Greek Cafe Exhibit Returns to Sydney

The “Selling An American Dream: Australia’s Greek Café” exhibit will be returning to Sydney’s Hurstville Museum and Gallery from August 2 to September 28, 2014.

Curator and historian Leonard Janiszewski and photographer Effy Alexakis have documented the historical and contemporary experiences of Greek-Australians since the early 1980s. The exhibit was initially launched at the National Museum of Australia in 2008 but has been touring on a national level.

Australia’s Greek-run cafés populated towns and cities across the nation. These establishments were mostly run by Greek migrants who were able to successfully join Greek culture with other cross-cultural influences in order to meet the needs of locals.

Furthermore, they started a social and cultural trend by inserting American popular culture into Australia’s everyday life. Greek cafés did not only affect the eating habits of locals, but also other sectors of life such as cinema, music, or architecture. The exhibit features a mix of historical and contemporary photographs along with extended oral history captions and a dramatic multimedia presentation created by film-maker Michael Karris.

Effie Alexakis has managed to capture the essence of Australian Greek-run cafés through her impressive body of work. Furthermore, the exhibit includes various memorabilia from cafés such as tableware, menus and equipment.