New Anne Frank exhibition’s Launceston launch

April 17, 2015

The new Anne Frank Travelling Exhibition will open in Launceston on April 17, 2015 where it will be on display at the Academy Gallery at the University of Tasmania.

Compiled in Amsterdam, the exhibition is titled, 'Let Me Be Myself – The story of Anne Frank'. The worldwide launch of the exhibition took place in Canberra in February, with officials from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam in attendance at the opening.

As principal sponsor of the nationally-touring exhibition, Dutch-based global bank Rabobank is pleased that the new exhibition had been launched and was on-tour in Australia.

Rabobank Australia chief executive officer Thos Gieskes said, given how positive the regional communities' response to Anne Frank Travelling Exhibition has been, the new exhibits will undoubtedly draw interest from many people visiting Launceston.

"Rabobank sees the Anne Frank exhibition, 'Let me be myself', as an opportunity for our clients, school students, and the wider community to become aware of and experience one of the most powerful stories in history," Mr Gieskes said.

"Given our Dutch heritage, there is a strong connection with the story of Anne Frank and in particular, this is such an important piece of history we can show the rest of the world – it's a world-class exhibition."

'Let me be myself – The life story of Anne Frank' contains seven historical display modules along with four contemporary educational videos. The structure and design of this part of the new exhibition enables visitors to identify with the personal story of Anne Frank, through images of Anne's childhood, following by her immigration to Amsterdam and the time in hiding in the Netherlands under Nazi occupation.

The contemporary part of the exhibition explores four general themes that are drawn from Anne Frank's story which relate to life today. These themes are:

• Identity – how did Anne Frank perceive her own identity? How do young people see their own identity and how do others define you? 
• Individuals as group members – what groups do you belong to? How do others categorise you? Where does exclusion start? 
• Discrimination – what happens if you are not accepted by others? 
• Response – what can we learn from the story of Anne Frank?

After being on display in Launceston until August 4, 2015 the exhibition will tour other parts of Australia.

For more information about the event, please visit http://www.annefrank.org.au.