CEO captivates chapter

Our CEO, Michael Rolfe was invited to talk at the Southern Highlands & Illawarra Chapter of Museums Australia AGM. Doreen Lyon kindly agreed to write the following blog about the talk:

Michael Rolfe talking at the AGM.
Photo courtesy of Desmond Kennard.

The Southern Highlands & Illawarra Chapter of Museums Australia held their AGM on February 17th at the Wollondilly Heritage Centre & Museum at The Oaks. The invited guest speaker after lunch was M& G NSW CEO, Michael Rolfe. Delegates from Berrima Museum & Archives, Campbelltown & Airds Museum, Mount Kembla Heritage Centre, Lady Denman Heritage Complex at Jervis Bay, Camden and Museums Advisor Desmond Kennard joined The Oaks Historical Society President Ben Lyon in welcoming Michael. As previously requested Michael structured his address to the changes to funding for museums through Arts NSW following recent reports. 

The most recent of the reports ‘Future Frameworks; towards a strategic plan for NSW’ is currently affecting our state government’s response to our sector – especially the volunteer sector. Crucially, volunteers in small to medium museums are now seen to be part of the social capital of their communities and as such the report recommended that support is delivered through a social inclusion and community engagement model as opposed to a professional development model.

In addition, the findings underpinning the report indicated that not all museums are addressing the diversity of their communities or caring adequately for collections, so it was suggested that Centres of Excellence be explored which would support the regional collections by establishing their significance. In practice this would emphasise the involvement of the heritage sector and the local Aboriginal and ethnic communities and others who had a stake in the local culture. This model would locate significant objects in collections and highlight social inclusion and community engagement – and help to integrate museums, keeping places and galleries. 

Michael responded to all the questions and comments and advised of the present priorities including Information & Communication Technology which could fund such items as video-conferencing equipment, apps, web development/design etc. He also suggested looking for digital volunteers among young people to develop digital databases, make videos for YouTube etc. M&G NSW are developing an interactive website to include museums and galleries with their own pages. After prompting from members, Michael also emphasised the key words which are equity, access and innovation. 

Thank you Michael for your patience and courtesy.

- Doreen Lyon

NSW museums and galleries win MAGNA awards

Museums Australia's Museums and Galleries National Awards (MAGNAs) were announced at a dinner held last night at the WA Museum. The dinner was held in the beautiful nineteenth century Hackett Hall Gallery which has been both a museum and library space and now houses both temporary exhibitions and functions. Contemporary WA artworks were placed through the space and provided a wonderful foil to the red brick and polished timber of the building and furnishings.

The evening gave museums and galleries of all sizes an opportunity to shine and it was wonderful to see the array of organisations and projects that were honoured. NSW winners included:

Exhibition

Winner small museum

Mosman Art Gallery Australian Accent: The Designs of Annan Fabrics and Vande Pottery in the 40s and 50s

Highly commended small museum

UNE Heritage Centre Through the collector's lens: Dissecting Booloominbah

Winner large museum Temporary Exhibition

Art Gallery of NSW

The First Emperor: China's Entombed Warriors

Public Programs

Winner Small Museum

Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum

Scattered Bones

Sustainability Project

Winner Small Museum

Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials (AICCM)

Development of Guidelines for Environmental Conditions for Museums and Galleries

Winner Medium Museum

Orange City Council

Orange, Blayney, Cabonne Regional Sustainable Collections Project

National Winner

Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials (AICCM)

Development of Guidelines for Environmental Conditions for Museums and Galleries

The ICOM awards that recognise Australia's work beyond our borders were also announced at the dinner. Winners included the Australian Museum for their work with the University of Goroka in Papua New Guinea in the development of the Bird of Paradise exhibition and Vinod Daniels for his work through Ausheritage.

For more information on the MAGNA Awards please go to the Museums Australia website

At the Frontier with John Holden, Demos

At the Frontier, the joint Museums Australia, Interpretation Australia conference began yesterday here in Perth.

Following a moving Welcome to Country, we had a powerful keynote from Professor John Holden of Demos, a UK based Think Tank that in John's words is "not politically aligned but very well politically connected" According to John, Demos aims to bring together people who wouldn't normally get together to look at issues, they undertake a lot of research and writing on a range of topics, including culture.

John's paper, titled Next generation Culture: Why culture, organisations and leadership are changing, looked at the tension between what he sees that the three spheres of culture- Art, popular culture and home made culture- and the huge shift that has occured in the last ten or so years in this relationship.

