Immigration Museum

Sweet talker Elise Murphy is working with Emily Kocaj to organise the Sweets festival and exhibition. Elise is responsible for community festivals at the Immigration Museum and has a very sweet tooth.

The power of sweets to bring people together was affirmed on Sunday 18 March at the Immigration Museum, as over 2,255 visitors flocked to the Sweets festival and launch of the Sweets: tastes and traditions from many cultures exhibition. Six months in the making, the festival and exhibition showcased the satisfying results of collaboration between the Museum and the Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mauritian and Turkish communities in Victoria.

Sweets for the Gods, Tara Rajkumar’s Natya Sudha Dance Company
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

Heidi Victoria, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and Assisting the Premier with the Arts, opened the sugar-fuelled occasion. Luscious treats made by community groups and local business owners showcased our rich cultural heritage alongside commissioned dance and music performances, cooking demonstrations from community members and stories, objects and films in the exhibition. By the end of the day, there wasn't a single sweet left in the Museum.

Heidi Victoria (second from left) viewing the Sweets exhibition with community members and MV staff.
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

Left: Visitor sampling Turkish sherbet | Right: Italian sweets stall
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

It was a delight to see intercultural and intergenerational exchanges sparked by simple acts of sharing sweets and memories. "Energising, uplifting and reassuring," as Patricia Kimtia, President of the Cultural Historical Association of Rodriguans & Mauritians, suggests, "such richness and positive interaction restores hope that the fabric of our society is stronger than one may think and the sense of community prevails."

Japanese tea ceremony demonstration with wagashi sweets
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

Although the festival was a special one-day event, the exhibition will run until 7 April 2013 with opportunities for all to visit and share stories and recipes. The sweetest taste, the enriching experience of collaborating with community members and colleagues on this intercultural project, is one that will linger much longer.

Visitors enjoying sweets at the festival
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

Your Question: I noticed that the On their own exhibition about Britain's child migrants exhibition is closing, where is it off to?

On their own, the story of Britain's child migrants will be moving on from the Immigration Museum in Melbourne to the Western Australian Museum - Maritime in Fremantle, due to open on Saturday May 19th.

On their own exhibition at the Immigration Museum.
Image: Kate Brereton
Source: Museum Victoria  

The exhibition was very popular with visitors to the Immigration Museum, many of whom commented about the moving nature of the content. Sadly, it is a story that has gone unnoticed for many years, but we were glad to be able to host the exhibition and provide visitors with a rich understanding and experience.

On their own exhibition at the Immigration Museum.
Image: Kate Brereton
Source: Museum Victoria  

Lisa snapped some pictures today of the Museum Victoria Collection Management and Conservation team and the Australian National Maritime Museum Collection Management and Conservation team working on de-installing the exhibition, getting it ready for its move across the country.

De-installing the On their own exhibition at the Immigration Museum.
Image: Lisa Collins
Source: Museum Victoria  

De-installing the On their own exhibition at the Immigration Museum.
Image: Lisa Collins
Source: Museum Victoria  

Although the exhibition is leaving Melbourne, we still do have plenty of information for visitors in the Immigration Discovery Centre, and online. The exhibition website will remain active until November 2013, so there is still an opportunity for you to learn more about Britain's child migrants.

Got a question? Ask us!

Links

MV Blog post - On their own opens

On their own: Britain's child migrants

Your Question: I’ve just returned from Malaysia and am curious about the history of the Malay community in Victoria. Do you have some resources you can recommend regarding on this topic and Malay cultures in general?

The Malay community in Australia is diverse, with people from a number of ethnic backgrounds and religions that reflect the diversity of Malaysia itself. The culture of the region that we today call Malaysia, which also includes parts of Borneo, has been shaped by interactions between the Malay, Arab, Chinese, Indian, European and South East Asian peoples from the middle of the 15th century. Intermarriage between people of various cultures from this early period, plus influxes of later Chinese, Indian and European settlers led to an ethnically diverse population, which is still obvious in the country today and is reflected in the Malay community in Australia.

Students from the Malaysian Students Association take part in Orientation Week, RMIT, February 2001.
Image: Jun Siew Goh / Photographer: Unknown
Source: Copyright Malaysian Students Association 2001  

The first stop for anyone wanting to do research on the Malaysian community in Australia is Immigration Museum’s Origins website. It tells us a little about the history of Malaysian immigration to Australia, as well as statistics from census data on the demographics of the Victorian Malaysian community.

Immigration from the Malaysia actually began in the mid 19th century and Malay workers were involved in the pearling industry, trepang, mining, agriculture, including cane fields. European descended Malays came to Australia during WWII. Following the end of the Immigration Restriction Act in 1973 Malaysian immigration increased and by 2006 there were 30,476 Malaysia-born Victorians and 92,335 in Australia. Most of these identified as ethnic Chinese (c 65,000), with smaller percentages of Malay (c 12,000), Indian (c 6,000) and other groups. English is the language most spoken in the home, followed closely by Cantonese, with smaller amounts of Malaysia-born Australians speaking Mandarin, Behasa Melayu, Tamil, other Chinese languages and Vietnamese.

Pencil Drawing by Thomas Le. It depicts the journey of of Mai Ho's family to Australia and shows their first few months here.
Image: Museum Victoria / Artist Thomas Le
Source: Copyright Thomas Le 1998  

Some famous Malaysia-born Australians include singer Guy Sebastian, politician Penny Wong and entertainer Kamahl.

Further details and statistics regarding Malaysian born people living in the wider Australian community can be found on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website and this factsheet produced by Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has some great general information on Malaysia, its people and their relations with Australia.

In the Immigration Discovery Centre we have a variety of books on Malaysian history, culture, contemporary politics and the Malay community in Australia. While the IDC is not a lending library, you are welcome to come and browse the books we have here.

Couple cutting the wedding cake, at their wedding in Singapore
Image: Tuty Juhari / Photographer: Unknown
Source: Copyright Tuty Juhari 1997  

There are a number of other useful websites and resources for finding out about the Malaysian community in Victoria, including Melayu Melbourne, the Malay Education and Cultural Centre of Australia Inc (MECCA), Malaysian Students’ Council of Australia (MASCA) Victoria, 92.3 FM ZZZ, Malaysian show, and Australian-Malaysian Film Festival. 

Got a question? Ask us!

Your Question: What did Caroline Chisholm do behind the Shelter Shed?

A bit of scrapbooking apparently...

