Document Type
Creative Work
ANZSRC / FoR Code
1203 DESIGN PRACTICE AND MANAGEMENT
COinS
Creative Work
1203 DESIGN PRACTICE AND MANAGEMENT
Publication Details
Cullen, G. (2006). George Cross Falcons: Maltese Australians in the Illawarra, an exhibition. Wollongong City Council Foyer, September 2 - 15, 2006, Wollongong: Illawarra Migration Heritage Project Inc.
Refer exhibition website here: www.mhpillawarra.com/maltese_exhibition-intro.html.
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RESEARCH IMPACT STATEMENT
Research Background
This research seeks to demonstrate that community engagement and design thinking and practice can bring about important social and cultural benefit through the exhibition, design and display of stories of migrant arrival and settlement in the Illawarra.
Research Contribution
The exhibition brings into the public domain the stories, objects and images of Wollongong’s Maltese community, as told through the records and artefacts of the George Cross Falcons Club in Cringila. It documents and celebrates the heritage significance of migrant social clubs to the cultural life of the City of Wollongong. The exhibition design for the first time displays the story of the Maltese community’s arrival and settlement in the Illawarra. The exhibit has made public the value of the migrant experience and documented a significant voice within the migrant community.
Research Significance
This exhibition demonstrates design thinking and practice in partnership with interests of community can contribute to social benefit, create enduring images and give new meaning through visual design and display of migrant heritage. It creates significant local cultural assets and contributes to pride and renewal of community heritage values and stories. The artefacts of post war migration form a significant understanding of the region’s cultural, economic and social identity. It demonstrates the value of design and the new community-based museumology to make public the complexity and diversity of the nation’s history and identity. Funded by the NSW Community Relations Commission through the Migration Heritage Centre located at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. On display at the Wollongong City Council in September 2006.