Cultural Diversity Week: celebrating our shared stories

Celebrating Wyndham’s rich multicultural population will be front and centre next month when Wyndham City kicks off festivities to celebrate Cultural Diversity Week.  

Held between 18-24 March, Cultural Diversity Week will be celebrated under the theme of Our Shared Stories, Celebrating Together, and includes the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March.

The Peace Choir Project – a collaboration between the Wyndham Community and Education Centre and Play it Forward Australia – will launch their song “Our World in Wyndham” at a free event held at Werribee’s Wyndham Cultural Centre on Monday 18 March from 6-8pm.

The upbeat song, which includes a special music video featuring the various people and cultures that make up Wyndham, was created by the choir to promote inclusion.

At Tarneit Community Centre, Dilshad Moosajee will showcase a diverse collection of paintings that evoke joy, provoke thought and ignite the imagination in My World of Colour: Journey into Artistic Exploration (18-20 March), which celebrates the artist’s journey as an Australian with Kenyan roots.

Over at Saltwater Community Centre, emerging Chinese Australian artist MeiMei 莓莓 Hodgkinson will explore and challenge the concept of ordinary through a series of paintings and drawings of Wyndham residents in 普通⼈ (Ordinary People), which will run between 19-21 March.

Wyndham’s libraries are also hosting a series of events, including bilingual story times, crafts and other fun activities, and at Manor Lakes Library, a Raising Multilingual Children session and Journey Through the World of Tea tasting.

Wyndham City Mayor and Welcoming City portfolio holder, Councillor Jennie Barrera, said multiculturalism was a core part of Wyndham’s identity and character.

“Wyndham City is a cultural melting pot, with 48 per cent of our residents born overseas, and nearly 50 per cent speaking a language other than English,” Cr Barrera said.

“That’s why it’s more important than ever to celebrate and embrace Wyndham’s diverse population.”

“Cultural Diversity Week is a time to foster a shared sense of belonging, a time to reflect on the stories of our rich multicultural community, and a time of cultural respect for all.”  

For more information on Wyndham City’s Cultural Diversity Week activities and events, go to: https://www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/cultural-diversity-week