Having such a large online presence, as Museum Victoria has, we in the Discovery Centre are always asked if we can provide copies of the brochures, passenger lists, workshop manuals, etc, that feature in our massive Internet Empire. In order to satisfy this demand, we have to apply subtle pressure on a variety of curators, collection managers and photographers, in order to have these articles scanned.

A page from Caroline Chisholm's scrapbook.
Image: Museum Victoria
Source: Museum Victoria  

However, in the case of Caroline Chisholm’s scrapbook, we can casually point out to the inquisitive enquirer, that by scrolling down the webpage, they will see the heading ‘Downloads’ followed by ‘Caroline Chisholm’s Scrapbook PDF 129.3 Mb’. Eureka! This unique piece of Australia’s history can be all yours at the click of a button. Now, at your leisure, you can peruse the pages of Caroline’s life and works.

Caroline Chisholm scrapbook, circa 1844-1861
Image: Museum Victoria
Source: Museum Victoria  

Who attended the ‘Soiree to Mrs. Chisholm’? Prince Albert did, that’s who. As did ‘The Ladies who have honoured us with their company’. Is one of your ancestors on ‘Mrs. Chisholm’s List of Missing Friends’? Margaret Lyons was looking for her brother Luck Lyons; Mrs. Tipple couldn’t find her husband Thomas Tipple and Mr. Wright could not be found which left his ‘Wife in great distress with six children’. And what did Charles Dickens say about Mrs. Chisholm? The answer can be found on ‘page 12’.

Caroline Chisholm scrapbook, circa 1844-1861
Image: Museum Victoria
Source: Museum Victoria  

Caroline Chisholm’s scrapbook is not the only scanned item available for download on our website, but it is a particular favourite of mine. Thanks to the unsung heroes of the museum – the MV Studios folk who scan these wonderful items, all your questions can now be answered. We salute you!

Got a question? Ask us!

Links 

Caroline Chisolm's scrapbook

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Sweet talker Elise Murphy is working with Emily Kocaj to organise the Sweets festival and exhibition. Elise is responsible for community festivals at the Immigration Museum and has a very sweet tooth.

There is only one day to go before the Sweets: tastes and traditions from many cultures exhibition opens and five days until the Sweets Festival takes place at the Immigration Museum.

The team have been very busy installing the exhibition over the past two weeks and it is looking fantastic. Each of the communities represented – Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mauritian and Turkish – have a display showcasing their beautiful cooking implements and serving objects. Delicate Turkish coffee cups with intricate designs sit alongside Italian marzipan fruits and elegant Japanese models of wagashi, which would convince anyone that they were the real thing!

A showcase from the Sweets: tastes and traditions from many cultures exhibition.
Image: Emily Kocaj
Source: Museum Victoria  

Final touches are being put to the recipe wall, featuring home-made recipes created by the communities. You'll be able to jot down the ingredients for a syrupy, nutty baklava and learn how to make boondi ladoos, a favourite Indian sweet of Lord Ganesha. We've left space for you to leave some of your own favourite sweets recipes too.

It has been wonderful seeing the exhibition and festival come together over the last couple of weeks and to see all the ideas generated with the communities come to life. We hope that you will feel inspired to cook some recipes or sample a sweet at the Melbourne establishments that specialise in them – many of which you will find at the Sweets Festival this Sunday.

On festival day, we advise skipping breakfast to tuck straight into a mouth-watering array of sweet (and savoury) confections – from bites of nougat and tastings of sour cherry sherbet to baklava available by the piece or the half kilo. Enjoy plenty of other tempting performances, cooking demonstrations and workshops that will get your tastebuds dancing.

Do you really need another excuse to come along and immerse yourself in whole new realms of sweetness?

We'll give you a whole table full!

Sweet treats from the five participating communities.
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

Your Question: I am trying to trace my aunt and uncle and their children or any of their living relatives. They migrated to Australia after World War II in the 1940s or early 1950s. How would I go about finding them?

Locating living people is a question we often get and, although it can be very difficult, there are a number of resources that might help you to find them:

• For those that immigrated here in the mid 20th century, the first step would be to order their immigration records, which are held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA). This will give you information about their immigration and may give some indication of where they went when they arrived in Australia. These documents might then allow you to know where to search for further information in electoral rolls, public registries and other resources

The National Archives website has online indexes, which feature a percentage of records in their collection. A step by step guide to using these indexes and ordering documents can be found on our Quick guide to passenger lists infosheet.

Newly Arrived Migrant Family Standing Near Temporary Accommodation, Ringwood East, 1955
Image: unknown photographer
Source: Museum Victoria  

• Electoral rolls list all the names and addresses of registered voters within Australia. The State Library of Victoria Genealogy Centre holds archived as well as current electoral rolls dating from 1856 until the present. For more information about accessing electoral rolls contact the State Library of Victoria Genealogy Centre or the Victorian Electoral Commission.

• Copies of Birth Deaths and Marriages certificates may reveal useful personal information and allow you to trace your relative’s descendents. Births, deaths and marriage registries are run by different government departments in each state and some have a limited amount of information in online indexes.

• A simple search of the telephone directories may reveal the location of relatives. The White Pages is available online or you may wish to peruse hardcopies, which are often available at state, and sometimes local, libraries.

Man, Woman & Two Girls, Backyard, Ukrainian Christmas Day, Newport, 1951
Image: unknown photographer
Source: Museum Victoria  

• If your relatives belong to a specific migrant community, a relevant community organisation may be able to give you advice about finding them.

• Search digitised newspapers at the National Library of Australia’s Trove website for mentions of their name. With hundreds of national, state and local newspapers digitised from 1803 to 1954, you may find a mention of them.

• Their may be an online bulletin board for the ship your relative came on or a migrant camp in which they may have stayed. Many people find each other through such forums so it might be a great place to throw your question out to the wider world.

Mother, Boy & Girl Sitting on Public Seat, Middle Park, 1949
Image: Mr Cliff Atkinson
Source: Museum Victoria  

• Doing an online search for their names might reveal something. While it sounds obvious, many don’t think of it! Lots of people are online these days with personal websites, blogs, social networking, business websites and so forth.

• Various organisations have tracing services that may, in certain circumstances, be able to locate missing family members.

Got a question? Ask us!

Links:

Post World War II Immigration in Photographs

Natasha works in public relations for Museum Victoria. 

Renowned Melbourne chef Guy Grossi is putting on a special event at the Immigration Museum, A Sweet Dinner with Guy Grossi,on 15 March as part of Sweets and the 2012 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. He has also contributed a couple of items to the Sweets exhibition. I had a chat with him about why he got involved.

