Meet our SACA collective
Cristina Neri
Cristina Neri was born in the country Victorian town of Horsham. Both her mother and father migrated to Australia from the Aeolian island of Salina soon after the Second World War.
Cristina is a national award-winning graphic designer. She is also an artist, photographer and writer. Cristina has developed her interest in her family’s past into an obsession with migration stories and all things Aeolian. She paints about Salina, has had articles published in The Wimmera Mail Times and in the food and travel magazine, Italianicious. More recently, she co-wrote, photographed and designed a magazine titled Love Eolie that sold out at the Immigration Museum of Victoria’s gift shop.
As a committee member of the Società Isole Eolie, Victoria’s oldest Italian society, Cristina has been responsible for the fruition of various large projects and events. In 2013, she organised and delivered the Eoliano Heritage Study Program, a 2-week experience of cultural immersion held on the Aeolian Islands. In 2015, she produced, wrote and co-directed a documentary titled Ammuninni and in 2016, curated an exhibition held at the Immigration Museum of Victoria titled From Volcanoes, We Sailed. During its six-month showing, the exhibition attracted the highest number of visitors recorded for any one community-collaborative exhibition. Cristina has also presented two full-house events at the Museo Italiano, CO-AS-IT, in Carlton. In 2022, Cristina curated, wrote and designed a Sydney-centric exhibition of From Volcanoes, We Sailed which was held at Five Dock Library, Sydney.
Cristina travels annually to the island of Salina in search of stories, images and recipes. She has written and illustrated two children’s picture books. For Love was published by Lake Press in 2022, after which Cristina was short-listed for the Best New Illustrator award by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Her second book, Stregalina was released in Novemeber, 2023.
Rosanna Morales
Rosanna Morales is a first-generation Australian. Born to Sicilian migrants, her roots became the cornerstone of a remarkable journey as a performer, author, and publisher.
She studied at National Theatre in Melbourne, laying the foundation for a career that would intertwine with Australia's pioneering Italo-Australian comedy theatre group, Broccoli Productions. In the 1990s, Rosanna forged collaborations on Nino Randazzo's plays, earning resounding acclaim for her performances in the Sicilian language.
Beyond the stage, Rosanna worked with various Australian publishing houses, including Oxford University Press and Curriculum Corporation. Her role extended to manuscript assessment, reflecting her dedication to shaping authorial narratives, with a particular focus on the non-fiction realm, especially memoirs. A recent chapter in her diverse career saw Rosanna as the producer and host of lifestyle programs for GBC TV in Gibraltar, Europe.
Rosanna enjoys expressing herself through poetry in Ragusano, a Sicilian dialect and her first language. Her latest literary endeavour, THE LAST SICILIAN: Poetry of a vulnerable language, unfolds the linguistic legacy her family brought to Australia in the early 1950s. Supported by SACA, this poignant work stands as a testament to her unwavering commitment to preserving and celebrating her cultural heritage.
The creative journey of Rosanna Morales continues to evolve as she channels her familial narratives into compelling theatre projects. Centred around the laments of a vulnerable language, her performances promise to grace the stage, offering audiences a profound exploration of cultural identity and resilience. Through her multifaceted contributions to the arts and education, Rosanna Morales hopes to continue enriching the cultural landscape with her passion for the written and spoken word.
Joe Malignaggi
Born at Queen Victoria hospital (1958) in Melbourne and grew up in North Coburg surrounded by the community of Palazzolo Acreide (provincia di Siracusa). Joe learnt English when he went to primary school and visited Sicilia in December 1965 (for 3 Months) which contributed to him learning English again when he returned to school in 1966.
After having the opportunity to do TOP (Tertiary Orientation Program) at Preston Tech, Joe completed a Diploma of Design at Preston Institute of Technology that enabled him to have a career working as a Graphic Designer in various studios and eventually entering the world of graphics in television.
Joe lived and travelled outside of Australia from mid 1986 until late 1987.
Joe went back to study in 1997 and graduated with an Advanced/Associate Diploma of Electronic Design and Interactive Media. This enabled him to work in Higher Ed in a learning and teaching capacity. Joe also has a Diploma in Sustainability.
Throughout the 90’s and 2010s Joe has been involved in an organic food CoOp, a volunteer at Community Aid Abroad (OXFAM), the Port Phillip EcoCentre and Earthcare St Kilda.
Joe travelled to Sicily with his young family in 2002 that began his journey of connecting with music made by Sicilians. It developed more significantly from 2010 with his voice as a broadcaster in student and community radio. Joe began volunteering at 3CR Community Radio in early 2014 where he am involved in Training, Programming and Committee of Management.
The opportunity to travel to Europe and Sicily in the last 10 years has enabled Joe to establish friendships and relations with a broad range of multi disciplinary artists. Joe actively support and engage with the work of the Sicilian diaspora in the south east of so called Australia.
Janetta Ziino
A second-generation Italian, born in Melbourne from parents hailing from the Aeolian islands, (mother born in Salina, father in Lipari), Janetta started learning English at primary school and went on to study Italian as a major for her Diploma of Teaching.
