Collection SummaryCelebrating the Croatian Community in Fairfield
Each year Fairfield City Library Service works with one ethnic community to collect and digitise the story of their settlement in the Fairfield area in a project called Communities on the Move. This year representatives of the Croatian community participated in oral history interviews and in finding and collecting documents, stories and photographs to share their history and culture with the broader community.
The Library Service digitised the items and the oral history interviews so that they can be preserved and archived. These valuable resources then become available to the whole community on into the future.
The project culminated with a celebration of Croatian history, culture and food at the Whitlam Library on Saturday 16 June. We were privileged to have the Croatian Consul General Ms Mirjana Piskulic as well as Fairfield City Mayor Frank Carbone speak about the important contribution of the Croatian community to Fairfield. Presentations of the digitised material were made to the volunteers and oral history participants and to representatives of the King Tomislav Club who provided such valuable assistance to the project.
Two Croatian Folkloric groups – Lindo and Vukovar – provided amazing music and dancing. Before long the Mayor, the Consul General, library staff and many of the audience had joined the dancing, much to the enjoyment of library customers. Once the dancing was over people had the opportunity to try traditional Croatian food and look at the beautiful costumes and other cultural artefacts on display.
The Communities on the Move project has strengthened the relationship between the Library Service and the Croatian community as well as provided new resources for the Local Studies collection which are now available to the whole community. Fairfield City Council’s motto is Celebrating diversity and this project epitomises that principle by showcasing and celebrating the Croatian community in Fairfield.
