Australian Museums and Galleries Association MaG Vol 29(1) Summer 2021 by Australian Museums and Galleries Association

Sisters of Charity, Heritage Centre - Potts Point NSW Designer: Broadcast Museum Design Photography: Jesse Marlow Photography

Specialising in the design, fabrication, and installation of high-quality museum, gallery and exhibition showcasing, tertiary fitout, environmental controls, lighting and modular wall systems.

02 6290 4900 www.designcase.net.au

CLICK

NETHERFIELD SHOWCASING YOUR VISION

Complete Museum Fit-out Specialists - Manufacturing and Installing Australia Wide - Custom Displays - Showcasing - Lighting

Arts Precinct Exhibition, Macquarie University Designer: Freeman Ryan Design

www.designcraftprojects.net.au MaG Dec2020_designcraftProjects.indd 1

02 6290 4900 18/12/2020 12:26:31 PM

WAM NEW MUSEUM | DESIGN OF PERMANENT GALLERIES - NGALANG KOORT BOODJA WIRN - REFLECTIONS - ORIGINS - CONNECTIONS - INNOVATIONS

Photography by Peter Bennetts

thylacine CANBERRA P +61 2 6299 7340 E canb@thylacine.com.au

MELBOURNE P +61 3 9427 9779 E melb@thylacine.com.au

thylacine.com.au

Museum Collections Management Software

Engaging • Imaginative • Immersive Innovative • Essential

REQUEST A FREE DEMO TODAY! Call us at 3-8526-0143 / 0144 or visit us at www.lucidea.com/argus

The Software to manage Your MOSAiC Of Heritage A flexible cataloguing and collections management system, all-in-one Low cost - easy to use Suited to collections of all sizes Australian owned and operated

Show YOUR collection to the World with...

IST

Information Services & Technology

For more information contact Sally-Anne and Rew Tel: 0403 832 527 E: Sales@ISTechnology.com.au Www.istechnology.com.au

Manage Collections. Create Connections Collections management software for everyone

Our extensive collections management system

Our simple to use web-based system vernonsystems.com

eHive.com

Printers of premium books and merchandise to galleries, libraries and museums. P: + 61 3 9545 6900 E: carolyn@bookconn.com.au www.bookconn.com.au

MaG_Ad_Tim_010121.pdf

2/1/21

11:30 am

MaG_Ad_Tim_010121.pdf

2/1/21

11:30 am

MaG_Ad_Tim_010121.pdf

2/1/21

11:30 am

WE WE WE CREATE CREATE CREATE C C M C M Y M Y CM Y CM MY CM MY CY MY CY CMY CY CMY K CMY K

SPECTACULAR SPECTACULAR SPECTACULAR

MULTIMEDIA MULTIMEDIA MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCES EXPERIENCES EXPERIENCES See more at See more at the-pod.com.au See more at the-pod.com.au

the-pod.com.au

Or call

Or call +61 (3) 9646 2550 Or call +61 (3) 9646 2550 +61 (3) 9646 2550

THE TECHNOLOGY TO THE TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSLATE YOUR VISION THE TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSLATE YOUR VISION IN ITS PUREST FORM. THE TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSLATE YOUR VISION IN ITS PUREST FORM. Creativity has few limits, your technology should be the same. THE TECHNOLOGY TObe the same. TRANSLATE VISION IN ITS PUREST FORM. Creativity has few limits, yourYOUR technology should TRANSLATE VISION IN ITS PUREST FORM. Creativity has few limits, yourYOUR technology should be the same. IN ITS PUREST FORM. Creativity has few limits, your technology should be the same. At Panasonic, innovation has the power to make technology invisible. Be free to think about the image, not the equipment. To concentrate At Panasonic, innovation has the power to make technology invisible. on the big idea, knowing that the small details are taken care of. Be free to think about the image, not the equipment. To concentrate At Panasonic, has the power to make technology on the big idea,innovation knowing that small details are taken careinvisible. of. Be free to think about the image, not the equipment. To concentrate on the big idea, knowing that small details are takenbe care of.same. At Panasonic, innovation has your the power to make technology invisible. Creativity has few limits, technology should the Be free to think about the image, not the equipment. To concentrate on the big idea,innovation knowing that small details are taken careinvisible. of. At Panasonic, has the power to make technology Be free to think about the image, not the equipment. To concentrate on the big idea, knowing that the small details are taken care of.

MGA Ad.indd 1

30/11/2018 5:03:41 PM

MGA Ad.indd 1

30/11/2018 5:03:41 PM

MGA Ad.indd 1

30/11/2018 5:03:41 PM

CSM offer bespoke and specialised integrated storage solutions for art galleries, collections, museums and libraries. We provide end to end project management as well as superior after-sales service. Our point of difference is that we identify the problem, develop, design and engineer the customised solution... and then manufacture it all in Australia. We are one of a kind!

02 8513 6300 csm-office.com.au ISO 9001 and ISO 14001

ARTEFACT AND COLLECTIONS STORAGE HIGH DENSITY ART RACKS SOLANDER BOX STORAGE SPECIMEN STORAGE PATHOLOGY HERBARIUMS RARE BOOKS DESIGNED & MANUFACTURED IN AUSTRALIA - 65 YEARS

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

Council 2019–2021 President

Dr Robin Hirst PSM

Director, Hirst Projects, Melbourne

Vice-President Simon Elliott

Deputy Director, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane cover image

Peter Drew, 2020, Together Soon Enough, poster. <www.peterdrewarts. com/>Photo: Inklab.

Treasurer

Margaret Lovell

Consultant, Canberra

Secretary

Carol Cartwright Canberra

Members

Shane Breynard

PhD Candidate, Canberra

Dr Mark Crees

Director, Create Infrastructure (Create NSW), Department of Premier and Cabinet, Sydney

Deanne Fitzgerald

Craig Middleton

Curator, National Museum of Australia, Canberra

Debbie Sommers

Volunteer, Port Macquarie Historical Society, Port Macquarie

Ex officio Member Dr Mat Trinca AM

Chair, ICOM Australia; Director, National Museum of Australia

Public Officer Rebecca Coronel Canberra

State /Territory Branch Presidents/ Representatives

(Subject to change throughout year)

ACT Rowan Henderson

Senior Curator, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Canberra

NSW Judith Coombes

Museums and Heritage Consulting

NT Dr Wendy Garden

Assistant Director Access and Engagement, Library & Archives NT, Darwin

QLD Emma Bain

Director, Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland

Snr Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisor, Western Australian Museum Boola Bardip, Perth

SA Pauline Cockrill

Penny Grist

TAS Janet Carding

Marcus Hughes

VIC Andrew Hiskens

Curator, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra Director, Indigenous Engagement, National Library of Australia, Canberra

Jane King

Community History Officer, History Trust SA, Adelaide Director, Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, Hobart Consultant, Melbourne

WA Christen Bell

Museum Curator, City of Armadale

Gallery Manager, John Curtin Gallery, Perth

AMaGA acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

PO Box 24, Deakin West ACT 2600 Editorial: (02) 6230 0346 Advertising: 02) 6230 0346 Subscriptions: (02) 6230 0346 info@amaga.org.au www.amaga.org.au Editor: Bernice L. Murphy Template design: Inklab, Canberra Content layout: Stephanie Hamilton Printer: Adams Print, Melbourne

© Australian Museums and Galleries Association and individual authors. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Australian Museums and Galleries Association Magazine is published biannually (from Volume 25 onwards) and online on the national website, and is a major link with members and the museums sector. Australian Museums and Galleries Association Magazine is a forum for news, opinion and debate on museum issues. Contributions from those involved or interested in museums and galleries are welcome. Australian Museums and Galleries Association Magazine reserves the right to edit, abridge, alter or reject any material. Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher or editor. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement by Australian Museums and Galleries Association, its affiliates or employees. Print Post Publication No: 100003705 ISSN 2207-1806

ce n e ferrra n Co anbe

2 01 2

al 021 C E: TION. n tio e 2 TUR GINA Na-10 Jun THE FUITY. IMA 7

ING ERS EAT T. DIV R C US TR

7-10 June 2021 So much to talk about! See you there!

• Program now released • Registrations open • Virtual registrations available Watch for updates via email and on the website

Photo credit: VisitCanberra

www.amaga2021.org.au Eligible businesses can apply for funding under Austrade’s Business Events Grants Program to cover up to 50% AUSTRALIAN MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES ASSOCIATION NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2019: Handbook 1 of the costs of participating in AMaGA2021, as either delegates or sponsors/exhibitors. Grant applications close at 5pm (AEDST) on 30 March 2021 or earlier if funding is exhausted. For further information visit the AMaGA2021 website.

