Bingara Dreaming
MICHAEL SWEET
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| Aroney (left) with customers in the 1920s. Peters & Co's first investment in Bingara was the Greek-owned "Oyster Saloon and Refreshment Room'. Photo: Peter Feros Collection. |
After 5 April 2014 there will be an even
greater imperative to head there: the Roxy Museum - the final jewel in the
crown of the Roxy Theatre complex and the last chapter in the restoration of a
truly great Greek Australian landmark - will finally open its doors.
Celebrating the iconic Greek café, the
inspirational story of the Roxy's founders, and the sheer hard graft of early
Greek settlers down under, this is a must-see destination.
With less than six months to go, plans are
well-advanced for a series of stunning interactive displays in the historic
building, telling the story of the Greek diaspora's experience beyond
Australia's cities.
Originally built by three Kytherians in 1936,
the Roxy Theatre and adjoining spaces will - after more than a decade of redevelopment
- be a shining beacon of memory illuminating the remarkable story of Greek
immigration to regional Australia.
Comprising rare memorabilia, photographs,
interpretive texts and digital wizardry, the museum will invoke the vivid dream
that the Roxy's original creators - and hundreds of other Greek pioneers -
realised in New South Wales, Queensland and beyond.
Sydneysider Peter Prineas, grandson of Peter
Feros - one of the Roxy's founders - was appointed curator of the Roxy Museum
last year and began researching the Roxy's history in 2004.
His book on the subject - Katsehamos and the
Great Idea (Feros' nickname was Katsehamos) became the catalyst for the
building's further re-development. Restoration of the café and progress on the
museum concept followed.
"I was raised in a Greek café family in a
NSW country town. Like many café kids I didn't want to carry on the family
business," says Prineas who, apart from his writing, has spent his working
life as a lawyer, consultant and environmental activist.
As curator, his intentions are to tell the
story of the Roxy building in the wider context of Greek immigration and
settlement.
At the heart of the narrative, Prineas says, is
'the shopkeeping phenomenon' as first described by Australia's chronicler of the
Greek Australian experience - historian Hugh Gilchrist.
"There was an aspiration amongst the more
successful Greek café operators to extend their interests into picture
theatres," says Prineas, "to build what picture theatre historian
Kevin Cork described as 'Parthenons Down Under'."
Working with former Roxy manager Sandy
McNaughton - who was instrumental in much of the early fundraising for the
Roxy's refurbishment, raising some $2m in grants from state and federal
government - Prineas has been central to the museum project.
Its major source of income to date has been a
$94,000 grant from the NSW Government's Arts Program. Other donors include the
Nicholas Aroney Trust, the Kytherian Association of Australia, AHEPA and Sydney
businessman Nick Politis.
Tackling the design of the museum is the
Melbourne-based company Convergence Associates - whose previous projects
include the Italian Museum in Carlton.
Convergence director Jenny Klempfner says the
project is something very special for her Camberwell-based consultancy.
"It's a regional treasure," says the
enthusiastic Klempfner - who has twice made the trip to Bingara to research the
project.
"To come across a building like that -
it's a jewel - a building that's been wonderfully loved and nurtured, both in its
inception, and in the last ten years since the council has owned it."
Central to her interpretation of the 50-page
design brief is to ensure the museum's design responds to the resources
available and its management.
"It's a heritage building - and one that's
very precious, so we have to tread lightly, the challenge is thinking about who
is going to be approaching the museum and how."
With the Roxy's interconnecting shopfronts
restored - comprising the traditional Greek café - with its elegant Art Deco fittings
and cinema foyer, the museum experience will weave its magic throughout the
building.
"We're treating different spaces in
different ways," says Klempfner. "The café is operational but there
will be museum interpretation in there too.
"It'll be fitted out with jukebox style
audio in the booths - so you can listen to stories from Greek café-owners, and
the memories of customers."
The space wholly devoted to the museum will
have a symbolic monument centre-stage - an antique cinema projector.
"We're telling the story of how Greeks
came to these country towns. We see the story as a dream - an amazing
vision," says Convergence's director.
"We want to create that feeling - of
coming from small villages in Greece that were often very poor. These people
who came then had the chutzpah to make a go of it."
One display will focus on 'Greek café kids made
good'; biographies of remarkable Greek Australians whose early years were spent
in cafés.
The first such life to be celebrated will be
pioneering physician Archivides 'Archie' Kalokerinos (1927 - 2012), named Greek
Australian of the Century by Neos Kosmos in 2000. By auspicious coincidence
Kalokerinos worked in Bingara for ten years and was based in the Roxy building.
The Roxy Museum has a profound tale to tell.
Its narrative is not just the story
of the Roxy, remarkable in itself, but the
stories of thousands of Greeks who - through their cafés and cinemas in
regional Australia - nourished a young nation and left a legacy of inspiration.
Contributions of memorabilia to the Roxy Museum
collection are welcomed. For further information contact Peter Prineas at pprineas@ozemail.com.au
πηγή: neoskosmos.com
