waynapuni pools

"Commodores transformed into a bathhouse, built and led by Aboriginal youth. Tyres scream, hot metal dripping; wrecked cars breathe heat into visions of care and transformation. We bathe, torn open, soft, with Country."

About the Work
On unceded Mumirimina Country, a car graveyard is reimagined as a public bathhouse. Falcons and Commodores, once icons of speed and combustion, become saunas, steam pools, and hot rooms.

This is a youth-led and built space; engines to water, metal to breath, wreckage to ritual. Step inside, and you are held by a ceremony led by First Nations youth, artists, Country and community.

What to expect
Arrivals are welcomed in small waves. Hosts guide you through change-space, heat and steam, and quiet rest. It’s visceral metal, rubber, water, breath. Self-exploration of the space leads into a collective youth-led bathing ceremony. Bring a towel, a robe, swimwear, slip-on shoes and a water bottle.

Cultural protocols
This work is youth-led and grounded in First Nations leadership. You are entering a hosted space: follow the guidance of the hosts, respect Mumirimina Country, and each other.

Tickets are free to mob. Please reach out via @butterflybenno or tickets@benjamin-paul.com to book your session, keeping in mind that each session has a limited capacity for safety and relaxation.

Access & safety
waynapuni pools involves heat, steam, stairs, and enclosed spaces. For this reason, guests must be aged 18 or over. The event is not wheelchair accessible and may be unsuitable for pregnant people, people with low mobility, vision, hearing, or people who have respiratory, heart or blood pressure concerns. Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss your access needs via tickets@benjamin-paul.com

Before you book, you will be asked to make a Safety & Care Agreement. We will remind you of this agreement both closer to the event and on the day.

Credits

waynapuni pools (2025) was created over nine months on Muwinina Country with Aboriginal students at Montrose Bay High, in partnership with Karadi Aboriginal Corporation. The project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. In addition, the project has been supported by Arts Tasmania, City of Clarence, Kitsch Events and Milangkani Projects. For a full list of credits, please visit benjamin-paul.com.

Photos: Jesse Hunniford.

Graphics: Sprinksworld.

We gather on unceded Mumirimina Country on Palawa land. This is living Country held in the care and responsibility of Palawa people as survivors. We are privileged to walk here and invite you to enter with respect for the ground beneath us, the waters around us and the stories that endure. "waynapuni" (why-nah-pu-nee) is in palawa kani, the language of Tasmanian Aborigines. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.