In this issue Contents 14

President's Message

From the Director

Nurturing community-based history: Some South Australian insights

MAPDA 2020: Celebrating design and communication

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

Australian University Museums and Collections interfacing with COVID-19

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

AMaGA Network rallies around Memory of the World bid

Beyond measure: Five years of Tarnanthi in Adelaide and beyond

26 MAGNA 2020: Bay Discovery Centre wins National Award

37 Making cultural connections

55 The Value of Support: The Emerging Professionals

National Network of AMaGA

58 The vantage-point of work in our National Library 60 Mid-career spotlight: A Victorian regional heritage vantagepoint

65 CAUMAC museums responding to COVID-19 impacts on university collections

68 State Branch Victoria:

Surviving through a viral lockdown

70 Submission Spotlight

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this publication may contain a range of material which may be culturally sensitive including names, records and images of people who have passed away.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

President’s Message After a year of living Covidly, I am ready for something different. I’m sure you are too. Some important projects have recently come to fruition, despite lockdowns. Two impressive new museum buildings have opened on either side of the country: the new Western Australian Museum Boola Bardip in Perth, and the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney, which now co-locates all of the University’s collections in an exciting new home. The Australian Museum in Sydney has also launched its redevelopment, incorporating new facilities to host major exhibitions, and now presents an ambitious new building housing its reinterpreted collections. Each of these projects demonstrates the importance of our sector, and we should all celebrate the transformative progress they represent. I’m eager to visit them. By all accounts they are spectacular and engaging transformations of their institutions and collections, and each is attracting new audiences. At the other end of the scale, I want to draw your attention to a project that is literally from and about the grass roots. It is one I’ve had the pleasure to experience first-hand. In southern NSW, between the Murray and the Murrumbidgee, a remarkable project has emerged. It was conceived in the local farming community. In summary: take a group of farmers who wish to regenerate their land, enlist some of Australia’s finest artists to respond to the farmers’ work, engage with the public on the farm, create an exhibition to tour regional galleries, and make the last venue a major institution in the National Capital. As a participant in the project, it developed like this: in 2019 I came across a one-day event where artist Rosalind Atkins, who has a passion for depicting trees in her superb wood engravings, was involved in a program called Earth Canvas. She had been in residence with regenerative farmers Bill and Joy Wearn, and was to talk about the residency on the farm near Little Billabong, via Holbrook. I have an interest in wood engraving and I am a fan of Ros’s work. With lunch included, a decision to go firmed easily. It is hot. One of those November days when summer seems to be very early. In the shade of a massive eucalypt, two artists — Rosalind Atkins and the irrepressible John Wolseley — are encircled by local farmers, experts in agriculture, educators, and an assortment of people (like Sally and myself) who love the arts and wish for a more sustainable way that food can be produced, while the land is improved year by year. A herd of Angus cattle with their shiny black coats also surrounds us, eavesdropping, as the conversation is both deep and wide — art, science, soil, biodiversity, food, sustainability, climate change, the future. Lunch on the farmhouse veranda is superbly prepared by a local chef and the conversations jostle with excitement.

above

Robin Hirst.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

The dynamo behind this project is Gill Sanbrook, one of the farmers who owns a local property (Bibbaringa) and is passionate about land management and care of nature. Together with John Wolseley, she came up with the idea of farmers working with artists, and this project was born. Six farming families were involved, each interacting with a resident artist, and all hosting open days on different weekends. The resulting exhibition now includes works by artists Rosalind Atkins, John Wolseley, Janet Lawrence, Jo Davenport, Idris Murphy, and Jenny Bell, and is documented by photographer Tony Nott. Curated by Kate Eastick, the Earth Canvas Exhibition is on display at the Albury LibraryMuseum (until 7 February 2021) before touring to Swan Hill, Mt Gambier, Mildura, Wagga Wagga, Tamworth and Griffith — and then finally reaching a larger audience at the National Museum of Australia in late 2022. I attended the virtual opening and a webinar on the project. Now I can’t wait to see all the actual works, together. In a gallery with others.

And more Alex Marsden, our National Director for almost six years, has decided to take new directions. We have benefitted from her energy, passion, intellect, and the ability to build new relationships and strengthen member services right across our sector. Over the last four years I have had the pleasure to work closely with Alex and the National Council in steering major changes: such as renaming, rebranding and refocusing the organisation; launching the Indigenous Roadmap; reforming our professional development program delivery; and appointing Indigenous leaders to our Council and advisory committees – to name just a few of the far-reaching changes accomplished. Alex, you have been a wonderful Director, and the National Council and all parts of AMaGA wish you well. Meanwhile we appreciate your offer to stay in touch as we move into a new year.

And still more We welcome Katie Russell, our new National Director. Katie comes to AMaGA from the National Gallery of Australia, where she was Head of Programs, Education, Research Library and Archives. Katie brings a wealth of experience gained previously in the National Portrait Gallery and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. A graduate of the Australian National University, she has a Master of Arts from Leicester University, UK. Already setting her vision in place for AMaGA’s ongoing work, Katie affirms: ‘It is important that the Association continues to amplify the collective voice of the membership, and to support the range of perspectives it represents.’ This is a good time, hopefully with the pandemic crisis better under control, for us all to work with Katie, to take stock and reimagine the future we can continue to shape collaboratively. Like the philosophy behind Earth Canvas, our organisation can only thrive with healthy grass roots and a broad vision of our collective interface with communities across the country. May 2021 be a great year for us all, and I look forward to seeing many of you, in person, in Canberra for our National Conference in June. ■

Dr Robin Hirst PSM President Australian Museums and Galleries Association

From the Director Despite the challenges throughout 2020 of profound adjustments needed to the impacts of a global pandemic, I’ve continued to be inspired by spending time with so many people who have innovative ideas, knowledge, and the serious intent to do more with the resources they have. My belief that our sector is brimming with achievement and potential, even in the face of external challenges, has continued to be confirmed. Reflecting on 2020 as a whole for the national organisation, we have together built on earlier achievements and driven change in a number of important areas, as well as nurturing new alliances. AMaGA’s Indigenous Roadmap, our part in establishing and running GLAM Peak, and the focus on delivering a strengthened national professional development program through the vicissitudes of COVID-19, are achievements of which this organisation can be very proud. Part of representing the breadth and depth of our sector is seeking out and listening to colleagues who may feel under-represented. AMaGA has more clearly embraced the breadth of the visual arts and galleries sector, and recognised Indigenous values and workers, and we have worked hard to provide better support to all. After much consultation in previous years, the national association adopted a new name in November 2018, which — while explicitly including galleries — also restored and foregrounded the importance of the association. We are a network of members, joining together for the common good, and all contributing in a myriad of ways. 2020 was also a significant year for advocacy. I have previously voiced concerns about the Commonwealth government’s continuing lack of a national cultural policy framework and associated resourcing needed for such a diverse sector across the country. The impacts of this deficiency were laid bare in the government’s limited understanding and inadequate responses to the damage endured by the sector during the pandemic. AMaGA spoke up for the sector’s needs at Roundtables and in the media, and made numerous submissions to Inquiries, all of which can be found on our website and drawn upon for further advocacy. Late in 2020, the Australia Council for the Arts asked for contributions to their thinking about what we wanted our arts and cultural industries to look like in 2030, and how we could get there. This was welcome. I believe we need to think big. Inspire ourselves and others. A few years ago, the writer and critic, Alison Croggon, declared: ‘Our cultural expectations have always suffered from a poverty of imagination.’ No more!

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

above

Alex Marsden.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

On the Horizon February — First round of Cultural Capability Training — MaG published — Welcoming Katie Russell as new National Director — National Professional Development Program — MAPDA and MAGNA open — GLAM Peak meets — Indigenous Roadmap Advisory Group meets March — National Council Nominations close — National Council meets April — Awards close for entries May —

National Council voting closes

June — National Conference in Canberra — National Council meets — Indigenous Roadmap Advisory Group meets — Awards announced — AMaGA AGM and new Council announced — Launch of Connecting Custodians

—

We should work with allies to change the precarious nature of employment, income, and revenue generation for so many of our artists, cultural workers, service organisations and cultural institutions. Concepts of productivity and varied contributions to society need to be re-thought and made clear. We need to focus on sustainability — both as cultural industries and in our contributions to national and global sustainability. More of our governments, elected representatives and business leaders need to be persuaded or pressured to strive towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. The centrality of Australia’s First Peoples’ cultures and knowledge is vital both for justice and a shared and maturing national identity. The arts, heritage and cultural industries need to be adequately resourced, through multiple avenues, including an expanded Australia Council or the creation of a companion Council for the Humanities, and in re-imagined definitions of work, culture, inclusion, value and recompense.

Museums and galleries can be critical participants in achieving all of these aims. This edition of the national Magazine focuses on good practice and innovative thinking, as well as the strength of ethics, empathy and honesty. Having written my first column as National Director in 2015, after four months in the role, this will be my last, after almost six years. It has been a great privilege to act as National Director for such an important organisation, and to be supported by such committed staff in the National Office, guided by outstanding National Councillors. I give particular mention and thanks to National President Robin Hirst, and his predecessor, Frank Howarth, for their generous and informed leadership and advice. I have enjoyed every one of these years, and am looking forward to contributing in different ways to the development and wellbeing of museums and galleries throughout Australia and the region — through a new role on ICOM Australia’s Board and in other ventures. I extend a warm welcome to my successor, Katie Russell, as she steps into one of the most rewarding roles in the country. ■

Alex Marsden National Director Australian Museums and Galleries Association

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

Nurturing communitybased history Some South Australian insights Pauline Cockrill

Nurturing community-based history can be the most frustrating and yet satisfying aspect of museum work. As Community History Officer at the History Trust of South Australia, some key examples stand out for me as success stories, demonstrating new trends in working with different communities. But first, what do we mean by community?1 Community has been defined as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. In South Australia, whether it is the Museum of River History in Mannum or the Latvian Museum in the Adelaide suburbs, both museums address a community with a shared geography. Peter Block describes the condition succinctly in another way: ‘We are in a community each time we find a place where we belong.’2 Such community museums or history groups with collections have been steadily increasing within our state. Research has shown that the 20 or so such museums existing in 1960 rapidly increased to 170 by 1990, encouraged by the push for heritage preservation in the 1960s and 1970s, and later by impacts of the state’s 150th (1986) and 175th (2011) anniversaries as well as Australia’s national bicentenary (1988).3 By 2008 there were 200 SA community museums, which at the time of writing has grown to over 300. As with other parts of Australia, local museums have found homes in buildings saved from demolition, with collections relating to pioneering families and rural life. The last decade has also seen the growth of virtual community collections, with no physical address but accessible through a website or social media. Spurred by shared interests, there are many community museums or groups developing specialist collections — particularly focused on planes, trains and automobiles, but also collections of tools, machinery, or crafts such as embroidery. Community museums and history groups in South Australia have risen in numbers, yet ironically also struggle to survive. As new groups form, others despair for their future, faced with diminishing resources, crumbling heritage buildings, vast uncatalogued collections and an aging baby boomer generation of custodians desperately seeking a succession plan. Add to this the varying personalities of the latter, sometimes set in their ways, and the results can create challenging situations for the nurture of community history.

above

Pauline Cockrill.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

1. Murawski, Mike (2018). Towards a More Community-Centered Museum, Part 3: Defining & Valuing Community <https://artmuseumteaching. com/2018/10/01/towards-a-morecommunity-centered-museum-part3-defining-valuing-community/>. 2. Webber, K. et al (2011). ‘Drawing people together: the local and regional museum movement in Australia’, in Des Griffin & Leon Paroissien (eds), Understanding Museums: Australian Museums and Museology, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 2011, online at <https://nma.gov.au/ research/understanding-museums/ KWebber_etal_2011.html>. 3. Block, Peter (2009). Community: The Structure of Belonging. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 4. Simon, Nina (2010). The Participatory Museum, online at <http://www. participatorymuseum.org/>. 5. OF/BY/FOR ALL, online at <https://www.ofbyforall.org/>. 6. Sandell, Richard (1998). ‘Museums as Agents of Social Inclusion’, Museum Management and Curatorship, Vol. 17(), 401–418, Routledge, UK; DOI: 10.1080/09647779800401704. 7. Dodd, Jocelyn & Jones, Ceri (2014). Mind, body, spirit: How museums impact health and wellbeing, University of Leicester, UK. 8. Veall, D. et al (2017). Museums on Prescription: A guide to working with older people. Available at: <culturehealthresearch.wordpress. com/museums-on-prescription>. 9. Museums and Collections (MaC) Program, History SA, Adelaide; online at <https://history.sa.gov. au/get-involved/mac-program/>.

