Tuning into new rhythms

Remember the Italian migration to Australia after World War II?

Well, that began long before, according to a NSW teaching resource for Government schools, which says from the gold rush in the 1850s, the number of Italians in Australia steadily increased.

Raffaello Carboni, who joined the miners, became a protester and was the author of The Eureka Stockade, the only first-hand account of the miners’ revolt.

In 1855, a Sardinian vessel, the Goffredo Mameli, brought 84 immigrants. In 1881, 317 Italian migrants were accepted as refugees after a failed attempt to settle an island off New Guinea. They eventually settled near Lismore in what became known as New Italy.

The Italians brought with them a love of gardening and introduced the European diet of fruit and vegetables. They would work from daylight to dark to grow their own produce to support their families.

However, by the end of the 18th century there were Italian-born doctors, artists, musicians, priests, engineers, scientists, businessmen and intellectuals in Australia, many of whom made a substantial contribution to colonial life.

In the 2001 census, more than 800,000 Australians (4.3 per cent)claimed Italian descent, with 218,718 Australian residents having been born in Italy.

Matteo Artioli is one of a new breed of young Italians in Geraldton on a visa. We met Matteo and his friend Francesco before in Geraldton.

They are both keen gardeners, and at that time, they had a colourful back yard of Australian native plants flowering. Francesco has since returned to Italy and Matteo must soon, he told me.

“You play a didgeridoo?” I said.

“Yes.” Matteo said. “This Didgeridoo was not drilled out but the hole down the middle was eaten out with termites. A man used long tools to dig out the hole in the proper way and it became a didgeridoo.”

“How long have you been playing it?” I asked.

“Just four months,” he said “I started to play because I met a man at the Blues for the Bush, down South. This man named Tony lived here in Geraldton and he taught me some tricks to do the correct breathing so I can continually play, breathing at the same time. I spend a lot of time learning how to understand how to play it. I am improving by watching tutorials and practise.”

Matteo has been in Australia for a year now and must go back to Italy soon, but he plans to return.

“Australia is awesome,” he said.

“I love Western Australia particularly because I come from a place that is very, very busy with lots of people whereas here is completely different. It is quiet here and you can enjoy the bush, the ocean and the natural environment. Italy is a great place, but it has become too busy.

“I prefer to live in Australia. I like gardens and do a bit of work there to stay in touch with (nature).”

Matteo spends time at the Railway Markets where a friend has a massage business and gives him room to play the didgeridoo he has mastered, on a platform on Sundays. When clients need to relax he plays that and other instruments such as pipes and singing crystal balls. He also painted the sign for the business.