Unreserved : stories from Truganina Explosives Reserve

Unreserved : Stories from Truganina Explosives Reserve is the culmination of a community arts project involving local residents and some of Melbourne’s up and coming designers. Based on oral histories collected from local residents who have a connection with this historic site, a series of animations have been produced recreating some of the unique stories of this site.
Truganina Explosives Reserve, one of Altona’s last intact historic sites, is located 26 kilometres west of the city, and nine kilometres from Williamstown on the shores of Port Phillip Bay. The reserve was established by the State Government in 1901 for the storage and handling of commercial explosives. After its closure in 1962, the reserve lay dormant for more than 25 years, protected from the outside world by the two and a half metre high galvanised fence.
In the 1990s, the reserve became the site of an intense community battle aimed at saving the site from redevelopment. The community embarked on a quest to save one of the western suburbs’ most significant historical and environmental locations, the site of an important early Australian industry.