However, there have been success stories, and some are shared here as case studies to consider and inspire. They particularly illuminate the new museology we have seen developing over the last half-century, through a shift from object-centred, curator-led projects, or the one-way ‘museum outreach’ approach. Museums and their collections increasingly need to prove their relevance and ‘pay their way’, resulting in an audienceor visitor-focused approach. It has led to US museum visionary, Nina Simon, spearheading the participatory museum 4 movement, opening up museums to new people in new ways; and her global initiative — OF, BY & FOR ALL 5 — guiding community organisations to become more inclusive, equitable, and relevant. A decade prior to this, British museums were reinventing themselves as agents of social change headed by the University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies and work of the UK Museums Association.6 Museums are no longer focused primarily on collecting heritage or being education providers, but work actively to increase social inclusion. Museums can play a vital therapeutic role in positive ageing,7 enhanced wellbeing and mental health — as demonstrated by the UK’s Museums on Prescription program.8

Museums can play a vital therapeutic role in positive ageing, enhanced wellbeing and mental health The SA History Trust’s Standards and Accreditation program for community museums has recently shifted focus to reflect this new museology. Established in 1982, the program had undergone minimal modifications until the new Museums and Collections (MaC) Program9 was introduced in 2018. The former program required community museums, the majority of which are volunteer-run, to demonstrate levels of compliance with the National Standards for Australian Museums and Galleries through a rigorous formal assessment. MaC now aims to reflect that half of the history groups in South Australia are not museums, but are still undertaking meaningful communitybased history. There is a greater emphasis now on flexibility and accessibility, while the History Trust’s relationship with the organisation is more collaborative than didactic. The previous formal process has been replaced by a self-review, capturing the spirit of the national standards.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

left

Angelo Innocente, standing with his arms out, after being introduced by Bruno Piovesan at the exhibition of the Veneto market gardens, Findon, August 2011. Photo: Linda Lacey.

Case study 1 Research on the migrant Italian families who set up market gardens in the post-World War II era in Adelaide’s western suburbs was carried out through a memorable series of ‘pop-up’ style events. The latter have grown out of the ‘pop-up’ retail trend to regenerate high streets arising after the 2008 financial crisis, and have proved effective in attracting new audiences. The Veneto Market Gardeners project began as a series of oral histories but led on to a website and blog,10 which has also created opportunities for families and friends to reconnect both physically and online. Participants were invited with their extended families to the local library, where they could experience the results of filmed oral histories, bring photographs to be scanned, and share family heirlooms and their stories. A simple mud map of the market gardens was provided to guide memories of locations and names. Refreshments included not only good homemade Italian cake but also coffee with a barista! Encouraged by joyous participation, the history of the market gardens now continues to grow, with guest bloggers from the local Italian community adding material to the website.

Case study 2 Social media has so much potential for community-based history. Some research is currently being undertaken in connection with the redevelopment of the Onkaparinga Woollen Mills in Lobethal, now the home of Fabrik — the Adelaide Hills Council’s arts and heritage hub initiative. The mill was the original maker of the Onkaparinga blanket and occupies a significant role in the town’s history, where it has been said ‘Lobethal is the mill’. An initial callout via Facebook and Instagram indicated the amount of affection this icon of the Australian wool industry still holds in public consciousness. Photos were shared of blankets and rugs that had been wedding, engagement or 21st presents, then augmented by rich memories of picnics, holidays and car journeys. A more strategic method of crowdsourcing to gain information and grow audiences is planned for the future. Under COVID-19 restrictions this is a useful option, but it cannot replace face-to-face social gatherings with their opportunities to handle and physically share such objects amongst former mill workers and other local members of the community.

10. Regan, Madeleine (2011-19). Veneto Market Gardeners 1927; online at <https://venetimarketgardeners1927. net/>

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

top

Interior of the Onkaparinga Woollen Mill showing processing machinery. Approximately 1900. Part of Lobethal Collection, State Library of SA. middle

Knitting and crocheting through the war workshops held at the Migration Museum in 2015 attracted the craft community and encouraged younger, diverse audiences to engage with history. Photo: Pauline Cockrill, History Trust of SA. bottom

Lynnette Wanganeen with Dr Chris Morton and copy of an 1867 photograph of her ancestor. Photo: Pauline Cockrill and History Trust of SA.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

left

Lianne Gould and Iris Woolcock’s sock pattern. These patterns are adapted from the Schools Patriotic Fund (SPF) Service Knitting booklet. The booklet was released during the Second World War to provide patterns for people knitting for the troops on the home front. During the First World War basic instructions for knitting similar items were published in newspapers around Australia. The patterns here have been translated for the beginner and modern knitter by Lianne Gould, Master Knitter, and used by the KnitWW1ts.

Case study 3 During South Australia’s commemoration of the WWI centenary, a small team of colleagues with a shared passion for knitting was formed — calling themselves The KnitWW1ts. They held a series of history talks at the Migration Museum on aspects of knitting and fundraising during the War, whilst also teaching participants to knit a certain item of the time, such as a pair of socks, scarf, or balaclava. Related historic items and photographs were also shared. The workshops were exceedingly popular, bringing a new, often younger and more culturally diverse audience to the museum.

Case study 4 Motoring Memories was a project undertaken by a car club, an aged care service provider, and the National Motor Museum in Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills. Initially it was to celebrate both the Morris 8 and Resthaven’s 75th birthdays, and to obtain some oral histories from residents of an aged care home regarding their motoring memories. The main event consisted of car club members taking out some of the residents for a short drive around the block in their vintage Morris 8 cars. There were also several introductory and follow-up activities: oral history training for the car club members; providing historic material for the lifestyle coordinators; preparing historic motoring displays for the foyer of the nursing home; and carrying out further oral histories and presentations after the event. However, the outcome was far more profound. It was in effect a Memory or

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Museums are no longer focused primarily on collecting heritage or being education providers, but work actively to increase social inclusion

11. Howes, David (2014). Introduction to Sensory Museology, The Senses and Society, Vol. 9(3), 259– 267, DOI: 10.2 752/174589314X14023847039917. 12. Chatterjee, Helen (2008). Touch in Museums: Policy and Practice in Object Handling, Routledge, UK; DOI: <https://doi. org/10.4324/9781003135616>. 13. Returning Photos: Australian Aboriginal Photographs from European Collections; online at <https://ipp.arts.uwa.edu.au/>. 14. Brown, Karen (2019). ‘Museums and Local Development: An Introduction to Museums, Sustainability and Well-being’, Museum International, Vol 71 (3–4 double issue), 2019.

Reminiscence Box project on a grand scale. The cars and displayed historic items triggered conversations and were a talking-point for a considerable time for staff, residents and their families, visibly raising the mood of participants. The project exemplified the rehabilitation of touch, described as the most salient trend in the new museology11 which has been widely researched by Dr Helen Chatterjee in the UK.12

Case study 5 The repatriation of copies of two photographs of James Wanganeen, formerly Wanganni, an Upper Murray Maraura man born around 1836, and the first known ancestor of the Wanganeen family to his great great granddaughter Lynette, was deeply moving. It took place unceremoniously in an alfresco North Adelaide café, but was a momentous outcome of an initially unplanned project. This followed two years after the accidental rediscovery of some mid-19 th century daguerreotypes at Mill Cottage Museum in Port Lincoln, which turned out to be some of the earliest photographic images of named Indigenous Australians, then inhabitants of Poonindie Mission. Serendipitously this coincided with a collaborative ARC-funded project regarding Returning Australian Aboriginal Photographs from European Collections.13 The Port Lincoln daguerreotypes were conserved, and the Wanganeen family played a significant part in their subsequent redisplay. When Dr Chris Morton, Curator of Photograph and Manuscript Collections at the University of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum, was on a lightning Australian study visit, it was arranged for him to hand over to Lynette’s family two more images of their ancestor from the museum’s collection. Through all these case studies run common threads. First and foremost, they are projects that have been built with the community, not for them. They have involved strategic collaboration. They are socially oriented. There has been a willingness to listen and be flexible: to sometimes be patient, or seize the moment and make things happen; to do careful research but also take risks and to think outside the square. Last, there is respect for the importance of cultural memory, described as the key to community resilience throughout the world, as people seek to engage with the past, understand the present, and plan for meaningful futures.14 ■ Pauline Cockrill is a Community History Officer within the History Trust of South Australia and works with South Australia’s community history network. She has many years’ curatorial experience in both the UK and Australia. She is currently also the curator at the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and President of the South Australian branch of AMaGA. Citation: Pauline Cockrill, ‘Nurturing community-based history: Some South Australian insights’, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 29(1), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, Summer 2021, pp. 18–23.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

MAPDA 2020 Celebrating design and communication Stephanie Hamilton

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

See the winners at www.mapda.org.au

At a glance

The Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards is an annual celebration that acknowledges excellence and quality in design of publications and multimedia produced for the museums and galleries sector across Australia and New Zealand. The innovation and creativity displayed in all of the entries continue to astonish and inspire our judges — and above all else, these standards show how we continue to look for new ways of telling our stories and sharing experiences with our communities even when we can't connect in person. As always, there were some hard decisions to be made in the end, which only reflects how outstanding the work produced by the cultural sector continues to be, despite current challenges.

