“This ethnographic intergenerational and intercultural research and arts project constitutes an extensive body of work of previously untold, unheard and unread poignant and courageous stories by and about immigrants and/or refugees who came to Australia by ship up to the late 1970s, and disembarked at Port Melbourne. Represented across art-forms: exhibitions, print publications, e-publications, short-form documentaries, and community forums, these biographical social histories are an essential catalyst for opening up conversations around diversity, social inclusion and the experience of transitioning from displacement to settlement, by those who came from elsewhere and now call Australia home”. Lella Cariddi, Curator, What Happened at the Pier
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PIER January - December
A biographical social history investigation by and about immigrants and refugees (Memory Keepers), who up to the late seventies, travelled to Australia by ship and disembarked through the historical entry points of Princes and Station pier in Port Melbourne, Victoria. Under the professional expertise of researcher/curator, Lella Cariddi, What Happened at the Pier was first presented as part of MAV’s 2015 Piers Festival at Princes Pier with satellite exhibitions and events at the Emerald Hill Library & Heritage Centre, St Kilda Library and East Melbourne Library, and subsequently, at the Diamond Valley Library, the Eltham Library Community Gallery, Backspace Gallery in Ballarat, Museo Italiano, and a range of other sites across the State. The cross-cultural, intergenerational project will be outreaching to engage - bringing together the wider population of Memory Keepers, students, interns, academics, volunteers, artists across disciplines, public libraries, local government areas, galleries, museums and heritage centres throughout the metropolitan area, with satellite features in Regional Victoria. Image: Remains: Princes Pier, Port Melbourne, Australia, 2017. Photo by Tomasso Durrante
57