Projects
Celebrations > Home
Celebrations: Spirit of Communities
People have migrated to Australia from all over the world and
brought with them their familiar celebrations to mark important
public and private occasions. Mostly these are stages in human
life that all of us go through: birth, puberty, adulthood, marriage,
death.
But in between these milestones fall other events: each village,
town and city creates its own celebrations that announce to each
other and to visitors: 'This occasion is what makes us unique'.
Many communities in Wollongong have made celebrations. They
have brought them from other places and changed them to fit with
a new place, new seasons, new neighbours. Other celebrations have
been born right here, to make a special time and place for people
to come together and say: 'This is also us. We have changed, but
we are still unique.'
In September 2003, the Migration Heritage Project (MHP) put together
the Celebrations: Spirit of Communities Exhibition at
the Wollongong City Gallery, which was made possible by funding
from The IMB Community Foundation, a grant from Community and
Cultural Services Wollongong City Council and a grant from Viva
La Gong.
The Exhibition was also made possible with in kind support from
Wollongong City Gallery, Downstairs Graphic Design, Community
and Cultural Services Wollongong City Council, Multicultural Services
Wollongong City Council, Faculty of Arts University of Wollongong,
Carnivale and Powerhouse Museum Regional Services Unit. The exhibition
was curated by Linda Raymond, Museum Consultant & Interpretation
Specialist.
The exhibition development was managed by the Migration Heritage
Project Officer and members of the Migration Heritage Project.
The exhibition installation was by Linda Raymond , Wollongong
City Gallery staff, Ken Hamilton, cultural groups and members
of the Migration Heritage Project and Kath Walters.
The design of the exhibition panels was developed and produced
by Downstairs Graphic Design. The exhibition design was developed
by masters' student, Delphi Dib-Milston and Joshua Beggs
under the supervision of Gregor Cullen at the Faculty of Creative
Arts University of Wollongong. Their design service was provided
through their business Downstairs Graphic Design.
The Migration Heritage Project gratefully acknowledges the support
and commitment of the community, community organisations and individuals
who have generously contributed their expertise, time, stores
and objects for the exhibition.
Communities make celebrations and celebrations make
communities
The Exhibition featured five Wollongong Communities: Vietnamese,
Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Macedonian.
The Vietnamese section of the exhibition featured the Moon Festival
for children and the First House which is celebrated by families
moving into their first home. The displays included:
The Greek, including Cypriot Greek, celebrations, displayed
in the exhibition were Independence Day and Easter. The display
included:
Italian cultural life in Wollongong is explored through Ballo
Nazionale and Chestnut day. The displays include:
One of Wollongong's many cultures is Portuguese - from the mainland
and from the islands of Madeira and the Azores . Many people migrating
from Portugal have settled in the southern suburbs and two clubs
are established - the South Coast Portuguese Association in Warrawong
and the Kemblawarra Club in Port Kembla. This display includes:
- Two
Baby Jesus figures used in a family Christmas celebration
- one handed down within the family from Portugal and one imported
from Spain and blessed at the Warrawong Catholic Church
- Table setting on a hand embroidered tablecloth with crockery,
cutlery and decorated glass handed down from mother to eldest
daughter, home made Christmas table decoration and Portuguese
ornaments
- Hand
made flower arches used in traditional dances performed
by local junior and youth folkloric groups
- Flower
Marches
The Macedonian culture in Wollongong is represented in this
exhibition. The celebrations included are a Macedonian wedding
spanning two continents and patron days (villages) and name days
(instead of birthdays). The displays included are:
See the full Celebrations section
to view images from the Celebrations Exhibition
|