Judges' insights

The physical delight of holding a beautiful exhibition catalogue reinforces the importance of publications and the way they can still connect the reader with the exhibition, particularly at a time when in person experiences are limited. The abundance of catalogues and other publications submitted this year reflects the continued need for tangible, sensory, collectible connections to our collections and stories. In keeping with the recommendation in the Indigenous Roadmap, that all AMaGA committees include Indigenous representation — and because it makes good sense — 2020 was the first time we specifically invited Indigenous judges to participate. Marcus Hughes, Jilda Andrews and Kiah Buckskin-James provided invaluable perspectives to inform the judging of both good design and effective communication, now and in the future. In terms of design, this year's entries yielded a delighful mix of traditional, classic and timeless designs, along with bold, contemporary designs, each with their own varied impacts. The most successful publications often tend to be those where the designer is able to create a harmony of traditionally classy grids and typography with an exciting use of seemingly contradictory graphic design or production elements – for example, in headings, margins, colour or paper stock. The Best in Show award was selected because of its classic design qualities along with a subtle use of white-on-white, which beautifully highlighted the art of Petrina Hicks in Bleached Gothic.

2021

left

Petrina Hicks: Bleached Gothic from the National Gallery of Victoria was the 2020 publication Best in Show. Designer: Thomas Deverall (NGV).

Due to the short turnaround before the planned 2021 Awards, and the lack of exhibitions and publishing resulting from multiple lockdowns, we anticipate a severe downturn in entries for 2021. Organisations have however been adapting and innovating online with varied use of multimedia and other digitally-based design. Currently MAPDA has only 3 electronic categories. Redefining these or adding new categories is now recommended, so that the awards can be more reflective of the adaptive work being undertaken online and from home. Call for Entries will open at the end of February 2021. ■

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

MAGNA 2020 Bay Discovery Centre wins National Award Stephanie Hamilton

2020 heralded the tenth year of the Museums and Galleries National Awards. The MAGNAs aim to encourage the continuing improvement and development of Australian museums and galleries, to inspire and recognise best practice and innovation in the collections sector, and to enhance the profile of museums and galleries in their local and wider communities. Entries to the Awards come from both the smallest community museums and the largest national institutions in the areas of exhibition, learning and engagement, research, and Indigenous projects. The call for entries was extended in 2020 to accommodate the unpredicted pandemic circumstances engulfing everyone — whether working from home, in lockdowns, or in isolation. The result was a record number of MAGNA entries. The 2020 Awards were presented digitally in a wonderful event in October, hosted by Council Member Craig Middleton, and featuring acceptance speeches from most of the winners. The presentations were part of the national AMaGA Meet-up: where members could gather, where safe to do so, in their State and Territory Branch events. The presentation recording is available online, along with a list of all the commended and winning entries: at <www.amaga.org.au/awards>.

National Winner

The National Winner is selected from a shortlist of all the winning entries. The 2020 National Winner was Bay Discovery Centre in Glenelg, South Australia, for Tiati Wangkanthi Kumangka (TruthTelling Together). Tiati Wangkanthi Kumangka is a meaningful, thought-provoking and at times confrontational exhibition. Although it seeks to tell the story of South Australia's colonisation, it also seeks to question

AMaGA is grateful to our generous sponsor, Panasonic, who have been sponsoring the MAGNAs since 2017

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

top

Tiati Wangkanthi Kumangka (TruthTelling Together) (installation view), Bay Discovery Centre, Glenelg SA.

See the winners at amaga.org.au/awards

mainstream attitudes and ideas toward Aboriginal people. The project manages to do something incredibly important: to decolonise the museum by recognising the presence and interaction of multiple voices. While this may seem obvious, the approach often taken with decolonising practice is to replace one narrative with another — yet this project rightfully acknowledges the limitations of such stances. Tiati demonstrates an incredibly sophisticated approach, taken confidently. The budget was modest in size but expansive in ambition and execution. There are many much larger organisations and institutions that are yet to accomplish outcomes equivalent to this project. Tiati successfully incorporates remarkable objects in the exhibition and frames them with contemporary, highly considered, and important interpretation for visitors. The project additionally embeds learning opportunities for people involved in developing this exhibition — such as cultural awareness training and Kaurna language lessons. All of this was achieved in close collaboration with Elders from the Kaurna Nation. Kaurna Elder Jeffrey Newchurch commented on the award: ‘It is a big thing for us as Kaurna Aboriginal people. To be recognised for working in conjunction with the team from Holdfast Bay, and the trust and the honesty we had together was important because for us as Kaurna, and as Aboriginal people, just getting on the table to have a position was seen as a risk. But we didn’t see that — we had an opportunity to achieve those outcomes together and it’s quite exciting.’

Tiati Wangkanthi Kumangka is a lesson for all of us in collaboration and truth-telling and is an incredible model we can all use in our implementation of the Indigenous Roadmap. Call for Entries will open at the end of February 2021. ■

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Australian University Museums and Collections interfacing with COVID-19 Andrew Simpson

Australian campuses and their museums and galleries were closed during most of 2020. They faced challenges of managing COVID-19 that confronted public institutions globally. Australian universities, beyond the warmth of the federal government’s ‘JobKeeper’ campfire, shed staff. Amidst other virus impacts, the sudden loss of international student income, which supported diverse organisational activities, has caused a dramatic fiscal and programming contraction. Responses by some institutions have been touted as ‘building resilience’; but critical changes have essentially been about securing future financial viability. While it’s fair to say this process was already in train at many Australian universities as they have been forced by successive governments to become more business-minded, in 2020 the trend accelerated sharply. Closer fiscal scrutiny is now applied to all organisational activity, including museums and collections. To survive the nationwide crisis, Australian universities are signalling they may need to be smaller, concentrate on fewer strengths, and do less.1, 2 Despite these adverse conditions, there were some remarkable achievements during 2020. This article provides a scan of some of the good and more concerning outcomes in a national snapshot. There is an obvious lesson here. Museums and collections in universities with professionally-run museum services and an already-developed institutionallevel vision were much better positioned to face the current crises. This is best exemplified by the opening of Sydney University’s superlatively presented new Chau Chak Wing Museum (CCWM). 3 This was the first of its kind in Australia: a cross-campus physical convergence4 bringing diverse collections to the

centre of the university, the result of both philanthropy and university investment. 5 Meanwhile the University of Melbourne has had a cultural collections program in place for many years, and covering many of its varied collections. In 2020 these were all drawn into a new Museums and Collections Department headed by Rose Hiscock. There are now big engagement ambitions through the University’s Cultural Commons. This will include Australia’s only Science Gallery franchise,6 due to open in 2021. Many years ago, some thought such a gathering could find a home in Western Sydney, but the idea vanished after the glittering prize of the Powerhouse at Parramatta was dangled before various Sydney movers and shakers.

above

Exterior view of completed Chau Chak Wing Museum, on a prime site near the Parramatta Road entrance (a hillside with Cadigal historical significance) and facing the University's Great Hall. left

View of the Chau Chak Wing Museum's introductory exhibition, Object / Art / Specimen. Photo David James.

Elsewhere the framework of focalising and concentration of university investment in collections has been unravelling. The responsibility for individual components of the Cultural Precinct at the University of Western Australia is being scattered to different sub-institutional offices. The university-wide vision some years ago of major cultural provision through a high-profile collections precinct no longer has traction. This is surely a retrograde step that will, in time, be regretted. Similarly, in South Australia, the University of Adelaide’s centralised collections service was abolished after a review in 2019. The outcome shocked all who had contributed review input. Responsibilities were transferred to the University’s Library, but the trail went cold in 2020. Libraries don’t always mean extinction for university collections. The University of Tasmania created a new Library-based position to coordinate the disparate collections spread throughout the Hobart campus, and its future remains to be determined. Meanwhile some interesting projects, including collaboration across universities, are emerging.7 Other individual university libraries are working in partnership with the potential of their interesting campus collections. A good example is the Performance Memories project of the University of New South Wales, developed in collaboration with the Wolanski Foundation.8 The governance of Macquarie University’s Art Gallery has been a movable feast. Sometimes it’s been faculty-based, at other times a variety of university offices have been responsible; now, in the latest iteration, the Art Gallery is part of the Library. However, no other museums on campus are similarly blessed. They remain creatures of their own organisational substructures. There was a facultylevel convergence at Macquarie some years ago, connected to the

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

above

Lego Pompeii in the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Photo David James.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

University museums and collections globally contribute to the core business of their parent organisations through research, teaching and engagement

1. ‘Macquarie U calculating courses to cut’, Campus Morning Mail, 29 September 2020. <https://campus morningmail.com.au/macquarie -u-calculating-courses-to-cut/> 2. ‘LaTrobe wants to cut courses’, Campus Morning Mail, 12 November 2020. <https:// campusmorningmail.com.au/news/ la-trobe-wants-to-cut-courses/> 3. Linda Morris, ‘X marks the spot: A peek into Sydney's newest museum’, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 November 2020. <https://www.smh.com.au/ culture/art-and-design/x-marksthe-spot-a-peek-into-sydney-snewest-museum-20201111-p56dt6. html>. The exemplary new building was designed through close staff consultation and design by Johnson Pilton Walker, architects. 4. Simpson (2012) produced a set of scalable governance models based on increasing centralisation of museum activity within the university. The Chau Chak Wing Museum is the only major example of cross-campus physical convergence successfully achieved in Australia. See Andrew Simpson, ‘Modelling governance structures for university museums and collections’ in S. Jandl & M. Gold, (eds), A Handbook for Academic Museums: Beyond Exhibitions and Education, MuseumsEtc, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2012, 178–218. 5. The convergence achieved at Sydney University is the only project realised through a coordinated institutional focus on a major new building as its high-visibility outcome. The University of Ghent, Belgium, meanwhile brought its dispersed collections together in 2020 to form a new university museum. This was achieved through a combination of adaptation of existing structures and new building works.

