Summary

Some of the most significant material in the Museum's Migration collections relates to the migration of people of Italian heritage and subsequent generations. Over 1000 items relate to the stories of Italian individuals, families and communities - the earliest dating back to the 1880s and the most recent to the 2000s.

Introduction:

The Museum has been developing collections relating to migration and settlement in Victoria since 1990. These collections, which number over 10,000 items, consist of objects, documents, photographs, and oral histories, representing a diversity of cultural backgrounds, experiences, and time periods. They include the personal material people have brought with them, the documents they have needed to present for leaving, travelling and arriving, the souvenirs from their long voyagess, the objects that assist in forming their identities, maintaining cultural ties and traditions as well as for use in their creative practices and pursuits.

Some of the most significant material relates to the migration of people of Italian heritage and subsequent generations. Over 1000 items relate to the stories of Italian individuals, families and communities - the earliest dating back to the 1880s and the most recent to the 2000s. These stories demonstrate the richness of cultural, social and community life of Italian migrants and their descendants in Victoria, and the diversity within the Italian community itself.

Italian Historical Society CO.AS.IT and Museums Victoria Collection:

A significant part of the Museum's Italian migration collection is comprised of material acquired as a result of a Cultural Agreement between Museums Victoria and the Italian Historical Society CO.AS.IT in Carlton.

The relationship between Museums Victoria (MV) and the Italian Historical Society (IHS) began after the mounting of a watershed collaborative exhibition 'Bridging Two Worlds: Jews, Italians and Carlton', presented in 1993 at the Museum's former Swanston Street site (now the State Library). Museums Victoria, the Jewish Museum of Australia and the Italian Historical Society found that formal agreements would establish opportunities for future collaborations as well as articulate each organisation's collecting responsibilities.

The formal partnership between MV and IHS (1996-2002) enabled Museums Victoria to more actively develop collections representing the experiences of one of Victoria's largest cultural communities and commence ground-breaking work to redress the lack of cultural representation in Victoria's official state collections. The IHS provided important community contacts, networks, specialist knowledge and recommendations for items for acquisition by the Museum.

Whilst the IHS focused on continuing the expansion of their archival collections, the collaboration resulted in the acquisition of over 400 objects representing families and local businesses. While the formal cultural agreement has not been active for several years, the two organisations maintain a close relationship of consultation, loans programs and shared networks.

Ongoing Collection Development:

The Museum continues to develop its Italian migration-related collections by engaging directly with individuals, families and communities of Italian descent and heritage. This article focuses on some of the key collection items and the important themes they explore, which can all be found on Museums Victoria Collections online. For a brief history and census data on Italian communities in Victoria, visit 'Origins' on the Immigration Museum website.

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