History Brown Bag talk: Dr Simone Battison on Migrant Craftmanship at the Australian War Memorial

Dr Simone Battison (Swinburne University of Technology), "More than meets the eye: Migrant craftmanship at the Australian War Memorial"
History Brown Bag talk

It is not uncommon for workers who built key landmarks in cities across the world to be forgotten or cursorily mentioned in the literature and heritage sites alike. Exceptions notwithstanding, scholarly attention and in situ acknowledgement are habitually reserved to the architects and artists responsible for such iconic sights. In Australia, for example, history accounts of the mosaics adorning the Hall of Memory of the Australian War Memorial have so far focused on the figure of ex-serviceman and one-arm artist Mervyn Napier Waller (1893-1972). He had prepared all the designs and cartoons in his Melbourne studio before the mosaics could be assembled in small sections and brought to Canberra where each portion was then put into place with the help of migrant experts whose skills were essential for the success of the enterprise. If Waller’s connection to the hall is renowned and thoroughly studied, the contribution of those tasked to prepare the sections and skilfully fixed them to the walls and dome of the hall is not. Yet, there is more than meets the eye in this unsung chapter of migrant history, from sought-after migrant craftmanship and its legacy to problematic heritage practices.



Simone Battiston teaches history and politics at Swinburne University of Technology. His research examines different aspects of postwar Italian emigration, with a particular attention to the Australian context. He has published widely, including scholarly articles and books. His monograph, Immigrants Turned Activists: Italians in 1970s Melbourne, was published by Troubador Publishing, UK (Italian Studies Series), in 2012. He is an executive member of the Australian Migration History Network (AMHN), and a member of the Australian Historical Association (AHA) and of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH).

Image: Aldo Rossi (left), Severino De Marco (centre) and Napier Waller, examining the mosaic prior to the first fixing, in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial, 13 February 1955, Australian War Memorial.

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