Culture doesn’t sit in one place. It lives in our memories, traditions, communities and everyday moments.
Inspired by the UN World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (21 May), Kirby Institute staff and students were invited to share a photograph that reflects their culture, identity, background or lived experience.
The resulting showcase brings together stories of family, migration, belonging, celebration, place and community. Some images capture important milestones, while others reflect everyday moments that have shaped who we are. Together, they offer a glimpse into the many stories, cultures, identities and experiences that make up the Kirby Institute.
We invite you to explore the gallery below and discover the stories behind each image.
🏆 KEDIC Choice Award 🏆
Entry 5: Home in a cup - Hong Kong milk tea | Barbara Yeung
🏅 People’s Choice Award 🏅
Entry 3: When "I" becomes "We": A celebration of Bengali Hindu culture | Mandira Mukutmoni
Runners up:
🥈 Entry 25: Weaving cultural identity through generations | Rehana Hewavisenti 🥈
🥉 Entry 7: Full circle | Elaine Lee 🥉
Organised by the Kirby Institute EDI Committee Communities of shared culture working group.
--
Entry 1: A wish tree, a shared community | Dan
This photo was taken during the Lunar New Year celebration at Nan Tien Temple in Wollongong. My father is carrying my daughter as she throws a red ribbon onto the Wishing Tree, a tradition symbolising hopes for health, happiness, and good fortune. Having migrated from China, my father once felt Sydney lacked the vibrant community spirit of home. Today, Lunar New Year celebrations across Sydney help more people learn about and appreciate Lunar New Year traditions.
Entry 2: Rauhiri | Rata
At my family reunion in Tahiti, I experienced the Rauhiri ceremony, a tradition centered on connection – to our ancestors, those present, and our wider global family. Plaited Rau-ti leaves form a thread linking ancestors and the living. The ceremony begins by naming and weaving each ancestor into this thread and concludes at a Marae, where all families add their Rau-ti. Together, we hold the unified thread before laying it to rest, symbolising an unbroken bond across generations.
Entry 3: When "I" becomes "We": A celebration of Bengali Hindu culture | Mandira Mukutmoni
Mandira and Tushar performing the sacred Lajahoma ritual in their Bengali Hindu wedding. As parched rice meets the holy fire, ego melts away and a shared life begins! Surrounded by colour, warmth, and joy, this ritual is believed to bless the couple with love, prosperity and strength. Captured by bride’s sister. 🦋
Entry 4: This road remembers | Emma Pagett
This road leads to the former Burrabeedee mission near Coonabarabran, on Gamilaraay Country.
As an Aboriginal woman with cultural ties to this land, this image reflects lived history. It brings to mind Archie Roach’s “Old Mission Road” and “Took the Children Away.”
My family, for generations, lived here – told to be “white,” where practising culture or speaking language was a crime.
Today, it is a cemetery where Aboriginal people are laid to rest, back on country.
Entry 5: Home in a cup - Hong Kong milk tea | Barbara Yeung
The photo shows Hong Kong’s iconic silky milk tea, which I grew up with. Dating back to the 19th century, it was once served in high-end hotels but became a staple in everyday cha chaan teng (local cafés). I now drink coffee, yet I still visit these cafés in Sydney for the tea and familiar atmosphere (shown in the photo). Each cup reminds me of my formative years in Hong Kong. Its signature smoothness comes from a multi-step brewing process, earning it the nickname “silk stocking milk tea.”
Entry 6: Pohela Baishakh (Bengali New Year) celebration in Dhaka, Bangladesh | Shanchita Khan
The celebration of the Bengali New Year (Pohela Baishakh or 1st of Baishakh) starts with an open-air concert in a park in the middle of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hundreds of thousands of people gather in the park to welcome the new year. Chhayanaut – a prominent cultural institution – have been organising this concert since 1967. This photo was taken in the late 80s and shows a section of the young performers at the concert.
Entry 7: Full circle | Elaine Lee
Growing up as an Asian kid in Western Sydney, life was pretty sheltered. I envied the kids who spent arvos at friends’ houses, rode bikes everywhere, had Maccas parties. The one thing I always wanted to do was go on a slip ’n slide. It never happened until this year, when we got one for Zadie’s 2nd birthday. We got to experience it for the first time together. Watching her laugh and play was one of those rare full-circle moments, where a childhood dream of mine became a childhood memory for her.
Entry 8: Bound by bells: Family, heritage, home | Clare Dyer
This photo was taken in the belltower of St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, where I am a bellringer. My parents are in the background. My dad taught my brother and I to ring age 9 in Oxford, UK. Both my parents have been bellringers all their lives, and first met in a belltower like this. Change ringing has its roots in England (change ringing was invented in the 16th century), but is a global hobby, and it has always been a key part of my life and identity.
Entry 9: A first visit to Mum's homeland | Amy Kwon
Connecting by family, culture, and tradition.
Entry 10: Our Tanah Adat (indigenous custodial lands) knows its people | Norman Chong
My late grandfather honoured the traditional custodians of this corner of the land where a Buah Tarap tree stood. A man and his wife once tried to steal its harvest with a bamboo pole that struck a live wire and killed them. Neighbors spoke tales of sweet potatoes and barren coconut trees that rotted soon after planting without asking for permission. In time, everything was uprooted, and the lesson endured: some lands remember their custodians, and demand reverence from those who walk upon them.
Entry 11: Connemara childhood | Kath Ashe
My father was born in Connemara – County Galway, Ireland. It is a place of legends and folklore, and has one of the few remaining Gaeltacht speaking areas in Ireland. Dad came to Australia in the 1950s and didn't return until 1977 when this photo was taken. I remember adoring the fact that people all traveled by donkey and wished we could do the same back home in Canberra.
