One of Melbourne’s many assets is its diversity, and the wide range of multicultural backgrounds that make up its communities is a significant part of what makes the city so great.
A unique exhibition at the Immigration Museum highlights the voices of Australians with diverse racial backgrounds, documenting the experiences of mixed and multi-ethnic families alongside issues of culture and racism.
Fam is a nuanced visual showcase that takes photographic portraits of 15 families and sets them against stories of their different lived experiences and perspectives, aiming to destigmatise conversations about race and family.
Photographed by Jess Brohier, the collection features prominent Melburnians like Hope St Radio chef Ellie Bouhadana and Indigenous artist Hayley Millar Baker with their families.
“It’s one thing to comprehend being racialised by a society, but something entirely different within your own family,” says exhibition curator Sabina Mckenna, whose own experiences inspired the collection.
“I grew up feeling very disconnected from my relatives in that sense, my closest family members are white, and the world is a vastly different place for them. With Fam, I wanted to explore how we can understand each other despite that.”
The exhibition is part of a larger photography project called Where are you from? which celebrates people of colour through art and storytelling.
The exhibition runs from August 26 to January 24, 2024. For more information, head to the website.
