Forum: From Displacement to Social Inclusion6.30pm Tuesday 19 JulyMuseo Italiano CoAsIt 199 Faraday Street CarltonFREE EVENT

This forum, which will be chaired by George Lekakis, AO, is presented by Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV) in partnership with MUSEO ITALIANO (Co.As.It.) and is an accompanying public program to the current exhibition at the Museo, SAILING INTO HISTORY: Displacements and Arrivals.

Featuring:

George Lekakis, AO, is currently Chair of Multicultural Arts Victoria’s Board and of the Victorian Interpreting and Translating Service. He was Chair of the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) from 2001 to 2011, Chair of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, and has served on many other government and community-based boards. In 2010 George was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community through leadership roles in multicultural organisations.

Arnold Zable is an acclaimed writer, novelist, storyteller and human rights advocate. His books include Jewels and Ashes, Cafe Scheherazade, The Fig Tree, Scraps of Heaven, Sea of Many Returns, Violin Lessons and most recently, The Fighter. He is the author of numerous essays, columns, features and works for theatre, exploring memory and displacement, multiculturalism and the art of story. He has a doctorate in Creative Arts from Melbourne University, has lectured on writing, literature and refugee rights throughout Australia and internationally, and is a patron of Sanctuary, and an ambassador of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. He was recently awarded the Voltaire prize for human rights advocacy.

Dr Caitlin Nunn is an International Research Fellow in the School of Applied Social Sciences at Durham University, England. Her research focuses on refugee settlement, including in relation to youth; identity and belonging; cultural production and media representation; and generational change and intergenerational relations. Caitlin’s current project uses a participatory arts-based approach to explore experiences of local belonging among young forced migrants in regional cities in Australia and the United Kingdom. This recently resulted in the exhibition Belonging in Bendigo, produced with refugee-background Karen young people mentored by local artists.

Philip Morrissey is a Murri scholar and Academic Coordinator of the Faculty of Arts Australian Indigenous Studies program at the University of Melbourne. He lectures in Aboriginal cultural studies and Aboriginal writing. He has published on Aboriginal fine arts, film, literature, governance, sport and the public sphere. He holds a Master of Arts from the University of Technology, Sydney. Philip was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 1989 and publishes regularly in a range of journals including Artlink, Meanjin, UTS Review and the Australian Book Review.

Mariam Issa is a human rights activist focused on supporting the rights of refugees and developing the strengths and confidence of women in Australia and Africa.  Mariam fled from Somalia to Kenya in 1991 escaping civil war ahead of arriving in Australia as a refugee in 1998, as a mother with four children and one on the way.  Along with her husband Mohammed she settled her family into the largely Anglo-Saxon bayside suburb of Brighton in Melbourne, Australia. There, Mariam cofounded RAW-Resilient Aspiring Women in 2012 – a not-for-profit organisation focused on building community and social spaces for women to connect in. Through her work with RAW Mariam has touched the lives of many women and facilitated many compassionate conversations.  Her insights inspire many women to find their strengths, confidence and personal power.

Further details at multiculturalarts.com.au

For bookings please click here.