My Heritage Connections

My Heritage Connections are embodied in this image of my mum Fiona Macris Minas and her uncle Phillip Lambiris c1960 just before she boarded the Patris to migrate to Australia. The Image captures the spiritual and cultural connection that the Parthenon had for so many Greek migrants but it also tells a deeper story. For me the image captures an intergenerational cultural awareness that I have made into my passion and career.

It represents my passion for what I call Cultural Heritage Justice. Nearly 60 years after this photo was taken, Fiona’s daughter (Me) now advocates for cultural heritage justice not just for the Parthenon but across all cultures. Professionally this picture is documentary evidence of the incredible restoration and conservation works of this World Heritage Site. Those column drums my mum sits on have now been painstakingly returned to their rightful place. Unfortunately, much has not been returned, and that is a justice I now fight for! https://iocarpm.wordpress.com/

The image tells the story of Migration, my mum was a Proxy Bride her somberness, and her goodbyes are captured in this picture, yet I recognise a very familiar resilience a resiliance so common in our Migrant Heritage story. It is those stories of resilience that are the fabric of our Australian story, and It is this story I try to capture every day in my heritage work, those forgotten stories I work to bring to life and to share to help us understand our connections. https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1515113539766/promised-brides

Inclusivity in how I tell a story is the focus of my heritage work. Though I recognise that I can not speak to every layer of Heritage, there is one thread in this tapestry of inclusivity that I am passionate about, and that is the story of Women in Heritage. The spirit of these women that is so present in this picture of my mother. These women in their 20s made life choices because they had no choice, but there brave decsions gave us choices. From sweatshops and shop keepers, they became entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders in their community. They impacted their small circles of migrant women that created ripples of change that built communities. When the Women’s Rights movement happened in this country, these were the women not protesting but front line organising unions, fighting for paid maternity leave and supporting each other, creating migrant services, community language programmes to help those that followed. When I see the restoration of factory sites or entire community areas, I look to include these women in the fabric of our design inspried by their stories to capture that intergenrational equity we so value in Heritage.