Introduction
Welcome to Our Journeys | Our Stories. This exhibition highlights and uncovers stories of Chinese people, place and identity through historical items and commissioned artworks by Chinese-Australian artists, providing insights into Chinese migration in the area from the 1860s to today.The story of Chinese migration, people and place in the Georges River area dates back to the 1860s. Many Chinese miners remained in Australia after the gold rushes of the 1850s and developed market gardens, including a number in the local area, which prospered until the 1930s. By the 1960s, Hurstville and surrounding suburbs had become home to migrants from post-war Europe. Changing patterns of migration and urban growth from this time in the St George region meant that from the 1970s waves of migration, initially from Vietnam, were followed by a second boom in migration from China and Hong Kong experienced from the 1990s onwards. Chinese culture and life play a significant role in Hurstville and the surrounding suburb's identity. By 2016, 45.5% of people residing in the Georges River Council local government area were born overseas with 18.6% from China, including Hong Kong. Today more than 27% of people living in the Georges River area have Chinese ancestry.Explored against a backdrop of social, cultural and economic developments in Australia during the 19th and 20th centuries, Chinese migration and settlement in the St George area is interwoven through historical objects and contemporary visual responses to this heritage. The exhibition acknowledges, shares and celebrates the ongoing and significant contribution of the Chinese community to the Georges River area.
Acknowledgements
Georges River Council acknowledges the Biddegal people of the Eora Nation as the original inhabitants and custodians of all land and water in the Georges River region.Our Journeys | Our Stories has been made possible through the generous contributions, assistance and loans provided by a range of public institutions, private individuals, artists and community groups. Hurstville Museum & Gallery would like to thank the following individuals and organisations for their support and involvement with the exhibition:Arc One GalleryArt AtriumAustralian Light Volleyball AssociationChalk HorseCindy Yuen-Zhe ChenDefiance GalleryGeorges River Libraries Local Studies collectionLuise GuestGuo JianLindy LeeLion Dance Kids Pty LtdJane Lin, Chinese Liaison Officer, Georges River CouncilEdwin and Susan LoweXiao LuMartin Browne ContemporaryMuseum of Applied Arts and Sciences, SydneyMuseums VictoriaNational Archives of AustraliaNational Library of AustraliaNorth Sydney Heritage Centre, Stanton LibraryOral history participants from the Australian- Chinese Heritage Paper Art Association; Jenny Wassell Jiang, Ginger Li, John Wang, Fangmin Wu and Kaijiang Zhu.Jason PhuSt George Community Wushu CentreState Library of New South Walessullivan + strumpfVermillion ArtChristina WangGuan WeiMichael WilliamsMaria YipOur Journeys | Our Stories is supported by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations and the NSW Government through Create NSW.
The salad bowl of Sydney
Market gardens were established in Kogarah by English and German families during the 1850s. They often converted cleared bushland into prime real estate. The earliest listing for a Chinese market garden in Kogarah appeared in 1888, with Ah See and Co. on Rocky Point Road. Many Chinese migrants who came to Australia during the gold rushes of the 1850s later found agricultural work. By 1903 the Sydney Mail noted that ‘practically the whole of the vegetables consumed in the metropolis and its many suburbs are the product of Chinese market gardening’.
Not welcome here
During the 19th century, many state government laws restricted Chinese entry into Australia. For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries Chinese migration to Australia was overwhelmingly male. The 1861 census revealed there were 12,968 Chinese men in Australia compared to only two women. Cultural, social, and economic reasons meant that unmarried men, or men married with their families remaining in China, made up most of the early Chinese populations in Australia. After the gold rushes of the 1850s growing racial intolerance resulted in the New South Wales government passing the Chinese Immigration Regulation & Restriction Act in 1861. The Act required a poll tax of £10 to be paid by or for every Chinese person arriving in the colony of New South Wales. Further acts were introduced by the new Commonwealth, with the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 becoming known as the ‘White Australia’ policy. It aimed to prevent non-Europeans, particularly those from Asia, migrating to Australia.
The cultural revolution in China
The People's Republic of China (PRC) was declared in October 1949. Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong (1893-1976) became the country's new leader. Between 1958 and 1962 the 'Great Leap Forward' campaign by Chairman Mao set out to transform the agricultural base of China's society into an industrial one. However, the plan failed and the famine that followed lead to 56 million deaths. From 1966, the 'Cultural Revolution' campaign sought to remove Capitalist and traditional Chinese influences in the People's Republic. This campaign would not completely end until Chairman Mao's death in 1976. The social and economic changes in China from 1949 significantly impacted Chinese overseas migration. In Australia, family migration became possible, migrations from regions other than southern China occured, and larger numbers of women arrived.
