“Our People, Their Stories”: A “living” museum for the Greek community from the Holy Archdiocese of Australia
On the occasion of The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on the 27 October the Holy Archdiocese of Australia announces the creation of a digital “living” museum, in which personal stories of first and second generation Greek immigrants to the fifth continent are stored, recorded with audio-visual media, as well as anecdotal photographic material.
This is an initiative of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, with the aim of preserving audio-visual media as sources of living memory of the Greek People in Australia.
The initiative is implemented through the project entitled “Our people, their stories”, which is being completed at a rapid pace and will soon be available on the Internet, specifically on the website: opts.org.au, while the audiovisual material it hosts will be constantly enriched with new stories from our communities.
Following is the recent announcement of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia:
The 27th of October has been chosen by UNESCO to commemorate The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in recognition of the importance of audiovisual material as a source of information about people’s lives and culture from all over the world. From simple photographs, sound and video recordings to complex film productions and documentaries, they all form part of the so-called Audiovisual Heritage which, thanks to the development of modern technology, can be a valuable treasure for future generations.
Honouring the day, the Holy Archdiocese of Australia is happy to announce the successful initiative of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia to preserve audiovisual documents as sources of living memory of the Greek community in Australia. This initiative, with the blessing and guidance of his Eminence, is taking form with the creation of a digital “living” museum, which will store personal stories collected and recorded through audiovisual media, as well as previously unpublished photos.
The project titled, “Our People, Their Stories” aims to systematically and methodically record and safekeep the personal stories of Greek people, first and second generation immigrants to Australia. Its mission is to ensure that these personal stories, narrated by the individual bearers of the historical memories themselves – who were oftentimes the protagonists or participants in significant historical events – will highlight important aspects of the collective history of Hellenism in the fifth continent. These are aspects which, until now, have remained in obscurity and which are in danger of being forgotten as the older generation of migrants gradually passes away.
Participants in this project include historians, journalists, cinematographers and specialists in the narration of oral histories, while an important innovation of the project is to encourage the younger generations to become actively involved in all stages of its development.
The project, “Our People, Their Stories” is quickly being finalised and will soon be available online on the website: opts.org.au The audiovisual material will be constantly enriched and updated with new stories from members of our community. The material that will be posted on the “living” museum website, “Our People, Their Stories” will be freely accessible by the public and will henceforth be the property not only of the entire Greek community but, more widely, of Hellenism everywhere abroad.