Guy Grossi preparing some Italian sweets.
Image: Stewart Donn
Source: Museum Victoria  

Why were you interested in being a part of Sweets?

Food has a magical way to be able to bring people together and share special memories together and many a moment has been shared over a dessert or sweet treat that has us all melting. We all remember those moments. I was really interested in exploring how delicious sweet ingredients have been used in dishes, both savoury and sweet, throughout different cultures and how this has evolved over time. It's such a fascinating journey and I'm excited to be a part of this exhibition.

What are some of the sweet influences that you grew up with?

My speciality is Italian food so I have incorporated a great Italian pastry as the dessert – Canoli alla Siciliana. My parents are not from Sicily but I remember every time we would visit a pastry shop or café in Carlton I would have one of their crispy pastries filled with sweet ricotta. Amazing!

Do you have any memory of sweet foods being used in Italian celebrations when you were growing up?

Celebrations in Italian culture are remembered for the particular sweets that are served at them. Different cakes, pastries, lollies and biscuits are used to typify different occasions such as weddings, Easter, Christmas and many more.

Your degustation dinner includes sweet influences from Indian, Mauritian, Turkish and Japanese cuisines. Have you enjoyed integrating other cultures into your cooking?

It has been a big adventure for me and as a chef, we're always looking for new ways to do things. Food is always evolving and whether it be a new ingredient or technique there's a constant drive in chef's to always improve and evolve. Throughout my travels I've been lucky enough to try so many incredible dishes and I tried to incorporate some of those memorable ingredients, as well as my own research and speaking to other chefs who are experts in their field, to gauge their opinion on integrating sweetness into my menu. I've tried to keep it authentic to the culture as I highlight the theme.

Sweets: Tastes and traditions from many cultures encompasses an exhibition, a one-day festival and the Sweet Dinner. To buy a ticket to the Sweet Dinner with Guy Grossi, call 13 11 02 and press '3' to connect to the Immigration Museum. Credit card payments are accepted.

Your Question: What exactly is the role of the Discovery Centre within Museum Victoria?

We play a very important role in making sure that you can access your state collection and this happens with requests made in person over the desk in the Discovery Centre, via the telephone, by snail mail and of course by email, and sometimes even by fax!

Visitors using the resources in the Discovery Centre
Image: Jo Philo
Source: Museum Victoria  

Every day when we come into the Discovery Centre we don’t know what the day will hold. Our inbox is jam packed with enquiries sent to us via our online enquiry form sent from many different people, with many different requests. The Discovery Centre is also responsible for responding to the various questions and comments that are posted on the different sections of the Museum Victoria website, the information sheets, the blog posts and the Collections Online webpages.

Visitors meeting Murray, the Murray Darling Carpet Python, in the Discovery Centre
Image: Jo Philo
Source: Museum Victoria  

We are responsible for handling and responding to your research based enquiries for access to Museum Victoria collections and experts. This could be anything from an identification request along the lines of 'what is this spider?' or 'what type of bird made this nest?', or I’d like to find out more about dinosaurs, or CSIRAC - we handle them all. We can also help you with accessing the collection; perhaps your grandfather donated a camera to the collection and you would like to see it. Well, we can help. And of course, we can help with the donation process if you have a significant item that you would like the museum to consider acquiring.

Jo and a visitor checking out the frogs in the Discovery Centre
Image: Kate Brereton
Source: Museum Victoria  

The Discovery Centre also assists academic researchers with access to the collection for study and learning. We can also help you with getting copies of images from the collection, maybe to add to a family album or your family history research. Of course, there are also the requests we receive from publishers for copyright requests, or other state museums for object loans and historical societies for conservation advice. 

If you would like to know more about the Discovery Centre Team, we are all blog authors so you can read a few lines about us, and of course see a happy snap too!

Got a question? Ask us!

Links:

Melbourne Museum Discovery Centre

Immigration Discovery Centre

Sweet talker Emily Kocaj is working with Elise Murphy to organise the Sweets festival and exhibition. She manages community exhibitions at the Immigration Museum and delights in tasting sugary creations from around the world.

The Immigration Museum is working on something very special and super sweet. For the last few months we have been collaborating with five sweets-loving Victorian communities to create Sweets: tastes and traditions from many cultures, a delicious exhibition and festival that are part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and Cultural Diversity Week in March 2012.

Members of the Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mauritian and Turkish communities have come together with the museum to jointly explore the historical and cultural significance of sweets. This unique project has seen us sharing sweet stories, traditions and recipes with the communities, not to mention fantastic creations from their kitchens!

Sweets committee members enjoying an array of sweets.
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

The community representatives have delighted each other (and us) with a steady stream of treats at each Sweets committee workshop – from crisp, syrupy baklava, tangy limone tiramisu, cloud-like mochi, rose-scented gulab jamun, gorgeous pink napolitains and numerous other delicious morsels.

  Five delicious sweets from the countries and communities featured in the Sweets festival and exhibition. Clockwise from top left: Italian tiramisu al limone | Indian gulab jamun | Turkish baklava | Mauritian napolitains | Japanese mochi
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

As well as sharing these gorgeous confections, the communities have been working incredibly hard on the exhibition and festival. In further posts we will show you sneak peeks of what will be happening on festival day and in the exhibition, both opening on Sunday 18 March 2012.

Sweets committee members with an array of sweets.
Image: Dylan Kelly
Source: Museum Victoria  

Links:

Sweets at Immigration Museum

Your Question: What was the Lloyd Triestino Trio?  

Austrian Lloyd was founded as an insurance company in 1833 and when Trieste became part of Italy in 1919 the company name was changed to Lloyd Triestino. A shipping section was established in 1936, and Lloyd Triestino became one of the world's biggest shipping companies.

After World War II Lloyd Triestino re-established its Australian service with existing ships and began a rebuilding programme ordering seven new liners. Of these new liners three were for the Australian service, launched in 1950 these three ships became known as the Treistino Trio.

Pamphlet Express Service Fares to Italy Australia, Oceania & Neptunia Lloyd Triestino Line Jun 1955 (HT 2610).
Image: Museum Victoria
Source: Museum Victoria  

The first to be built was the Australia launched on 21 May 1950, departing Trieste on 19 April 1951 and arriving in Melbourne on 17 May. The second ship Oceania launched on 30 July 1950, departed Genoa for its maiden voyage on 18 August 1951.The third, Neptunia, launched on 1 October 1950, departing on its maiden voyage on 14 September 1951 and arriving in Brisbane on 18 October.