Through changes in technology including the advent of the internet, cheaper technology (including musical instruments, cameras and scanners) and the development of software, far more people are able to create their own art, blurring the lines between home made, popular culture and Art. John pointed out that not only are more people creating their own work but they have become curators of their own work both what we consume and what we make. He pointed out that technology such as ipods have become personally curated spaces where each individual selects the music, images and other material for inclusion.

John believes that not only has this changed the relationship between cultural institutions (such as galleries, museums and theate) and their audiences but has placed culture in a more central position within the community and political spheres. If everyone is engaged in culture, be it high end, popular or home made, then it is in his words the second ecosystem of humankind and a central part of everyone's life. John believes that there has been a real blurring between creator and audience in the last few years which is now being addressed in the way a number of cultural organisations are starting to operate. Visitors:

• Sometimes want to sit and listen (or look)


• Sometimes want a social experience


• Sometimes want to produce things for themselves (and may want help with this)

The blurring of the line between the audience and creator is certainly well recognised in Australia, but perhaps we haven't yet thought about the impact this has on the place of culture, and its three spheres upon the political landscape, certainly food for thought. John was interviewed on Art Works last Sunday, the audio of that interview can be found on the ABC's website.

Chatting with the IMAGinE 2011 winners

Below short videos that showcase winners of the 2011 IMAGinE awards and recipients of the 2011 IMAGinE highly commended certificates.

In our first video, IMAGinE award winners share their stories of excellence and innovation with us.

In our second video we talk with M&G NSW board member and gallery director, Belinda Hanrahan, about the significance of Special Achievement recipient Edmund Capon AM, OBE to our sector. 

 


Bob McKillop from Willoughby District Historical Society talks about their winning exhibition, 'The Tales of Flat Rock Creek' that explores the impact of urban development on a pristine natural environment since the European settlement, through the eyes of Willoughby residents.

The Bundanon Trust briefly explain their digitisation project for which they won the IMAGinE award for Collection Management- 5-20 paid staff.

Sharni Lloyd from The Glasshouse Regional Gallery discusses the exhibition People Of the First Sunrise, winner of the IMAGinE award Exhibitions and Public Engagement 1-4 Paid Staff. This exhibition was made in partnership with Port Macquarie TAFE, MCA and the Gallery.

To download a special brochure on the winners and highly commended click here.

If you've published anything electronically about the 2011 IMAGinE awards we'd love to post it!

To see the article on the posthumous honour of Glen Johns click here:

http://www.boorowanewsonline.com.au/news/local/news/general/top-honour-for-boorowa-man/2316585.aspx

To see the article on the Australian National Maritime Museum win click below:
http://anmm.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/imagine-award/
  
And the Grafton Regional Gallery received a trophy and a highly commended:
http://www.artsmidnorthcoast.org/grafton-regional-gallery-wins-at-the-2011-imagine-awards/

Arts Northern Rivers e-magazine covered the award and highly commended picked up by Grafton Regional Gallery
http://www.artsnorthernrivers.com.au/pages/news-latest-news-news-grafton-regional-gallery-wins-at-the-2011-imagine-awards

Cool Comes to College Street

When is a museum not a museum? Or more precisely, how does the stuff (ing) that perceptions are made of become effectively recast? A visit to Jurassic Lounge, the Australian Museum’s recent Tuesday night foray into after hour’s event making, answered that question many times over!

As an idea, J-Lounge was conceived by Museum Director, Frank Howarth, following a visit to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco where, on Thursday nights, a similar style of event was being held. Tweaked and readapted for Sydney, Howarth hired The Festivalists, a Sydney based company that specialises in the production of cultural events that feature the hottest new artists, performers and DJ’s. Together they envisaged that success would involve a spectacular rearrangement of the institutional mood, attracting up to three hundred paying guests per night. As it turned out, the first season averaged over one thousand people per session (@ $15 per head) and the place was indeed ‘altered’.

As we approached the museum a queue stretched from the main entrance, down College Street, to the corner of William. Inside it was jumping, live music, performers and artists created scenes more reminiscent of a club in Newtown, or some other piece of nightlife central. It was a remarkable transformation with in house Interpretive Officers and Front of House staff ensuring through clever programming that guests were still engaged and interested in the exhibitions and collections on show. Clearly the koala and other cute marsupials that caught my eye, were twitching to the beat of a new generation.

With such a success on their hand I’ve no doubt Jurassic Lounge will return. So stay tuned, subscribe to the Australian Museum’s twitter account or become a friend on Facebook – be the first to know when ‘nocturnal cool’ once again descends on a ‘happening’ College Street.

