Portraits of German migrants to Australia – a book by Sabine Nielsen
Memories in my Luggage
  • Home
  • The book
    • About the book
    • About Sabine Nielsen
    • The portraits
    • Extracts from the book
    • Purchase information
    • Educational material
    • Copyright
  • Exhibition
    • About the exhibition >
      • Stop 8: Grovedale Neighbourhood House, 1 Oct-20 Nov
      • Stop 7: Osborne House, North Geelong, 4–26 Sept
      • Stop 6: Tabulam and Templer Homes (Bayswater), 2-31 July
      • Stop 5: Chapel on Station Box Hill, 11-24 June
      • Stop 4: Goethe-Institut, 17 April-29 May
      • Stop 3: Brighton, 5-26 March
      • Stop 2: Glen Waverley, 5-27 February
      • Stop 1: Bonegilla, 19 Dec-25 Jan
    • The creative team
    • In the press
    • Sponsors
    • Acknowledgements
  • Storybook
    • Collection of stories 1
    • Collection of stories 2
    • Videos and podcasts
  • Contact

About the exhibition

What motivates people to pack their cases and bags – pack up their lives and move to a foreign country? Why do we leave behind all that is known to us – our home, our families and friends, to start anew . . . and what happens then? How does the new country welcome us, how do we integrate and get used to a new set of rules, a different political and judicial system, a country where cars drive on the 'wrong' side of the road – and where a different language is spoken?

And what is our contribution to this “multicultural” society, how much of our culture and our traditions do we introduce to our host nation – and how does it all fit together and become our experience?

It started with a book, Ein bisschen Heimat im Gepäck (ihleo verlag, Husum, 2014), by Sabine Nielsen, telling the life stories of migrants who arrived here between 1935 and 1956 – refugees, displaced or persecuted people, adventurers and those who sought to start a new life. In the meantime, the books is available in English with the title Memories in my Luggage. Even today, their stories resonate in the minds of those recently arrived – or they help those, who feel overwhelmed by a tide of refugees, asylum seekers and new migrants, to a better understanding.

The German photographer Eva Maria Rugel took the portraits of the migrants represented in the book. These portraits were so impressive, it seemed a shame to “hide” them between the pages of a book, and Sabine Nielsen and Eva Maria Rugel decided to work together with Melbourne designer, David Wong, and prepare an exhibition under the auspice of the Australian-German Welfare Society and the sponsorship of Henkell Brothers Australia and with a grant from the Victorian Multicultural Commission. 

The exhibition shows photographs and texts, a digital presentation, information about organisations that assist migrants and memorabilia, which highlight the experience of migration. Together with the exhibitions, we offer a series of talks, lectures, forums, musical and culinary events. Watch this space!

Exhibition dates

During 2015, the exhibition Memories in my Luggage traveled around Melbourne and country Victoria:

Grovedale Neighbourhoood House, Geelong
1 October to 20 November 2015

Osborne House and Diversitat, Geelong
4 to 25 September 2015 


Tabulam and Templer Homes, Bayswater
2 to 31 July 2015

Chapel on Station, Box Hill
11 to 24 June 2015

Goethe Institut, Melbourne
17 April to 29 May 2015

Brighton Library
5 to 26 March 2015

Glen Waverley Library
5 to 27 February 2015


Bonegilla Migrant Experience
19 December 2014 to 25 January 2015


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