The Caroline Springs Gallery windows have been adorned with butterfly artworks as an homage to the migrant experience of the artist Audrey Buttigieg Cardona.
Cardona, originally from Malta, connects with the broader immigrant community in Caroline Springs by adorning the wings of each bird with different cultural motifs.
The butterflies are crafted from various fabrics including embroidery, lace, carpet and fabric prints, symbolising the weaving of rich culture that occurs with migration.
The white caper butterfly symbolising Malta uses personal heirlooms that Cardona’s grandmother created.
“Both of my nannas were talented with crochet, creating beautiful doilies that they sold to others” she said.
“The Maltese cross, a symbol passed down from the Hospitaller Knights of St John, was made using a traditional lace technique called ‘bizzilla’. Before we moved to Australia, I made a special trip to Gozo, the sister island of Malta, to buy a set of Maltese lace as a reminder of home.”
Other parts of the butterfly include a traditional ‘pavaljun’ design, a decoration used in Maltese village feasts.
The other butterflies use fabrics and patterns from different cultures collected from the stories in the community and Cardona’s time spent working at a local primary school.
“Many of the items shared with me were made by a family member during gatherings with other women,” Cardona said.
The work is a remembrance of the past used to maintain connections to tradition, memories and their culture to provide hope and love in the future, Cardona said.
The seven butterflies broadly represent Maltese, African, Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian, Polynesian and Balkan communities. Notably the Polynesian butterfly is represented by the Bogong Moth, an endangered species, featuring Māori and Samoan designs with the Fiji Tapa pattern. Iraqi and Salvadoran families also provided embroidered textiles for the work.
Kaija Du
