An exhibition marking the progress of the Dardalis Archives, one of the most significant collections of Greek Australian historical records, was launched in Melbourne this week.
Housed within La Trobe University, the archives, (formerly known as the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora), were established in 1997 at the university’s now defunct National Centre for Hellenic Studies and Research, thanks to businessman Zisi Dardalis.
Following the centre’s closure in 2008, the doubted future of the archives was secured by Tasos Revis, president of the society for hellenic studies, and as a result the university offered to take the collection under its wing.
Chair of the university’s Archive Committee Professor Chris Mackie told Neos Kosmos: “We wanted to do some kind of exhibition to focus people’s minds on the fact that it’s here; the work’s going on.”
The exhibition, entitled ‘Halfway Through’, refers to researchers having listed 50 per cent of the archived material, which details the symbolic and physical journey undertaken by thousands of Greeks to Australia and their integration with Australian society.
Of the 200,000 items that have so far been assessed, the bulk of the material is in English or Greek, while some of the content on migration is in Arabic, French and German.
Professor Mackie confirmed that the bilingual team working on the archives, consisting of academics and historians in the Victorian Greek community, is ahead of its three-and-a-half year schedule to complete the time-consuming process of categorising the items.
The archive is made up of hundreds of boxes of stored materials containing newspapers, books, diaries, scrapbooks, films, music scores, posters, ephemera, photographs, newsreels and costumes, giving a profound insight into the 130-year history of the Hellenic diaspora in Australia.
The La Trobe professor says he is particularly impressed by the newspaper collection, which dates back to Smyrna in the early 1920s.
“Modern Greek is taught at La Trobe and we want to see this archive used for research. I can imagine research being done, particularly in Modern Greek studies, on the origins of the community. I think it will be a very valuable resource if somebody wants to come and do a PhD,” he said.
Along with Professor Mackie, the collection was unveiled on Thursday at La Trobe’s Bundoora campus by Vice Chancellor Professor John Dewar accompanied by Victoria’s Consul General of Greece, Christina Simantirakis.
The ‘Halfway Through’ exhibition will run until December 5. Listings of the Archive’s contents can be viewed online at www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/greek-archives