This rug was a gift and gesture of friendship from the local Muslim community to the City of Greater Bendigo. It was presented to Mayor, Cr Rod Fyffe on behalf of the people of Bendigo at a 2016 'Thank You Bendigo' dinner. In 2014 approval for a planning application from the Bendigo Islamic Association to build a community centre and mosque in East Bendigo prompted a series of public protests that captured widespread media attention. During this tumultuous period the Council identified the need for a community-wide plan to promote diversity and help address potentially divisive cultural issues. These events led to the COGB becoming the first local government area (LGA) formally accredited under Australia’s Welcoming Cities Standard. Community leaders emerged who wanted to show that the anti-mosque protesters did not reflect the views of the majority of Bendigo residents. The community lead ‘Believe in Bendigo’ movement gained momentum, and the Council and other local organisations joined forces to present a unified message that Bendigo residents do not tolerate racism. Muslims have made Central Victoria their home since the Goldrush, contributing to the community and the economy for the past 120 years. Traditional Islamic rugs, especially their patterns and motifs are intrinsically linked with the design of the Bendigo Mosque and Bendigo Islamic Community Centre providing important points of reference for the architects of the project. Typically, mosques are linked with specific cultural groups but not in the case of Bendigo where the Muslim community is made up of multi-ethnic groups. This meant the building's design was not fixed to a specific style or cultural iconography but instead needed to encompass many. The small local Muslim community selected a specific Australian architect because of their interest and knowledge of Islamic design and iconography gained through family collection of Islamic textiles. In thinking about the design of the mosque and community centre the architects wanted to acknowledge the role of Afghans in Australian history, especially tribal Afghans who helped build connections across the interior of Australia between First Nations communities, European settlers and Central Asian migrants. The gift of this Turkmen rugto the Bendigo community thus symbolises collaborative partnerships across faith and cultural groups based on friendship and mutual benefit. A Turkman rug was specifically chosen as it is the pinnacle of nomadic arts of the Islamic world. It was also important to the architects and the local Muslim community that the gift was a female artistic product as it was mainly a female Muslim architecture team that designed the mosque in Bendigo and there was a desire to select something that celebrated female artistry. This hand-woven rug is an engsi, made for a woman in preparation for marriage. Design work and weaving is a shared experience, between many generations of women and each rug hold the personal story of the woman it is made for and her family and thus holds deep symbolic meaning. There are often songs and poetry that are recited as the rug is made – helping the makers to memorisze the mathematical structure of the design. An engsi is put on the doorway to a yurt as part of a wedding ceremony. During the ceremony the groom turns the engsii upside down to check the quality of the rug makers weaving skills. The nomadic lifestyle of Yomut Turkman tribes determines the size of the rug as the loom can’t be carried. Its size is also restricted by the dimensions of the doorway of the yurt. This rug is dated as c 1880 because of the types of patterns used, the use of natural dyes (synthetic dyes were introduced to the area in 1890s) and with the smoother weaving on the back indicating the quality of craftsmanship dating to this time period. The Yomut engsi rug was made in Turkmenistan c1880 by Yomut Turkmen Tribes people and is designed to fit over the doorway of a yurt during a wedding ceremony. The main field motif is related to Turkoman jewelery design. The women and girls of the tribe spin the wool and design and weave the rugs. The men shear the sheep, dye the wool and clip the rug after it has been woven. The word “Turkoman” is thought to have been derived from Turk-iman, meaning the first nomadic Turkic tribes that began to follow Islam. Dyes used are natural including orange from madder root. bendigo mosque, bendigo islamic association, city of greater bendigo community partnerships, city of greater bendigo community groups

Framed banner on stand. Frame - timber with decorative detail, brown stain with glass front, frame attached to timber stand. Feet supporting frame with piano hinge and chain. Mount - green felt Banner - blue silk like background, with embroidered foliage, flowers, building and inscription in colour. Yellow silk like fringe.Handwritten on back of frame "Made by M. Bowles. Feb. 1993" Embroidered on banner "Souvenir of Holyland/Mosque of Omar/1941"souvenir, wwii, middle east

