A one weekend exhibition by The Poseidoniate, a team of Melbourne-based creatives showcasing Greek Australian culture, will be providing a look inside of what a migrant home looked like.
The exhibition named ‘Kalos Irthate’ will be a walk through of a Greek-Australian migrant home, exploring the lives of Greek migrants in the mid twentieth century.
It will feature original documents, vintage furniture, and a documentary featuring migrants sharing their history.
Each room in the exhibition is dedicated to a different aspect of the migrant journey; the move to Australia, building a life in Melbourne, and then reflections 70 years later.
The exhibition curators Christina Savopoulos, Jamie Gallos, and John Tzelepis said that this has been in the works since May.
“The idea came to us when we were looking through records our grandparents had kept of their journey to Australia,” they said in a joint statement sent to Neos Kosmos.
“We wanted to share this part of our family history with the Greek community.
“We had an opportunity to use Christina’s yiayia’s house as a space for the exhibition and thought it would perfectly complement the scope of the exhibition by having it set in a migrant home.”
The team said ‘Kalos Irthate’ is an exhibition everyone can attend and enjoy, whether you’re five-years-old or 95.
“It is a dedication to past generations of Greek-Australians who worked to build the Greek community we cherish today in Melbourne.”
They said something that really comes into perspective when viewing the exhibition is the transnationality of Greeks in Melbourne.
“What it showcases is an expression of a start point—in the long period of assimilation, and evolution—in how the Greek Community has developed over the past 60-70 years.”
“The historical documents and artefacts on display highlight not just a development of living conditions over the course of these many years, but a development of values, ethics, and the broader personality of the Greek community.
“For members of The Poseidoniate and beyond, this development impacts personal identity to a considerable degree, and is why we find it so important to engage with this kind of history.”
‘Kalos Irthate’ will be open on Saturday November 16 and Sunday November 17 from 10am to 6pm in Doncaster, 3108.
Bookings can be made on Humanitix or visit @theposeidoniate or @kalosirthate_exhibition on Instagram.
