Future Exhibitions
Travelling Exhibitions
2009
An Australian Way of Life
An Australian Way of Life celebrates the achievements and contribution of 12 Chinese Australians to Australian society, culture and commerce over the past 150 years.
Chinese presence in Australia dates back to before the gold rush of the 1850s, but it was with the discovery of gold in Victoria that large waves of Chinese came to what they called the New Gold Mountain. Some of the Chinese men who came to Australia during this time, and who stayed after the gold rush, became extremely successful; men like Louis Ah Mouy, the first to send word of the gold rush to China, and Lowe Kong Meng, said to be one of the wealthiest men in Victoria in the 1880s.
Immigration restriction through the 1901 White Australia Policy caused Chinese immigration to shrink dramatically. A rising generation of Australian-born, well-educated, bicultural leaders came to the fore. William Ah Ket, an outstanding barrister, was a leading Chinese advocate at the turn of the century.
In recent times, Chinese Australians have been recognised for their achievements in areas as diverse as medicine, mathematics and music. Heart surgeon Dr Victor Chang was a pioneer of the modern heart transplant. Mathematician Terence Tao was awarded the most prestigious prize in mathematics, the Fields Medal, in 2006. John Williams is internationally renowned as a classical guitarist.
The exhibition and touring program has been supported by the Australian Consulate in Guangzhou, China, and Austrade in Taipei, Taiwan, to promote the long term contribution that Chinese people have made to Australian society. It has travelled throughout Chinese and is currently touring in Taiwan.
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