I peep through a porthole over Hamburg harbour just as many migrants must have done when they left for the New World over a century ago. But unlike the migrants I am on dry land in my cabin-inspired room in the Hotel Hafen Hamburg, previously a seafarers' home. The hotel is decked out with seafaring … Continue reading A town within a town -Ballinstadt Emigration Museum in Hamburg
museums
Louisiana, Libeskind’s Labyrinth and the Jews’ escape across the Sound
I meander through a maze of narrow, winding passages framed by walls of huge grey slabs. They entrap me; slope and slice across my path; disorientate me. There is no mistaking the architecture. It has to be Libeskind. The design is a miniature version of the Jewish Museum in Berlin but encased in the old … Continue reading Louisiana, Libeskind’s Labyrinth and the Jews’ escape across the Sound
Out and about in Sydney museums searching for migrant stories
Manon, at five weeks old, seems quite happy in the Long Gallery of the Australian Museum in Sydney. She’s not at all perturbed by the skeleton sitting in an armchair, another riding a horse and a third on an exercise bike. I suspect she will have to get used to such visits as her mother, … Continue reading Out and about in Sydney museums searching for migrant stories
Multiculturalism under the microscope in Melbourne Museums – Mark 1
I walk up the hill, away from the graffiti and loathsome cakes on Acland street in St Kilda, to the Jewish Museum of Australia. Most people are here on a rainy Sunday afternoon for the exhibition of Warhol’s Jewish Geniuses. I head, instead, to the back of the building, ignoring the Judaica too. I want … Continue reading Multiculturalism under the microscope in Melbourne Museums – Mark 1
