Leaving Home: Migrant Stories
Year 6 History Studies by Olivia Monte 20914825
Migrant Contributions
Migration within society has a profound effect, particulary on culture. Many migrants contribute to Australian sport, the arts, the economy, medicine, science and education. Listed below are migrants who have made enormous contributions to Australian arts. These three men are the authors of the three exmplar texts which we are using in class, and all of them have done much more than write books. They helped Australia become a more interesting and artistic place.
Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan is an Australian artist, filmmaker, illustrator and author. He was born in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1974 and he grew up in Perth. Although Shaun Tan is not an immigrant himself, his father is Chinese-Malaysian and this has always affected Shaun Tan’s life and artistic work. Shaun Tan studied Fine Art, English and History at the University of Western Australia.
Shaun Tan has written and illustrated many picture books and has made enormous contributions to children’s literature. He has won numerous awards for his excellence and his work is known and respected internationally. Many of Shaun’s stories deal with themes of loss, belonging, emptiness and identity, which he says have all been influenced by the fact that he grew up in Australia as someone who felt different to others around him.
Above are two of Shaun Tan's mural artworks. On the left is Shaun's painting The Hundred Year Picnic at the Subiaco Library, Western Australia and on the right is Hours to Sunset at his old univeristy, The University of Western Australia.
Above are some of Shaun Tan's most well known picture books: The Arrival (2006), The Lost Thing (2000), and Eric (2008).
Above is a video of Shaun Tan being interviewed. He talks about his work and career.
Above is the short film The Lost Thing, for which Shaun Tan won his Oscar.
Li Cunxin
Li Cunxin is a Chinese-Australian ballet dancer and author. He moved to Australia in 1995 after spending time in other countries as a touring ballet dancer. Li was born into poverty and grew up in a rural peasant village in the Shandong province of China. When he was 11 years old, Li was selected by Madame Mao’s cultural advisors to dance in the Beijing Dance Academy. He had a very difficult time leaving China to dance in America, and at one point was not allowed to enter China again.
Since Li’s days as a world class leading ballet dancer, he moved to Australia and married an Australian woman, and they have three children. Li is best known for his autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer. The novel is a detailed account of Li’s life and struggles from living in Chinese poverty and working extremely hard as a ballet dancer to make a better life for himself. Since the novel was written in 2003, Li adapted the novel into a young reader edition and a picture book; The Peasant Prince.
Above are pictures of Li Cunxin performing on stage.
Above are some of Li Cunxin's autobiographical books. The most famous of which is on the left, Mao's Last Dancer (2003), in the middle is Dancing to Freedom (2008) and on the right is The Peasant Prince (2007) - which is also one of our three exemplar texts.
This is a video of Li where he talks about his migration experience and book, Mao's Last Dancer.
Anh Do
Anh Do is an Australian actor, author, artist, television celebrity and stand-up comedian. He was born in Vietnam in 1977 and came to Australia in the 1980s as a refugee. His journey to Australia was very dangerous as he made the journey with his family on a rickety, leaking fishing boat. At two points in the journey, the boat was attacked by pirates who damaged the boat, making it even more unsafe and unlikely to endure the distance to Australia. During the journey, one of the forty Vietnamese refugees died.
Since his family settled in Australia, Anh Do went on to finish school and study law and business at The University of Technology, Sydney. Instead of working as a lawyer when he finished, he decided to work as a stand-up comedian. Anh Do has written many books including The Little Refugee and other stories which are based on his experiences of fitting in and being an immigrant/refugee.
Above is a DVD cover of the TV series, Anh Does Vietnam (2013) and Anh performing stand up comedy.
Above is the cover of the first of Anh's poular book series Weirdo (2013) and in the middle is his autobiography The Happiest Refugee (2010). On the right is the cover of our thrid exemplar text, The Little Refugee (2011).
Below is a video of Anh Do as a guest on Pictures of You. Here he talks about his early life in Vietnam and refugee experience.