development of a new Arts precinct. Two former history museums9 were combined to form a new Macquarie University History Museum. At the time of writing, however, the new museum has yet to emerge. This year also witnessed an interesting report from UAMA (University Art Museums Australia), which showed how dynamic the art gallery sector has been across Australian higher education.10 There is some wonderful transformative work underway — for example, Curtin University’s Carrolup Project in Western Australia, based on the remarkable Herbert Mayer Collection of Carrolup Artwork — 122 examples of ‘Stolen Generation’ Noongar children’s artwork successfully repatriated from the US.11 It was also good to see Queensland University of Technology win a MAGNA Award for Research this year, a due accolade for their Vis-ability project.12 This is the type of stirring achievement that can happen within universities where collections are nurtured in close proximity to current research questions. University museums and collections globally contribute to the core business of their parent organisations through research, teaching and engagement. Meanwhile, if they can provide digital surrogates as an alternative to physical interaction, then their exhibitions can be accessed to audiences and their research and teaching collections available to staff and students during a lockdown. Some could do so this year; but many couldn’t. As a result, those collections most vulnerable to the ensuing financial impacts of both government policy and the sharp crises of the current pandemic will now risk being buried in the administrative substructure of their university, with their future languishing in a policy vacuum. There will also be pressure to sell collections. In many areas where there has been a sharp contraction in the Australian universities sector, when teaching programs that can directly utilise collections are abandoned, so too are the collections themselves. Some will be deaccessioned or transferred to join other collections, and possibly retain some value for specific audiences. But history demonstrates that where transfers are poorly resourced, or not professionally undertaken, this can lead to the trashing of collections and the irreparable loss of associated information. There are already relatively recent examples of this outcome in Australia. At worst, some university collections will risk joining deaccessioned specialist libraries and ending up as landfill.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

image

Multi-floor interior view of Chau Chak Wing Museum showing opening installations. Photo David James.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

left

View of Ian Potter Gallery showing Gululu dhuwala djalkiri / Welcome to the Yolŋu foundations. Chau Chak Wing Museum. Photo Bernice Murphy. image

The Mummy Room, Speak my name, in the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Photo David James.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

6. Originating at University College Dublin as an experimental form of public engagement, Science Gallery has grown into a global university network dedicated to public engagement with science and art. See <https://sciencegallery.org/>. 7. For example, the Symposium, ‘In the hold: Decolonising Cook in art, performance and text’, hosted by Adelaide’s Flinders University Museum of Art and the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, in partnership with the University of Tasmania Cultural Collections. See <https://www. flinders.edu.au/museum-of-art/ in-the-hold-symposium>. 8. Exhibitions in the UNSW Library, Sydney, are planned for late November 2020. See <https:// www.arts.unsw.edu.au/sam/ our-research/research-areas/theatreperformance, https://blogs.unsw. edu.au/performance-memories/>. 9. The Museum of Ancient Cultures at Sydney’s Macquarie University was combined with its Australian History Museum. A merger of associated academic departments ensued. However, museum staff positions were lost during this restructure.

In the 1990s, significant changes in the operating environment of higher education already threatened the future of many university collections. This was one of the reasons for the formation of both the Council of Australian University Museums and Collections (CAUMAC), conceived by Professor Barrie Reynolds and Dr Peter Stanbury in 1992, and the ICOM International Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC), which began its worldwide collaboration across campus collections in 2000. Advocacy to university leadership groups about the value and potential of material collections in higher education was a major part of the early history of both these professional bodies.13 Following the impacts of COVID-19, perhaps this advocacy will need to be rebooted in Australia. Certainly, such effort will be critically needed at some universities for their collections to survive. ■ Revisit past issues featuring Chau Chak Wing Museum: — David Ellis, ‘University museums and collections evolving in a changing world’, Museums Galleries Australia Magazine, Vol.26(1), Museums Galleries Australia, Canberra, Spring–Summer 2017, pp. 46–49. — David Ellis, ‘Directors' Voices: The challenges of leadership during the pandemic’, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 28(2), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, July 2020, p. 53.

Dr Andrew Simpson is currently a Vice President of UMAC, the International Committee of ICOM for University Museums and Collections. He is the editor of the University Museums and Collections Journal and works on a casual basis at the Macquarie University Art Gallery. He has recently taken on a role with ICOM's Strategic Allocation Review Committee (SAREC). Citation: Andrew Simpson, ‘Australian University Museums and Collections interfacing with COVID-19’, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 29(1), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, Summer 2021, pp. 28–35.

10. Kerrie O’Brien, ‘University art exhibitions are the home of the brave, review finds’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 September 2020, <https://www. smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/ university-art-exhibitions-arethe-home-of-the-brave-reviewfinds-20200918-p55wxh.html>. 11. S ee ‘Curtin’s plan to give rare artworks by Noongar children a place to call home’, <https://news.curtin. edu.au/media-releases/curtins-planto-give-rare-artworks-by-nyungarchildren-a-place-to-call-home/>. 12. See ‘Vis-ability: Artworks from the QUT Art Collection’, <https:// www.artmuseum.qut.edu.au/ whats-on/2019/exhibitions/ vis-ability-artworks-fromthe-qut-art-collection>. 13. There are plenty of examples of this in the UMAC Origins series of interviews on the UMAC YouTube channel: <https:// www.youtube.com/channel/ UCxHZvz7GVU0WmaSe6Sj-P7A>.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

Making cultural connections Dawn Oelrich

I am slightly uncomfortable speaking about cultural sensitivity and the work of museums and galleries in Tasmania for a few reasons. First, I am still new to Tasmania at only three years of residency, which means I am about 150 years short of becoming Tasmanian. So I cannot speak generally for others of this state. Second, I have in the past done many things as a curator based on unjustified assumptions. I’ve guided people through exhibitions, spoken about ‘meanings and symbols’ in Indigenous paintings, developed didactic panels, lectured, created education references, and cared for and displayed artworks by Indigenous Australians. Interpreting artwork is what I trained for, and this has been a major part of my career for more than 20 years. Yet all of this of course was developed from a non-Indigenous perspective. What I am even more concerned about in retrospect is that it is, and always has been, glaringly obvious that it was inappropriate to assume any Indigenous work’s interpretation when lacking the historical or cultural experience to do so. I have glibly explained symbols in desert paintings, all the while growing to love the work more and more. Yet I also came to understand how the paintings were so much more than ‘artworks’ — that they represented a complex and vital culture, spiritual and familial belonging, storytelling and theatre. In my (rather long) lifetime, some artworks have made me gasp and forced me to sit down because my legs gave way. One such work is a Tingari cycle painting by Pintupi artist Thomas Tjapaltjarri, born in the Gibson Desert; another is a work by Julie Gough, We Ran/I am,1 first seen at the Devonport Regional Gallery in an exhibition called Here at earth’s end. The shimmer of Thomas Tjapaltjarri’s work exploded in my mind. Julie Gough’s work broke my heart. I still have so much to learn from such works. The important publication commissioned by AMaGA nationally, First Peoples: A roadmap for enhancing Indigenous engagement in museums and galleries — later shortened to ‘The Roadmap’ — is a text-dense and comprehensive guide that asks all of us in the museums and galleries sector to rethink how we do things. We can only begin to redress injurious past actions through new understandings and resolve.

above

Dawn Oelrich. Photo: Rebecca Taylor. right

Julie Gough, We ran/I am (detail). Photo: Julie Gough.

1. The full title of the work is: We ran/I am. Journal of George Augustus Robinson 3 November 1830, Swan Island, North East Tasmania — ‘I issued slops to all the fresh natives, gave them baubles and played the flute, and rendered them as satisfied as I could. The people all seemed satisfied at their clothes. Trousers is excellent things and confines their legs so they cannot run’ (2007). Photo by Craig Opie. Kindly supplied by Devonport Regional Gallery.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

below

Thomas TJAPALTJARRI, Tingari, 2001. Synthetic polymer paint on linen, 122.5 x 213.5 cm. USC Art Collection, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Donated in 2007 by Emeritus Professor Andrew Hede. © Thomas Tjapaltjarri/ Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd.

‘I had and have no right to tell First Nations stories’

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

left

Julie Gough, We ran/I am. Journal of George Augustus Robinson 3 November 1830, Swan Island, North East Tasmania — ‘I issued slops to all the fresh natives, gave them baubles and played the flute, and rendered them as satisfied as I could. The people all seemed satisfied at their clothes. Trousers is excellent things and confines their legs so they cannot run’, calico trousers, earth pigment, photographs and canvas, 200 x 750 x 5 cm, 2007; collection Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania. Photo: Kelly Slater.

