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Stories of war, persecution, sanctuary and new beginnings are being told in an exhibition in Bendigo.
‘Stories Told 2’ shines a light on the city’s refugee Karen and Hazara communities – many of whom experienced both the atrocities of war and the slow, grinding horror of decades spent in refugee camps.
Karen woman Htoo Ray Mying remembers fleeing the “enemy people” as a baby and grew up hearing the retellings of narrow escapes and loved ones killed around her.
At the age of two they entered a refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border – where she would spend the next two decades and watch her sister died from inadequate medical treatment.
After finding refuge in Australia in 2008 she worked for three years in aged care before entering university. Ms Mying has recently graduated with a bachelor of public health.
It’s people like Ms Mying who are the subjects of Stories Told 2, which aims to allow people from diverse cultural backgrounds to share the highlights and struggles of their journey to Bendigo and how they have created a new life in a different place.
Portraits created by renowned Bendigo photographer Donna Bailey is a highlight of the exhibition.
Donna’s work has featured in galleries throughout Australia and overseas since the late 1990s and her photographs are held in the collections of the Bendigo Art Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, Monash Gallery of Art, Monash University Museum of Art, Albury Art Gallery, (MAMA), Bendigo Bank and in other institutional collections.
Bendigo Community Health Services healthy communities and lifestyle manager Martine Street said the organisation has enjoyed a wonderful reaction to the first Stories Told exhibition which took place in Dudley House in 2015.
“The interest from the general public has encouraged us to share these inspiring and brave stories of refugees finding their way to a new home in Bendigo again,” he said.
“These stories reveal what these new citizens have endured in getting to Bendigo and making a new life here.
“The stories are told with honesty and deliver a beautiful insight into different cultures.”
City of Greater Bendigo’s Art and Culture Coordinator Maree Tonkin said Stories Told 2 said the exhibiton was a platform for participants to share their experiences with the broader community.
“The arts play a vital role in interpreting experiences in creative ways,” she said.
The exhibition takes place between 10am and 4pm daily at Dudley House, View Street from March 16 to March 22.