Leaders at the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre are split over a planned Dark Mofo performance involving an artist being buried under a busy Hobart road for three days.

The performance has been billed as a silent commentary on Tasmania's dark past, including British colonial violence against Indigenous people.

While some Aboriginal Tasmanians have described the performance as "insulting", others hoped it would drag a difficult issue out into the open.

Artist Mike Parr, 73, will be interred in a steel container beneath the middle lane of Macquarie Street.

The road will be then resealed and cars will drive over the top of him for the next 72 hours.

The steel container will be fitted with a fan-forced air supply and inside Parr will meditate and draw.

Called "Underneath the Bitumen the Artist", the work was designed to "memorialise the victims of 20th-century totalitarian violence", including "the genocidal violence of 19th-century British colonialism in Australia".

Dark Mofo creative director Leigh Carmichael said the work made a poignant and profound statement about the Black War, a colonial conflict that almost annihilated Tasmania's Indigenous population.

In 1826, Governor George Arthur declared martial law against Aboriginal Tasmanians and called for them to be expelled by force from settled areas.

It is estimated 900 Aboriginal people and 200 colonists died in the ensuing violence.

The Black War almost annihilated Tasmania's Indigenous population. ( Supplied )

"To my knowledge, it will be Tasmania's first monument referencing both the Black War and the convict system," Mr Carmichael said.

"It is a story that is not well known, but is ever-present, just beneath the surface of our contemporary culture."

Tasmanian Aboriginal leaders disagree over performance

Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC) CEO Heather Sculthorpe said the idea was insulting to members of the Aboriginal community.

"I wouldn't have known it had anything to do with the Black War," she said.

"If indeed that is what it is meant to be about then perhaps we should have Aboriginal people involved in it, not just Dark Mofo deciding what will tell our history better than what we can ourselves.

"It is a bit insulting, really.

"If they have any interest in telling the Aboriginal story then they should have put it out there for Aboriginal people to do it.

"We have a lot of great story tellers and some old fella under a road is not the way to do it."

The concept of Mike Parr's performance was an astute comment, according to Aboriginal Tasmanian academic Greg Lehman. ( Mona/Dark Mofo/Remi Chauvin )

But, conversely, TAC spokesman Michael Mansell said while Parr's performance might raise eyebrows, he might also raise awareness of the mass killings of Aboriginal people.

"Tasmania has a blood-stained history, and one it prefers to forget," Mr Mansell said.

"Instead of Tasmania putting its head in the sand it needs to openly talk about the past and how it affects people today. Mr Parr is making his contribution."

'Art is about being creative, courageous and taking risks'

University of Tasmania research fellow and Aboriginal Tasmanian Greg Lehman said the artwork would drag a difficult issue out into the open.

"The most ironic part of his artwork is that he is wanting to expose something by hiding it from view," he said.

"I think that is a pretty astute comment on how so much of colonial history has been written. It has hidden things away quite intentionally.

"Some people have commented that [it is] a kind of monument, but I think it is more like an anti-monument.

"It is also saying how monuments in the past have tended to also obscure the difficult aspects of Tasmania's colonial history."

Mr Lehman said he was not sure whether Parr had consulted with any Aboriginal Tasmanians about the performance.

"I think you would find there would be Aboriginal people around who would say that if white artists were to make a comment about Aboriginal culture then they should talk to Aboriginal people first," he said.

"I am not so comfortable with that idea.

"I think that art is about being creative, and also about being courageous and taking risks, and I really respect artists that have got experience and know what they are doing actually going out there and taking some risks.

"That is what I think more people need to do in terms of breaking down that silence."

Mr Carmichael said Dark Mofo understood and respected the concerns raised by some members of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.

"It's important that discussions around our shared history continue to take place, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable," he said.

"We support the right for people to comment on any issue, regardless of race, religion, gender or national origin."