In Conversation with Vittoria Melia
Dates
Tuesday 9 August | 11am – 12.30pm
Free event | Bookings required
*Admission fees apply for WA Maritime Museum
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Join Nonna Vittoria Melia and her daughter Claudia as she provides powerful insight into her young adult life in Bivongi, Italy, in the years prior to emigrating to Perth.
Her story is told through her large, curated collection of handmade linens, each creation bringing to life a powerful connection to past and future.
The narrative of Vittoria’s linen collection commences in Bivongi, where every young woman was required to prepare a trousseau in preparation for her future wedding, often starting at a very young age, before weddings were uppermost in a young girl’s mind. Vittoria would attend to her chores throughout the day and weave and work on the linens until 2 – 3am in the morning, every day of the week. The knowledge that upon her marriage to her fiancé she would leave Bivongi for Australia in search of a better life inspired Vittoria to ensure that her trousseau was abundant.
Some of her linens were gifted to Vittoria by her mother who in turn was gifted them by her mother, Vittoria’s Nonna. Some of the magnificent linens are over 100-years-old, each with a special story to tell, which lie within the silk and linen threads of long-ago ancient traditions and unspoken dreams.
Presented by Nella Fitzgerald Events in partnership with the Western Australian Museum.