While I was living in Queensland, I had the privilege for twelve years to manage a collection of compelling paintings, bark paintings, prints and sculpture from Indigenous artists from across Australia, and then to commission new public works by Murri artists, and work with Murri and Torres Strait Island artists. It was my joy to care for the University of Queensland art collection. Yet I had and have no right to tell First Nations stories, to interpret material from Utopia or Balgo, from Kintore or inner Brisbane, which can only be ‘spoken about’ from an inside position of prepared and rightful knowledge-levels. Today I am developing relationships with palawa artists in Tasmania, and I know this is going to take a long time. Auntie Lola Greeno (famous for her practice in inherited shell necklace traditions, fibre works and installations) has been generous with her welcome. Like all Elders of her experience and cultural authority, her presence anywhere calms everyone. A recent community meeting facilitated by Genevieve Grieves (via Zoom and supported by AMaGA TAS) has been important for underlining the community’s understanding (or non-understanding) of the Roadmap. AMaGA TAS took the view that before museums and galleries implement the Indigenous Roadmap, the broader community should be given the opportunity to understand what we are hoping to achieve. Some of the attendees at the meeting did indeed know about the Roadmap, and had contributed to the discussions with Terri Janke; but those not working in the arts did not have such background. One goal of the Roadmap is that First Peoples are given control of their cultural material and AMaGA will support museums and galleries throughout the process by opening the dialogue and providing opportunities for new relationships-building. Any curator will tell you that building relationships is the most important work we do, whether or not we are working with First Nations artists or artists from more diverse backgrounds. We act as conduits between artists and the audience. When a younger arts worker, I struggled sometimes with interpretation. I persisted to explain, to discuss, and to translate artspeak into plain language. In later years I realised that I simply need to step back and make a safe place for First Nations people to tell any accompanying stories — to tell their own stories in their preferred ways. This is so important for people who have previously had their stories interpreted, interrupted, rejigged and re-imagined over so many brutal generations of lost authority over their own cultural lives. If ever there was a time to begin healing and truth-telling it is now. Artist Julie Gough reminds us how difficult the process can be to transform past injuries into new and supportive relationships. She maintains that there can be ‘no reconciliation, because there was no conciliation in the first place’. The museums and galleries sector needs continually to be reminded how directors are ensuring that new spaces are opened for all people affected by issues of historical interpretation, to contribute their own agency in understanding historical experiences today. We have much to learn. ■ Dawn Oelrich is Director of the Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Tasmania. Her previous work and professional experience are indicated in the present article.

Citation: Dawn Oelrich, ‘Making cultural connections’, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 29(1), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, Summer 2021, pp. 36–41.

Working from her base as Director of Burnie Regional Art Gallery, in north-western Tasmania, Dawn Oelrich’s sharp attunement to the hospitality afforded by the lands on which she works, regularly supporting contemporary artists while not speaking ‘for’ Palawa history or culture, has come to frame her work in an unusually direct manner. She has generously offered her reflections on changed practices as a curator. [Ed.]

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Beyond measure Five years of Tarnanthi in Adelaide and beyond Nici Cumpston

above

Nici Cumpston in front of works by Milingimbi Art and Culture artists, Tarnanthi 2020: Open Hands, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Photo: Saul Steed. left

Kulata Tjuta, 2017, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, South Australia, wood, spinifex resin, kangaroo tendon, plus 6 channel DVD with sound; Acquisition through Tarnanthi: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art supported by BHP 2017, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. For the complete list of artists visit <www. agsa.sa.gov.au/collection-publications/ collection/works/kulata-tjuta/64243/>.

Three young Anangu women are surveying the throng at an art exhibition opening. They can barely contain their excitement. They have recently experienced their first aeroplane trip and their first artist residency. Now they’re in a major city having their first exhibition, and the place is packed with strangers who have come to see their work. It is a career-defining moment for them, experienced as part of Tarnanthi. Tarnanthi is an annual celebration of excellence in contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in Adelaide. It showcases the vigour and variety of leading-edge Aboriginal art by presenting new works, often created specifically for this project. It provides audiences with a direct experience of diverse Aboriginal cultures, and a prominent platform for Aboriginal views and voices to be seen and heard — both through the expressive richness of the art itself, and through an extensive public program that includes artist talks and an ideas conference. Tarnanthi has been made possible by a five-year funding commitment from principal partner BHP. Since its launch in 2015, Tarnanthi has proved immensely popular. It has attracted 1.3 million visitors to its exhibitions and events. These are presented alternatively as a festival in one year, at AGSA and partner venues across South Australia; and as a focus exhibition exclusively at AGSA the next year. With a six-year history, it has tallied numerous achievements. Tarnanthi has supported some 4,000 artists to create and show thousands of new works; and almost 25,000 students have seen its exhibitions. Its popular annual Art Fair has generated $3.4 million in income for artists and their communities. It has achieved national recognition and won major awards, including in three AMaGA National Awards categories in 2020. And it recently became international with an exhibition shown in France. Yet many of Tarnanthi’s important accomplishments aren’t so easily measured. Tarnanthi, for example, empowers artists as it increases their opportunities to show their work and build careers. By reinforcing local production of art ‘on Country’, it assists remote communities to remain culturally and economically sustainable. Matters such as aspiration, opportunity and success are unquantifiably personal, as the young Anangu artists’ experience shows. Meanwhile the successive exhibitions deepen cultural understanding among audiences, and its educative vision shapes the awareness of future generations.

Artists lie at the heart of Tarnanthi’s thinking. Since its inception, our guiding principle has been to ‘let the artist’s voice shine’ — that is, to support artists as they create works of excellence in their own way. Listening is critical to this process. As Artistic Director, I often speak with artists about their current practice and explore whether they want to expand it in more ambitious ways, then find out how Tarnanthi can help. Support might extend from covering costs of materials to arranging technical assistance or facilitating career development opportunities — such as providing mentoring or skills training through a partner organisation. Yet throughout each project, artists are always in control of their work and its outcome. This approach is vastly different to simply displaying existing works. It involves establishing mutual trust and building relationships over a significant period. It also encourages artists to be bold, to make works of daring and innovation, and to push creative ideas and boundaries. Importantly, because artists retain control, the exhibition’s method is empowering. Altogether, it provides a supportive environment in which artists can increase confidence, skills and opportunity on their own terms. The three Anangu artists mentioned in the introduction provide an example of how this works in practice. In their community of Pukatja (Ernabella), in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia, senior women artists at Ernabella Arts had been looking to engage the interest of a new generation of artists. They asked young women what they might want to make, and they opted for jewellery. Ernabella Arts, Australia’s oldest Aboriginal art centre, has a strong focus on ceramics and painting, but it didn’t have the facilities to support jewellery-making. So the centre sought resource-support through Ku Arts and training through Adelaide’s JamFactory art and design centre. Both are regular Tarnanthi partner organisations. The results included jewellery workshops in Pukatja and studio residencies in Adelaide for young and senior artists alike; an exhibition outcome; a new direction for a long-acclaimed art centre; and an early breakthrough in the fledgling careers of the three young women: Jayanna Andy, Roxanne Carroll and Marceena Jack. Their exhibition Wanapari — in a line, following one another was held at the JamFactory as part of Tarnanthi 2019. Another example of the exhibition stimulus for new possibilities, also from the APY Lands, is the Kulata Tjuta project, initially developed in 2010 by senior Anangu men as a cultural maintenance program involving younger men. Its first significant collaborative artistic outcome, involving scores of kulata (spears) suspended over viewers, was shown at AGSA during Dark Heart, the 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. Then for Tarnanthi, the project grew in scale and scope, becoming in 2015 an inma (ceremony) and video performance presented against a circle of kulata on the lawn of Government House in Adelaide; and in 2017, an installation of 550 kulata suspended in the form of an atomic blast, like those conducted on Anangu land in the 1950s and 1960s. For both these works, Tarnanthi ensured that the artists were supported with technical assistance, such as an industrial design architect to work with them for the complex 2017 installation. Subsequent Kulata Tjuta iterations have gained international success. In 2019, an eight-metre-high work of 1,500 suspended kulata in the shape of a willy-willy was acquired by the Fondation Opale gallery in

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

above

Jayanna Andy, born 1999, Pukatja (Ernabella), South Australia, Roxanne Carroll, born 1997, Pukatja (Ernabella), South Australia, Marceena Jack, born 1996, Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Northern Territory, Vennita Lionel, born 1998, Pukatja (Ernabella), South Australia, Nicole Rupert, born 1987, Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Northern Territory, Marissa Thompson, born 1985, Pukatja (Ernabella), South Australia, Pitjantjatjara people, Liritja II, 2019, Pukatja (Ernabella), South Australia, ceramics, ininti seeds and stainless steel. Part of the Wanapari — in a line, following one another exhibition, 2019. Photo: Grant Hancock.

Switzerland, and in 2020 a Kulata Tjuta painting exhibition, organised through Tarnanthi, opened at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes, France. As the project has evolved, it has grown to include more artists across the APY Lands and now includes women as well as men. With each new iteration, the project has expanded both in ambition and audience reach: now telling global audiences local stories of the strength, resilience and endurance of Anangu people and culture in the face of ongoing western impacts. Credit for the project’s remarkable national and international success lies with the artists and the APY art centres. However, for these kulata, Tarnanthi has acted like a miru (spearthrower), helping them to travel further and reach their target with greater impact. It is not just exhibiting artists who benefit from Tarnanthi. The accompanying Tarnanthi Art Fair shares significant economic advantages broadly across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. As a major fixture in the art calendar, the Art Fair now stimulates art production at remote communities, where art is a vital source of income. As an event promoting the ethical production and sale of art, every dollar from sales goes directly to the artists and their communities through the participating art centres. In 2019 alone, this sum totalled more than $1.2 million, shared among hundreds of artists from more than 40 communities. This income increases the economic viability of communities by supporting work options on traditional lands. In addition, thanks to the support of BHP, Tarnanthi funds transport for works of art, artists and art centre workers. This minimises costs to art centres, and enhances visitors’ experience by

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

Since its inception, our guiding principle has been to ‘let the artist’s voice shine’

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

lefy

Tarnanthi 2015 Art Fair. Photo: John Montesi. top

Janet Marawarr, image courtesy the artist, Bábbarra Women’s Centre and Art Gallery of South Australia. Photo: Nat Rogers. above

Tarnanthi 2019 Art Fair featuring Leonie Cullinan from Iwantja Arts. Photo: Nat Rogers.

