Exhibition dates: Fri 16 Oct – Sat 7 Nov
Open Tuesday to Friday 10am–5pm, Saturday 11am–3pm, free entry

An exhibition of original comic art from Joshua Santospirito’s work-in-progress graphic novel Swallows Part Two — a book about searching for ancestors.

In 2018 Josh returned for a holiday to the Aeolian Islands, North of Sicily, from where his father’s family migrated from. His visit filled with snippets of history, amusing family anecdotes and mythology — weaving a story through which Josh attempts to understand what (if any) connection he might have to that place.

With his parents in tow, Josh tries to find out what drove his ancestors to leave those islands for Australia — and why human history is filled with stories of humans constantly on the move.

Swallows is an ambitious but heart-warming episodic storytelling project. It has its origin in 2013 when Tony Santospirito, Josh’s father, created a homebound booklet about Josh’s grandfather Antonio and his relationship to the city of Melbourne over the 20th century. The series investigates the stories of all human migration.

Conversations with the artist

Sat 24 Oct, 1pm

Join Joshua Santospirito for a conversation about his exhibition, and about the process of creating a graphic novel.

Image: Joshua Santospirito, “Cover” (detail), 2019, watercolour on paper