Srebrenka Kunek lived in Melbourne from the age of five. At age eighteen in 1973 she returned to study at the University of Zagreb, gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree while working as a translator, interpreter and teacher. After returning to Australia in 1984 she began work on a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Also a visual artist she held her first individual exhibition, Compilations, in 1985; exhibited The Brides with Installation in 1987, From Ships and Shoeboxes (materials from The Ethnic Collection, Monash University), in 1988, and From Drawers and Boxes, Greek-Australian Migration Memorabilia as part of the Women of the Mediterranean Workshop Program, also in 1988. She was interviewed by SBS TV in 1988.
