PRELUDE TO A JOURNEY

“A journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step.”- Loa Tzu

Between 1951 and 1960 that single step lead close to 48,000 Italian men, women and children to take an arduous, emotional and sometimes treacherous voyage. They were bound for a country they only knew of by name (Australia). This was at a time when most people in Italy hadn’t ventured further than their own village. Nonetheless, these brave mavericks packed up what little belongings they had, boarded a ship and crossed an ocean to forged a new life in a strange land. In doing so they changed themselves and a country forever. Amongst those who made that incredible journey were my grandparents and their three boys.

“Sometimes it’s necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly”- Edward Albee, The Zoo Story.

When I was a boy, around seven or eight, about the same age as my father when he came to Australia. I would sit at the kitchen counter wide-eyed, full of wonder and watch my nonna create magic in her kitchen. While she cooked, she would tell me tales about her life in Italy, the family she left behind and her passage to Australia. Even though I was enthralled by her stories as a boy, I couldn’t fully grasp the enormity of that journey. By the time I was an adult, those stories had become a part of me, a part of my DNA so to speak. However, I rarely thought about them, until I moved to Italy.

The Revelation

Once here in Italy where my Italian-ness was front and center and my grandparents were often a point of discussion. I was regularly reminded of those stories from my childhood. It got me thinking about how different Italy must have been for them. And how courageous and desperate they must have been to embarked on such a journey.

Our only boundaries are the ones we create for ourselves.

This inspired me to piece together their actual story instead of the abstract one in my head. I gathered together as many photographs and as much information as I could. The more I uncovered, the more I came to appreciate how remarkable their decision to leave was. And the more important it became for me to reimagine and retell their story. With all this new found material I have created a series of short stories to honor their lives and the lives of the other 48,000 that made that extraordinary voyage.

Stay Tuned for the first chapter of their story

We live in a time when so much seems out of our hands and we are often so overwhelmed by the contradictions in our society that we forget about those who came before us and how they fought to overcome adversity. I sincerely hope that these stories will help remind you what true-grit, a pioneering spirit and a little crazy can achieve.

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Credits- some of the information and photographs used were obtained from The migration heritage center, NSW, Australia and SSmaritime.com.