Scope of the Conference  

The Croatian History Conference will explore the wide impact of the Croatian Club across its 75-year history.

As the centre of Croatian associational life and activism in the state, the Club has provided cultural leadership for generations of Croatians and continues to do so.

The conference program has been framed to stimulate reflection and extensive discussion on a range of topics.

To that end, we have adopted a mixed format comprising keynote and plenary presentations, as well as community panels involving local and interstate speakers.

Themes to be covered include the centrality of culture and folklore, perspectives on our history from Croatia, and the preservation and communication of the Club’s history. They will also explore the history of Croatians in Australia more generally, new and established ways of promoting interest in Croatian language teaching, and activism across the generations.

Conference Objectives 

The Club’s 75th anniversary has made more people aware of the significance of the history of the Croatian presence in South Australia.

The overarching objective of the conference is to examine aspects of that history while also asking how knowledge about its past can help to shape the future of the Club and its affiliates.

The conference aims are as follows:• To draw attention to the urgent need for historical preservation and highlight practical approaches to documenting, researching, writing, and sharing community history.• To stimulate community engagement through dialogue between community members, scholars, and stakeholders.• To encourage reflection on the past and on the role of cultural preservation and adaptation to meet the needs and interests of third and fourth-generation Croatians in South Australia.

Program Highlights

Keynote and plenary speakers will set the scene and advance core themes.

Community panels will be integrated into the program and will focus on cultural practice, the challenges of establishing a Croatian archive, language preservation, and identity formation and retention.

A roundtable conversation on the final day will reflect on what the Club has achieved and how it will navigate the years ahead.

There will be multiple opportunities for attendees to meet with conference speakers and to contribute to general discussion on how we can visualise the Club’s future by understanding its past.