We’ve heard the immigrant story told in Australia many times before over, through different mediums and over decades. But Fam, the latest project by artist and curator Sabina Mckenna – hits different. An addition to the her ongoing photography project Where Are You From? the exhibition explore the experiences of 15 mixed and multi-ethnic families living in Melbourne, shot by photographer Jess Brohier. Instead of focusing on how the world sees us, Fam looks at how immigrants and children of immigrants see ourselves. “It’s one thing to comprehend being racialised by a society, but something entirely different within your own family,” says Sabina. As an immigrant myself, having moved to Australia at age 11… Fam made me feel all the feelings.
Making my way to the Immigration Museum, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would this bring up weird stuff for me? Would it be yet another display of immigrant pain, packaged up to help white Australia empathise? As soon as I stepped into the museum, it was clear this was about the right to take up space – Fam is the very first thing you see, huge photos of immigrant families filling entire walls. There is no shying away or avoiding the stories of the people featured. Good.
Many of those stories are so similar to my own: arguments with my mother about the problematic royal family (the grip Princess Di has on ethnic mothers is wild); being able to speak your native tongue even if your elders don’t believe in you; being in awe of your parents journey while struggling with your own. It was incredible to see people so proudly sharing their immigrant stories, which included their mothers story, their grandmothers story, and many generations before them. Fam perfectly portrays the way that first- and second-generation kids feel their elders journey deeply interwoven with their own.
When I meet someone new and they say “So, tell me about yourself?”, I can’t just say where I live, what my job is and what I do for fun. The answer must begin with telling them the story of my grandparents moving to a new country during the Partition, my mother’s fight for education, and how my uncles and aunties uprooted their lives… 30 minutes of this before we even get to me. In the latest season of Real Housewives of New York (all roads lead to Bravo), one housewife erupts at another housewife, Jessel Taank, for talking about her family when asked to tell the group about herself. Jessel is Indian, so I understood her logic. My family is my story; I am nothing without them and we are everything because of each other. To see the subjects of Fam unapologetically discuss their lineage with pride and honesty was incredibly reaffirming.
Another common thread was the decision to be intentional about connecting to the culture left behind – especially for those born in Australia. Whether it be relearning our mother tongue, travelling back as adults or learning recipes that we had once swapped for sandwiches in childhood, many first- and second-generations feel an intense amount of guilt at having pushed away our culture away… and realise the tragedy of this years later. Many of the people featured in Fam still had more work to do when it comes to reconciling race and identity – it was an honest portrayal, that alleviated some of my guilt at feeling the same way.
Reading about how parents told their children to stop speaking a different language once they arrived, or how kids teased each other for the food they brought to school, took me back to a place where I remember discarding my culture, modifying my accent and laughing along to ‘curry-muncher’ jokes so I could continue to progress in this new society that was now ‘home’. So that my parents’ efforts to get us here would not be in vain. I was able to find the balance between embracing my old and new cultures, as have most other immigrants that I know. It develops a resilience that broader Australian society now understands and celebrates a bit better… but is still an experience we wouldn’t wish on anyone else. One of Fam‘s subjects, Sol Fernandez explains how as a young mother, she is trying to integrate her child’s culture, background, and reality earlier in their life than others might think is ‘normal’. It gave me hope that future generations won’t have to sacrifice knowing and embracing themselves in order to survive.
Easily the best part of the whole experience was watching the reactions of other people who came to see the exhibition – who stopped and where they lingered, who rushed past thinking they had learned their lesson. A couple of young white guys scratched their heads as they cruised past the experiences laid out for them, probably to be expected. But most heartening was the older, ethnic Aunties taking their time to carefully read each word, taking in variations of their own lives on the walls. Sometimes I feel like conversations around the immigrant experience are mostly had by the children. The parents never get a chance to truly reflect on how it felt because they are still trying to push forward for us (more guilt for me). They were the ones who had these much greater, longer lives that they had to uproot, so is it right that we as the younger generation are the ones who get to talk about it the most? It was beautiful to see the waves of realisation, comfort and reflection come over the Aunties’ faces as they walked around. They were proud and enjoyed being seen, being heard.
Regardless of who this exhibition is meant for, the fact it exists at all is powerful in itself. These families’ journeys are now on the record and that means something. Having more immigrant experiences woven into Australia’s cultural landscape provides essential context for future generation, when it’s their turn to look back at where they came from and reflect on how their lives differs from ours. For someone who has never felt considered in the Australian story, it is incredibly meaningful to finally have a place in it. When we get to see our lives reflected in a museum or gallery, it’s a powerful reminder that our stories and struggles are part of a bigger picture. These 15 stories on the walls of a museum says to every immigrant “Your story matters enough to be captured, to be remembered.” To witness it healed a small part of me.
Fam runs until 24 January 2024. For more information, head to the website.
Smart people read more:
How these Asian-Australian artists are forging their own path in the creative industries – ABC Online
DOING THINGS: Sabina McKenna, an art curator for the digital age
Are You Getting Enough Rest or Are You a Child of Immigrants? – Refinery29
Comments are closed.