It is finished. At long last, and despite the naysayers, the obfuscators and the sceptics, the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria has overseen the demolition of a flaccid, tired and outdated structure, and in its place, presided over the erection of a strong, tall and mighty edifice that thrusts potently up towards the heavens, proclaiming to all and sundry in our corner of Melbourne’s CBD, our virility, fecundity and much more besides.
With the air of an artist who has embalmed the poignant history of an intensely human spirit in the magical spices of words, the president of the GOCMV has declared that the tower is open for business.
In not only undertaking, but successfully completing this long-needed task, the GOCMV has proven various things to the community at large. Firstly, that the second generation of Greek Australians (comprising the majority of the members of the GOCMV’s current committee), which is more integrated within the broader Australian community, both socially and professionally, can harness a unique set of skills and networks in order to achieve projects that hitherto appeared to be unachievable. It follows logically that in this post-migration age, the acceptable face of the Greek community as a whole to the broader community must be one where second generation Greek Australians, for the reasons stated above, are prominent. Already, we have seen such prominence pay dividends, both in communication and funding and it is to the eternal credit and discernment of the members of the GOCMV that they entrusted their organisation to a committee that included Australian-born Greeks in the decision-making, rather than just a tokenistic capacity. In fact, such trust is historic in itself, for the phenomenon of clinging to ‘power’ or ‘position’ when one has fast exceeded their utility or relevance is so ingrained in Greek culture, and especially the culture of the Greek organisations in Melbourne, that we even have an expression for such persons, inspired by Greek mythology: ‘καρεκλοκένταυροι’, or literally, ‘chair-centaurs’.
The construction of the magnificent edifice has caused a marked change in the structure of our broader community. Whereas previously this was largely comprised of disparate insular organisations jealously guarding their own narrow interests, now our community is comprised of insular organisations jealously guarding their own narrow interests, but coalescing around the GOCMV as its central pole. By being inclusive, actively recruiting the assistance and collaboration, not only of Geek organisations, but also of the Greek business sector and interested individuals, the GOCMV has made the completion of its tower an achievement the entire community can feel it has contributed to, and has a stake in. In a few short years, the GOCMV has thus gone from being a highly politicked marginal organisation that appeared to be more interested in guarding and/or promoting certain political ideologies and perpetuating intra-communal strife, to becoming what it always should have been: a sophisticated organisation that can co-ordinate and harness the resources of the entire Greek community in order to provide much needed unity and cater to the increasingly diverse needs of a multi-faceted and ever-evolving Greek-Australian polity. It has done so because its focus has not been the attainment of power or the use of position to bolster one’s ego but rather, on people.
It is trite to remind ourselves that a good deal of the first generation’s useful energy was devoted to construction projects of various natures. In my youth I remember attending function after function devoted to raising funds in order to ‘complete’ or ‘pay off’ the ‘κτήριο’, and finally when such clubhouses were paid off, remaining members of committees would either consider this their own personal achievement and thus allow no-one else to participate in the running of their organisation, or scratch their heads as they realised that in focusing only on construction, they had let the sense of community that had caused the endeavour in the first place to lapse, so that only empty walls remained, lifelessly echoing the futility of the whole enterprise. This is not to belittle the sterling work undertaken by the first generation, and indeed, it still bears the continued burden of much of that work at a time when the second generation should have relieved it of much if it, but rather to illustrate a concerning phenomenon of second generation disinterest and disengagement, one which the current GOCMV is doing much to arrest.
Our track record therefore proves that while we are good at building things, we often build things to keep people out rather than let them in, or don’t know what to do with them after they have been built. This is the challenge presented by the tower to the GOCMV, now that the dream has been realised. Yet the board members are no ordinary dreamers. Rather, they are dreamers whose subtle senses catch, like a shower in the sunshine, the impalpable rainbows of the immaterial Greek world.
Fortunately, the GOCMV is already proving that it will defy the historical trend of exclusionism and elitism. The dedication of four floors of the building to the Cultural Centre speaks volumes for the level of commitment the GOCMV leadership is willing to make towards the entire paroikia. Its English language lectures on diverse topics of interest have provided a unique opportunity to reach otherwise unengaged members of the community and have, in their fourth year, become an institution. Further, the creation of language classes targeted at various levels in order to cater to newly arrived or gifted Greek-speakers also underlies not only the sense of mission, but the sophisticated understanding of the emerging needs of the Greek community displayed by the GOCMV leadership. Out of the woodwork, Greek Australians, and hearteningly, many Philhellenes who hitherto had no contact with or interest in the Greek community, are emerging, begging to be given the opportunity to lend a hand. This renascent, revitalised GOCMV thus is undoubtedly a people-centered community and this approach will certainly pay dividends in the form of enhanced community cohesion, if it continues in the future.
The proof is the large mass that swarmed the foyer of the GOCMV building at its recent official opening. They were told that the opening was to take place at 3.30 pm, yet people were queuing up from noon in order to witness the wonder of our new home, all the while imbibing an air thick with clerical sanctity, heavy with the odours of tradition and the soft warmth of spiritual authority. The crowd waiting to enter was as irreverent as always, commenting, as they heaved and shoved to make it to the lifts, upon the colour scheme, the presence of certain dignitaries and even the hairstyle of one of the GOCMV committee members, all indicative of a populace that has taken the building to their hearts, feels comfortable with it, and most importantly, considers it to be their own. The onus is on all these people, and indeed on the entire Greek community of Melbourne, to engage with the GOCMV, assist it in its worthy endeavours, as we all gird our loins for the future battles that are to come.
For the moment, though, it is proper and right to ascribe glory to the triumphant members of the GOCMV board for their remarkable achievement and to permit them, ever so slightly, to rest upon their laurels, albeit momentarily. For there is much to be done.
*Dean Kalimniou is a Melbourne solicitor and freelance journalist.