About the exhibition

‘Dream Home’ is a series of portraits of Greek citizens who, having emigrated to Melbourne and spent many subsequent years here, decided to return to Greece permanently.

Much has been written and celebrated about the Greek presence in Melbourne, particularly the local Greek community’s success at integrating within the wider Melbourne community yet maintaining a distinctive identity. An overlooked aspect of this immigration story, however, is that of the migrants who return to their original homeland. Often these people have spent decades establishing families and businesses here, yet for differing reasons feel they must return.

The central objective of ‘Dream Home’ is to broaden the understanding of this aspect of the immigration experience, overlooked, not surprisingly, by the overwhelming success of Greek migration to Melbourne. It is not my intention to draw generalised conclusions as to why people return – these reasons are far more varied and complex than the relatively straightforward reasons for arriving – but rather to raise awareness of this via the exhibition.
 
Jim Pavlidis 2007

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