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Photographic journey through Italy at the Gallery

Currently showing at Latrobe Regional Gallery is a fascinating exhibition Origini: Hometowns of Italo-Australians showcasing black and white photographs by Sydney artist Jane Burton Taylor.

By Latrobe Shire Council - 7th February 2005 - Back to News

Gallery Director, Louise Tegart said that the exhibition of gentle lyrical photographs took the viewer on an unusual journey through the original hometowns of Italo-Australians.

"Presenting quiet moments in the daily life and rituals of these towns, from the Veneto to Sicily, the photographs are at once idiosyncratic and universal. Like film stills they simultaneously capture private moments and suggest a story," Ms Tegart explained.

"The photographs in the exhibition evoke a strong sense of familiarity and place, even for those who have not been to Italy. Most of us have memories, immediate or inherited from past generations, of other shores. These images explore that dimension of other places and the origins which define who we are as contemporary Australians," Ms Tegart said.

Ms Tegart explained that Italians began migrating to Australia en masse after World War Two. It was a time when Europe was war-ravaged; many infrastructures were badly damaged and unemployment was high.

"It was a time too when Australia was realising that to have a secure and viable future, it needed to populate," Ms Tegart said.

The Department of Immigration was newly formed, created by a Labor Government in 1945, and in April of 1951 the Australian and Italian Governments signed the Assisted Migration Agreement.

"Hundreds of thousands of Italians took the opportunity, and risk, of assisted passage and set off for an unpredictable new life in Australia," Ms Tegart explained.

"The majority of Italians migrated between 1945 and 1972; they numbered close to 400,000, a significant figure given that the population of Australia in 1945 was only 7.5 million. After the British, the Italians were the next largest group to migrate to Australia.

"Though there isn’t an official list of the towns the Italians left behind, it appears specific regions were targeted by Australian immigration officials. The valley running inland from the seaside city of Chieti in Abruzzo is a case-in-point. It is dotted with Australian connections," Ms Tegart added.

Ms Tegart said that before beginning her project Jane Burton Taylor spoke to members of the Italian community in Sydney, local associations, teachers and academics, to compile a list of these towns from Sicily to the Veneto.

"She made three trips to Italy and travelled thousands of kilometres by car the length and breadth of the country to photograph some thirty different hometowns of Italo-Australians.

"There are thousands of hometowns of Italian Australians. This exhibition is a journey through some of them. It is a slim but real connection between Australia and Italy, between Italo-Australians and their past, between contemporary Australians and their diverse, close or distant, origins," Ms Tegart concluded.

The exhibition continues at Latrobe Regional Gallery until Sunday 20 March.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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