below

Yolŋu performers from Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala, Northern Territory, during the Tarnanthi 2019 launch, Art Gallery of South Australia. Photo: Nat Rogers.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

being able to talk directly to the exhibiting artists about their work, and boosts professional confidence, market understanding, and career opportunities for emerging artists and art centre workers. As part of Tarnanthi, AGSA has also developed an outstanding education program around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. An extensive array of online resources about Tarnanthi artists and their work is available for teachers and students on AGSA’s website. In addition, AGSA’s Education team has devised an awardwinning program aimed specifically at teachers. This developed after our Education specialists found that many teachers were eager to incorporate First Nations art into classroom learning but felt they lacked adequate cultural understanding to do so appropriately or confidently. The ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art in the Classroom’ workshops now provide educators with cultural information, practical guidance, and best-practice tips on how First Nations art and culture can engage students of all levels in new learning — and even in non-art subjects, such as history, environmental studies, mathematics and astronomy. The Education team has since compiled the workshops’ content, activities and teaching tips into an Australian-first publication, available nationwide for teachers who can’t attend the workshops in Adelaide. After little more than two years, this program is estimated to have already benefited tens of thousands of students nationally — helping to broaden cultural understanding among an oncoming generation. As a festival, Tarnanthi delivers a unique experience for many different audiences, revealing the depth and diversity of contemporary Aboriginal art. It shows visitors and students that Aboriginal knowledges are deeply layered; and that Aboriginal cultures are multi-faceted, ingenious, adaptive, even revolutionary. I believe this ultimately expands our understanding of who we are, enabling us to grow as a nation. However, the essence of Tarnanthi is much more than is visible to those who visit the exhibitions. Tarnanthi represents opportunities and empowerment for innumerable artists, validation and viability for communities, and a vision of greater understanding for our nation’s future. Its successes are expressed as an atomic eruption of spears and in the euphoria of three young women. Tarnanthi’s true accomplishments are ultimately difficult to measure. Perhaps they are beyond measure. ■ Tarnanthi is led by Artistic Director Nici Cumpston OAM, the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art. Of Afghan, English, Irish and Barkindji heritage, Nici is a descendant of the Darling River people of northern NSW and is culturally affiliated with the River Murray people in South Australia. Her career has been characterised by working closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to bring new work and new ways of seeing to wider audiences. Citation: Nici Cumpston, ‘Beyond measure: Five years of Tarnanthi’, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 29(1), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, Summer 2021, pp. 42–49.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

AMaGA Network rallies around Memory of the World bid David Tredinnick

above

David Tredinnick. left

Scenic photograph (detail) for production of The Silver King, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, 1904. Image taken from J.C. Williamson Ltd Scene Book 1. Scene Books held by Scenic Studios Australia Pty Ltd. Digitised by Theatre Heritage Australia.

Last year might have been a difficult time to meet certain KPIs, but I’m pleased to report that it hasn’t been a total write-off. For example, circumstances have certainly favoured sorting out that bottom drawer in the kitchen, getting one’s head around the US Electoral College system, or finally putting in that bid for UNESCO’s Australian Memory of the World Register. AMaGA’s Performing Arts Heritage Network (PAHN) represents the interests of museums, libraries, archives, galleries and tertiary educational institutions at local, state, and national levels. It interconnects colleagues who are engaged with collecting, preserving and making accessible Australia’s rich tradition of live performance. Members include collection professionals, researchers, writers, academics, performance makers, and students — while some members cover all of the above. PAHN works collaboratively in a lively community of practice, including the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (known as ADSA), and AusStage, the research and resource discovery platform for Australian live performance. PAHN members are aware that no single institution can be responsible for the country’s performance heritage. The Network has always recognised that performing arts heritage is preserved in a distributed national collection that reaches across the entire GLAM sector. Since 1992, PAHN has acknowledged the disparate nature of performance-related holdings by staging its annual conference in a different city each year. Unsurprisingly, our members like to tell stories, and the conference has always been a great opportunity to rehearse, share, and re-tell those stories — both formally and informally — that help to define and enrich our understanding of this essentially ephemeral practice. We have been driven online this year, but that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of our presenters or attendees. The PAHN 2020 Ghost Lightning Talks were facilitated via our website (www.pahn.org.au), with Q&A sessions taking place on Zoom. Registration was free for both members and non-members. Much chatter has taken place over the past few conferences in relation to UNESCO’s Australian Memory of the World Register. PAHN members have long held the belief that performing arts practice has been grievously underrepresented amongst the documentary heritage currently registered. In 2020 — after COVID-19 shifted the landscape and we’d tidied our respective kitchen drawers

below

Production photograph from The Desert Song, His Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, c.1928-1929. Image taken from J.C. Williamson Ltd Scene Book 1. Scene Books held by Scenic Studios Australia Pty Ltd. Digitised by Theatre Heritage Australia.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

PAHN members have long held the belief that performing arts practice has been grievously underrepresented amongst the documentary heritage currently registered

— a sub-committee was formed to rectify this parlous situation, whereupon spirited discussion ensued regarding the worthy subject of our first bid. In recognition of PAHN’s belief in the essentially distributed nature of performance heritage holdings, we settled upon the business records of J.C. Williamson Ltd, colloquially known as ‘The Firm’. From 1874 to 1976, J.C. Williamson Ltd and its associated companies bestrode Australia’s entertainment world like a colossus, touring an international repertoire of music hall, comedy, pantomime, opera, dramatic theatre, ballet and film to all parts of the country. It has been described as being possibly the largest theatrical empire in the world. Our nation’s live performance culture evolved either in lockstep with or in reaction to The Firm’s activities, which were a fertile training ground for many of our treasured live performers and creatives. The company’s reach, both geographic and temporal, has meant that related material resides in collections large and small across Australia. The PAHN sub-committee whittled down a longlist to six institutions whose holdings best represented the inner workings of The Firm over its lifetime. We were very pleased to receive total support from each institution included in the bid. The creation of the final bid for the J.C. Williamson Distributed Collection was the combined effort of nine sub-committee members from five states and territories. Each person gave of their expertise freely and willingly in support of a project that, in a time of great fear and uncertainty for our sector, came to represent the power and possibility of collaborative enterprise. It also created a unifying purpose for our network Committee, and a fine excuse to stay in touch regularly via Zoom. We’ll know if our bid has been successful early in 2021. Probably a little after we know the final decision of the US Electoral College. ■ David Tredinnick is an archivist, researcher, and audio narrator. He is currently Chair of AMaGA’s Performing Arts Heritage Network. Citation: David Tredinnick, ’AMaGA Network rallies around Memory of the World bid‘, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 29(1), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, Summer 2021, pp. 50–53.

Career Spotlight

In this and coming issues of MaG, we wll be featuring articles written by AMaGA members, in which they share their career pathways, day-to-day work, highlights and challenges, and aspirations for their future career. In this Career Spotlight, we feature Nina Earl, Assistant Curator at Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, Dr Grace BlakelyCarroll, Curator at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, and Cameron Auty, Manager of the Burke Museum in Beechworth, Victoria. If you would like to write about and share your own experiences in museums and galleries as either a professional or volunteer worker, contact us at <editor@amaga.org.au>.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

The Value of Support The Emerging Professionals National Network of AMaGA Nina Earl

top

Nina Earl. Photo: Jessica Maurer. above

‘Omeio Deli, MacDonald St, Paddington showing Peter Drew’s ‘Together Soon Enough’ print, 28 May 2020’ by Katherine Lu. This commissioned photograph was acquired as part of the Powerhouse Museum’s COVID19 Collection strategy, developed by Nina and Katie Dyer, Senior Curator Contemporary.

2020 has been a very challenging year for the arts, and the impacts will be felt for many years to come. Around the world we have seen the effects of Coronavirus shutdowns on all manner of institutions. Closer to home, many practitioners and organisations are uncertain of their futures, as ongoing outbreaks of the virus continue to have an impact on the arts and creative enterprises. These effects have been compounded by the ongoing impacts of last summer’s severe bushfires, which have had huge implications for our regional, rural and remote communities. These conditions, along with changes to university fee structures, have left some of the newest, and potential, members of our community with drastically diminished hope for their future careers. Against a background of such severe conditions throughout 2020, it is appreciated that the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) has reached out to the Emerging Professionals National Network to review our members’ experiences for this issue of the national Magazine. We had originally intended to poll widely and share our members' voices with you after collating them. Unfortunately — and in keeping with the current situation — time-poor colleagues and a mentally draining year have got the best of our Network (for now, at least). Instead, I hope that my story will provide a reflection on how we, as a sector and as individuals, can support those entering or considering a future in the cultural industry and museums at this complex time — and perhaps in years to come. Throughout my schooling, I was torn between my love of nature and science and the joy of creating through drawing, printmaking and photography. So, four years ago when I was looking for a career change, working in a museum seemed like a good opportunity for development. I have always loved the magic created by museums, which is probably why I gravitated away from pure science into science education and communication. It was not until a few months after working as an Assistant Curator that I really understood how important the support I received from others had been to my successful entry into the museum world. I have no formal qualification in museum studies, and if it were not for my managers insisting on the addition to the application of ‘or equivalent’ next to required degrees, I might never have considered applying. I also had no practical concept of what a curator was expected to do — however, the challenge excited me. I will always be grateful to those who not only responded to my questions, but took the time to offer constructive feedback on my application. Through that interaction I was better able to understand how the role would suit my interests and helped solidify my desire to work for a museum.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

I now know that asking for feedback is a valuable way to reflect and learn from those around you. Since then, I have time and again been grateful to members of my team and retired curators who have generously shared their knowledge and worked collaboratively and openly with me. That generosity has taken many forms — from unofficial mentorships through to providing a sounding board to discuss new acquisitions or exhibition content. In each instance, it is a colleague’s willingness to take time out, and to be responsive in their conversations with me, that have meant so much and enabled me to grow. Whilst I now feel comfortable in my role, I still know there is so much more about this sector to learn. This is why I see so much value in the connections and learning opportunities afforded through my membership of AMaGA and participation in the Emerging Professionals National Network. However, I am acutely aware that it is a privilege to be able to attend museum events and learn from diverse colleagues. As someone who identifies as an emerging professional in the GLAM sector, I am also aware that there are many people in Australia similarly engaged in our cultural industries, but who have not had comparable opportunities or the ability to pay for memberships and conferences as I’ve enjoyed. Or in light of fee increases across the humanities degrees — the main avenue into museums employment — many could be discouraged or prohibited from pursuing a career in this area. It is for these people, whose circumstances do not allow them to be participants in our communities, that I wanted to write this piece. After the stress and financial crisis experienced last year, the museums field is in jeopardy of losing the richness and transformative potential that diverse voices bring. I hope that my story of generous mentors and supportive colleagues will help others in the sector to understand that our simplest actions — even in times of great challenge — can have a significant impact on emerging professionals in the field. I invite all colleagues, in these times of radical change, to broaden your horizons and think critically about how you can step up and help build a diverse and resilient future for our cultural heritage sector in Australia. With your help we can continue to re-imagine and re-invent our historically exclusive institutions by supporting not only those existing voices, but new ones that can and will enrich our Australian context. If you are an emerging professional and reading this, we at AMaGA Emerging Professionals National Network would love to hear from you and understand how we can better support you. This includes colleagues who may not hold a current membership of our organisation. Our doors are open to all — so we can support and respond to your needs, hopes and desires for the future of our sector. ■ left

Georgina Bromley-Smith admires Nyirrma Yidjal, an installation by Bernard Singleton that expresses a journey and decline in the Indigenous languages of our nation. Nina Earl worked as assistant curator alongside Marcus Hughes to launch this exhibition, Linear, in November of 2019. Photo: Marinco Kojdanovski.

