Vannessa Hearman
@vhearman.bsky.social
Associate Professor of History. Writes on Indonesia, East Timor, Cold War, decolonisation and related topics.
Recent review of The Good Sea. Read Duncan Graham's take in Inside #Indonesia www.insideindonesia.org/archive/arti...
Review: From lucky country to fearful land
A quarterly magazine on the peoples of Indonesia - cultures, politics, economy and environment
insideindonesia.org
Coming up in Perth: 'Looking both ways: Art exchanges between Australia and Indonesia' at the John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University, Wed 22 July 2026. Half-day seminar prompted by the Pasar Malam/Night Market exhibition. Please come along. events.humanitix.com/looking-both...
Looking both ways: Art exchanges between Australia and Indonesia
This half-day seminar explores the relationships between Australia and Indonesia around contemporary art.
events.humanitix.com
If you're going to the ASAA conference @asiancurrents.bsky.social next week, come to the launch of my new book #TheGoodSea (MUP) on Timor-Leste, Indonesia and Australia's refugee policies by Prof Kate McGregor. Day 1 of the conference: Tue 30 June, 12.15 pm (lunchtime), Room D2.194.
Latest review of my book, The Good Sea in Inside Indonesia. Join us at the Melbourne, Newcastle or Sydney book launches or at the launches at the Asian Studies Association of Australia or @austhistassoc.bsky.social conferences coming up. www.insideindonesia.org/archive/arti...
Review: From lucky country to fearful land
A quarterly magazine on the peoples of Indonesia - cultures, politics, economy and environment
insideindonesia.org
The book truly is out. It was heartwarming to get a copy accompanied by a lovely note from MUP, my publisher @mupublishing.bsky.social. Ask at your local bookstore if you'd like to get one. www.mup.com.au/books/the-go...
My new book on East Timorese 'boat people' and the Australia-Indonesia relationship is published today. Titled 'The Good Sea: The Journey of the Tasi Diak and the Politics of Refugee Protection in Australia', it examines the biographies and lifeworlds of East Timorese clandestine activists...
The Good Sea, Vannessa Hearman
First, I thought the boat was going to split in two and sink. Some of us could not swim. We were all going to die if the boat sank. But I thought, 'Oh well, we have made it this far; if we die, we will be considered heroes, there will be flowers in the sea.' In May 1995, after five days and six nights on the Timor Sea, eighteen East Timorese asylum seekers, including a six-month-old baby, sail...
mup.com.au
Newish book chapter. Don't think I've shared this one here yet. How did a state sponsored photographic book depict East Timor in the 1990s? What of its Lusophone roots? How could images be read in diverse ways? Find the abstract in the link. link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Re-envisioning a Portuguese Colony: Indonesian Photographic Representations of East Timor
Images were crucial in the information politics surrounding East Timor during the Indonesian annexation of the former Portuguese territory from 1975 to 1999. By showing the physical and human developm...
link.springer.com
The Call for Papers looks fantastic. 3rd International Conference on History, Social Sciences, and Education (ICHSE): “Oral History for Social Transformation: Inclusivity, Democracy, and Equality”, Department of History, Universitas Negeri Malang, August 5-6, 2026 ichse.um.ac.id/3rd-ichse/
3rd ICHSE | ICHSE
ichse.um.ac.id
In 'Looking both ways: The Timor Sea and Australia’s entanglements with Asia', I'll be speaking about place-based research practices in the writing of 'The Good Sea', my soon-to-be-published book. Join me at the John Curtin Gallery on Wednesday, 18 March 2026. events.humanitix.com/jcg-lunchtim...
JCG Lunchtime Talk with Vannessa Hearman
Register on Humanitix - JCG Lunchtime Talk with Vannessa Hearman hosted by John Curtin Gallery. John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University, 200A, Kent St, Bentley WA 6102, Australia. Wednesday 18th March ...
events.humanitix.com
The book I've written on the 1995 boat journey of a group of East Timorese refugees to Australia, 'The Good Sea', now has a cover and a presence on the Melbourne University Publishing website. Out 12 May 2026, coinciding with 31-year anniversary of boat's departure. www.mup.com.au/books/the-go...
NEW DOCUMENT RELEASE: The United Nations and the invasion of Timor-Leste timorarchive.ca/undocs Indonesian military forces invaded Timor-Leste on 7 Dec 2025. To mark the 50th anniversary, TiSA presents selected United Nations documents on Timor-Leste in the lead-up and aftermath to the invasion.
I co-edited this bumper edition of Inside Indonesia no. 162, 'Indonesia and Timor-Leste Living Together' as we mark the 50th anniversary of the unilateral declaration of independence in Timor-Leste and the Indonesian invasion. www.insideindonesia.org/indonesia-an...
On the 34th occasion of the Santa Cruz shootings of protesters in Dili, Timor-Leste, we remember their sacrifice. Re-sharing this volume of writings and artistic work remembering the massacre. tlstudies.org/conference-p...
