The Sempre Con Te exhibition is a combined visual and written socio-documentary of the Italian Migration to the Sydney Northern Beaches Area. The exhibition was held at The artRoom Upstairs Gallery on Manly Corso, 30 July to 27 August 2005. Written items include nine booklets of autobiographical narratives, one of which is available for viewing on the Sempre Con Te website.
According to the website,
The exhibition [...] sought to recreate an informal home
environment; the core being presented through two
separate rooms, the Before room (Senza Te, Without You)
and the After room (Con Te, With You).
'The Senza Te room represented the male living quarters before
the arrival of women and families. Dwellings were bare and
devoid of the female touch.
[...]
'In contrast, the Con Te room represented life after the arrival of
the women. This room was warm, welcoming and tactile. It
contained four large panels of framed photographs and
accompanying captions telling stories of Italo-Australian life. The
images depicted not only family reunions but also how the
community adapted its lifestyle and traditions into the Northern
Beaches. Others were a record of migrant shops that no longer
exist and of the local area that once was.'
