A History of Student Activism at the Australian National University

Permanent installation. Marie Raey Building, Australian National University

Launched in late March 2021, A History of Student Activism at the Australian National University is a large-scale wall-mounted installation examining six decades of student activism at ANU.

We would like to acknowledge that the land the Australian National University sits on always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging of the Ngunnawal, Ngunawal, Ngambri and Ngambri-Guumaal nations. We acknowledge that their sovereignty was never ceded.

The permanent installation A History of Student Activism at the Australian National University was made possible through support from the Australian National University.

The installation is the culmination of a number of previous student-led projects. Anna Himmelreich and Shoshana Sniderman-Wise began research into the history of student activism at ANU through the ANUSA History Project in 2016. In 2017-2018, as part of the Demos Journal ‘Histories and Futures of Student Activism’ project, Vanamali Hermans and Mia Stone created the ANU Activism Timeline, which was then designed by Joanne Leong. This timeline was accompanied by Amelia Filmer Sankey and Esther Carlin’s audio-visual installation in the former Brian Kenyon Student Space, and a print edition of Demos Journal. These projects were supported by the ANU Students’ Association, Demos Journal and the ANU Fund.

Activism is dynamic in nature, constantly unfolding and responding to society. It is not possible to capture every moment of resistance and, as such, we do not propose this timeline as a comprehensive record, but rather as an outline of important moments in the history of student activism at the Australian National University.

This iteration of the timeline is accompanied by newly commissioned moving image works by ANU School of Art and Design students Esther Carlin and Aidan Hartshorn.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers, please be aware that this installation contains images and names of people who have died.

Project Curator: Alex Martinis Roe

Project Coordinator: Esther Carlin

Design and Timeline Editor: Joanne Leong

Timeline Research 1960-2017: Vanamali Hermans and Mia Stone

Timeline Research 2017-2019 and Editor: Emma Cupitt

Timeline Sources: ANU Archives, ANU Reporter, GreenLeftWeekly, National Library of Australia Trove and Woroni.

AV and Technical Assistance: Jean-Phillipe Demarais

Thanks to Jess Semler, Emmanuel Bovell, Chris Swinbank, Sam Jordan, Kel Glover and ANU Major Projects, ANU School of Art and Design, ANU Students’ Association, Woroni, ANU Archives, ANU School of History, and ANU Heritage.

Thank you to all activists at ANU past, present and future. We are deeply grateful for your ongoing work and commitment towards the creation of a more just and equally shared world.

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