The collection revolves around cards, letters to "Hannah Firth" of Melbourne. .1) & .2) Cards are from William Martindale No. 1188, enlisted 17.7.15 aged 27. D Coy 29th Bn AIF. Embarked 10.11.15, transferred to 13th F.A.B, returned to Australia 23.6.1919. .3) Card from Henry Haines Sutherland No. 3916. Enlisted 22.7.15 aged 21. 12th reinforcements 14th BN AIF. Transferred to 46th Bn, discharged from the AIF on 20.9.19. .4) & .5) from Bill, .5) from Billie. The rest are unknown. Refer to 4049.12P.1) Postcard, photo, black & white, street scene and mosque. On rear, letter in pencil. .2) Postcard, photo, black & white, harbour scene with ships and city in background. Short letter on rear. .3) Photo, black & white, soldier in peak hat, cpl. stripes, background is clear. On rear, brief note. .4) Postcard, photo, black & white, soldier standing, slouch hat, bandolier, crop, studio background. Brief note on rear. .5) Postcard, photo, black & white, harbour scene, ships with statue on the right. On rear letter. .6) Postcard, photo, black & white, portrait, oval shape, soldier, no hat, wearing ribbons. Nothing on rear. .7) Postcard, photo, black & white, soldier standing, hat, riding crop, spurs, studio background. Nothing on rear. .8) Postcard, photo, black & white, portrait of soldier, slouch hat, no rank, background clear. Nothing on rear. .9) Postcard, photo, sepia, soldier standing, one hand on table, studio background. Nothing on rear. .10) Postcard, photo, sepia, group of seven soldiers, four standing, three sitting outside tents. Nothing on rear. post cards, hannah, photographs

Collection relates to Harold Johnson TX3956. Refer to Cat. No. 4053.3 for service details..1) Photo, black & white, harbour scene showing two ships, one at lean, buildings and timber on wharf. Hand writing on rear. .2) Photo, black & white, view over Jerusalem towards hills. .3) Photo, black & white, close up of a mosque with one person in front. .4) Photo, black & white, bombed wreckage of a gun emplacement overlooking a harbour. .5) Photo, black & white, air strip with covering and a plane coming into land, background appears to be jungle. .6) & .7) Photo, black & white, Japanese surrender being conducted aboard a ship. Photos are various sizes. .1) On rear in pencil "Close up of the wreck, Love Hal xxx" .2) On rear in pencil "View of Jerusalem from YMCA" .3) On rear in pencil "Mosque of Omah Jerusalem Love Hal xxx"photographs, jerusalem

The photos in the collection relate to Thomas Robert JONES No 1982 AIF. Refer Reg No 1377 for his service details..1) - .22) Photos, black / white, showing men, training, the desert, Dardanelles, Turkish prisoners, leaving Egypt. .23) - .44) Enlargement copies of photos .1) - .22), sepia.Hand written on the rear in pen: .1) Housing parade on the desert Egypt, bugler band 6th Battalion. .2) Australian Field Artillery exercising horses near the pyramids. .3) Some of the buglers of the 6th Battalion with their identification disks as eyeglasses. .4) Serving out rations. .5) 6th Battalion having a short halt during a route march on the desert. .6) 18 Pounder Field Gun Australian Artillery. .7) 'Come to the Cook House Door' 6th Battalion AIF. .8) Lieut WATSON - Machine Gun being vaccinated by Lieut BALFE A Coy. Both these Officers are amongst the fallen. .9) 6th Battalion AIF preparing to leave Mena Camp for the Dardanelles. .10) A Turk captured on the morning of 25th April 1915 on board the troop ship Galeka. .11) Wounded alongside of hospital ship Galeka. .12) HMS Vengeance at the Dardanelles. .13) Hospital ship Sudan off Gaba Tepe. .14) Observation balloon off Cape Helles. .15) British Destroyer off Cape Helles. .16) Cape Helles, Dandanelles. .17) Turkish prisoners captured at the Suez _ _ _ Barracks, Cairo. .18) Turkish prisoners. .19) <> Guides near pyramids Mena. .20) Method of irrigation on the Nile, Egypt. .21) Going on leave into Cairo. .22) View of Cairo mosques in foreground taken from the Citadel. .23) - .44) On rear in stamp form: Dennis Major, 7 Bancroft St Bendigo Vic 3550. Tel & fax 03 544 2445 photography, military, ww1

The card relates to a collection re John EDWARDS VX3857 2nd AIF. It was possibly sent to Miss A McLURE. Refer Cat No 536 for his service details and Miss McLURE.Australian Comforts Fund Xmas card made from one sheet of parchment paper, folds into four. Front has drawing of the "Bell tower Bethlehem" and "Greetings for Christmas and New Year." Inside "Desert scene with mosque" and "With the Australian Imperial Force in the Middle East." On the rear " from VX3857 J.Edwards.cards xmas, comforts fund, bethlehem

The album collection belonged to Jack Smethurst VX28896 Australian Army Survey Regiment (Royal Australian Artillery). Refer 549.4, 550.2, 557, 558.6.548.1P. Green front, picture of mosque, photos of Syria. Green cord on side. MIxture of B&W photos and small postcards. Four loose B&W photos inside front cover. 548.2P. Black cover, silver inlay of David's Tower. Brown cord on spine. Tourist and Australian Army B&W photos. Six loose B&W photos between first and second pages. 548.3P. Black cover, silver inlay of Rachael's Tomb. Brown cord on spine. Two loose photos on back pages. Tourist and Army photos of Libya, Palestine and Syria.books-albums, photography-photographs, middle east, military history, royal australian artillery

