We paid a visit to Carlton's Museo Italiano.

By Elisa Muzii.

Qui la versione in italiano di questo articolo.

Museo Italiano is a hidden gem in Carlton, Melbourne’s Italian neighbourhood, known for the many Italian restaurants that you can find on Lygon Street. The museum offers a permanent exhibition, mainly laid out in chronological order. Here we can find objects, records, images and short films that allow us to dive into the past, showing a glimpse into the lives of Italian people in Australia throughout the centuries. 

This museum traces the history of migration and settlement of Italians in Australia, while it

also explores the contribution and the impact that our people have had on this nation, as it

is still deeply influenced by the Italian community. Several themes unfold in different spaces

throughout the exhibition, such as: the adventure journeying to Australia, which used to be

forty days long; the identity crisis faced when one arrives and the struggles to integrate; as

well as, among others; the ways in which the Italian community developed in Carlton.

Several Italian immigrants’ testimonies are collected in a short movie titled Making Lives. Among the quoted citations, I was especially struck by the following: “My father said to me, ‘Australia is far away… you know that when you go there you will be alone, there is no mamma, no zia, no sisters, no brothers…’”. I heard my father’s voice, who used similar words when I told him I wanted to go to Australia.

Recalling this sentence, I realised that, after all, some aspects of Italian people’s character have not changed over time. The value we attribute to family, home and physical proximity is still very present, in spite of the technological evolution and increasing mobility that are changing our country.

Figures on a big map of Italy indicate the number of people from each region resident in Australia in 1976, for a total of 307.825. Social relations of Italians in Australia are marked by regional identity, as shown by the numerous clubs that have been founded throughout the decades, in order to support people from the same region. Moreover, a timeline also highlights the most important historical events since 1770, which was the year when the British laid claim to Australia, until today. 

To anyone who visits Melbourne, I recommend going to the Museo, which takes less than an hour to see, to truly understand the influence Italy has had on Australia. Reading pieces of diaries, looking at faces and hearing voices speaking my language, I felt at home in the heart of Carlton, which, as described by an Italian woman who immigrated to Melbourne, is a “haven for homesick Italians”.