Hellenic Museum
The Hellenic Museum aims to be the nations foremost centre of Hellenic history, culture and the arts. Where the public can explore the legacy of the Greek immigrant experience in Australia and examine the influence of Hellenic culture and people, from antiquity to the present.
Founded in 2007 by Spiros Stamoulis the Hellenic Museum aims to provide Greek Australians, and the larger diverse community of Australia, with programs that promote understanding and appreciation for the rich cultural traditions of ancient and contemporary Greece.
With the collaboration of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, the Hellenic Museum will develop innovative programs that reflect the contribution that Hellenism places on history, arts and culture.
We are proud to open the doors to the first museum of its kind in Australia.
By Appointment
Open everyday except Mondays when visiting exhibitions are on.
Toilets
The Trendall Collection
A.D. (Dale) Trendall was a legendary figure and one of the foremost historians of Greek art of the 20th century. He was the principal authority on the red-figure vases produced in the Greek colonies and native areas of South Italy and Sicily during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
His academic life was devoted primarily to the study of the red-figured vases produced in South Italy and Sicily during the Classical period. Decorated with scenes of myth or everyday life these vases constitute a primary source for many aspects of Greek and native culture in Magna Graecia.
The Hellenic Museum is proud to be able to share samples of his private collection with the general public.
The Hellenic Immigration & Settlement Exhibition
Australia was relatively unknown to the Greeks. During 1829 to 1974. 300,000 Greeks migrated and settled to this southern continent. Some of the earliest settlers were convicted of piracy against the British Navy, or were fortune hunters or gold diggers.
As most were successful in making their fortune, they settled here, married locals and became farmers or stock breeders; some moved to Northern Australia to work on the sugar cane plantations.
After WWI, seeing that the United Stated had strict migration regulation and due to the catastrophe in Asia Minor, many Greeks entered Australia as refugees from Asia Minor, the Peloponnese, Macedonia and Egypt.
These early migrants settled in the suburbs of Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, despite their difficulties they established the first of many institutions:
Community centre ( 1898)
Greek school (1900)
Greek Orthodox church (1900)
Greek newspaper, “Australia” (1913)
Greek book, entitled “Life in Australia” (1916)
Discover some of their stories and witness the significant contribution made to the great multicultural community, which Australia is renowned for.