There's a War On! Website Launch

On Tuesday 1 March, M&GNSW launched our new wiki website There's a War On! at Chifley Home Education Centre, Bathurst. The website has been developed as a follow on to the earlier thematic studies on collections and sites associated with World War I and World War II activities in NSW which led to the travelling exhibition There's a War On!

Launching the wiki website at Chifley Home Education Centre, gave people the added opportunity of viewing the exhibition There's a war On! and visiting Chifley Home. Ben Chifley's significant contribution to the Australian community during World War II, first as Treasurer, then as Minister for Post War Reconstruction and finally as Prime Minister following Curtin's untimely death in July 1945.

The website provides an opportunity for users to look at sites and collections associated with the homefront during WWI and WWII across NSW. Utilising google map technology, the sites and collections are mapped out on a map of NSW with the capacity to zoom into particular locations and view the map in either satellite or map mode. Each entry has a "pin" on the map, clicking on the "pin" takes the user to a page for that particular object or site. These pages provides information about the object or site which can include description, location, history and an image.

It is hoped that the information on the site will expand over time as users are invited not simply to visit the site but to become contributors adding information about their own collections or sites associated with World War I and World War II in NSW. The site also invites contributors to include their memories of particlar sites or object. We hope that this will allow people to share their thoughts about sites such as air training bases, POW camps or Women's Land Army Hostels.

Thank you to Bathurst Regional Council for hosting the event, in particular Sam Malloy, Grant Weatherstone and the other Chifley Home Staff. Thanks also to Carah's Bakery for the marvelous catering. It was also great to have Ian Rufus, heritage re-enactor from Lithgow, reveal the inner secrets of the .303 rifle and its dispersed production in feeder factories across the central west of NSW during World War II.

Cuil Lodair Culloden Battlesite

On my way north this week I visited the Culloden Battlesite. The site is located just out of Inverness on a windswept, boggy moor. The battle took place on 16 April 1746 and was the last major pitched battle fought on British soil. Bonnie Prince Charlie led the Jacobite forces against British government troops in the final battle of an uprising that had begun the previous year. Having marched all night in cold, wet conditions, the Jacobites were not in the best of conditions by the time the battle began at 12pm, tragically in under an hour over 1500 Jacobites and 50 government troops had been killed and the battle ended.

The site has been sensitively interpreted with a new visitor centre and exhibition opened in December 2007. The centre has a low profile using local stone and timber that allows it to blend in with the surrounding landscape. The centre houses a shop, cafe and exhibition that skillfully weaves the story of both the Jacobite and government sides of the battle and contextualises events with a broader international political landscape. As with much of the Highlands area of Scotland much of the signage and interpretation is bilingual Gaelic/English. The move to provide more prominence for Gaelic throughout the Highlands is supported through schools, cultural groups and some television programs. No doubt the bilingual labels seen here and in many other museums and galleries in the Highlands supports these moves.

The exhibition incorporates audiovisual components including the thoughts of those who took part in the battle retold by actors in Gaelic and English, table top projected moving maps of the events leading up to the battle and the battle itself and a 360 degree full height film of a re-enactment of the battle. Archaeological material from the battlefield is on display and well as contemporary documents artwork and maps and a range of weaponry including guns, swords, cannon and targe (a leather studded shield).

A fantastic handheld multimedia interpretative device triggered by GPS produced by ZolkC is provided as part of the entry fee and provides an enriched experience for visitors walking through the outside site. As well as tours in English, Gaelic and various other languages, the tour also provides a child centered tour and audio description for those with vision impairment.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh

Over the weekend I visited the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens. The gardens were filled with the rich reds and yellows of nature's autumnal palette. It was delightful to sit at the top of a hill within the gardens and look across at the Old Town of Edinburgh.

The recently completed John Hope Gateway building is located at the western entrance to the Botanic Gardens. The building is designed to promote sustainbility through the use of sustainable materials, energy saving measures and the production of renewable energy. It houses a wonderful array of exhibitions, restaurant, shop and education centre. A newly planted Scottish biodiversity garden surrounds the centre which has the feel of a highland meadow.

The exhibitions are beautifully presented and focus on biodiversity both in Scotland and across the world. There are a range of activities for children, some within an activities room and others within the exhibition area. A small tent type structure has been completely covered with children's drawings inspired by the exhibitions.

The main exhibition was on the surprising topic of fungi! Exploring everything from mushrooms to athlete's foot the exhibition looks at the role of fungi in mythology, medicine, brewing and as a hallucinogen. A very neat hand held audio guide is provided for free. The audio is activated using infra red light at various points through the exhibition.

The Gardens have worked closely with artists on a range of projects. A project with a local design school was on display- the students designed screen prints for tights, inspired by plants preserved in the Herbarium. In conjunction with the Fungi exhibition is "The Secret Sounds of Spores" a project supported by New Media Scotland . The project uses a video camera attached to a microscope to record the release of spores from a series of mushrooms. The recording is displayed on a screen adjacent to the Fungi exhibition. Alongside the screen are a series of microsopes where visitors can examine a range of fungi.

Children in museums

Over the weekend I visited a number of museums and was struck by a couple of simple approaches to children's activities. The National Trust of Scotland have two properties in Edinburgh- Gladstone's Land is a property bought and developed by Thomas Gledstanes in the early seventeenth century. Typical of properties in the Old Town of Edinburgh it is a six storey building which housed shops on the ground floor with a series of dwellings on top, accommodating people of various levels of society.

The Georgian House is a late eighteenth century property located within the New Town, developed in response to the desperate need for greater space within Edinburgh. This was the home of John Lamont, the 18th Chief of the Clan Lamont and an example of the much more expansive lifestyle that was possible with the development of New Town.

The National Trust have developed a program for children based around a dog called Gnasher. Cut out copies of Gnasher are positioned in various corners of the properties and children are encouraged to seek out Gnasher. Initially I did wonder what the cartoon cutouts of a dog were doing in a National Trust property but it was great to see the children noting Gnasher on their treasure maps as they went through the property. The Georgian House has a children's room on the top floor which had dress ups, a table of objects they could handle and a table where they could try their hand at writing with a quill. There were a number of couches in the room which no doubt provides a comfortable area for families to rest and withdraw from the more formal areas of the property.

The National Museum of Scotland has small activity tables and booths throughout their exhibition areas which I thought was a great idea. The museum is vast and by having small activity spots scattered discretely through the exhibition areas there are opportunities for children to engage with quite powerful collections in a way that makes sense to them. I particularly liked the addition of mirrors next to each dress up zone, allowing children to truly admire their new Viking self!

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?