Griffin Voices, ANU Research School of Social Sciences building

Reclaimed maple stair treads with etched protest banners from ANU student protests

The sculpture repurposes the treads of an internal spiral staircase from the Pauline Griffin Building which stood on the site and was designed by Ancher, Mortlock and Murray. The building was originally constructed as the first ANU Student Union (1965 – 1972) and was described as the ‘heart’ of the campus where ANU students gathered, socialised, organised and led important protests on local, national and international issues such as women’s rights, Aboriginal land rights, apartheid, the Vietnam War and nuclear testing.

Project artist Alexandra Gillespie.