In 1958 all three ships were withdrawn from service for a refit – air-conditioning was extended throughout the entire ship and accommodation altered to be suitable for 136 first class passengers and 536 tourist class passengers. From October 1960 Neptunia began operating as a single tourist-class ship; however the Australia and Oceania were not altered in this way.

Postcards - Lloyd Triestino Line, circa 1950s (HT1497).
Image: Museum Victoria
Source: Museum Victoria  

In 1960 Lloyd Triestino placed orders for two new liners which would be twice the size of the existing Australian fleet and were built to replace the Triestino trio. When these new ships entered the trade in 1963, Australia, Oceania and Neptunia were withdrawn from the Australian trade and transferred to the Italia line. The Australia was renamed the Donizetti, Oceania renamed Rossini and Neptunia renamed Verdi.

The Triestino Trio had all emerged from the same shipyard in the 1950s and spent their entire careers operating together; they ended their careers in La Spezia, Italy within months of each other. Donizetti and Rossini were laid up in late 1976 joined by Verdi in January of 1977. All three ships were offered for sale with Donizetti and Verdi purchased by shipbreakers in June 1977. Rossini was moved to another Italian company, Tirrenia, but with no use for her she was also sold to shipbreakers in September 1977.

Got a question? Ask us!

Links:

Triestino in MV Collections

Museum Victoria Migration Collection

Picture Australia

On Sunday 29 January Melbourne’s Chinatown came alive with beating drums, firecrackers, lion and dragon dances, kung fu demonstrations, market stalls, and great food. We went down for a little look to enjoy the spectacle and join the thousands of people from diverse backgrounds who came to celebrate Lunar New Year.

Dragons ready to parade
Image: Nic Davis
Source: Nic Davis  

Monday 23 January 2012 marked the official Lunar New Year – often referred to as Chinese New Year. It is the most important celebration of the year for many communities throughout Asia, including in China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand. It’s a time for families to reunite and celebrate together, with the festivities often lasting for a whole month from around mid January to mid February.  

Wing Chun demonstration
Image: Nic Davis
Source: Nic Davis  

It is a festival rich with symbolism, designed to bring prosperity and happiness in the New Year. Decorations in cities throughout Asia go up early in January and the streets, stores and homes are riot of colour that rivals the Christmas season in Australia, with houses, streets, shops and businesses, brightly festooned with red lanterns, cherry blossoms, paper banners and other decorations.  

Crowds in Chinatown enjoying the Lion Dance
Image: Nic Davis
Source: Nic Davis  

Contemporary and traditional decorations for New Year
Image: Nic Davis
Source: Nic Davis  

Of course Lunar New Year festivities are not limited to Asia, with Chinese communities throughout the world celebrating the festival. Australia’s long history of immigration from Asian countries means that today the Lunar New Year is one of the biggest celebrations in our diverse calendar of cultural events. Events are held in throughout the country, including in Melbourne’s Chinatown, Footscray, Richmond, Springvale, Box Hill and regional centres such as Bendigo.

A traditional Lion Dance team
Image: Nic Davis
Source: Nic Davis  

Links:

MV Blog: Five things about dragons

On the afternoon of Saturday 28 January, I made my way down to Port Melbourne for the Piers Festival, a celebration of migration at Station and Princes Piers. The Immigration Museum had a display at Station Pier about – you guessed it – Station Pier!

Immigration Museum’s ‘Station Pier’ exhibition at Station Pier.
Image: Max Strating
Source: Museum Victoria  

Even though the festival was to celebrate both piers, it was really about launching the newly opened Princes Pier after its recent $34 million renovation. The poor dear had ended up in a terrible state after years of neglect. The renovation included restoration of the gatehouse, plus installation of a rotunda with touch screens showing the history of the pier, large raised deck platforms, an area of artificial turf, a generous amount of seating, and public binoculars for viewing ships at sea. Last but not least, the first 196 metres of decking were replaced with a concrete slab, for which the entire gatehouse had to be lifted in order for it to be poured – no mean feat.

Children playing at Princes Pier
Image: Max Strating
Source: Museum Victoria  

In the gatehouse was an exhibition of historical photographs from Princes Pier – soldiers off to war, local boys on bikes, and migrants arriving after the war.

Ottoman Mehter Marching Band.
Image: Max Strating
Source: Museum Victoria  

The festival was put on by Multicultural Arts Victoria and the program included a wide variety of performers and musicians, starting with the Victorian Police Pipe Band and finishing with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. The most arresting costumes were of the Ottoman Mehter Marching Band. Poor guys, it was about 35 degrees in the shade, never mind under their hats!

The crew of the Enterprize showing off their Jigging and Reeling skills.
Image: Max Strating
Source: Museum Victoria  

Ska Orchestra
Image: Max Strating
Source: Melbourne Museum  

One of the many stalls selling tasty treats and colourful crafts.
Image: Max Strating
Source: Museum Victoria  
 
The evening ended with a generous fireworks display. Can’t wait for next year’s festival!

Your Question: What is the history of our national holiday?

The tradition of celebrating Australia Day as a national public holiday was established in Australia's first colony, Sydney, and has persevered since the early nineteenth century.

Medal - Australia's 150th Anniversary, 1938: Raising the British flag at Sydney Cove after the landing by Captain Arthur Phillip, January 26, 1788.
Source: Museum Victoria  

Sydney almanacs originally referred to it as First Landing Day or Foundation Day, in celebration of the arrival of Captain Arthur Phillip in Sydney on January 26, 1788. It was not until the thirtieth anniversary of European settlement, in 1818, that Governor Lachlan Macquarie officially created a public holiday in New South Wales. During this time other newly founded colonies were also celebrating their own beginnings, through sporting events, picnics and anniversary dinners.

Australia Day celebrations in Melbourne, 1916: the car in the foreground won first prize for the most decorated car.
Image: Mrs C.M. Chisholm
Source: Museum Victoria  

January 26 in 1888 marked the centenary of European settlement, however attitudes towards the celebration were mixed. The date was primarily associated with New South Wales rather than all the colonies. Nevertheless, the celebrations across Australia assisted to create a greater sense of cohesion between the separate colonies as they attempted to forget Australia's 'convict stain' and focus on the future. From the 1880s this was signified with a movement towards a national holiday, perhaps made easier by the achievement of Federation in 1901. However it was not until 1935 that all Australian states and territories used the name 'Australia Day' to mark the date.

