The Hon John Pesutto, Leader of the Victorian Liberals, was also in attendance, himself a proud Calabrian.

Of course, everyone was keen to hear who would be bestowed the honour of being Calabrian of Year 2024.

This year the awardee was Professor Joe Lo Bianco. Recognised for his outstanding contribution to languages policy and education both locally and internationally.

President Pat Rocca and outgoing President Vince Morfuni presented the award to a visibly proud and delighted Prof. Lo Bianco.

Joe, as he likes to be called, is now Professor Emeritus at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. His specialisation in bilingual education, literacy studies and the intersection of peacebuilding and language has afforded him many accolades over the years.

Joe felt that the honour also recognised the hard work of his parents who migrated from Melicuccá in Provincia Reggio Calabria to Australia and settled in Myrtleford to become tobacco farmers. There they raised a family and their sacrifici enabled their son to take on, what would become, a distinguished academic path.

Prof. Lo Bianco spoke of the importance of maintaining both language and a sense of pride in identity, neither easy when faced with biases.

“All my childhood it was clear that being calabrese was our primary identity.  With other Italians we always felt our distinctive identity and theirs. My parents were conscious of the dialect differences, and the hierarchy involved.”

Joe recounted an example of this “hierarchy” within the Italian community through an anecdote of an interaction with an academic he met whilst undertaking research in Tuscany.  An academic there had declared that the then recently discovered Bronzi di Riace should be brought to the north of Italy for proper artefact curation. The south of Italy, according to him, had no expertise or resourcefulness to ensure the Bronzi would be exhibited properly.

In fact, i Bronzi are housed in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria, in temperature controlled, specific anti-seismic basements. The point of the anecdote, is that whilst biases may try to limit or even block – a strong spirit and talent will always overcome.

Joe was also aware of biases also from the broader community.

“I also came to see identity as it was projected onto us by others.  After all, if you are living in a remote area with a culturally very different group you become aware of this, but because of Italian community [in the Myrtleford area] was so numerous there was a strong continuation of traditions, especially …shared meals, family visits … paesani.  It was a kind of island in more than one sense. Music involved Calabrese songs, I was also aware that there were barriers to participation and inclusion for our community and family, and it took many years for these to be broken down.”

This lived experience has no doubt contributed to his particularly strong commitment to ensuring that languages and cultural expression is maintained as a social justice response – as seen through work in Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

The ACCA award has acknowledged contributions of community leaders of Calabrese origin since 2019. ACCA’s founding members felt it was important to acknowledge the many accomplishments and influence that these leaders had in the community. Also, addressing, in part, the ‘biases’ or stereotypes that sometimes still exist in the wider community about Calabrians.

ACCA’s program of events and annual gala provides an opportunity to celebrate the unique aspects of Calabrian culture and traditions.

Certainly, the Gala provided an opportunity for all to feel a little calabrese. Even the master of ceremonies, Tony Tardio who hails from Puglia.

The Gala guests delighted in a carefully prepared menu of various dishes prepared with typical ingredients used in Calabrian cooking: ravioli, salsiccie (sausages) e pesce (fish).

Many responded to the call of tambourines, zampogne, pipete, lira and organetto to dance the tarantella. A delightful evening of traditional music played by Ciccio Nucera’s band, Calabria Sona.

Certainly quite a different sort of evening than is usually hosted at the Park Hyatt in Melbourne.

President Rocca is keen to build on its annual program of events. In fact, plans are afoot for a conference to be hosted in Catanzaro, Italy in October 2025 – a way of strengthening links and experiencing aspects of Calabria.

The conference and program of local events will ensure that there are opportunities for Calabrians and their friends to explore and experience the best of calabrese culture.

To quote Signora Lo Bianco when Joe received his Order of Australia, noi calabresi faccimo sti cosi (we Calabrians just do these sorts of things).