|
| |
Constellations of Past Migrations, Then and Now: A History Archiving Many Greek Diasporas
Seminar Date: Thurs 6 Aug 2026 @ 7pm Melbourne
Location: Level 12, The Greek Centre, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Presenter: Dr Andonis Piperoglou Language of Presentation: English
Entry: FREE |
|
|
| |
Abstract
The is now an identifiable constellation of Greek archival collections in Australia. These collections contribute to telling alternative histories of Australian multiculturalism. This paper considers how archives which hold Greek language collections – like the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora (La Trobe University), the Greek Australian Archive (State Library of New South Wales) and Our People, Their Stories (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia) – represent a plethora of Greek pasts, politics, peoples and places. By the mid-1980s, archiving Greek experiences in Australia had become a source of fascination and urgency in ethnic community and academic spheres. Seen as treasuries of memory, active archiving became a viable means to ensure aspects of Hellenic cultural activity in Australia were brought out of obscurity and not forgotten. Archiving, in other words, conveyed a twofold message: first, the importance of preserving Greek migrant pasts to tell stories of multicultural Australia; second, to make available to future researchers how Hellenic culture was reworked by those living in diaspora. In recent years, archival projects have re-imagined how to document and preserve diasporic cultural expressions. Such archival endeavours, which range from collecting the minutes of ethnics community associations to family photographs and oral testimonies through to public heritage murals, make observable the contemporary importance, motivation for and effects of making diasporic community archives accessible. By examining how Greek archival collections in Australia have evolved, I demonstrate that archiving Australia’s many Greek diasporas has played, and continues to play, a crucial role in the representation of diasporic pluralism.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Dr Andonis Piperoglou
Dr Phil Kafcaloudes is an author, journalist and academic who presented the breakfast program on the ABC ’s Radio Australia for nine years. He has taught journalism at La Trobe and RMIT universities, and in South Africa, the U.S., Asia and the Pacific. His novel Someone Else’s War, told the story of his maternal grandmother, who was a spy in Greece in WWII, and his play adaptation of this novel, Of Forgetting, was recently staged at the La Mama theatre in Melbourne. Among his academic papers are works on the anglicisation of Greek migrant names, and a survey of the adaptations of the story of Ulysses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Join us at The Greek Centre
This is an in-person only event, join us on Level 12, at The Greek Centre. Join our speaker at The Greek Centre, submit questions during the Q&A, and enjoy conversing after the presentation. We look forward to seeing you at The Greek Centre.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Sponsors
This seminar is sponsored by The Kastellorizian Association of Victoria During the course of the year considerable expenses are incurred in staging the seminars. In order to mitigate these costs individuals or organisations are invited to donate against a lecture of their choice. You too can donate for one or more seminars and (optionally) let your name or brand be known as a patron of culture to our members, visitors and followers, as well as the broader artistic and cultural community of Melbourne. Please email: info@greekcommunity.com.au or call 03 9662 2722. We thank the following corporate sponsors:
|
|
|
|
|
| |
See the Full 2026 Seminar Schedule
The Greek History and Culture Seminars are organised and hosted by The Greek Community of Melbourne and provide the opportunity for everyone to experience the long and fascinating history of Greece and Greek culture in its various forms and stages, aspects of which have formed the foundation of Western civilisation.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Greek Community of Melbourne is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Non-Profits Commission ABN 14004258360
|
|
|
|
|
|