Badge – South Australia Public Service Australia Day, 26 July 1918.
Image: Heath Warwick
Source: Museum Victoria  

For Indigenous Australians, for whom the date represented invasion and an irrevocable impact upon their culture, land and population, there was no cause for celebration. During the sesquicentenary events in 1938, approximately 100 Aboriginal protesters gathered in Sydney to present a different view of the celebrations. For the protestors and those represented, Australia Day was instead 'a day of mourning', highlighting the loss of life, land and language that was a cause of the European occupation of Australia.

Badge – ‘White Australia has a Black History,’ Australia, 1988
Image: Heath Warwick (photographer)
Source: Museum Victoria  

The protest demanded new laws that would ensure equality for Aboriginal people in the wider Australian community, such as citizenship rights. From this time, new voices were arising to question the celebratory status of Australia Day. This gained impetus during the 1988 Bicentenary with numerous protests staged across Australia including both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people declaring Australia Day a commemoration rather than a celebration of Australia's history.

Bicentenary display, Windows on Victoria exhibition, Melbourne Museum, 2000-2007.
Image: Benjamin Heally
Source: Museum Victoria  

Material objects, such as badges, coins and t-shirts, have often been disseminated to commemorate Australia Day. Many of these are in Museum Victoria's collection and can be viewed on Collections Online. These items remind us of the different meanings that Australia Day can have for Australia's diverse population. They also provide us with an understanding of the various circumstances leading up to Australia Day's consistent recognition by all States and Territories on January 26 for the first time in 1994, and as we know it today.

Got a question? Ask us!

Links:

Australia Day: History

Australia Day Student Resources: Indigenous Australians

After four years, and hundreds of questions, the Discovery Centre's online Question of the Week and Your Questions articles are moving house to the MV Blog.

Horse team moving a house from Creswick through Allendale, Victoria, circa 1909. (MM 001930)
Source: Museum Victoria  

We will still be answering all of your curious and quirky questions, but you will now have the chance to get to know us a little better. The weekly blog posts by the folks of the Melbourne Museum and Immigration Museums Discovery Centres will appear as Your Questions here on the MV Blog. This is the place to go to read about interesting facts, see curious objects, and become the person everyone wants on their pub trivia team. Read all the weird and wonderful questions the museum staff are asked, and even better, find out the answers!

Links:

Melbourne Museum Discovery Centre Question of the Week archive

Immigration Discovery Centre Your Questions archive

Jan Molloy's profound contribution to Victoria's multicultural community was recognised at the 2011 Multicultural Awards for Excellence ceremony at Government House last week. She received a Service Delivery to Multicultural Victoria Award, which was presented to her by Premier Ted Baillieu.

Jan Molloy and Premier Ted Baillieu at Government House for the 2011 Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence.
Source: Museum Victoria  

These awards are presented annually to celebrate the contributions of individuals and organisations that promote the social, economic and cultural benefits of Victoria's multicultural community. The Governor, Alex Chernov AO QC, and Mrs Chernov presided, and guests included the Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship, Nicholas Kotsiras, plus more than 500 members of the state's multicultural community.

Jan Molloy and Minister of Education Martin Dixon at Government House for the 2011 Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence.
Source: Museum Victoria  

L-R: Linda Sproul, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship Nicholas Kotsiras and Jan Molloy at Government House for the 2011 Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence.
Source: Museum Victoria  

After more than two decades of teaching, Jan joined Museum Victoria in 2006 and she coordinates humanities programs at the Immigration Museum. Over the years, Jan's passionate belief in the power of education to build strong communities has driven several innovative programs for teachers and students, including:

Narratives Across Cultures: a partnership program with both Deakin University and VUT leading to an ALTC research project 'Teaching and Learning in Public Spaces'

Cultural Diversity Quest: a partnership program with DEECD celebrating cultural diversity in our secondary schools, culminating in an exhibition at the Immigration Museum for Cultural Diversity Week 2010

Small Object Big Story: A program in which participants learn research techniques, explore their personal histories, uncover the stories embedded in familiar objects, and learn how to share their discoveries through exhibitions and publications. This program formed the basis for Making History.

Congratulations Jan Molloy!

Links:

Immigration Museum education programs

MV Blog: Making History with the experts

Seated around an enormous pile of industrial offcuts and repurposed bits and pieces, MV staff launched themselves In-Flight last Friday in a special after-hours aeroplane construction session.

Staff working on their planes. Completed planes are suspended above them.
Image: Rodney Start
Source: Museum Victoria  

In-Flight is one of three parts of Another Country, a project at the Immigration Museum by Filipino-born, Brisbane-based artists Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, that comprises displays, workshops and art installations. The series examines what it's like to leave your country and make a new home elsewhere.

"We make art-making as fun as possible. In-Flight asks people to create their own little aeroplanes. Of course, when you talk about aeroplanes it's about going from point A to point B. But at the same time there are a lot of other things that go into it – it becomes an object of memory, it could also become an object of fear. So one way to demystify this object is for us to get people to come and make their own little aeroplanes."

"It's good to have non-artists create things. If you get them involved not just as a passive observer but as an active participant, then that's the best way to get interested in art."

-Alfredo Aquilizan, interviewed on 3RRR FM

Artists Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan who created In-Flight as part of their Another Country series.
Image: Rodney Start
Source: Museum Victoria  

It's rare for grown-ups to have a chance to play like this, especially at work. Recycled rubber bands, icy pole sticks, bits of plastic and cardboard tubes became wonderful model aircraft to join the installation of planes suspended above the work table. Some staff rejected any pretence of aerodynamic qualities while others painstakingly replicated real aeroplanes, complete with engines, landing gear and propellers.

MV staff with the planes they made for In-Flight.
Image: Rodney Start
Source: Museum Victoria  

You can make a plane, to take home or to join the In-Flight installation, at the Immigration Museum until 31 January 2012.

Links:

Another Country series

MV Staff In-Flight flickr set

The travelling exhibition On their own - Britain's child migrants opened at the Immigration Museum on Thursday. Created by the Australian National Maritime Museum and National Museums Liverpool, UK, the exhibition recounts some of the experiences of over 100,000 British children who were sent to Commonwealth colonies and dominions from the 1860s to the1970s. They were taken from orphanages and children's homes to populate Australia, Canada and African colonies with "good white stock" in schemes that were largely hidden from public scrutiny until the late 1980s.

