A laneway in the heart of Hobart has been transformed into a new cultural space, with Maritime Museum Tasmania launching its first digital projection project using historic images from its collection.

Installed in the laneway connecting the Hobart Town Hall car park with the Maritime Museum in Argyle Street, the permanent projection system allows the Museum to present changing digital exhibitions exploring Tasmania’s maritime history.

The project explores the history of Tasmanian ferries and is created by Hobart-based digital artist and creative technologist Matt Daniels in collaboration with three Maritime Museum volunteers.

Daniels works at the intersection of art and technology, creating digital and interactive experiences using projection, animation and other emerging technologies. His previous work includes the Unshackled Convict Memorial at the Hobart Penitentiary Chapel Historic Site, a large-scale interactive digital installation drawing on the stories of Tasmania’s convict population.

Drawing on the Museum’s extensive photographic collection, Daniels and the volunteers selected historic images and developed the stories that appear in the projection.

The project also provides a new opportunity for volunteers to contribute directly to public interpretation. Their knowledge helps shape the projection from the initial research and selection of images through to the stories presented in the final work.

The installation transforms an otherwise underused laneway into a freely-accessible cultural space within Hobart’s civic precinct, taking material from the Museum’s collection beyond the gallery walls and into the public realm.

The projection is free to view from 9am to 5pm daily in the laneway between the Hobart Town Hall car park and Maritime Museum Tasmania at 16 Argyle Street.

This new project was made possible with support from the City of Hobart through a Creative Hobart grant.