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Museums Victoria

 

  • Project: Station Pier: Gateway to a new life exhibition
  • Amount: $100,000
  • Year(s) Funded: 2004

Temporary exhibition becomes permanent museum feature after overwhelming response from Victorians

The universal story of departure, the excitement of the journey and the anxiety of arrival for post-war migrants presented emotive ways of celebrating Australia’s immigration history.

08-0358 Immigration Museum – Secondary Images
Visitors at the Immigration Museum's Station Pier exhibition. Photo: James Greer
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“The project resulted in many firsts for the Immigration Museum. Today, the exhibition continues online for people to learn and share their stories which are a significant part of Australia’s migration history.” Padmini Sebastian, Manager, Immigration Museum

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Snapshot

  • Station Pier: Gateway to a new life was an outstanding success. Launched in October 2004 and scheduled for 12 months, it was extended until mid-2010 due to such strong visitor interest. Today it has been incorporated into the permanent exhibitions at the Immigration Museum.
  • Over 600,000 people saw the exhibition at the Immigration Museum and 100,720 people saw the travelling exhibition in cities and regions across Australia.
  • Station Pier: Gateway to a new life was awarded the Museum Industry Recognition Award in 2005
  • The exhibition recognised the life-changing decision to come to a distant and little known country. It narrated the hopes, fears, journey and arrival of post-war migrants to Australia, and the significance that Australian ports played in the cultural history of Australia.
  • Through personal memorabilia, stories and heritage maritime collections, the evocative exhibition related a story for all Victorians about the significance of Station Pier as a gateway to a new life. It allowed people to reconcile loss of family networks, familiar environments and nationality, and celebrate new life, opportunity, growth and contribution.
  • The exhibition included indigenous history and previously undocumented personal histories, and provided a link between many diverse communities and broader Australian history.

Website: museumsvictoria.com.au