About 7500 children were sent to Australia. Some of the children left desperate circumstances and found their new home to be a land of opportunity. But for many child migrants, the experience was brutal.

Harold Haig, Secretary of the International Association of Former Child Migrants and their Families, speaking at the exhibition launch.
Image: Rodney Start
Source: Museum Victoria  

Guests in the Immigration Museum atrium for the official launch of On their own - Britain's child migrants .
Image: Rodney Start
Source: Museum Victoria  

Harold Haig, Secretary of the International Association of Former Child Migrants and their Families, spoke at the exhibition launch. "Many child migrants faced an assault course of adversity rather than a preparation for adult life. The children were often led to believe that they were orphans; that their parents were dead. This was a particularly cruel deception that extinguished the hopes of many parents and children of ever being reunited." The British Consul-General, Stuart Gill, spoke about his participation in the formal apologies delivered by the Australian Government in 2009 and by the British Government in 2010. He considers them among the most powerful but emotional duties of his position, yet concealment by both Governments of their policies for decades meant that just a few years prior he had never heard of child migrants.

Stuart Gill, British Consul-General and Maggie Gill in the exhibition.
Image: Rodney Start
Source: Museum Victoria  

Now, it is hard to believe that the schemes that brought unaccompanied children as young as three years old to these shores were not more widely known. Settled mostly in rural institutions, the children were expected to provide farm and domestic labour. Hugh McGowan left Glasgow as an adolescent and was placed at Dhurringile Training Farm in Tatura, and later Kilmany Park Home for Boys in Sale. He says, "I was fed, I was clothed, I was somewhat educated, I was housed. [But] there are things that happened to me as a seven year old boy and as a 15 year old boy that I just didn't discuss with anyone." Mr McGowan speaks frankly about the abuse and deprivation that he suffered because he feels that it's important for people to know what happened to him. He left institutional care at the age of 17, permanently shaped by his experiences, and found it difficult to relate to people in his personal and professional life. "I didn't understand them because I wasn't the product of a loving family, whereas they were."

Hugh McGowan looking at a photo of four child migrants on their way to Fairbridge Farm School.
Image: Rodney Start
Source: Museum Victoria  

Says Mr McGowan, "the exhibition is precisely what it should be. It's an accurate reflection of what happened. Some of us have survived, but a lot of us haven't." Parts of it are quite harrowing. Curator Kim Tao had the difficult task of sifting through stories, good and bad, to include in the exhibition. "Despite them being such difficult and painful stories, the [former child migrants] really wanted to share them and put them on the public record and recognise that this was such an important part of Australia's migration history." She mentioned the exhibition's website which has a message board, and that people are still coming forward to talk about their experiences for the first time. Through the Child Migrants Trust and other groups, former child migrants support one another as adults much they did as children, when, in the absence of parents and families, they became de facto families for one another.

Exhibition curator Kim Tao (centre) with former child migrants Sandra Anker and Hugh McGowan.
Image: Rodney Start
Source: Museum Victoria  

On Their Own - Britain's child migrants is at the Immigration Museum until 6 May 2012.

Links:

Child Migrants Trust

'Innocence lost in lucky country', The Age, 11 October 2011

Inside: Dhurringile boys (National Museum of Australia)

Left: Federation Handbells. Right: making a Mardi Gras cake.
Image: Jon Augier
Source: Museum Victoria

Thank you all for coming along and we hope to see you back at our next Kids Fest in January 2012.

Links:

Immigration Museum

Past Event - Kids Fest: Carnivale

When do you feel like you belong? This question is central to the new exhibition Identity: yours, mine, ours that opens at the Immigration Museum on 11 May. We took this question to the streets, setting up an open photo shoot in Little Collins St at the end of March. These photos are now in the Identity at the Immigration Museum group on Flickr and the overview video below.

If you’re on Twitter, we'd love to hear your #ibelong story, too. We want you to tell us “I feel #ibelong when...’  We'll put selected tweets up on a screen at the exhibition launch and during the opening weeks of the exhibition, we’ll be giving away tickets for some of the best #ibelong tweets. You can also follow the #ibelong tweets via the Immigration Museum Twitter account.

Links:

Identity: yours, mine, ours website

Identity blog

On Sunday 6 March under clear blue skies, Immigration Museum hosted its first West African Cultural Festival. The Honourable Nicholas Kotsiras, Minister for Multicultural Affairs & Citizenship, opened the event before a spectacular parade in which traditionally clad representatives from 16 West African countries welcomed visitors in the museum’s festival courtyard.

Assembled guests and community representatives at the West African Cultural Festival. Includes Nicholas Kotsiras, Minister for Multicultural Affairs & Citizenship, and J. Patrick Greene, CEO Museum Victoria.
Image: Jon Augier
Source: Museum Victoria

West Africa as a region includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Western Sahara.

As the region boasts such an incredible range of cultural, political and historical origins, an organising committee of community representatives worked hard to program performances, displays, films and talks to represent the diversity of West African communities in Victoria.

The main stage played host to incredible performances all day including drumming and dance, traditional kora strummed solo, and funky Afrobeat inspired by Nigerian pop-legend Fela Kuti. More than 800 visitors over the day sat in the shade in the courtyard perhaps enjoying Ekwusi soup with steamed semolina fufu, or Chicken Yassa washed down with a cool glass of hibiscus tea.

 Soccer demonstration, West African Cultural Festival.
Image: Jon Augier
Source: Museum Victoria

In the theatrette, audiences learnt to make their own fufu as well as a djembe drum (starting from scratch with the full hide of a goat!) They were also treated to films and talks including accounts of Malian history and the traditional cultural practices of Benin. Across the Museum, West African community groups ran information stalls affording visitors a window into contemporary West African culture in Victoria.

Attendees standing behind giant chicken coffin from Ghana at the West African Cultural Festival.
Image: Jon Augier
Source: Museum Victoria

The festival is part of a suite of programs running alongside the West Africa: Rhythm and Spirit exhibition (running till 29 May 2011), which features objects collected from West African countries by Joel A. and Patricia H. Vanderburg from Otago, New Zealand.

As with each of Immigration Museum’s cultural festivals, the West African festival provided an opportunity for audiences to engage across cultures and for communities to take a leading role in presenting their culture and activating Museum spaces.

Mimmie Ngum Chi in traditional Cameroonian dress.
Image:  Benjamin Healley
Source: Museum Victoria

This year, the Museum will expand on the success of this festival, and continue to run a series of cultural events that bring people from diverse cultural backgrounds together in celebration. Stay tuned for more details.

