MADE IN CATALONIA FILM FESTIVAL 2012

Continuant amb el Festival de Cinema iniciat l'any 2008 i consolidat nacionalment a Sydney, Brisbane i Camberra durant les edicions posteriors, el Casal Català de Victòria Inc. ha superat l'èxit assolit tot organitzant la quarta edició d'aquest acte cultural sense ànim de lucre anomenat "Made in Catalonia Film Festival (MiCFF)" 2012. Es van projectar 4 pel.lícules en català i castellà subtitulades en anglès. L'assistència en els 3 dies de Festival ha estat de 500 persones. Per a més informació visiteu la web del Festival. I a la nostra galería podreu veure algunes fotos del Opening.

PICNIC 26th CASAL'S ANNIVERSARY

Sunday 12th February 2012
from 12 p.m.

HARLESTON PARK
Allison Rd - Seymour Rd (Melway 67 H-2)
ELSTERNWICK

Please join us in commemorating 26 years since we gathered at this Park for the first time, where the idea to form the Casal was born

BYO food and drinks and remember to bring a blanket, chairs and anything else you might need to be comfortable. Board games, music and ball games are welcome

We hope to see you all there

CELEBRATION OF THE CASAL'S 25th ANNIVERSARY

This year we celebrate our 25th anniversary, come join us on the 13th of November!

PROGRAM

15 -16 h

• Opening

16 - 17 h

• Video presentation: "Casal's history in images".
• Live music by the Brunswick Rogues Choir (including catalan songs)
• A look back at the Casal's beginnings (video).
• Special thanks certificates will be given to all members who have been Committee members.

17 - 18 h

• Snack
  
  

LAUNCH OF THE "CATALAN FOOTPRINT IN AUSTRALIA" WEBSITE

11th of September 2011

The Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship, the Hon. Nicholas Kotsiras MP, launched the 'Catalan Footprint in Australia' online exhibition at the Melbourne Immigration Museum on the Catalan National Day, 11 September 2011.

The launch, hosted by the Casal Català of Victoria, was attended by an audience of close to one hundred, including the Consul General of Spain (Mr Miguel Gómez de Aranda), the Consulate's Cultural Affairs Officer (Ms Laura Martínez Oliveras), members of the Casal and more than fifty descendants of the Catalan pioneering immigrants whose oral histories are captured on the Catalan Footprint website.

The project leader and chief researcher for the website, Lluisa Vilalta (President of the Myriades Cultural Association), flew from Barcelona to participate at the launch. She provided a demonstration of the many images, video clips, narratives and interview transcripts posted on the website, which capture much of the oral history of Catalan immigration to Australia from the 1840s to recent times. The key pages on the website are available in the three languages of the immigrants: Catalan, Spanish and English. Myriades has been responsible for the design and implementation of the website, including the transcription, editing and translation of all interviews, in addition to carrying out the underpinning research.

Guided by the local Catalan community's historian Mrs Josephine (Josee) Canals, Ms Vilalta had criss-crossed Australia during 2010 to carry out the research. She travelled from Perth to Sydney and from Tasmania to Far North Queensland, recording interviews with many descendants of the Catalan pioneers, together with images of photos, diaries, newspaper cuttings and other historical artefacts that their families have kept. She thanked the Victorian Multicultural Commission, many donors from the pioneers' families, and the Casal Català of Victoria for their support of the project, and singled out Casal Committee members Josee Canals and Dr Peter Gerrand for their support throughout the project.

Mrs Canals thanked all the private donors who, together with the VMC, had helped cover Ms Vilalta's travel costs in Australia. Dr Gerrand spoke of the importance of the online exhibition in adding to the publicly available knowledge of the Catalan diaspora in Australia, and of the value of the Casal Català in the context of the more than one hundred Casals worldwide, whose comprehensive history has yet to be written. He noted that the Casal would not have reached its 25th anniversary this year without the ongoing contributions from several of its founding members, plus the participation in recent years of an increasing number of younger Catalan immigrants and temporary visitors in helping organize events such as the 'Made in Catalonia' Film Festival.

See all pictures

The Casal's President, Dr Victoria Gras, who had acted as Master of Ceremonies throughout, thanked also the Spanish Consulate for its support of the launch, and the Generalitat de Catalunya for its support of the Casal's 25th Anniversary; and invited all present to move to the Museum's atrium to mingle and to drink a toast to Catalonia on its national day.

PROPERA EXPOSICIÓ ON-LINE "CATALAN FOOTPRINT IN AUSTRALIA"

Sabies que un grup de catalans varen ser els que varen portar els tomàquets a Austràlia? Sabies que la famosa 'meat pie', una empanada de carn que avui en dia es considera el menjar típic Australià, va ser una invenció franco-catalana? La connexió de la comunitat catalana amb l'estat de Victoria va ser central en el desenvolupament de la ciutat de Melbourne a principi del segle XX. Avui en dia encara es pot entreveure la influència dels pioners Catalans a Austràlia. Tot caminant pels carrers de Melbourne, pots descobrir el Pont Morell, Barcelona Terrace, la peixateria Canals… Sabies que Melbourne va tenir un alcalde d'origen català? Un dels més reconeguts fotògrafs de guerra Australià tenia sang catalana. Un popular màgic, el primer pilot en volar de Londres a Austràlia en una avioneta motoritzada, un Senador per l'estat de Queensland, i tants altres personatges gloriosos que han deixat la seva empremta catalana en la societat Australiana.

Una exposició en línia sobre la comunitat Catalana a Austràlia celebra el centenari de l'arribada d'una de les families catalanes a Melbourne. En cooperació amb el Casal Català de Victoria, Myriades ha conservat el material històric i recuperat la memòria oral de la comunitat catalana a Austràlia. El projecte vol celebrar l'arribada dels primers catalans a les Antípodes, fomentar la cultura catalana a l'estranger, encoratjar el diàleg intercultural entre Austràlia i Catalunya i facilitar la integració de la comunitat catalana dins la societat Australiana.
Una producció de Myrïades amb el suport del Casal Català de Melbourne.

Presentació: 11 de Setembre del 2011.
www. museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum
www.catalanfootprintinaustralia.net

Agraïments especials: Josephine Canals and family, Lola Waring and family, Peter Gerrand, Maryanne Dawson, Neus i Jaume Albert, Marc Butxaca, Albert Vilalta, Joanne Tapiolas, Maria Carbó, i a tots els que ens han obert les portes als seus secrets familiars.