.JPG)
Two of the Burdekin’s most influential residents have been honoured in a mural commissioned by their son.
The mural depicts Maria and Demetrio Populin, along with popular pooch Mork, in front of Demetrio’s childhood home in Visinale, Italy.
Their son, George Populin, commissioned the artwork in honour of his parents after a fortuitous trip to Italy in search of his family’s history.
“That’s what gave me the incentive to do something,” George said.
“We’re Burdekin people, this was their adopted home, but we gave it a little bit of Fruile influence which has made it even better for us.”
Artist Lavinia Letheby and George Populin in front of a mural completed in honour of George’s parents Maria and Demetrio and his dog Mork. Photo credit: Sam Gillespie
George Populin was travelling through Italy with his family and friends in 2018 hoping to uncover the history of his parents, Maria and Demetrio.
During their travels to Visinale, a village in the Province of Pordenone where Demetrio grew up, George miraculously met a family who knew his parents and grandparents and even introduced him to distant relatives.
“They then took us around Pasiano and Pordenone, so we spent a good day with them, and everything just fell into place,” he said.
Meanwhile, back in the Burdekin, George’s construction company, which was originally started by Demetrio, was working on a development on Beach Road, directly next door to the house that his parents built and lived in.
“I had just started the development,” George said.
“This was a miracle, so I had to do something.”
The result is a mural on the wall of the development depicting Maria and Demetrio.
Maria was born in Italy in 1924 and arrived in Australia in 1932 with her sister and mother to live on a farm located at upriver Home Hill with her older brothers.
Demetrio, who was born in 1907, arrived in Cairns from Italy in 1930.
A builder by trade, Demetrio was involved in the construction of the Gordonvale Hotel before relocating to the Burdekin and undertaking the construction of vital infrastructure projects like schools, pools, sewerage treatment plants and water towers.
The pair wed in 1941 and went on to become one of the more influential couples of the region.
“My mother was a communicator because she was young, could speak English well and knew Italian so the immigrants were always coming to see her,” George said.
“She convinced my dad to do things such as build Populins Hall – she felt that the town needed a centre to communicate to people and to give it a heartbeat.”
Sadly, Maria passed away in 1963 at the age of 39, when George was nine, and never got to see the project to completion.
“That hall has Maria written all over it: her feeling and her character is portrayed up there,” George said.
“That is something that I can’t walk away from, I’ve got to protect that, so the least I can do is put her up on that wall.”
With an idea in mind, George engaged Townsville artist Lavinia Letheby of Art By Lavinia to complete the work.
“These types of jobs are the best ones to do because they tell a story, they have a connection to someone and they’re super important, so I make sure they’re honouring the person I’m painting,” Lavinia said.
George said he was overcome with emotion when he first saw the finished product.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought Lavinia was going to capture it that well,” he said.
“It was a personal thing for us, but we were just so taken aback by how personal it’s been to a lot of people which I think tells the story a thousand times.
“I can never forget the influence those two had … they did bring together a community.”
George Populin and wife Christine in front of the house that George’s parents, Maria and Demetrio, built. Photo credit: Sam Gillespie
.JPG)
