Jane Lydon

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Kamilaroi artist Rhonda Sampson’s ‘Diyan Warrane’ artwork projected onto the Sydney Opera House during Australia Day 2023 celebrations. Bianca De Marchi/AAP

10 essential books to read on Australia Day – our expert picks

Lawrence Bamblett, Australian National University; Anna Clark, University of Technology Sydney; Benjamin T. Jones, CQUniversity Australia; Clare Wright, La Trobe University; Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University; Gregory Melleuish, University of Wollongong; Jane Lydon, The University of Western Australia; Thomas H. Ford, La Trobe University; Tim Rowse, Western Sydney University; Tom Griffiths, Australian National University, and Yves Rees, La Trobe University

A barbecue, a protest … or a good book? We asked some of our leading historians to choose an illuminating Australia Day read.
St Kitts-born Archibald Burt pictured beside sugar cane growing in his Perth garden in 1862. Burt, a former slave owner, became chief justice of Western Australia. State Library of Western Australia 6923B/182

Friday essay: beyond ‘statue shaming’ — grappling with Australia’s legacies of slavery

Jane Lydon, The University of Western Australia and Zoë Laidlaw

When Britain legislated to abolish slavery in 1833, some former slave owners moved to the Australasian colonies. New research traces this movement of people, money and ideologies.
This 1904 photograph showing the massacre of villagers by Dutch KNIL forces in the Indonesian village of Koetö Réh was used by the Dutch to argue for the paternalistic colonial state as protector. We now see it as evidence of imperial atrocity. Collection Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen.

Ten photos that changed how we see human rights

Jane Lydon, The University of Western Australia

From depictions of slavery to colonial massacres to contemporary portraits of refugees, photography is a powerful tool in evoking ideas of shared humanity.
Still from Lisa Reihana, in Pursuit of Venus infected, 2015–17, ultra HD video, colour, sound, 64mins. Courtesy the artist and New Zealand at Venice.

Lisa Reihana’s Emissaries is a vital retelling of colonial history

Jane Lydon, The University of Western Australia

Lisa Reihana’s video installation Emissaries combines Indigenous actors and performance techniques to reenact Captain Cook’s encounters across the Pacific.
George Hamilton, Meeting natives on the Campaspi plains, Victoria, June 1836. National Library of Australia

Noble horses and ‘black monsters’: the politics of colonial compassion

Jane Lydon, The University of Western Australia

George Hamilton published An Appeal for the Horse in 1866, a defence of animal welfare well ahead of its time. However, his compassion for Aboriginal people was conspicuously lacking.
A light graffiti image of Ms Dhu is projected on a building in Perth. Ethan Blue

Seeing Ms Dhu: how photographs argue for human rights

Jane Lydon, The University of Western Australia and Donna Oxenham, The University of Western Australia

Noel Pearson has accused the ABC of racism in dwelling on indigenous alienation. But many advances in the status of Aboriginal Australians have been prompted by revealing ill-treatment, which is why Ms Dhu’s family want footage of her last hours made public.
Photos of beaming young asylum-seekers with their families aboard HMAS Adelaide in October 2001 told a completely different story to the government’s spurious ‘children overboard’ claims. Courtesy Project SafeCom, Jack H Smit.

Friday essay: worth a thousand words – how photos shape attitudes to refugees

Jane Lydon, The University of Western Australia

Images move us to act – as last week’s episode of Four Corners has shown. Our government has gone to great lengths to suppress photos that humanise asylum seekers – but when they seep out, empathy is aroused.

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