The exhibition Family Murmurings held their launch party on March 3^rd, exactly a month later than originally planned due to the Omicron wave. Over the course of the evening, guests experienced the virtual reality installation, read stories and viewed the 2D illustrations, which combined are an artistic reflection on the Australian Chinese Community in 1950s and 60s Australia.

During the evening, a diverse guest list arrived including a number of members of the Board of the Museum, staff from the Museum, the former Ambassador to China – Dr Alan Thomas and Professor Arthur Huck, author of the 1968 ‘The Chinese in Australia’.

The crowd clearly enjoyed sharing the art, conversation and meeting the creatives. All three artists spoke during the evening about the creation of the works. Visual artist, Nancy Liang, came from Sydney to share her experiences collaborating in this creative venture with Melbourne based writer Dr Ken Chan and digital artist Oliver Clifton.

The exhibition and the important role of the Museum was thoughtfully reflected on by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Nicholas Reece. The speeches were introduced and emceed by Mark Wang. It was great to have so many people celebrating the creativity of our diverse community.

The exhibition is open until March 31^st. The VR component can be viewed between 12:00 and 2:00pm Thursday to Sunday. Family Murmurings was made possible by the support of the Australia Council, the City of Melbourne and our very own Museum. 

- Angela Buckingham, Family Murmurings Producer