ANU Reporter

As part of 2026 Immersia, the ANU School of Culture, History & Language is proud to partner with the Australian National University Indonesian Students Association (ANUISA), the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association (AIYA) and the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia to bring the sounds and traditions of Indonesia to campus. At the heart of this celebration is a hands-on Indonesian gamelan workshop led by Gamelan Sedulur Monco.

A favourite feature of the annual Immersia festival is making a special appearance at ANU Community Day. Step inside the traditional Mongolian ger, a portable circular dwelling that has been central to Mongolia's nomadic way of life for centuries. Admire its hand-carved timber posts, carved roof crown and door, an elegant wall covering inspired by golden silk.

Paul Girrawah House, Ngambri-Kamberri Walgalu custodian shares his connection to Country. The contemporary tree carvings at ANU are a story of claiming Country, one tree at a time. The spirit of our Ancestors and Old People is in the trees. Trees help anchor our identity and belonging to Country – they hold knowledge, nurture and maintain the wellbeing of our people, plants and animals. Trees help maintain lore and custom.

Last century, GE Hardy explained that the mathematical ideas that others found most useful were usually the ones that mathematicians found most uninspiring. But what if those uninspiring mathematical ideas were viewed through a different lens? This exhibition contains artwork created by staff, students, alumni and friends, with a distinct mathematical concept being captured in each piece.

Joshua Black will be in conversation with Andrew Leigh on his new book Performance Politics: Australian politicians and the stories they tell, which provides an eye-opening account of how Australian politicians have become experts at fashioning and refashioning stories about themselves, their lives, personal ambitions and political entanglements.

An Indigenous community in Indonesia has found a way to protect one of the world’s rarest cockatoos without abandoning a centuries-old sacred tradition, according to new research led by The Australian National University (ANU), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and Perkumpulan Konservasi Kakatua Indonesia (KKI). The study documents how the Huaulu people of Seram Island, Indonesia, worked with conservation researchers and government authorities to adapt their sacred Cidaku initiation ceremony.

A Goldsmith Public Lecture presented by Bruce Chapman and Gill Wyness. Hosted by the Research School of Economics. About the Lecture Australia introduced the world to income-contingent student financing in 1989, with England setting up a very similar system in 1998. While both countries saw significant expansion in university enrolments and improved access for disadvantaged students, both systems now face serious and distinct challenges.

This fortnight’s Art Bite will feature Leonard French’s 18-panel mural, Regeneration, commissioned for the Great Hall in 1972, and the Journey Series, 1966–70. Newly conserved, the Drill Hall Team has completed the re-installation of these works in time for the opening of the renovated University House. The ANU is peppered with remarkable and nationally significant artworks managed by the ANU Art Collection.

Off Illegitimate heirs: Waris and feminist gravedigging after violence and erasure The Tony and Yohanni Johns Lecture 2026 will be delivered by Dr Intan Paramaditha - a senior Lecturer in Media and Film Studies at Macquarie University. This lecture is anchored in Sekolah Pemikiran Perempuan (SPP)'s manifesto on Waris (inheritance) to discuss feminist dialogue across islands in Indonesia and how they reconstruct severed feminist lineages as a foundation for contemporary political action.

Artworks such as these are created and offered as cosmological maps The ANU Art Collection was established in 1949, three years after The Australian National University itself. It holds more than 2900 works by prominent artists. It also contains one of the finest and most wide-ranging collections of Indigenous art held by any Australian university. These significant works, displayed throughout the ANU Campus, serve to advance the status, recognition, and lives of Australia’s First Peoples.