Novelty car number plate, 2009. The term 'wog' has shifted in its meaning over the years in Australia. Once a derrogatory cultural insult it has been repossessed by many people of Greek and Italian background to be used as a badge of humour, community belonging and collective pride.
Image: Taryn Ellis
Source: Museum Victoria
How do you define yourself? And how do others define you? These questions about who we are and where we belong are central to Identity: yours, mine, ours, the new permanent exhibition coming in 2011 to the Immigration Museum.
This exhibition will examine how our cultural heritage, languages, beliefs, and family connections influence our perceptions of ourselves and other people – perceptions which can lead to discovery, confusion, prejudice and understanding.
Since 2009 the team behind this exhibition have been collecting objects, stories and ideas from a variety of perspectives – from cultural objects of pride that were brought to Australia from other countries, to shameful artefacts of prejudice and exclusion. Multimedia and online components will be interwoven with object displays to create a rich and immersive encounter, and the project blog invites people to interact with the exhibition content and even contribute to the exhibition itself.
MV is working with renowned video artist Lynette Wallworth to develop an introductory installation to greet visitors as they enter the exhibition. Lynette’s artwork, Evolution of Fear, was part of the 2010 Sydney Festival and demonstrated her rich, lifelike video projections that feature real life stories and experiences. The team behind the Identity exhibition are seeking up to 40 people to be filmed for this installation in December 2010. If you’d like to know more, go to the Identity Blog’s casting call post.