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Who are we Now?

2011 marks the 175th anniversary of European settlement in South Australia.  This milestone triggered us to question whether there is a South Australian identity, and if so, what is it?  The resulting exhibition, Who Are We Now?, explores the many facets of identity to provide a snapshot of what locals think it means to be South Australian now. With 175 years passing since the arrival of officials and immigrants to establish the Province of South Australia, we also decided to take a few glances backwards to see how South Australians have changed since 1836. 

We began the research for this exhibition by interviewing South Australians in Rundle Mall. We asked ‘What factors contribute to your identity?’ and ‘How important is being South Australian to you?’ The resulting answers became the general themes of the exhibition.  South Australians thought the important factors were place, family, cultural heritage, membership of special groups and generational differences. We added class and education. The exhibition also acknowledges that for some there are other factors that contribute to a sense of who you are.

A key feature of the exhibition are the profiles of 18 South Australians from diverse backgrounds and countries including a former child soldier from Sudan, a ‘queer’ Indigenous artist with the third largest Kylie Minogue memorabilia collection in the world, a Japanese bagpipe player, a Russian-Armenian-Australian, a convert to Islam with an Indigenous father and Chinese-Malaysian mother, a ‘Ten Pound Pom’, an Indian-born woman who has lived in London and Washington before settling in Adelaide, a Tanzanian-Australian who previously lived in South America and West Africa, a Pakistan-born Sufi [an Islamic group with a focus on inner spiritual life] who previously also lived in Abu Dhabi, a Vietnamese-Australian Councillor for the Port Adelaide Enfield Council, an ‘Iraqi-Australian Muslim’ and a ‘Persian-Australian’.

Top image - Members of Multicultural Youth South Australia, state representative advisory, advocacy and service delivery body for refugee and migrant youth
Image courtesy Multicultural Youth South Australia Inc (MYSA)

Bottom image - Adelaide Hunt Club meet, August 15, 1870, at ‘the Brocas’, Woodville
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia, B2003