne block of fl ats where no one knew each other.
But in Launceston I know my neighbours. I have Mario across the road who gives me all of his fresh vegetables. I have Robert and Jacinta next door who have three kids who play with my chooks, and Simone and Chris over the back fence who invite me over every Sunday for a drink. I walk into my local coff ee shop and they know me, and within a few seconds there is a skinny latte in front of me. There is a sense of community and neighbourhood in my little area of Launceston that I have never had anywhere else in my life.
I think people are starting to realise deep in their hearts that very, very large cities are not a very natural or healthy way to live and people are looking for alternatives. There seems to be a trend towards ‘local’, even in design. We see in our shows at the Design Centre that people like to source things that are simple and local. There is some sort of return to simplicity in society, in food, in everything that we do. People are cycling and walking rather than driving big cars. I think it is partly a response to concerns we have about the environment and the future, but it also refl ects our ability to see nature around us and to feel like it is all there, and alive.
I will tell you a story that may explain what I mean. I was driving back from Hobart yesterday and the car in front of me suddenly screeched to a halt. As I was screeching to a halt behind him, I was wondering why he had stopped. Then I saw this little echidna toddling across the road. He had stopped so the echidna could cross the road. That sums up Tasmania to me.

The Design Centre of Tasmania, adjacent to City Park in Launceston, houses Australia’s only museum collection of contemporary wood design, which has won acclaim in the United States, Europe and China.
The Design Centre also exhibits and tours a diverse range of craft, design and art, both nationally and internationally. In 2004, the Centre was listed in the Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary Architecture as one of the world’s top 1,000 contemporary buildings.

Further information

• Launceston City Council’s website has lots of information on facilities and services: www.launceston.tas.gov.au

• Tasmania’s comprehensive ‘t-change’ website has details for property, health services, business opportunities, higher education, schools and much more: www.tchange.com.au/regions/launceston_city.html

• For information on visiting Launceston’s Tamar Valley visit the new tourism site: www.ltvtasmania.com.au or ring the Launceston Travel and Information Centre on Free Toll: 1800 651 827

• The Department of Economic Development and Tourism, incorporating the Tasmanian Development Board and the Tourism Tasmania Board, leads economic and industry development in Tasmania. It is the first point of contact for companies wishing to establish, relocate, diversify or expand in Tasmania. It also acts as a conduit to other state and Australian Government departments, local government and Tasmanian business. Visit: www.development.tas.gov.au or phone +1800 440 026