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Art curator Lily Mora is best known for founding the art dealership Sunday Salon. Here, the 37-year-old talks about the important men in her life, including her grandfather Georges Mora, and his influence on the Australian food scene.
My maternal grandfather, Michael, was an incredibly good-natured, kind and sweet man. He invented a dish called “granddad eggs”, cooked in cream and tomato sauce – sounds terrible, but tastes really good. The smell of slightly burnt toast always reminds me of him.
My paternal grandfather, Georges Mora, died when I was three but his story and legacy have remained very present in my mind. During World War II, he was part of the French Resistance alongside the mime artist Marcel Marceau and helped smuggle many Jewish children to safety.
Georges migrated to Melbourne in 1951 with my grandmother, Mirka, and became a pivotal figure in the city’s cultural life. They established restaurants and an art gallery – he brought French masters to an Australian audience for the first time.
Georges played a significant role in introducing French cuisine to Melbourne and fostering a bohemian cafe culture lifestyle, first with Mirka Cafe in 1954 and then Tolarno, in St Kilda, in 1965. I often meet people who tell me that my grandfather gave them their first ever chocolate mousse or served them their first ever rare steak.
My father, William Mora, passed away in 2023,and I miss him terribly. Like his own father, he had a real penchant for the finer things in life. He also had a knack for ordering the best thing on the menu and was the life and soul of many parties.
Dad ran a successful art gallery, one the first in Australia to show solo exhibitions by Indigenous artists. He was also a bit of a rascal, with a great sense of humour. He was always in a shirt and tie – even in photos at the hospital, when I was just born – with his tie flicked over his shoulder.
Dad met Mum [Lucy] through her cousin. Mum lived in Sydney, came to Melbourne for a weekend and never left. They remained together until I was in my early 20s and I have a brother, Fred, who’s three years younger than me. After their divorce, my father married Anna Mortley, who still runs his art gallery.
Fred is an exceptional cook who knows how to host a great dinner party. He’s especially great at making mayonnaise. A film made by my uncle Philippe about his father Georges is called Monsieur Mayonnaise – and my brother has a nice tradition of always making mayonnaise on Georges’ birthday in his honour.
My celebrity crush growing up was the group Hanson – I had their posters on my walls when I was 10. I genuinely believed that when I grew up, I’d find a way to meet Zac and marry him.
My oldest friend Will and I became best buddies when we were 12. We lived together through our university days, drinking wine on our front porch in North Fitzroy. We took a trip to Europe at 19, and in Berlin he met the man who became his husband. He lives in Germany now and we are still close.
I had a couple of long relationships in my late teens and early 20s, so when I moved to London aged 25 I was set on being single for a while. Almost two years later, while working at Tate Modern, I met my husband, Jonny, through my best friend, Sophie – they worked together in advertising. Jonny’s a kind, good-natured man. He left the UK to be with me in Australia and has just worked on a Vegemite campaign.
Jonny and I lived with my mum and my stepfather, Julian, in Newstead [Victoria]. Julian is the sort of man who would give you the shirt off his own back. Jonny and I got married in their garden in 2024 and my stepdad spent months working to make it look incredible on the day. Jonny and I have two sons – three-year-old Sonny George and Claude William, who’s one.
I adore my sons – brotherhood is a really special thing to witness. I recently read an interview with
actress Rosamund Pike where she said she’d never touched a ball with her foot before having two sons. That made me laugh because I could totally relate!
Lily Mora is guest curator of Always Modern: Radical Nurture at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, until August 9.
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