A sense of belonging
Growing cultural diversity and involvement of community organisations in the St George region has broadened to include many festivals and events in the last decade. Chinese New Year, celebrated during the first month of the Lunar calendar with street parades and events for the whole community, along with the Lantern Festival and Mid-Autumn (Moon) Festival are now regularly held. These social and cuiltural festivals help to maintain traditions amongst Chinese people, benefitting migrant groups and the wider community.Chinese cultural and leisure activities have a long history in Australia. Chinese opera began on the Victorian goldfields during the 1850s. Visiting overseas troupes performed for the Chinese community and for many centuries it was the main form of entertainment for urban and rural residents in China as well as Chinese migrants overseas. Colour provides the key to opera characters; red is brave and loyal, black is bold, yellow symbolises ambition, blue-faced characters are fierce, while white faces are the villains of the show. Chinese opera productions were held in Sydney during the 1970s and 80s. Traditional music and dance groups, such as fan dancing and lion dancing groups, operate in the Georges River area and present an opportunity to maintaina and promote Chinese heritage. Several arts organisations including the Australian Chinese New Arts Society and Australian-Chinese Heritage Paper Art Association also have members who live and practice their art in the Georges River area. Leisure time is also spent engaged in a range of sports, including the Australian Light Volleyball Association, which promotes light volleyball in Australia while enhancing cultural exchange between China and Australia. The many forms of leisure and culture in St George reflect the continuity and change of the region's Chinese communities.
Tastes of home
Chinese food came to Australia with indentured labourers who arrived in the 1840s. Early cookbooks maintained traditional British meals and it wasn’t until the 1940s that recipes for Chinese food appeared. Mrs. L. Sie’s 50 Recipes for Famous Chinese Dishes was the first, published by the Australia-China Association, Melbourne in 1947. This was followed in 1948 by Roy Geechoun’s Cooking the Chinese Way which adapted recipes using locally available ingredients. Understanding Chinese recipes, preparing Chinese food and using chopsticks were all new.During the 1980s, businesses in Hurstville experienced an economic downturn due to the expansion of the nearby Westfield shopping centre and the recession. Many of the established shops along Forest Road moved or closed. The increase in Chinese migration to the Georges River area at this time also brought investors wishing to establish local businesses. Migrants saw great potential in the vacant shops along Forest Road and restaurants, supermarkets and other businesses were established. By 2012, the Sydney Morning Herald commented ‘just 20 years ago the shops near Hurstville Railway station in Forest Road were owned by people with names such as Smith, Politis or Scardini. Now the names Lee, Chen and Wu dominate the streetscape’. A changing sense of place and local identity developed along with Chinese businesses.During the 1980s and early 1990s, restaurants in the area offered Cantonese cuisine. More recently, they have offered a variety of cuisines, ranging from northern China to Hong Kong and Taiwan, reflecting the backgrounds and tastes of many people that now make up the diverse local community.
Women's lives & migration
For much of the 19th and early 20th century Chinese migration to Australia was overwhelmingly male. The 1861 census revealed there were 12,968 Chinese men in Australia compared to only two women. Cultural, social, and economic reasons meant that unmarried men, or men married with their families remaining in China, made up most of the early Chinese populations in Australia. Chinese men remained tied to their families and homeland through return visits and sending money earned back to their villages. The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 also made it difficult for Chinese women to come to Australia. The small number of Chinese women who did migrate to Australia came as wives and daughters, managing households and assisting with businesses. In the municipality of Canterbury, which included the parish of St George, four Chinese women were recorded in 1891. Their identities remain unknown.
Shaping the future
During the 1990s, the St George region experienced a boom in migration. Many new arrivals from the Chinese diaspora – from mainland China, Taiwan and from Hong Kong after the British handover in 1997 – raised their families and worked in the area. Many had looked overseas to begin new lives, educate their children and invest funds. People were attracted to suburbs, such as Hurstville, due to its proximity to the city, good transport links and affordability.The large increase in Chinese migration to the area has shaped the urban landscape, revitalized businesses, stimulated the economy, and added to the cultural diversity and social development. In the 2000s, many of the migrants who arrived in the region had vastly different experiences, views, and places of origin from those who first settled in the area in the 1860s. For long periods in Australia’s immigration history, Chinese migrants faced many challenges. By the 1990s, Australia had seen 15 years of migration free from discriminatory criteria, with steady increases in the number and balance of genders entering as skilled and family migrants. Today, migrants in the region continue their connections to countries of origin and country of residence in Australia. Future Chinese migration to the area may well be shaped by world events and government policies, much as it has been historically. In the Georges River region, Chinese migration will continue to contribute to place making, urban life and character, culture, and community identity.In conjunction with the Our Journeys | Our Stories exhibition, a series of oral history interviews were conducted with six local Chinese- Australian people about their experiences coming to Australia and living in the Georges River area from the 1990s onwards. They provide further insights into recent Chinese migration experiences in the Georges River area.
Education resources
A range of educational experiences have been developed for the Our Journeys | Our Stories exhibition.History Education resourceThis educational resource has been developed for Primary School teachers. It follows the story of two Chinese migrants to the St George area through the 1800s to the 1990s. Syllabus link: Stage 3 and Stage 5.Visual Arts Education resoucesSix contemporary Chinese-Australian artists - Cindy Yuen-Zhe Chen, Guo Jian, Lindy Lee, Xiao Lu, Jason Phu, and Guan Wei - have created artworks for this exhibition. This resource presents a case study for each artist which includes images and a description of the exhibited work, along with a Q&A with the artist discussing their artmaking practice, methods and materials. Accompanying each artist case study is a series of activities through which students may analyse and interpret works, and apply their understanding to their own artmaking practice. This resource supports the Australian Curriculum and NSW Syllabus outcomes for Visual Arts for years 5-12. Content has been designed with reference to the four frames and the Conceptual Framework. Hurstville Museum & Gallery would like to thank Heather Davidson, Visual Arts teacher at Macquarie Fields High School, for her guidance and assistance developing these resources.
