Mayu  Kanamori  talks to Caroline Baum about First Generation, an exhibition of  portraits reflecting the experience of post WW2  migrants to Wollongong

Mayu Kanamori didn’t go hungry  as she travelled around Wollongong, shooting portraits of post war migrants. Many of her subjects demonstrated the kind of hospitality their cultures are famous for, making more than the traditional cup of tea. She came away with a recipe for a killer apple coconut slice and an armful of fresh produce - as you’d expect from  a diverse ethnic mix with a proud cooking heritage.

A migrant herself, Mayu accepted the hospitality gratefully, just as she did when she arrived here from Japan in 1981 as an eighteen year old. She moved house eight times in eight years when she first arrived, which gives her an empathy for the dislocated and those trying to make a new life for themselves.

Now settled in Sydney, she has exhibited and published a broad range of images that explore aspects of culture past and present, as well as documenting overseas projects including the secret of the longevity of  centenarians on the island of Sardinia.  

None of Mayu’s Wollongong subjects is a centenarian - yet. But many are still going strong, thanks to a spirit of resilience and a strong connection to place which binds them to their community. ‘Many have remained  in the suburbs in which they first arrived. When they got here, some stayed in friends garages to begin with , their only connection being that they came from the same village back home. but once an area became familiar to them, and they got a place of their own, they preferred to stay among people they knew’ she says of enclaves around Port Kembla, Towradgi Park, Unanderra and Fairy Meadow.’ 

Mayu spent over two weeks based in the city shooting portraits of her 25 subjects.  ‘At first, I  followed up on the research done  by local academics for the Places project which had documented migrants who lived in temporary accommodation. They were Macedonian, Dutch, English, Irish, Chilean and Scottish. Then, perhaps of being Asian myself, I broadened the search to a wider mix and found Chinese Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Greek and Austrian subjects.’

‘About half of the places they originally lived in are still there but of course many are gone, Some are vacant blocks, some have become something else.  The Nissen huts hostel at Fairy Meadow is now part of the university’s technology campus. It’s great that three of the huts are now listed as National Heritage, to preserve that chapter of experience. They are being used as a childcare centre, which seems appropriate. Some Macedonians were in a boarding house in Port Kembla which is now a private home.’

‘At Stuart Park, one of my favourite places,   there were campsites of temporary accommodation where people lived along the beach , sometimes for up to six months.’

‘Other places were built from scratch. I photographed a Spanish man whose parents had built their own house and a woman from Holland whose parents brought an entire section of the kitchen with them and fitted it into a new home.’ Some had not revisited their first homes  . When Mayu took them there for her portraits, ‘ It brought it all back to life, sometimes with tears.’

Migrants brought mementoes with them, many of them reminders of the tumultuous events their families had fled. ‘The Spanish man showed me  his father’s military uniform. He had been a political refugee from the Spanish Civil War. That was very touching.’   

Food was often a source of pride. ‘The Italian man showed me his veggie garden and gave me  tomatoes, chillies, homemade sausages and bottles of his own wine! A Dutch couple gave me a delicious apple and coconut slice, and the recipe for it.’

With her keen eye and a very Japanese appreciation of the cycles of nature, Mayu noticed elements of beauty in  unlikely  places. ‘The Unanderra hostel site is now a vacant block covered in earthmoving equipment, but in between the factory sites there are lovely white wildlfowers growing there. The past gets covered over, but the flowers still grow.’

First Generation
Exterior panels Wollongong City Gallery
From Friday October 30

*Mayu stayed at Medina Apartments while photographing the exhibition

Mayu website

Photos:
Vincenzo Cerone next to garage where his family lived in Primbee. Migrated from Italy 1962
Mayu Kanamori, photographer taken by Sandy Edwards, 2009

Guerilla knitting workshop

Denise Litchfield inducted keen Illawarra knitters, from the young and inexperienced to the blokes with no experience and the dame of knitters, Elly Koeppel the oldest guerilla knitter in the world, into the art of guerilla knitting at a Viva La Gong workshop held at Wollongong City Gallery, Saturday Sept 26.  Denise's advice to all of them was to answer any enquiries or direct demands regarding the raison d'etre of guerilla knitting with the short and sweet reply "I am an artist".

Related YouTube video

MORGANICS is heading to Wollongong in the second week of the school holidays to mentor young people (age 12-18) in hip hop composition, music and performance.

Australia's leading hip hop artist, theatre director and community worker will share his skills with keen young people interested in learning about hip hop, beatboxing, freestyle and rap.

MORGANICS is an award winning hip hop artist as well as a passionate community worker.  He has performed from New York to Tanzania, the Sydney Opera House to Prague.

For more information, visit our Hip hop workshop or Morganics and Wire MC webpage.

The Sydney Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef will be on exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum, all this week 21 -30 August.  A chance to see some of the coral creations from the Viva La Gong pre-festival workshop at Wollongong City Gallery.

VIVA LA GONG launched it's pre-festival workshops with In Stitches, Hyperbolic Coral Reef at Wollongong City Gallery, on Saturday July 18.  The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is a worldwide art project co-ordinated in Sydney by In Stitches: Charlotte Haywood, Claire Conroy, Michaela Davies.

In Stitches took the opportunity to introduce over 40 avid Wollongong enthusiasts to the beauty of hyperbolic crochet, where mathematics and art crossover. Newcomers to experienced crocheters, young and old, participated in learning how to create extraordinary coral shapes and forms to contribute to the coral reef installation.

"The Coral reef project was created by two Australians, Margaret and Christine Wertheim, now based in LA and founders of the Institute For Figuring. The project has grown into a global art installation which has been exhibited initially at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh then in Chicago, New York, London, LA and now Sydney," said Annette McLernon, Viva La Gong Program Manager.

"It's a fascinating project encompassing traditional craft, textile sculpture, environmental issues particularly the plight of coral reefs around the world and community activism."
It's a great way to launch Viva this year, with its theme of "A stitch in time", a celebration of Wollongong's cultural heritage including the textile industry workers' contribution to the development of the city.

"Anyone can get involved, beginners to experienced, all ages," said Annette McLernon. "The Wollongong workshop was a great mix of our local community, from experienced craft practitioners, textile artists, two university mathematicians to children and grandmothers passing on traditional skills."

Viva La Gong will be running an all day drop in workshop on Saturday 7 November in Pioneer Hall in MacCabe Park with In Stitches.  Visitors will also be able to see some of this extraordinary coral reef on display in Pioneer Hall.

sydneyreef.blogspot.com

Viva La Gong pre-festival community workshop
Hyperbolic Coral Reef Project
Facilitated by In Stitches
Wollongong City Gallery, July 18