Norton Street
Chiaroscuro by Alessandra Rossi and Adam Cruikshank
Chiaroscuro is a new gateway light work commissioned for Norton Street, Leichhardt.
Artists Alessandra Rossi and Adam Cruikshank wanted to pay homage to the Italians who migrated to Leichhardt, particularly those drawn here in the 50s and 60s. This dynamic work comprises many beautiful coloured light cells, connected and suspended across Norton Street.
The work symbolizes interconnectedness and reflects on the meaning of “chain migration” - with each light cell of varying size and colour - representing the individual Italians that decided to migrate here.
Artists' Statement
www.alessandrarossi.com.au www.cruickshankdesignstudio.com
Chiaroscuro is a dynamic assemblage of multifaceted cell structures which will travel down the street, forming a canopy of colour and intrigue. Each cell structure contains a reflective coloured panel that interacts with its environment. We included references to stained glass, and used geometric forms to symbolise interconnectedness. The artwork also incorporates a fun, exciting lighting feature of colour and movement.
Italian Heritage - growing the collection
To align with these new public artworks - we would love to hear your stories of Italian Leichhardt in the 50s and 60s. Tell us about your families experience of chain migration. We’d also love to hear from people who rode a vespa in the early years of its introduction into Australia.
Your stories will become part of Inner West Councils Community History collection for future generations of the Inner West to enjoy. Email history@innerwest.nsw.gov.au
Viaggio Verso Una Nuova Vita (Journey to a New Life)
We'd love to hear about your migration from Italy to Leichhardt. Did you travel to meet family and friends after hearing their news from their new home in Australia? Help us understand what it was like for you, or any of your family or friends to establish yourself in Leichhardt, and Sydney. Was it like the story portrayed in They're a Weird Mob, the successful 1966 film based on the novel of the same name by Nino Culotta (John O'Grady). Stories collected will help to build the Local History collection on Italian Leichhardt. (add link here)
Chain migration
Each Italian migrant had to find the courage to leave their known world behind – to follow the light of hope that drew them to leave the known behind. They left their homelands at a time when they had to travel on board an ocean liner for months. The cost to travel may have taken months to save, with the possibility of return less likely than it might be today. Little would have been known of Australia. The global village that exists today did not exist at this time. Wall phones only belonged to the wealthy, and a letter by snail mail would take as long as an ocean liner to arrive.
Chain migration meant that people had to travel with limited knowledge of their new countries, drawn primarily by what they knew from letters received in their village from relatives or friends. It was on this limited knowledge, and their connection to loved ones and friends that they too followed, creating another link in the chain.
The Catholic Church offered another important link in the Leichhardt migration chain, when they saw the need to set up a support network for the newly arrived Italian community. This important role was tasked to the Capuchin Brothers, who commenced work from 1946 at St. Fiacres Church in Catherine Street, Leichhardt The Brothers offered both a spiritual and social centre to the Italian community – a clear reason as to why a large number of Italians centred themselves in Leichhardt.
View the page on chain migration on the Migration Heritage Centre NSW's website here