On the day Greeks all over the world were celebrating their homeland’s Independence Day anniversary, the City of Sydney Council passed a motion for a ‘gift’ to the Hellenic Lyceum, one of the oldest Greek Australian organisations in NSW.
The Council unanimously supported a motion put forward by Councillor Angela Vithoulkas “for the council to investigate and identify a suitable space for the storage and display of historic Hellenic Lyceum Greek costumes, jewellery and artefacts”.
“Greek Australians are one of the largest and oldest migrant groups in Australia. Hellenic culture has significantly shaped and contributed to the City of Sydney since the 1850s. The cultural history of this diverse group has been lovingly collected and preserved by generations of immigrant women in Sydney since 1951,” said Clr Vithoulkas, who is the first Greek Australian woman elected to the City of Sydney Council.
“Victoria currently boasts five Greek (Hellenic) museums, yet there are none in New South Wales. It was therefore important a solution be proposed to assist these women with a short term strategy while they organise a permanent, independent long-term solution for accommodation and display of these works. It’s not only important for Greek Australians, it’s directly relevant to the cultural history of the City of Sydney,” Clr Vithoulkas said.
The space to be leased to the Hellenic Lyceum for the next one to three years will probably be the Alexandria Town Hall.
A delegation of the Lyceum, including young girls dressed in traditional costumes, was present at the council meeting and applauded the unanimous passing of the motion.