Once again, the semester has well and truly begun. Campus life has picked up, and I have fallen into a weekly routine that runs on repeat, again and again and again. We are all booked and busy. Everyone I know is running around like a headless chicken, balancing it all however precariously, savouring the last of the lingering summer weather as best we can.
Though it may feel claustrophobic to be stuck in the uni cycle again, I hope picking up and reading Honi Soit can be a comforting ritual for you, in the way it is for me. For this edition, I asked reporters to reflect on the theme ‘Time After Time.’ In these pages, you’ll find writings that reflect on the cycles in which we find ourselves trapped and from which we find the most joy. The talented writers in this edition have deeply interrogated our cyclical histories on a personal, political, and grand scale. On page 8, Grace Street reflects on the Freedom Ride and the continued history of powerful Campus Activism. On page 14, Ananya Thirumalai explores her own destiny and relationship with cosmology. On page 18, Marc Paniza looks at the stories we pass down across generations and the moral lessons we learn.
Putting together this edition has been a pleasure and a privilege. I hope you learn from it, feel comforted and reflective, share our laughs, and admire the beautiful cover art by Yasodara. I hope you feel closer to our small USyd and Honi Soit community, which has become such a loving home for me and a place to rest as time passes, again and again, around me.
Love,
Emilie
Artist’s Statement — Yasodara
This cover artwork is a temporal collage of women, both real and mythical; they are mothers and sisters united in a battle for equality and freedom since time immemorial, for not only themselves but the generations that they will beget. The sketches of women presented here were sourced from past and present conflicts around the world, .e.g., the 1954-1962 Algerian War and the ongoing Israeli – Palestinian conflict. The artwork is admittedly derivative, drawing inspiration from and with direct reference to Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People (1830), a timeless representation of human resilience and determination. In replacing Delacroix’s original peripheral figures with women in various roles, I attempt to resituate the scene within the context of postmodern warfare and feminism.
