My interview with Sheridan Stewart from ABC Mildura Swan Hill yesterday morning has been edited into a great little story by Sophie Malcolm, which you can read via the link below:
From Calabria to Sunraysia: tracing stories and culture - ABC Mildura - Swan Hill Victoria - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Thursday 24 September 2015
Sunday 6 September 2015
Famiglia: The family ties that bind - the background
It's Fathers' Day in Australia today.
[The following is an edited excerpt from the introduction from my thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) 2013]:
Famiglia is central to my arts practise, for me it is what makes my world go 'round. While my family is far from perfect, their influence is what has made me the person and artist I am today.
Both sets of grandparents migrated to Australia in the 1950s. My maternal grandfather Francesco in 1951; and paternal grandfather Michele in 1950; as was the custom, the men came first to earn enough money to send for their wives and children. My paternal grandmother Elena followed Nonno Michele in 1951, with her five children (one of whom was my father Antonio). In 1954 Nonno Francesco sent for his wife (my Nonna Domenica), daughter Anna (my mother) and son Bruno (my Uncle who later died in a tractor accident in 1960); both families eventually found their way to Mildura and worked hard pursuing varied service for assorted employers.
Their desire for a better life drove them to build a modest life for their family from the land. Like other recently arrived migrants, they immersed themselves in the familiar and clung to the traditions and customs of their homeland.
My father died eleven years ago, and since his passing my interest in the family bond, the ties that bind, has strengthened. The loss of my father was a huge shock to the family; diagnosed with a brain tumour after complaining of a persistent headache, he died almost six months to the day of his diagnosis. I recall waking up the morning after his death at my mother's house, hoping that the whole ordeal was just a dream, but alas, it was a dark reality.
My father had always encouraged my artistic aspirations (both parents did) and even though they did not understand why I chose to pursue a career that did not seem to hold much promise in a financial sense, my father was confident of my eventual success. My father also loved to retell a story and herein lies the essence of my arts practise: family, memory and storytelling.
Please support my arts practice-led research project which aims to trace the impact of the Calabrian diaspora on the cultural sphere of North-West Victoria, Australia. Donations can be made via OzCrowd here.
Follow the project via the Facebook page.
[The full document, Famiglia: memory, migration, spirituality and cultural practice as a first generation Australian, can be viewed/downloaded via the link here.
Famiglia is central to my arts practise, for me it is what makes my world go 'round. While my family is far from perfect, their influence is what has made me the person and artist I am today.
Both sets of grandparents migrated to Australia in the 1950s. My maternal grandfather Francesco in 1951; and paternal grandfather Michele in 1950; as was the custom, the men came first to earn enough money to send for their wives and children. My paternal grandmother Elena followed Nonno Michele in 1951, with her five children (one of whom was my father Antonio). In 1954 Nonno Francesco sent for his wife (my Nonna Domenica), daughter Anna (my mother) and son Bruno (my Uncle who later died in a tractor accident in 1960); both families eventually found their way to Mildura and worked hard pursuing varied service for assorted employers.
Their desire for a better life drove them to build a modest life for their family from the land. Like other recently arrived migrants, they immersed themselves in the familiar and clung to the traditions and customs of their homeland.
My father died eleven years ago, and since his passing my interest in the family bond, the ties that bind, has strengthened. The loss of my father was a huge shock to the family; diagnosed with a brain tumour after complaining of a persistent headache, he died almost six months to the day of his diagnosis. I recall waking up the morning after his death at my mother's house, hoping that the whole ordeal was just a dream, but alas, it was a dark reality.
My father had always encouraged my artistic aspirations (both parents did) and even though they did not understand why I chose to pursue a career that did not seem to hold much promise in a financial sense, my father was confident of my eventual success. My father also loved to retell a story and herein lies the essence of my arts practise: family, memory and storytelling.
Please support my arts practice-led research project which aims to trace the impact of the Calabrian diaspora on the cultural sphere of North-West Victoria, Australia. Donations can be made via OzCrowd here.
Follow the project via the Facebook page.
[The full document, Famiglia: memory, migration, spirituality and cultural practice as a first generation Australian, can be viewed/downloaded via the link here.
Sunday 23 August 2015
Calabrisella Mia! Travel Research | OzCrowd
I've just launched my first crowdfunding campaign!
I would really appreciate your support, the campaign will raise funds to assist my travel research to the Calabrian region of Italy, for my Master of Visual Arts by Research project, ‘Famiglia: tracing the impact of the Calabrian diaspora on the cultural sphere of North-West Victoria. Explorations through performance, video and relational art’.
Please visit the page, and if you are able, make a donation, I will be forever grateful! Many thanks, Luci
I would really appreciate your support, the campaign will raise funds to assist my travel research to the Calabrian region of Italy, for my Master of Visual Arts by Research project, ‘Famiglia: tracing the impact of the Calabrian diaspora on the cultural sphere of North-West Victoria. Explorations through performance, video and relational art’.
Please visit the page, and if you are able, make a donation, I will be forever grateful! Many thanks, Luci
Calabrisella Mia! Travel Research | OzCrowd click the link to the left to donate
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