The story of a Congolese refugee family in Albury has been eternalised in an "exciting" new exhibition launched at the Albury Library Museum on Thursday.
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The digital artwork 'The Living Room' project tells the story of the Shikiro family, who arrived in Albury three years ago after fleeing violence and social upheaval in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Father Gedeon Shikiro said it was good to be involved in the project.
"I want to share my life with others," he said.
"I know it's common for many refugees like me."
Mr Shikiro said it was "wonderful" living in Albury, because he had security and peace.
"I'm living with good neighbours. I like them, I have friends," he said.
Mr Shikiro said he hoped he had paved the way for other refugee families to share their stories in the future.
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Artist Helen Newman said the project was a way to document and acknowledge the journey of contemporary refugees in Albury-Wodonga.
"It takes us beyond the Bonegilla story," she said.
"We've got refugees who've been coming to Albury way past the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and this one story (shows that).
"Now the Library Museum tells that story up to date, so that's really exciting."
Newman said she hoped people who viewed the exhibition would notice the humanness of the Shikiros' story.
"We all want a safe home, we want to raise our children in a safe environment we just want the best for our families," she said.
"That's a common thread across all of humanity and people that arrive here from other countries pretty much want what we want: a job, a safe haven, a family that is secure, a future for their children."
She said the family had been very generous in letting her interview them for the video.
"They'd only been here about three months when this project began, so it was very new to them," she said.
"They were really integrating well into the community, but still struggling with their English and finding work.
"(It's) a great story, but all the permutations that go with a refugee story of being separated from other family, not knowing if other family is alive or dead, so that helps to shape the gravitas that I've created in the film projection.
"I've spent a lot of time working with refugees and displaced persons so their story solidified what I already knew - that every refugee story is unique, convoluted and complex.
"There's always so much more to a refugee story than what you see on the surface."
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Newman said it was hard to respectfully elicit traumatic memories from refugees.
"It's always difficult, but its even more difficult when the language they are speaking is not your language," she said.
She said she asked her translator for guidance on what questions she could ask.
"God knows how many times they've already had to tell those stories to prove that they're refugees and each time can be traumatising," she said.
"So you have to be really respectful about how you gather those stories and how you honour them, so that they're not being traumatised again while creating a work about them.
"Having their story on that wall is such an incredibly brave act and I guess over time they'll figure out exactly what that means, because that hasn't been in the public eye until today."
The Living Room will be on display for 12 months. There are plans to tell another migrant family's stories next year if more funding can be secured.
The Living Room was launched at a cultural sharing event at the Library Museum as part of Albury-Wodonga's World Refugee Week celebrations.
Multicultural communities came together to share stories, music, dance, and food at the event on Thursday.
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