Were you at the West African festival on the day? What did you think?

This guest post comes from Philip Thiel, who works in the museum’s Online Learning team, creating and publishing material for education audiences on the web.

Tuvalu is still being wrecked by climate change over two years after the launch of Immigration Museum’s exhibition Waters of Tuvalu: A nation at risk. The nation’s greenhouse gas emission is miniscule compared to that of developed nations such as Australia, but it will become the first nation to be uninhabitable as a result of climate change. “This is a grave injustice,” writes Reverend Tafue Lusama at Crikey’s Rooted blog, at which he describes the devastating effects of changing weather patterns on fishing, agriculture and public health in his homeland. “Things are shifting rapidly now.”

A young girl looks out to sea.
Image: Peter Bennetts
Source: Peter Bennetts

We’ve just updated the Immigration Museum website with content from the Waters of Tuvalu exhibition, including beautiful photographs by Peter Bennetts and Fikau Teponga. There’s information about the history and culture of Tuvalu, as well as sections on the impact of climate change. You can also download the exhibition catalogue from the site, which further enriches the online archive of past exhibitions held at the Immigration Museum.

Waters of Tuvalu was opened in August 2008, and has since travelled to several other Australian venues including the Noosa Regional Gallery. The exhibition team created it with the goal of minimal environmental impact, utilising products, materials and suppliers in an effort to achieve best practice outcomes. This contributed to Museum Victoria’s Award for Excellence in Green Purchasing (Victorian State Government) in the 2010 Eco-Buy Awards.

Funafut Atoll July 1999 - a shortage of land on Funafuti has led to housing being built around and on the rubbish-filled borrow pits.
Image: Peter Bennetts
Source: Peter Bennetts

We were proud to accept this award. Nevertheless – and despite the beautiful images and objects included in the exhibition – there’s something melancholy about telling the story of a disappearing nation.

Links:

Past Exhibitions: Waters of Tuvalu

From tiny Tuvalu: the island being destroyed by climate change

2010 Eco-Buy Awards

On Friday 25 February Immigration Discovery Centre participated in the annual Shake Your Family Tree. Organised by the National Archives of Australia (NAA), this is a national event that brings together family history experts in one location for an entire day.

Along with six other institutions, including State Library of Victoria, Public Record Office of Victoria, and Genealogical Society of Victoria, we set up our stand in the foyer of the VAC in North Melbourne and helped many enthusiastic visitors with questions about doing their family history research.

Advising a visitor at Shake Your Family Tree.
Image: Anna Koh
Source: National Archives of Australia

A number of seminars were presented on the day and I did a talk on Revealing objects & stories from Museum Victoria's Migration Collection. In this, I discussed the power of objects to tell a story and the way museums use them in their exhibitions, programs and online resources. As an example, I told the story of one particular migrant through the medium of some objects related to her life that are part of the Migration Collection. Lastly, I encouraged my audience to see if they could utilise any objects in their own homes to further enrich their family history research.

Nicole speaking on the MV Migration Collection.
Image: Anna Koh
Source: National Archives of Australia

Museum Victoria also participated in a Conservation Clinic, where members of the public could bring in their precious documents or objects for advice on how to protect and conserve them.

All in all it was a great day and we are already looking forward to next year!

A Museum Victoria conservator gives advice at the Conservation Clinic.
Image: Anna Koh
Source: National Archives of Australia

Links:

Museum Victoria Migration Collection

SLV Family Matters blog: Shake Your Family Tree 2011 style

National Archives of Victoria

Public Record Office of Victoria

Genealogical Society of Victoria

Jo is one of the friendly staff at MV's Discovery Centres. Despite protestations that she does not blog, she couldn't resist writing about this recent coincidence...

Weekends in the Immigration Discovery Centre are normally filled with lots of folks looking for their names, or the names of ancestors, on the various websites we can easily access. But this weekend proved a little more interesting...

I was helping a lady who was here on holidays from Florida find some information about her long-lost ancestors whom she believed arrived at Melbourne in the 1870s. This in itself is not out of the ordinary, but the woman’s maiden name was: it was Leggo. She had heard that her ancestors had come to Australia and started a food business. I asked her if she had made it into a supermarket yet and wandered down the pasta aisle, since their little food business was considerably bigger than she realised. (Leggo's is now a major brand of pasta and sauces. According to the company history on the Leggo's website, Henry Leggo began selling his mother's bottled sauces and pickles to Bendigo goldminers in the 1880s).

While she and I were chatting about this, another woman came up to the desk and excused herself for interrupting. She asked if we were talking about the the name Leggo, because that that was her name, too – and yes, it was spelt the same. She was on holidays from Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The two women exchanged the details of their respective family history as they each knew it and it seems that they are distantly related. They have since exchanged email addresses and will say in contact when they return home to Florida and Cornwall.

Joyce Taylor (left) and Elizabeth Leggo in the Immigration Discovery Centre.
Source: Museum Victoria

Links:

Immigration Discovery Centre

Researching Italian Migration

Have you ever looked down at the footpath in Melbourne's CBD and wondered about those 20cm round bronze plaques that seem to lead a trail through the city? Well, they are the path of the Golden Mile Heritage Trail. This walking tour explores Melbourne's buildings, laneways, streets, characters and history from its beginnings through to modern times. And, on a beautiful sunny Melbourne morning last week, I went to discover what it was all about!

The tour started at Federation Square, on the intersection of Swanston and Flinders Streets, one of Melbourne's liveliest spots for over 150 years. Our tour guide set the scene for the rest of the walk, describing the history of the buildings around us. From the 1852 gold rush era St Paul's Cathedral on one corner to the famous Young & Jackson's pub of 1861 opposite; from the Federation era opulence of Flinders Street Station of 1910, to the ultra contemporary public spaces of Federation Square, this intersection provides a physical snapshot of the city's history.

Sandridge Bridge
Image: Nicole Davis
Source: Museum Victoria

We next walked along the Yarra talking about how Melbourne was built up around this spot from its beginnings as an Aboriginal meeting place to the coming of Europeans to today. We chatted about some of the characters in the city's early history, such as John Batman, John Pascoe Fawkner and Robert Hoddle, and how they shaped the city. Our guide also pointed out interesting sites like the outlet for the creek that runs under Elizabeth Street and the Sandridge Bridge. This Bridge was originally a railway bridge and was the line that took immigrant passengers from Port Melbourne to Flinders Street Station before embarking on a new life in Australia. Now a pedestrian bridge, its sculptures and text panels explore the waves of people,from Melbourne's Indigenous inhabitants onward who have crossed the river on this spot.

