MA Conference 2010 wrap up

We're now from the conference. As usual was a jam packed affair combining stimulating sessions with numerous opportunities to catch up with old friends and colleagues and meet new people. With such a range of great sessions running simultaneously, it was difficult to decide which to attend. Some of the highlights for me were:

• Professor Richard Sandell, Leicester University, who showed us some examples of galleries getting involved in human rights issues and using visual arts to engage communities in controversial discussions
• Professor Stephen Heppell who discussed the way children interact with both technology and museums. Stephen challenged us to invite children to be part of the evaluation of our exhibitions and services and brought to our attention that the way children use technology can be different to our own approach
• Kylie Winkworth who reminded us of the resource divide between the large federal and state funded institutions and the plethora of small mostly regionally based organisations. She suggested that the way forward may be to reduce the size and number of collections to ensure their sustainability into the future
• Professor Morris Vogel, East Side Tenement Museum gave a lively presentation on this wonderful museum that uses the building as a backdrop for visitors to enter the lives of six different families who lived in the building over 100 years. The flexibility of the museum’s approach and its willingness to shift focus as the country’s perception of itself changes provides a dynamic approach to museum interpretation
• Vicki Warden, a Museum Development Officer from Queensland presented on behalf of the MDOs outlining a wonderful project that has been undertaken across Queensland documenting the recent history of a series of festivals. The project has resulted in local exhibitions and a website documenting the very lively history of a range of local festivals as well as increased skills and knowledge about contemporary collecting, digitisation and web management
• Lynda Kelly, Australian Museum, gave a fascinating talk that drew on a range of historic perspectives about how museums engage with visitors, as well as drawing on her current experience at the Australian Museum
• Joanne Orr, Museums Galleries Scotland, highlighted ways that museums engage in broader community issues that are often the focus of government (such as social inclusion and developing social capital).
• Jason Eades, Koorie Heritage Trust, gave a lively presentation on their projects that are focused on engaging with young Aboriginal people through contemporary culture (including a project designing hoodies that ended in a fashion parade)

Suzanne Bravery (General Manager Programs and Services) nominated the two sessions below as highlights for her:

• Workshop: A unique collaboration: The Canning Stock Route project as an unusual and successful partnership case study for how a museum, an arts organisation and Aboriginal communities can work together.
• Lyn Hicks’ presentation on ‘New ways of contextualising volunteerism in the museums sector’.

Several people have commented during and after the conference about the way that technology has permeated the event both in terms of content and a means of communication. An iphone application Layar was provided that allowed delegates to locate each session in real time either on a map or through a list of session times and content with images of the buildings. A twitter account was created for the conference and many delegates happily twittered their way from one session to the next. At least one session I attended opened out into a discussion about the value of tweeting during sessions, was this building interactivity or exclusivity? Perhaps a Q&A style Twitter stream (as I saw at a National Library event earlier this year) would resolve this issue?