Mildura Arts Centre will this Sunday host the launch of a major new exhibition celebrating the integral role migration plays in shaping Mildura.
Making Home: Mildura Migration Stories traces the flow and movement of people, things and ideas that make Mildura what it is today as a result of the hundreds of thousands of migrants that have, and continue to, arrive in our area and call it home.
Councillor Mark Eckel said the exhibition would be launched with a community celebration this Sunday at 2pm, featuring food, music and dance to mark the occasion.
The exhibition, which will be officially opened at the Mildura Arts Centre by Member for Mildura Ali Cupper, will tell the story of migration in Mildura through a diverse range of mediums and events.
They’ll include live performances, site-specific installations and pieces from the Mildura Arts Centre Collection among a host of different mediums, artworks and genres.
“Migration has made us who we are today, and it’s a process that is still happening now as we continue to welcome new migrants to our region each year,” Cr Eckel said.
“It’s a phenomenon that makes our region so much richer and is reflected in Mildura’s diverse architecture, urban experience and economy.
“This exhibition is particularly special for me from a personal perspective as my extended family arrived in Australia from Italy more than 60 years ago. I’m very proud of my Italian heritage and the role our family has played in our area’s migration story.
“This fantastic exhibition is a spectacular and creative way to tell that story, sharing both the individual and collective experiences of those who’ve migrated to the Mildura area.”
As part of the exhibition opening weekend, and introducing the theme of people from other countries calling Sunraysia home, Year 11 Drama students from Mildura Senior College will produce a performance in the Langtree Mall this Saturday.
Starting at 11am, the 20-minute performance, Seeking Refugee: verbatim, is the result of research conducted by the students into the topic ‘seeking refuge’.
Their research involved interviewing English as an Additional Language (EAL) students their own age in a bid to hear their stories of arriving in Mildura as migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Seeking Refugee: verbatim seeks to tell these stories though the theatrical piece Sunraysia residents will experience this Saturday morning.