Immigration Museum was next, where the tour officially starts. I turned tour guide for a few minutes, guiding our guide through the Immigration Discovery Centre and explaining what we do here.

The Travellers, Sandridge Bridge
Image: Nicole Davis
Source: Museum Victoria  Rutherglen House, Highlander Lane
Image: Nicole Davis
Source: Museum Victoria

We then meandered through some of my favourite sites in Melbourne - its laneways! I got to pop my head inside the Mitre Tavern and found out the fascinating history of the Savage Club, plus discovered a new spot I hadn't previously known about and will definitely be popping back to. Rutherglen House is an 1850s bluestone residence/warehouse located on Highlander Lane. Today it's still a private residence!

After our little laneway exploration, we wandered up Collins Street discussing the progress of Marvellous Melbourne and the boom and bust of the 1880s to 1890s. Despite the many modern office blocks that I always feel characterise Collins Street, there are actually a surprising number of buildings from the 1870s to 1900 period that survive. There are some fabulous opulent buildings like the Gothic ANZ bank building on the corner of Elizabeth Street and the adjoining Stock Exchange. I also really enjoyed seeing the way the 1890s Rialto and Winfield buildings have been incorporated into the Intercontinental Hotel and Rialto Towers.

Rialto Building from Collins Street
Image: Nicole Davis
Source: Museum Victoria

The tour ended another hour later with some of Melbourne's famous arcades: the Block Arcade from the 1890s; Howey Place, next to which the famous Cole's Book Arcade was once located; and the controversial Capitol Arcade, developed in the 1960s.

As you can see the tour was densely packed and I could write reams on more of the great stories that our guide had to impart. He was amazingly knowledgeable, gave fabulous detailed accounts, and brought to life Melbourne's history for me. Most of all, he answered my constant questions with good grace and love of his subject. As a student of urban history, it was a fascinating insight and a great opportunity to talk with someone who had an in-depth knowledge of these places. If you want to get to know Melbourne, whether you're a visitor or a local, I highly recommend going on one of these walking tours.

Links:

You can see more images of the tour and find out how to book on the Immigration Museum Website.

Test shot for the upcoming photo shoot.
Source: Museum Victoria

Do you know a child between seven and ten years old who'd like to be included in a new exhibition at the Immigration Museum?

The team working on the upcoming exhibition Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours are seeking up to ten children to be photographed to feature in one section of the gallery. This area will focus on how people identify difference from a very young age through to adulthood. A large scale photograph of a group of children playing - from various cultural backgrounds - will form the backdrop to a series of text panels outlining key moments of personal development. This is the section for which volunteers are needed.

Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours is a new long-term exhibition that will open at the Immigration Museum in March 2011. It will address the very personal experience of identity, and what this means in Australia – today, in the past and into the future. The exhibition will explore the complexity and fluidity of personal identity in contemporary multicultural Australia, with a focus on ethnicity, language, spirituality, ancestry and citizenship.

What's required?

No experience necessary – children (and their carers) are required to turn up on the day of the photography shoot for an hour or two.

When?

UPDATE: Thursday 3 February, 1pm

Where?

Meet at the playground near Rathdowne St, Carlton Gardens. Melways ref 43 J4

To express interest of for more information, call Monica Zetlin, Producer on 0411 555 663 or email mzetlin@museum.vic.gov.au

Links:

Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours

Exhibition development blog

Fireworks on New Year's Eve in St Kilda, 1935. (MM 8768)
Image: Cyril Henshaw
Source: Museum Victoria

With Melbourne temperatures predicted to reach 40ºC on New Year's Eve, I'm glad I'll be spending the working hours of Hogmanay in the cool of Melbourne Museum's air conditioning. A perfect time to visit one of our venues before celebrating the arrival of 2011. We're open on New Year's Day, too.

How will you be escaping the heat?

Links:

What's On at Melbourne Museum

What's On at the Immigration Museum

What's On at Scienceworks

This guest post comes from Alasdair Mulligan, a Monash University student currently interning with Museum Victoria as part of his Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) course which he will complete at the end of this year.

Where did your family come from? Why did they choose Victoria? How long ago did they arrive?

These questions, and more, can be answered by the Immigration Museum’s recently updated Origins multimedia display, giving visitors the opportunity to see exactly when, and in what context their family immigrated to Victoria.

Based on Government census information gathered since 1854, Origins contains data from 82 countries, and was researched, built and designed by Museum Victoria in conjunction with SBS Radio, Australian Bureau of Statistics, and community members.

Origins is available at two kiosks in the Long Room of the Immigration Museum, complemented by a large touch screen and audio speakers, it gives visitors the opportunity to explore their family heritage by viewing graphs and bios related to population, history and gender. There is also a website version.

The Origins kiosk at the Immigration Museum displays information about migrant communities in Australia.
Source: Museum Victoria

Bettina, a 28 year old German tourist, said she found Origins “fascinating” and that it told her a lot about why her dad was considering living in Melbourne in the 1950s.

“My dad actually moved to Australia after the war for four years, it was the trend at the time – to move overseas – but I don’t think he liked being away from his family and friends for too long, so he came back.

“It was really interesting seeing how many people thought like my father back then. You can see on the graph that heaps of people from Germany decided to come to Australia during the same time.” Bettina said.

Origins has recently undergone a significant upgrade, and senior curator Deb Tout-Smith says that the service has considerably expanded and now offers a lot more.

“Origins has been updated with the latest 2006 Government Census Information, this includes 12 new communities being added, plotted histories being updated and a handful of audio-visual guides being included.

“It’s supposed to provide an insight into the community, show the political and socio-economic reasons of why they immigrated, and while this update has taken longer than we hoped to complete, working with communities is something that you can’t rush.” Deb said.

“At the moment we include communities that have a population of at least 1100 people, I’d love to get that down to somewhere around the 100 mark, but it all depends on feasibility, we get a lot of people saying ‘Why aren’t we in origins?’ but sometimes these communities only contain one or two people and it would be basically including someone’s personal history.”

Work has already begun on preparing the next update for Origins, which will include the 2011 Government Census Information, and is expected to be ready in two to three years' time.

Links:

Journeys of a Lifetime in the Immigration Museum's Long Room

Origins website