Conference Proceedings
The Santa Cruz Massacre, 1991: Thirty Years On. Now available to order or download: Proceedings of the 2021 TLSA International Symposium – The Santa Cruz Massacre, 1991: Thirty Years On. Hard-copie…
tlstudies.org
A new chapter I just published with Brill on how oral history and testimonies have been used in Timor-Leste's independence campaign and their status as a potential resource for future generations. But what are the ethical, material and structural constraints? brill.com/display/book...
brill.com
Why does ABC News uses 'baku tembak' (crossfire) when the Balibo 5 journalists were murdered by Indonesian army operatives in October 1975? And the English version refers to 'murders'. Shame. #timorleste www.abc.net.au/indonesian/2...
Keluarga Jurnalis Australia yang Terbunuh Saat Baku Tembak Militer Indonesia Masih Cari Keadilan
Tahun ini adalah 50 tahun peristiwa Balibo Five, saat lima jurnalis Australia tewas saat meliput masa pendudukan Indonesia di Timor Leste. Keluarga masih berduka atas kehilangan orang yang mereka cint...
abc.net.au
I'll be speaking at this event: The 80th anniversary of World War II & the formation of the #UN United Nations. What have we learnt and what may the next 80 years hold? Join us at @curtinuniversity.bsky.social tomorrow evening, brought to you by the Faculty of Humanities and #GlobalFutures Curtin.
Coming up in 2 days! Don't miss it.
Vannessa Hearman@vhearman.bsky.social · 11mo agoDr Samson Lim (Monash U) is giving the next seminar of the Historians of Southeast Asia Network (HiSEAs) on the 'feral territories' of Eastern Bangkok, Thailand. Intrigued? Join us on Thu 11 September, 4.00 pm AEST on Zoom: anu.zoom.us/j/8293727404.... Meeting ID: 829 3727 4043/ Passcode:491526.
Dr Samson Lim (Monash U) is giving the next seminar of the Historians of Southeast Asia Network (HiSEAs) on the 'feral territories' of Eastern Bangkok, Thailand. Intrigued? Join us on Thu 11 September, 4.00 pm AEST on Zoom: anu.zoom.us/j/8293727404.... Meeting ID: 829 3727 4043/ Passcode:491526.
Excited to be co-launching this book along with Dr Indah Utami from Universitas Negeri Malang - new and decolonial perspectives on Indonesian history. Join the Historians of SE Asia Network, 5.00 PM AEST Wed 27th, on Zoom. anu.zoom.us/j/8293727404... Meeting ID: 829 3727 4043/ Passcode:491526
After a brief hiatus, the Historians of Southeast Asia network are back! Come join us for a book launch and discussion on Wed 27 August, 5.00 pm Melbourne time, on Zoom of @anupress.bsky.social new book (out Open Access on 21 Aug). #coloniality #decoloniality #sejarah
Economic inequality in Australia is the worst it has been in 20 years — if the goal is to improve living standards, our leaders should be addressing it. ~ Carl Rhodes Australia’s real economic challenge isn’t welfare dependency — it’s inequality independentaustralia.net/politics/pol...
Australia’s real economic challenge isn’t welfare dependency — it’s inequality
Economic inequality in Australia is the worst it has been in 20 years — if the goal is to improve living standards, our leaders should be addressing it.
independentaustralia.net
Five of the six primate species found in the Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands have traditionally been hunted. With widespread deforestation and the erosion of traditional practices that governed hunting behavior, all of the islands’ primates are now endangered news.mongabay.com/2025/05/indi...
Indigenous conservationists lead the fight to save Mentawai’s endangered primates
SOUTH SIBERUT, Indonesia — As night falls over the Siberut jungle, a fire crackles inside the Tateburuk clan’s wooden home, or uma. The walls are covered in traditional Mentawai carvings of forest cre...
news.mongabay.com
BOOK LAUNCH NEWS: You're invited to attend the launch of "Fathering: An Australian History"—details on the attached flyer. @phavictas.bsky.social
** NEW REVIEW ** On the website, Peter Hobbins reviews Raina MacIntyre's Vaccine Nation aph.org.au/2025/08/book... #auspol #COVID19 #Vaccines #healthhistory
And with famine being increasingly human-induced, how does society deliver justice to famine victims? So many variables in a post-conflict, post-occupation country, such as East Timor. www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
Challenges in the pursuit of justice for East Timor’s Great Famine (1977–1979)
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tandfonline.com
In 1979 Australian newspapers published images of famine in East Timor. What impact did famine images have in that particular case? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Australian News Photography and Contested Images of Famine in Indonesian-Occupied East Timor
The Indonesian invasion of East Timor in December 1975 and subsequent military operations to suppress the East Timorese resistance led to widespread displacement and famine in 1977–79. With Indones...
tandfonline.com
How does one mount an exhibition on women's history that is new, fresh and exciting in the context of a government intent on radical forgetting? Read about what I think are the manifest tensions. www.insideindonesia.org/archive/arti...
The absences that remain in a history of Indonesian women - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia
A quarterly magazine on the peoples of Indonesia - cultures, politics, economy and environment
insideindonesia.org
