Permanent exhibition
Across a 2.5 year period, CHI worked for Museum Victoria to story curate an exhibition about the significance of ports and piers to the Victorian immigration story.
The Story
Station Pier (formally Railway Pier) has welcomed millions of hopeful migrants throughout its 160 years of operation. Ports and piers were once the first reference that migrants had of their new life, and so played a significant role in their dreams and expectations.
The Commission
We did a call for contribution that attracted hundreds, each offering stories and/or objects for display. Themes wove through the exhibition space, beginning with the horrors of 19C sea travel and building to the post-war mass migration of the 1940s-50s. Other themes looked at onboard games, activities, collectables, menus, language lessons, ports enroute and finishing with how we all remember such great adventures, through slide shows, film and photo albums.
Originally designed as a temporary exhibition, its popularity was so high that a reduced version can still be seen at the Immigration Museum today.
CHI Role: Extensive community & industry consultation, story curation, image research, assistant curator & principle author.
