Last Sunday, the Library celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora with an open house event at the Greek Archives.
Over 150 people attended to enjoy live Greek music, desserts and dance performances showcasing traditional costumes from the Greek Archives.
Visitors explored a specially curated collection of items portraying significant people, places and events in Greek history. Many of these items incited memories of family and community – reigniting connections with people, place and culture.
Items included photographs, records, newspapers, costumes, movie posters, antique printing machines, film projectors and historical documents.
Several special guests gave speeches including University Librarian, David Groenewegen; the Consul General of Greece in Melbourne, Emmanuel Kakavelakis; President of the Greek Community of Melbourne, Bill Papastergiadis OAM; Greek Society Secretary, George Paganis; the Head of Greek Studies at La Trobe University, Stephie Nikoloudis and our Greek Archivist, Emmanouela Giannoulidou.
The event also saw the official launch of our online Hellenic folk dress exhibition, which showcases traditional Greek costumes from the different regions of Greece. The majority of costumes in the exhibition were generously donated by Gwyneth (Margarita) Jones.
Thank you to those who attended and everyone involved in organising and running the day.
