Projects

Completed January 2005


Who's involved

Migration Heritage Centre
Powerhouse Museum
Lebanese and Arab Australian communities
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
Information and Cultural Exchange


When and where

Project location: Redfern and Western Sydney
Project status: Completed

Project description

The histories and heritage of Lebanese and Arab Australian communities are important layers of Australian history. There is, however, very little documentation or representation of these communities, their histories and their heritage. The Lebanese and Arab Australian Communities Heritage Project promoted the heritage of Arabic speaking Australians by collecting oral histories, identifying important places and historically and culturally significant objects and materials, and by developing education programs and public exhibitions. The project explored the concepts of homeland and heritage, place and identity, through community partnerships, public programs, contemporary arts, research and documentation.

From the project developed 'wattan: redfern' ("wattan" is Arabic for homeland), which included a photoshoot and walking-tour around Redfern, a site of early Lebanese and Arab settlement in NSW, and a special public event to encourage community participation.

The Lebanese and Arab Australian Communities Heritage Project (August 1999 - February 2000) was co-funded by the MHC and its previous phase was co-funded by the Department of Communications and the Arts in 1998. The entire project is now known as "wattan - heritage of Arabic speaking Australians". The Powerhouse Museum continues to support the wattan project and the developing community partnerships are an invaluable aspect of the project.

Since the second phase of the project (which was directly supported by the MHC), wattan has developed a range of public seminars and workshops in the Museum and in partnership with a number of community organisations in Western Sydney. A landmark national forum exploring the representation and documentation of the heritage of Arabic speaking Australians was held at the Powerhouse Museum, 28-29 April 2001.

What did the project achieve?

The Lebanese and Arab Australian Communities Heritage Project collected oral history interviews which have been stored at the Powerhouse Museum. The project raised the profile of heritage work amongst Arabic speaking communities and developed a flexible model contextualising critical views of history and identity within contemporary Arab Australian cultural production. The project also established ongoing community networks and partnerships which have been sustained and developed in the following stage of the project.

'wattan:redfern', a report on the project which includes some summaries of the oral history interviews, is available here on the website.

The project culminated in the Powerhouse Museum's Beirut to Baghdad exhibition in the Australian Communities gallery in January 2005.

Project contact

Jennifer Sanders
Deputy Director
Powerhouse Museum

Phone 02 9217 0554
Fax 02 9217 0498

Address:
PO Box K346
HAYMARKET NSW 1238
AUSTRALIA

Website
www.phm.gov.au