Around 700 people are expected to attend a special ceremony at the Australian National Maritime Museum on Sunday 25 September to see 364 new names unveiled on the museum’s migrant Welcome Wall. The Welcome Wall stands in honour of all those who have migrated from around the world to live in Australia.
Welcome Wall unveiling ceremony
7 May 2017, 11am, Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour
Around 700 people are expected to attend a special ceremony at the Australian National Maritime Museum on Sunday 25 September to see 364 new names unveiled on the museum’s migrant Welcome Wall. The Welcome Wall stands in honour of all those who have migrated from around the world to live in Australia.
Special guests at the unveiling ceremony will be Hakan Harman, CEO, Multicultural NSW who will reflect on his own family’s migrant history and the importance of multiculturalism in Australia and Mark Coure MP, Member for Oatley representing the Premier of NSW.
The ceremony will also feature three migrant speakers who have placed names on the wall. Michael Ronai will talk about his Jewish parents and grandparents who escaped Germany and Austria in the 1940s. Pritika Desai, who was named the India Australia Business Community Awards Young Community Achiever of the Year for her work with Indigenous Communities, will reflect on her Indian heritage and George Houssos will honour his Greek father and grandfather.
Australia is a multicultural nation with 44 per cent of its population born overseas or with a parent who was born overseas. The museum’s Welcome Wall is a celebration of this diversity.
Today’s Australians are invited to pay tribute to migrant family members and friends by having their names inscribed on the bronze paneled wall. They can also reflect on a new life downunder by adding their own names.
For each name, people can contribute a brief (150-word) story about the person being honoured to describe their journey. The name appears on the wall and the brief biographical note is available on a kiosk at the museum and on the Welcome Wall website - www.anmm.gov.au/ww.
The National Maritime Museum considers the arrival of waves of migrants on these shores to be one of the major themes in Australia’s maritime history. It has built the Welcome Wall on its northern boundary, facing Darling Harbour and Pyrmont Bay where many new settlers arrived.
The 364 new names will bring the total number of names on the wall to 28657. Of these 9,330 are from England, 3,526 from Italy, 1627 from The Netherlands, 1630 from Germany, 1533 and 1,317 from Greece. In all, more than 200 countries are represented.
The Australian National Maritime Museum on Darling Harbour is open daily from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm. For further information call 02 9298 3777.
Media inquiries: Jude Timms (02) 9298 3645; 0418 219 841; email jtimms@anmm.gov.au