ADRIAN VATOVEC, HONORARY CONSUL OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA Adrian (Jadran in Slovenian), was the initiator and the leader of the Music school of the Slovenian Association Adelaide during the years 1970 to 1983. From the book Chronicle of Slovenian Schools and Slovenian Language Teachers in Australia, by Draga Gelt, 2010
Web pages: Adrian Vatovec becomes the 1st Honorary Consul of RS in South Australia Adrian (Jadran) Vatovec from Adelaide and his love of music Letter from Adrian Vatovec, Adelade Voice of Slovenia Iskani ključ – in Slovenian YouTube: Vlado Kreslin and Adrian Vatovec Facebook Adrian Vatovec National Film and Sound Archive of Australia State Library of South Australia State Library of New South Wales State Library of Queensland more State Library of Western Australia LINC Tasmania – State Library of Tasmania International: Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica (NUK), Ljubljana, Slovenia – National and University Library of Slovenia National Library of New Zealand More information and photographs of Adrian’s talent you can find in the book Anthology of Slovenian Musicians in Australia by Katarina Vrisk, 2016, available from the author as a hard copy only. Adrian is as well Editor and producer of the SLOVENIA South Australia Newsletter in Slovenian and English languages. in National Library of Australia in State Library of South Australia in Digitalne knjižnice Slovenije – dLib.si in Scribd
Adrian’s essay about being a Slovenian (published in the book I am a Slovenian Too, by Draga Gelt, 2014: Slovenian migrants were one of over fifty countries that passed through Bonegilla reception centre between 1947 and 1971, before being dispersed to other areas in Australia to build a new life. Many people started their Australian life at Bonegilla, including my mother Leopolda who also gave birth to me at the centre. Bonegilla was the largest migrant reception centre in post World War II Australia where during its twenty four year history more than three hundred thousand people passed and today, when considering spouses and children, has a direct impact on over 1 million people in Australia. Bonegilla, situated in the precinct of the twin cities of Albury Wodonga on the Victorian and New South Wales border celebrated its 65th Anniversary in 2012 as a migrant camp. Today, Block 19, the last surviving block at the Bonegilla Migrant Centre, was given heritage listing in 2002 and is managed now by Parklands Albury-Wodonga. The word Bonegilla is Aboriginal, from the Koori people, and it means “place of the meeting waters”. This is a symbolic location to hold a migrant reception centre where you have an immigrant and an Australian culture meeting and sometimes colliding. It is with this description that I introduce my song “Two Streams”. It is about living and growing with two cultures. The accordion in the song represents the Slovenian way of life and the piano, the Australian way of life. This song is dedicated to our Slovenian immigrants, who have significantly contributed to Australia’s social and economic prosperity, since first setting foot on Australian soil. In the poem/song Two Streams he expressed his feelings: Two Streams from two streams it’s fed To enlarge click on image {Gallery dir=’Adrian-Vatovec’} |