After teaching for several years, first as a primary school teacher and then as a LOTE teacher, Janetta obtained an Advanced Certificate in Hospitality Operations and entered the event management industry.
Janetta joined the executive committee of the Societa’ Isole Eolie (SIE) in 2007 and today is the Director of Events for one of the oldest Italian social and cultural associations in Australia, founded in 1925.
In 2013, Janetta launched her book on proverbs titled ‘CU, U e QUANNU: Un’antologia di testi inediti in dialetto eoliano’ - an anthology of unpublished works in Aeolian dialect, during the Eoliano Heritage Study Program, held in the Aeolian islands.
In 2015, Janetta obtained a scholarship to study an Advanced Diploma of Interpreting and holds a Certified Interpreter credential and interprets for the Italian community, as well as working for the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).
Janetta’s passion for Italian culture and interest in the Sicilian language has seen her act in a Sicilian/Italian play titled ‘Casimiro, cameriere del tiro’; co-host episodes of the ‘Regional Italian Cuisine’ program on Channel 31 and recently perform at the Melbourne Italian Festa 2023 in a skit titled ‘Sicilia v. Calabria: Proverbi in dialetto’.
Janetta has been an organising committee member for Kids Helpline charity galas and exhibitions such as ‘Donne di Sicilia’ and ‘From Volcanoes we Sailed: Connecting Aeolian generations’, held at the Immigration Museum of Victoria.
Janetta looks forward to celebrating her Aeolian heritage at the 100th anniversary of the SIE in 2025!
Katrina Lolicato
Katrina Lolicato is an oral historian, social documenter, classroom facilitator, and one half of the creative team at ‘Arc Up Australia’ of Abruzzese, Calabrese and Sicilian descent, living in Melbourne’s northwest, on unceded Kulin Country.
Working in partnership with her sister Gracie and always in collaboration with community, Katrina develops intimate participatory projects that blend visual sociology, sonic ethnography, placemaking, and critical heritage principles to create snapshots of Australian life. Her exhibitions, publications, projections, podcasts, experimental short films and events have featured in libraries and on laneway walls across Melbourne; at Federation Square, at White Night, Melbourne; Midsummer, Emerging Writers Festival, and Museo Italiano. In 2020 Katrina was recognised with a Multicultural Commission Victoria Award for Excellence for the project, Mano Nella Mano, which supplied friendship and material support to temporary visa holders during the Covid-19 Lockdown crisis. In 2022, her first experimental short Film Her, Grace, was shortlisted for Best Short Film at Multicultural Film Festival, part of the official selection at Melbourne International Documentary Film Festival and screened on SBS on Demand.
A PhD candidate at Deakin University, Katrina’s research is dedicated to endorsing and advocating for greater recognition of the diasporic experience as a source of knowledge, empathy and creative problem solving. Katrina is a member of Multicultural Arts Victoria, Oral History Victoria, International Visual Sociology Association, the Association of Critical Heritage Studies and Ascolta Women Inc. an intergenerational, multidisciplinary creative collective of Italian-Australian women representing a feminist diasporic perspective through creative works, academic and community dialogues.
Peter Casamento
A descendant of Italian farmers, fruiterers, and fishermen, Peter Casamento embodies the resilient spirit of his heritage—a true 'testa dura' forged from the fusion of his father's Sicilian roots and his mother's Calabrian DNA.
Born in Melbourne, Peter's passion for volcanoes was ignited upon first visiting Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, from where his grandparents hailed. His grandfather, Marino Casamento, was born on a boat between the islands of Vulcano and Lipari. Marino's legacy as the President of Società Isole Eolie in Melbourne for 12 years during the 1950s and 1960s reflects a commitment to aiding newly arrived migrants in Australia.
As an active member of Società Isole Eolie Melbourne, Peter takes pride in continuing the legacy of his parents and grandparents. Through this association, he values the connection with his ancestors, and the importance of fostering community.
For the past 30 years, Peter has passionately pursued photography, capturing the essence of people and architecture. Inspired by the beauty of the natural world, decades later, he is still motivated by the joy of simply creating beautiful images. His visual storytelling extends beyond artistic expression to encompass projects that support healthier, stronger, and more diverse communities and ecologies.
Laurence Strangio
Laurence Strangio is an award-winning independent director, theatre-maker and stage adaptor. He has directed for La Mama Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, Red Stitch, Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne Festival, Castlemaine State Festival and Instant Café Theatre (Kuala Lumpur). He has also devised and adapted a number of solo female performances including ‘alias Grace’ (Atwood), ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ (Perkins Gilman), ‘La Douleur’ (Duras) and ‘My C*nt Full Of Ashes – this mouth is not dead’ (Hélène Cixous, with Nicola Gunn). He has also co-translated works by Dario Fo & Franca Rame (‘La Medea + Lo Stupro’), Stefano Benni (‘Le Beatrici’), Pirandello ('Six characters…’) and Anton Chekhov (‘Three Sisters’) and has been published by Currency Press. Laurence has received Green Room Awards for his direction of 'Portrait of [Dora]' (2000) and 'Six characters in search of an author...' (2011).