A vibrant place in the heart of the city, Canberra Museum and Gallery celebrates the region's social history and visual arts with dynamic exhibitions and unique community programs and events.

Housing a permanent collection, Reflecting Canberra, and a variety of local, national and international exhibitions, CMAG provides a refreshing insight to the integration of social history and the visual arts.

Reflections

Embroidery
Designed by Rimas Keraitis,
embroidered by Salomea Mikušionis
& Leonarda Veloniškis 1975
wool, cotton
235 x 245 cm

Gift of the Canberra Lithuanian
Community Association 2002

CANBERRA LITHUANIAN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION COLLECTION

The Canberra Lithuanian Community Association was formed in 1963. Its 250 founding members were Canberra residents who had immigrated to Australia in the late 1940s. Their Lyneham club, built by members in 1972, was a ‘home away from home’ for members. Using traditional Lithuanian designs and made by club members, the embroidery was worked in canvas stitch in three colours on a brown ground in four panels, and was intended to create a familiar and homely atmosphere in the club.

The proliferation of community clubs and societies is central to the story of Canberra as a ‘meeting place’ and is evidence of the cultural diversity of the national capital. This embroidery is material evidence of the Canberra Lithuanian community and the Canberra Lithuanian Club at Lyneham (1972-1999). It represents a Canberra chapter in the great story of post-Second World War migration to Australia.

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