Bonegilla - The Migrants’ Journey

Bonegilla - The Migrants’ Journey is a tender multimedia gathering of migrants’ memories to capture the role the migrant reception and training centre at Bonegilla played in the lives of people escaping Europe following the impacts of the Second World War. The curator of the show, Simon Reich is the son of one of the survivors and his warmth and commitment to preserving memories and honouring how people’s lives were changed through war and immigration carries the narrative forward.  The various elements are underlined, supported and woven together by a string quartet from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Simon Reich on the piano playing evocatively throughout the show.

The story starts with the horrors experienced during the Second World War which are movingly covered with contemporary documentary films, documents and photographs and personalised with interviews.

The arrival at the Bonegilla camp begins the Australian chapters of the refugees’ lives and the variety of responses to their experiences emerges. Some refugees settled in the local towns and became a rich resource for other immigrants. Others went to where there was employment, but all attested to the impact of their experiences in the war and the hope and stability which began when they arrived in Australia and Bonegilla.

There were reflections on the racism many experienced and the sadness some of the interviewees feel witnessing the current wars and imagining the suffering children are still experiencing in circumstances so similar to their own childhoods.

This is the best kind of history; personal, challenging and extraordinarily engaging.

Ruth Richter

Images: from top - stills from the film - Manfred Reich and Kris Palavestra; and from the evening.