Each immigrant has their own story to tell
Immigration is about us all – those who were here and those who came.
Immigrant Stories
Settling into a new country is not easy. Immigrants have to adapt to an unfamiliar environment and lifestyle, while maintaining aspects of their previous culture and way of life.
Many newcomers to Victoria spent their new lives in limbo, spending months in temporary migrant accommodation, committed to two year labour contracts. For others, settlement has been far easier because they spoke English, or government had offered assistant land or home scheme.
Generations of immigrants have had to adapt to a new climate, new landscape, new language, new currency, and new lifestyle, especially those who have settled in rural areas.
Each immigrant has their own unique story to tell. Whilst for many it was difficult, the vast majority eventually found their feet. The immigrant stories below explore why they came, where they settled and how they started a new life in Victoria.
The stories
Attache Case: creating a collective artwork
In 2015, curator, writer and artist Peter Burke invited current and former asylum seekers and refugees to create artworks for an international touring installation that addressed their experiences.
Girlhood
Fair and fascinating: girls in 19th century Victoria.
Setsutaro Hasegawa
Setsutaro Hasegawa, Japanese migrant and WWII internee, 1897-1952
The Ceresoli brothers
It is 1964, on a footpath in Carlton. Outside La Cumparsita Hall small groups of finely-dressed revellers take in the cool air. They are here for the music and spectacle of the Ceresoli brothers’ Ballo Mokambo.
Nickel Mundabi Ngadwa
Nickel arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2009 but trying to be an artist in a new country has many challenges. He cannot return to the country of his birth.
Youssef, Romanos and Tansa Eid
The Eid brothers migrated from Lebanon and established taxi businesses in the early 1970s. Handling 'the good, the bad and the ugly' in the back seat became a way of life.
Karl Muffler
Karl sat decorating cakes behind a barbed-wire fence. It was not the future he had imagined when he first arrived in Australia.
Masumi Hiraga Jackson
Alone in a new country in 1987, Masumi had a critical decision to make – stay in Melbourne or return home to Japan.
Jose Alonso and Gaston Arias Munoz
Two men who left the political turmoil of their beloved homelands to migrate to Australia. Yet their experiences could not be more different.
May and Sydney Louey Gung
The Gung family: three Chinese generations since 1890.
* This story is no longer showing in the Immigrant Stories exhibition.
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Victoria's bushfire history preserved in online memorial map
Take a virtual visit to some of the state's bushfire memorials to reflect and commemorate.
Visit Scienceworks
Pumping Station
The fascinating story of one of Australia's most important industrial heritage sites.
Visit Melbourne Museum
Marvellous Melbourne
Melbourne is a young city by world standards, but it has layers of history. Discover how each era shaped the city we see today.