Love

Wet Wet Wet was right: love is all around. Tales that stretch back eons focus on an aspect of human love – romantic, familial or friendship – while today, shows like Married at First Sight capture the attention of millions simply for throwing a mix of bodacious singletons into a social experiment aimed solely at finding love. So, is our thirst for love evolutionarily ingrained in each of us? Melbourne’s Immigration Museum’s latest exhibition Love asks the big questions.

Presented in partnership with Heide Museum of Modern Art, Love champions the most universal and sacred human experiences by sharing intimate stories that are bound to fill your heart or break it. Visitors walk into the exhibition and immediately see the exhibition broken into five distinct areas. While you decide, iconic romantic songs fill the air, instantly transporting you to your first kiss, your first date, or your first break-up. For us, INXS’s ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ bellowed through the sound system and proved to be quite a trigger.

The exhibition invites you to think about the love(s) of your life. Positioned at the entrance are two walls pegged with various coloured cue cards, each with an etching from a visitor who left a little piece of their heart at the exhibit. Following prompts such as “I knew I loved you when …” or “What I miss most about you is …”, people have scribbled their inner-most thoughts about their soulmate, an ex, or their child. Some stories will simply stay with you for days.

Love shines by presenting a fair representation of affection and grief, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age or time. I highly recommend picking up a set of headphones to listen to the first-person love-storytelling via the digital guide. As you view people’s personal possessions, including bridal gowns, ancestral locks of hair, or letters written in World War I, listening to the stories amplify the sensation.

One of the most moving stories was between Bill and Sarah. Bill was a soldier battling in World War I and Sarah, his sister, waiting for his return. Bill optimistically assured Sarah he would return soon. But sadly, he was another of the innumerable casualties. Yet, in the moment – reading personal letters, admiring the calligraphic handwriting, and listening the audio – I was uniquely moved and taken by his story above the rest.

Other memorable stories come from a South Sudanese mother who risked everything to give her son a future, the lamentation felt by visual artist Mirka Mora after losing her children, and the couple who escaped an increasingly oppressive country and decided to become migrate to Australia with virtually nothing.

Everyone has a love story, so what’s yours?

Love is on show till Sunday, 28 April.

Love
Open 7 days, till Sunday, 28 April 2019
Long Room, Immigration Museum, 400 Flinders Street, Melbourne CBD
museumsvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/whats-on/love