Entry 12: Untitled | Warittha
As a Thai-born Chinese-Hong Konger daughter, I flew back to Thailand to celebrate the Chinese New Year with my family. We were all wearing new red clothes, not working, not washing our hair, and eating Thai food!
Entry 13: Gran’s dahlias | Rachael
I come from generations of farmers, who lived their lives in the same place, on the lands of the Wiradjuri people. My Gran would grow rows and rows of dahlias every year, proudly displaying them around the house. My Gramps would come in after a long day in the paddock and photograph them. I have returned to these same lands after 20 years of absence. And now I’m planning my own dahlia garden.
Entry 14: Beyond CALD: A Shared Language of Science (9th of October 2025, 9:12 pm, the night I submitted my PhD thesis) | Andleeb Hanif
From Australia, Pakistan, China, Ghana and Kenya, we brought different languages, identities and lived experiences to the RNAi Silencing Group. Yet, we became fluent in a shared language of science, teamwork, resilience, and occasional deadline panic. Behind these smiles are failed experiments, revised drafts, and enough coffee to qualify as a research reagent. 😊
In that moment, I saw Scientia Corde Manu et Mente come to life in the people around me: knowledge through heart, hand and mind.
Entry 15: Shaped by country | Jackie Thomas
This image represents joy, family, and a deep connection to land, water, and Country. Seeing my son at the ocean reflects freedom, growth, and belonging. It reminds me that just as the water shapes the rocks, life’s experiences shape who we are: guiding his journey and creating lasting memories grounded in family and place.
Entry 16: Ribeira do Porto - view from Gaia | Susana Vaz Nery
This is a view from my home town – I was born at an hospital at the top of the hill on the right. Ribeira (the old part of town next to the Douro river) is a busy, loud part of town. A bit further down the river meets the Atlantic Ocean. I can also picture my old Uni – just behind the tall tower (Torre dos Clerigos) at the top of the hill in the center of the photo.
I took the picture from Gaia, where I grew up.
Everytime I go home I make sure I see this view...
Entry 17: Twirling with cultural happiness | Ela Naruka
I am performing the traditional folk dance of Rajasthan known as ‘Ghoomar’, in my sister’s wedding. Women perform this dance in traditional attire called ‘Poshak’ and traditional jewelry to celebrate cultural togetherness and joy and is performed during weddings and festivals.
Entry 18: Between two homes | Mulualem Admasu
Taken in Ethiopia, this photograph captures a meaningful moment from my life before moving to Australia. It reflects my personal journey of change, growth, and transition as I began a new chapter in a different country. The image represents both where I come from and the experiences that continue to shape my identity today.
Entry 19: The beach | Claire
I have many happy memories at Australian beaches, particularly as a child. They are open, unrestricted places of nature, beauty and power. As an adult, they allow me to reflect on how we live together with nature, and how quickly things can change.
Entry 20: Chinatown, Sydney | Anonymous
Growing up, my family would dress in our Sunday best to go to Sydney’s Chinatown every weekend. It was where we celebrated Chinese traditions, enjoyed Yum Cha, and connected with friends who shared our heritage. As new suburban Chinatowns emerged, it’s no longer the central hub for Chinese Australians as it once was, but it still holds special memories.
Entry 21: Rural clinical rotation in Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia | Tomas Alejandro Reyes Barros
I was a Chilean medical student from Santiago, completing my rural clinical rotation in Porvenir, Tierra del Fuego, in 2013. I visited Ushuaia, on the Argentine side of the island, where this picture was taken. "Ushuaia" comes from the Yagán language, spoken by the Yagán people, whose population declined dramatically after European colonisation. I'm also wearing a traditional wool hat from Chiloé, an archipelago in southern Chile known for its rich cultural heritage and distinctive craftsmanship.
Entry 22: The landscape within | Laila Khawar
From a Hunza Valley hotel room in northern Pakistan, a distant 7,000‑metre peak stands quietly among the giants of the Karakoram. Though I don’t know its name, it reconnects me to my roots, family, and memories. This landscape captures the migrant experience: a lasting sense of belonging to both one’s homeland and the place they now call home.
Entry 23: Big kids at Christmas | Phoebe
This picture was taken at Christmas last year when I decided I would attempt sewing everyone in my family aprons. Living in different states I don’t get to see my family too often so I cherish the time I get with them. They remind me to take a breath and to not take life too seriously. 🏖️
Entry 24: Thaua County, Pambula Beach, a second home | Skye
Ocean and water has always been a grounding force for our family. We spend many hours on the beautiful land and waterways of the Thaua people, of the Yuin Nation.
Entry 25: Weaving cultural identity through generations | Rehana Hewavisenti
My niece turned 21 and chose to celebrate her Sri Lankan heritage. Half Caribbean, half Sri Lankan, she stands in a silver saree, surrounded by family who have helped shape who she is. We wear batiks and sarees in different colours, each unique yet connected. The celebration brought family and friends across cultures and generations, reminding me identity is not one choice but a weaving of many. Above us, colourful umbrellas embrace joy, culture, and shared belonging.
Entry 26: Wonderment... | Tanya
My family's culture has instilled a deep sense of wonderment and reverence of nature.
Its beauty, fragility and perfection in design.
Pausing, noticing and sharing these small things I now know is definitely my happy place.
Nourishing earth as it nourishes us.
This matters to us all.
Entry 27: Family connections | Tyson Arapali
Family features as a focal point across many cultures. Being queer can complicate connections with family, where many fill the space with chosen family. Coming from a blended family, age, location, and differing upbringings separate us just as much as life and other distractions. Connections takes time and effort, and makes moments like these – where we gather for special events with my little brother and sister – all the more special.