INTERVIEW WITH IVAN GRABOVAC ON THE RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION ON ABOUT CROATS IN AUSTRALIA

Croats: 150 years in Victoria

          Last year the Victorian government in Australia opened the Emigrants Museum inside of which is a large building that was allotted to the ethnic communities living in that region. An advertisement was published in newspapers inviting all interested ethnic communities to respond by presenting their cultural heritage. The whole project was created in such a way so that every community has the right to use the museum’s exhibition facilities for a two month period for various themes relating to the lives of ethnic groups.
          “The Croatian community in Victoria also responded to the advertisement, as it wanted to show the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the Croatian people, primarily to Australians, as well as to the other ethnic communities living there. Our request was accepted. In depth preparations began for the organisation of the exhibition itself, which will be ceremoniously opened on September 18th,” stated Ivan Grabovac, a Croat who has been living in Australia since 1969, when he arrived there as a young chemical technician from Zagreb. He was driven there by a will to perfect his professional training, which he achieved by first graduating at university and then completing his masters degree. However, his fundamental connection and desire for the homeland remained firm, regardless of the thousands of kilometres that separated him from Croatia.

Important role of the Congress
          Right after his arrival to Australia, Ivan Grabovac joined the ranks of the very active and numerous Croatian community in Victoria. After the independent Croatian state was established, the activities of the community changed direction. The establishment of the Croatian World Congress in the state of Victoria substantially strengthened the ties with the homeland and with other Croats living abroad. Ivan Grabovac is the president of the Croatian World Congress for Victoria.
          “As an umbrella organisation of all Croatian Diaspora associations, the Croatian World Congress is an excellently envisaged structure that allows us, in Australia as an example, to present our homeland in an organised fashion, as well as creating better co-operation with the homeland. This is how we will make the return of all those who want to return, or are returning, to the homeland. It will also facilitate a better quality life for Croats who decide to continue living in Australia. Therefore, it is up to us to make sure that the Congress begins working even better than it already is and for it to become just what we imagined it would be,“ stated Ivan Grabovac. He added that, “an association like this can play a major role in the promotion of Croatian interests and lobbying for the Croatian state, especially in this post-war period.”
          Croats in Australia are becoming better informed about what is happening in the homeland. Radio programs are listened to and news is accessed via the Internet. According to Ivan Grabovac, the Croatian Information Centre has a lot to do with that, as it diligently fills Internet pages and is doing its best to be as accessible as possible to all users. Using this Internet method of communication has substantially brought Croats from all over the world closer together, not only with the homeland, but also with each other. Croats living in Australia would like to have a television program in Croatian that would have very high ratings in this part of the country, but would also help preserve what is most important - the mother tongue and our rich heritage.

Travelling exhibition
          “The above mentioned exhibition through which we will present ourselves in the Ethnic Museum between September 18 and November 14 of this year is also linked to this. Its main objective is to show the contributions that the Croatian community in Victoria has made over the last 150 years. Hence, we are specifically looking back at the Croatian community in Victoria, in an attempt to make a small retrospective presentation of its activities. We even managed to find the relatives of the Croats who came to Victoria looking for gold 150 years ago. Using them as a starting point, we have moved all the way to the present day, showing three Croatian emigration waves to Australia, as well as some particularities from their lives. This exhibition is a good opportunity to show the Australian public an active and large community that has been living in Australia for 150 years. This is also a way to promote the interests of Australian Croats as an ethnic community,” emphasised Grabovac.
          The materials for the exhibition were collated over a long period of time and with great care, as they will certainly be historic documents for all those who would like to study the lives of Croats in Victoria.
          “After the closing of the exhibition in the Ethnic Museum, we intend to display it in other Australian cities with Croatian communities, making it possible for many people to see it. This will be a way for the younger generation of Croatian emigrants all over Australia to get acquainted with the history of their ancestors when they reached Australian soil. I trust this will be a good beginning for collecting historic materials on the lives of Croats in Australia. The efforts will continue so that exhibitions like the one initiated by the Victorian Croatian community will one day visit the homeland. That would be a way for Croats in the homeland to get to know the way the emigrant Croats have been living for 150 years in distant Australia,” concluded Ivan Grabovac.

Ivana Rora

 «««Povratak na sadrzaj