Michael Rolfe

Vale Glen Johns

Glen Johns with Bob Williams at Working Spaces 3

Museums & Galleries NSW is deeply saddened by the news of Glen John's death on Monday 31st January. Since the late 1990s, Glen has played a significant role with the museums of the Lachlan Chapter of Museums Australia (NSW). Always ready to challenge the status quo, Glen's enthusiasm, thoughtful insight and wry sense of humour were always appreciated.

Glen became involved with the Boorowa and District Historical Society in the late 1990s and was instrumental in obtaining a grant from the Commonwealth Federation fund to refurbish the museum. The funding led to the redevelopment of the museum's exhibitions to highlight the local wool industry and the introduction of new technology through a DVD about Boorowa. Always keen to learn and improve the museum, Glen approached the Powerhouse Museum and M&G NSW to run a workshop focused on the museum's Hamilton Hume textile collection. And so began Glen's enthusiasm for coordinating workshops.

Hearing that M&G NSW had begun a standards program, Glen approached us about running the program with the museums of the newly formed Lachlan Chapter of Museums Australia (NSW). Along with others from the chapter, Glen's willingness to participate and capacity to encourage everyone else to join in made for a great year with the Standards program.

Within museum circles, Glen will probably be best remembered as the man behind the Working Spaces workshop based conferences held at St Clements, Galong. As a man who believed anything was possible, Glen approached us in 2006 about an idea for a volunteer museums conference with "no talking heads" and plenty of practical workshops. Before we knew it, he had convinced the major cultural institutions in Canberra to contribute staff to run the various workshops and the Working Spaces conference was born. The conferences are live in over a weekend and provide opportunities for museum workers to get together not only to learn but to have a good time. Trivia nights, Q&A sessions and Postcards from home have given those involved the opportunity to have some fun along the way. With four conferences under their belt, Glen has left the Lachlan Chapter and the volunteer museum community of NSW with a wonderful legacy.

Our thoughts are with the Lachlan Chapter, especially Glen's wife Elizabeth at this difficult time. Glen's unique and enthusiastic approach to life will never be replaced but I feel his legacy will allow a little of him to stay with us into the future.

Working Spaces 4 Conference

Sarah-Jane and I drove down to Galong last Friday to attend the famous Working Spaces 4 conference at St Clements Monastery. This is the fourth year this highly popular conference for museum volunteers has been put on, organised by the Museums Australia Lachlan Chapter.

St Clements Monastery is located about 20 minutes from Harden in the Southern Tablelands. It is a huge red brick building surrounded by farmland, complete with a grotto and a rather filmic gothic cemetery. It even has a small museum which tells the fascinating story of the original residents of ‘Galong castle’.

Around 40 participants from as far as Orange and Victoria were there and it was great for Sarah-Jane and I to catch up with some old friends and put some new faces to names. Treacherous weather meant some attendees had a somewhat interesting journey, with several people delayed by the conditions.

The conference covered many areas of museum practice such as paper conservation, writing Oral Histories, Significance, working with schools and graphic design; and aimed to provide volunteers with “hands-on” practical experience.

We presented a morning session on the Art of Winning and Writing Grants. We were lucky to have a really great group of enthusiastic volunteers from places such as Willoughby, Liverpool, Temora, Queanbeyan and Lambing Flat, who were clearly dedicated to their organisations and keen to develop different projects to keep their museums thriving. We discussed different funding avenues they could try, went through our Grants & Funding booklet and detailed the VIM grants now available from M&G NSW.

We gave them some tips on what makes a great grant application (and not so great ones!). More resources here.

A highlight of the weekend was ‘Postcards from Home’, held after dinner on Saturday night. Representatives from each museum presented for 2 minutes (precisely timed by a cow bell!) on what they felt was their most interesting collection item. It was then put to the vote, decided by the participants and also the presenters. There were so many captivating and intriguing stories, provoking a lot of debate during the deliberation! Winners were the Lambing Flat museum, who took the prize for ‘People’s Choice’ with a photo of the highly significant “Roll Up” banner, from the Lambing Flat riots of 1861,

and Cootamundra Heritage Centre taking out the ‘Presenter’s Choice’ with their unique set of 163 handmade dioramas depicting aspects of Cootamundra’s social history.

Big congratulations to the MA Lachlan Chapter, organisers of Working Spaces on another hugely successful conference, in particular to Glen Johns who is stepping down from the committee this year.

Sarah-Jane, Glen Johns and Phoebe