Item souvenired and possibly used by Kenneth Meadowbank McLeod No’s 4150 & 3840 AIF. Refer Cat No 1805P for his service history. .1) Carved wooden case with a detachable sliding lid containing a small rectangular mirror, carving depicts a mosque and a flower on front from Jerusalem. .2) Carved sliding lid.“Jerusalem”personal effects mirrors, handcrafts - woodwork, military history souvenirs, jerusalem

Open House 2022: "Like many Melburnians, Ying-Lan Dann has long been fascinated by the Mission to Seafarers, in Docklands. When she was invited to create a work in response to a building as part of this year’s Open House Melbourne, she knew immediately which it would be. Taking a peek behind the closed doors of some of Melbourne’s finest and most interesting buildings is a core premise of the weekend event, now in its 15th year. During that time, the program has grown from half a dozen buildings to a 200-plus strong list that extends to Ballarat and Bendigo. “[It’s] much more expansive and citizen-led,” says Fleur Watson, Open House Melbourne’s executive director. “As a public festival, it has always had a spirit of generosity, this gesture of opening up and allowing visitors to come and look and experience things.” Swinging open their doors at the end of the month will be some of the city’s finest mansions, including Villa Alba in Kew and Brighton’s Billilla, the Cairo flats in Fitzroy, the newly renovated Jewish Museum designed by Kerstin Thompson, the Melbourne Quakers Centre, the Albanian Mosque in Carlton North and many more. Considering how to approach the event this year, held remotely for the past two, Watson decided to explore beyond the traditional, with associate professor and director of curatorial practice at Monash University Tara McDowell. The two have co-curated an exhibition of works to run concurrently with the Open House program, called Take Hold of the Clouds. That’s where Dann’s work, Circular Temporalities, comes in, one of seven commissions around town in which local and international artists respond to chosen buildings or sites. A lecturer in interior design at RMIT as well as an artist, she is interested in time and finding different mediums to show things in flux and, having grown up on Phillip Island, she often uses water as a theme. When she started spending time at the Mission, Dann found there was an oculus at the top of the dome, known as the Norla Dome. She thought about how that small but significant opening related to where sailors spent so many months of the year, the sky being the only thing they would see much of the time, stars guiding the way in times gone by, and of the recent stories she’d heard about sailors being trapped at sea during COVID. Built in the Arts and Craft style between 1916 and 1919 and designed by architect Walter Butler, the Mission includes a chapel, clubroom, Chaplain’s house, a small cottage and the Norla Dome, which was apparently inspired by the Pantheon. The Mission was funded by the government and the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild, who Dann was also intrigued by. “One of the things those women identified is that life at sea is very dangerous [and they] wanted to give them a space of sanctuary and support,” she says, adding that for many years, the dome was used as a gymnasium. Her work inside the dome includes a 35-minute loop film, recorded from the ferry during the crossing from Queenscliff to Sorrento. The horizon takes up about a third of the shot and moves as the waves rise and fall, mirroring the journeys made by the sailors who found refuge at the mission over the years; it will be projected onto a gauze-like fabric, allowing glimpses of the building behind. Dann also plans to activate the site over the course of the weekend and will read a poem by Justin Clemens.The articles gives an insight of the création of the artwork by Ying-Lan Dann. digital copy of an article with photographs published in the Ageopen house melbourne, 2022, ying-lan dann, take hold of the clouds, norla dome, exhibition, the age, cultural events

Postcard, WW1, B&W photo of the Citadel in Cairo. High wall surrounds the mosque with two minarets. Handwritten in ink on the back - The Citadel. Cairo. Jany '16postcard, postcard, ww1, cairo, egypt, citadel, mosque

Textiles. A war time souvenir from Palestine. Pale gold silk, embroidered with a depiction of the''Mosque of Aman (?) Souvenir of Palestine, 1942, floral emblems and a bow. A 4cm long silk fringe in gold and reddish colours borders the cushion. Back of the cushion is gold coloured cotton. Machine and hand stitching. Possibly machine embroidery, in a ''chain-stitch'' pattern.Souvenir of palestine 1942. Mosque of Aman (?) (Omar).textiles, domestic, pale gold cushion from palestine.

Textiles. A wartime souvenir from Palestine. Peach coloured rayon (?) fabric, with a cream coloured calico back. Embroidered in silk and cotton thread in chain stitch. A palm tree on either side of the front frames a semi-circular shape with the Australian and British flags at the top on either side of the semi-circle. A crown is embroidered at the top in the open section of the circle. Australian Commonwealth Military Forces is embroidered around the semi-circle. Below, is an embroidery of a Mosque, and below this are the words: Mosque of Amar (?). To my dear Sister.Palestine. Australian Commonwealth Military Forces 1941. To my dear Sister. Mosque of Amar(?) Omar(?).textiles, domestic, rayon and cotton cushion