Many local businesses run by people from migrant and refugee communities offer more than just a service. They can act as community hubs and provide links to a homeland while also helping recently arrived migrants establish a connection with their new home. Featuring photographs, stories and a documentary, Open for (more than) Business explores the unique role that local businesses play in Melbourne’s migrant and refugee communities, from an Indian grocery store in Clayton to an Italian barbershop in Brunswick and a Jewish cafe’ in St Kilda.

The photographs and six short-films were exhibited at the Immigration Museum from the 21 August 2011 to the 27 May 2012

Supported by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust.

Watch here the short-documentary “Cafe’ Scheherazade”, about an important hub for many Jewish artists and intellectuals who survived the Holocaust.