Producer unknown to us
Button “Land Is Life”
Australia, New South Wales, Sydney
1987
Metal, plastic
Birgit Scheps (Curator for Australia) acquired this button in 1989, during a study trip to Australia
Sold to the museum by Scheps 1991
Au 4249
The button of the land rights movement reads “Land Is Life,“ in black on yellow background. The sale of such items raised funds for the land rights movement to protest Australia’s 200-year anniversary in 1988. Birgit Scheps, currently curator for Australia and the Pacific at Leipzig, acquired the button during a study trip in 1989.
In 1988, Australia commemorated the 200-year anniversary of its founding as a British colony that later became the Federation of Australian States. However, the Indigenous population had no reason to celebrate, and used the “Bicentenary” to protest racism, injustice, and discrimination against First Australians, and, most importantly, to demand their traditional land rights.
For the first time, these protests also reached a wide international audience.
Birgit Scheps-Bretschneider