Detention at Manus Island was not the same as detention at Auschwitz, writes Jordana Silverstein. But the historical insights from those who were in those places echo through time, across generations.
Hoda Afshar’s exhibition Remain, The Substation, Melbourne, 2019.
Photograph by Leela Schauble. Courtesy the artist and The Substation, Melbourne
From the Intercolonial Exhibition in 1866 to a landmark show, a century later, in which Aboriginal photographers displayed their works, photography has shaped the nation.
Recent history shows politicians should think twice before using refugees and asylum seekers for electoral gain.
Behrouz Boochani won the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature, and the Prize for Non-Fiction, at the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.
Amnesty International/AAP
Behrouz Boochani, an asylum seeker currently detained on Manus Island, has won Australia’s richest literary prize. The win commands the question, ‘what makes an Australian writer?’
Asylum seekers protesting on Manus Island last year.
Refugee Action Coalition handout
Boochani bears witness to the deterioration of the human spirit on Manus Island, where he’s been detained with hundreds of other asylum seekers for the last five years.
Behrouz Boochani photographed on Manus Island.
Jason Garman/Amnesty International via AAP
Behrouz Boochani wrote his memoir of incarceration on Manus Island one text message at a time. Translating this work of ‘horrific surrealism’ from Farsi to English was a profoundly philosophical experience.
Honorary Associate Professor, School of Art and Design, Research School of Humanities and the Arts, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University