Nina Earl is an Assistant Curator at the Powerhouse Museum, where she works with the Health and Medical collections. She has served on the AMaGA Emerging Professionals committee since 2018. Citation: Nina Earl, ‘The Value of Support: The Emerging Professionals National Network of AMaGA’, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 29(1), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, Summer 2021, pp. 55–57.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

The vantage-point of work in our National Library Grace Blakeley-Carroll

What attracted you to the museums field or working with collections? I’ve always been fascinated by history and the arts. Working in the GLAM sector enables me to pursue my passions while also sharing collections, culture and history with the community.

How has your work in the sector stimulated you to develop and grow professionally? Working as a curator at the National Library of Australia continually exposes me to diverse social, cultural and historical perspectives. I draw on these perspectives in my work, striving to curate inclusive and engaging exhibitions.

What are some key values that guide your work? Open mindedness, honesty and respect.

Could you comment on how you hope your work is an encouragement and benchmark for others to follow or find their own paths? I hope my work history serves as an example of one of the many paths that can be followed to pursue a career in this sector. I also hope my work introduces others to different ideas, stories and perspectives.

Your strongest hopes for the future in the way museums are developing/changing today? Museums continue to adapt with the times, invest in staff, and collect important materials through which diverse stories will be shared. ■ above

Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll is an exhibition curator at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, and serves as Treasurer of AMaGA’a ACT Branch. She recently curated the National Library of Australia exhibition, Birds of Paradise: Ellis Rowan in New Guinea, which is on display at the Library until 8 March 2021. More information can be found on the Library’s website: https://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/birds-of-paradise-ellisrowan-in-new-guinea.

Grace Blakeley-Carroll. Photo: Craig Mackenzie right

Ellis Rowan, most likely The Empress of Germany’s Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea raggiana augustavictoriae), or Raggiana Intermedia Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea raggiana intermedia), c.1917; nla.cat-vn2687227.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

Mid-career spotlight A Victorian regional heritage vantagepoint Cameron Auty

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

What attracted you to the museums field or working with collections? I was fascinated with history from childhood. The search for who we are, where we came from and why the world is the way it is, always seemed to frame for me the most important things that I could do with my life. During tertiary studies I became fascinated by the power of objects to connect directly with audiences, and to break down the barriers between academic history and the general public. Somewhere along the line, many kids who grow up obsessed with fossils and pyramids lose interest in history – but I felt that if I worked in museums, I may be able to help to keep this wonder alive for people.

How has your work in the sector stimulated you to develop and grow professionally? Working in the museums sector has given me life-changing opportunities. I’ve held in my hands relics from Pompeii, the Kelly Gang’s armour, and Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber. I’ve escorted cultural items across the world, and worked to repatriate cultural material to First Peoples. Personally, my work has increased my levels of admiration in surveying the world and its cultures. Professionally, it’s a wonderful feeling to be responsible for preserving and interpreting these collections. Museums-sector work has helped me develop in a number of ways. Creating sector networks is a critical part of career development. The people I’ve met form an important sounding board and support network, and this has helped me with many challenges. Attending AMaGA events has been a really important element in the expansion of these networks and contact with colleagues. The museums sector is a highly professional industry, and working in it has stimulated me to continually learn and develop new skills. I have gained experience in working with government funding bodies, in major projects management, in public speaking and media appearances, and in working with communities. Each day is different, and to adjust flexibly requires the capacity to roll with the unexpected and wear different guises by the hour.

What are some key values that guide your work?

left

Cameron Auty with a photograph and service medals of Beechworth ANZAC, Richard Wong, as well as the Dead Man's Penny issued to his next-of-kin after he was klled in the First World War. Photo: Rural Press Pty Ltd.

For me, the key values that drive success at work are the ones that I believe are most important in all interactions – kindness, calm, respect, and purpose. The best way to accomplish a task is to be the sort of person whom others want to work with. I always remember that I’m there to support my organisation and to empower my staff, and take satisfaction in helping others achieve their goals. Museums sector work instills some key ‘life-values’, such as flexibility and openness to others’ ideas and voices. Much of our work is collaborative, and involves museum professionals helping to carry the stories of communities or individuals out to a wider audience. Some of the most powerful professional moments I’ve experienced have come from using the social impact of the museum to help individuals or groups tell stories that they thought weren’t relevant or important. It can be a cathartic process that often helps people to cope with big events in their lives. Working with objects also helps to instil a sense of patience and process. Nothing can be hurried, and each object must always be respected, regardless of whether it’s a national treasure or a family photograph. Learning to treat every object equally, and with the respect that it’s due, flows through to many areas of life.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

Could you comment on how you hope your work is an encouragement and benchmark for others to follow, or help find their own paths? The museum industry is a challenging sector to start out in. I had little guidance when I began, and have been lucky in my career opportunities. I pass this on by making sure to offer openings for students and early career professionals whenever I can. I institute volunteer programs, speak at schools, take part in mentoring programs, and make sure to seriously consider early career professionals when hiring. These things can make all the difference in someone’s career path, and ensure that we create opportunities to give back some of the benefits we’ve experienced. I’ve also moved regionally and overseas for work. Museum opportunities can be few and far-between, and taking a leap into the unknown can be a great way to supercharge your career. I often discuss the need to be willing to move in tune with younger people who are struggling with sector employment or opportunities for their own development. Museums can often find themselves held back by exclusionary narratives, dated work practices, or a fear of change. I try to remain open-minded, and push for an embrace of new stories, new voices, new technologies, and new ways of working. It can definitely be challenging, but I believe that the sector benefits from regular change and a willingness to take on new practices rather than fearing them.

What are your strongest hopes for the future in the way museums are developing/changing today? The two most important things happening in the sector from my perspective are increased inclusivity and innovative uses of technology. Museums have a history as key players in the shaping of culture. Our institutions have often collected and displayed objects in the service of power, and our sites can still be shaped by this legacy. While large, urban museums have been critically engaging with change-processes for decades, many smaller regional and volunteer museums are only just beginning their journey. It’s an exciting time to be working regionally, and taking the first steps to question and challenge the colonial stories of male, European pioneer settlement. We find ourselves on the fault-lines of rapidly changing regional mindsets, with the capacity to be leaders in resetting cultural and social expectations in our communities. Technology is moving into the museums sector rapidly, but it faces many challenges because it can be seen as an ‘inauthentic’ substitute for ‘real’ objects. Breaking down the fear of technology within museum communities is one of my strongest hopes. Martin Hallett, an important mentor of mine, introduced me to the dream of a distributed national collection held across hundreds of organisations, all accessible and centralised on a digital platform. When museum communities start to see things like this in action through the applications of technology, it can be a great ‘Aha!’ moment. Breaking down the barriers between heritage and technology is really important. Who knows what amazing experiences we’ll be able to share in the near future, as new and exciting programs and technologies allow us to help many more people engage with our authentic collections? ■ Cameron Auty is Projects and Strategy Manager, Cultural Heritage, for Indigo Shire Council (Victoria). He manages the Burke Museum and Beechworth Historic Precinct, and is currently leading a multimedia and exhibition project to bring the trials related to Ned Kelly at Beechworth Courthouse to life.

image

Beechworth Courthouse, Beechworth, Victoria. Photo: Epsom Rd Studios.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Museums can often find themselves held back by exclusionary narratives, dated work practices, or a fear of change. I try to remain open-minded, and push for an embrace of new stories, new voices, new technologies, and new ways of working.

The view from...

Another spot we hope to feature regularly in MaG is The view from... in which we ask our resourceful AMaGA State and Territory Branch and National Network representatives to share some of the current issues or challenges facing their particular jurisdiction or professional networks, as well as highlighting key successes or significant new developments in their part of the sector. In this issue, the spotlight falls on two AMaGA divisions that have been impacted greatly in the year of COVID-19 but have rallied to continue their important work for members and the sector: the first is CAUMAC (Council of Australian University Museums and Collections), representing institutions dealing with a rapidly and (in many cases) drastically changing university sector; and then the Victorian State Branch, whose staff spent the major part of 2020 providing member and state sector services from their homes.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

CAUMAC museums responding to COVID-19 impacts on university collections Narelle Jarry

As President of CAUMAC (representing Australian University Museums and Collections), I certainly felt that our sector was somewhat protected in the early stages of the pandemic, with our core business often more internally facing, focused on servicing the teaching and research needs of our institutions. Our museums and collections might not have been able to open to the public, but we were buffered from the shock by the more diverse institutions that we form part of. Now, however, many universities are undergoing restructures to cope with the changing economic environment nationally, and colleagues are under pressure to do more with less. Times like these force us to streamline our processes and articulate our priorities, and that can have benefits. Noteworthy COVID-triggered experiences: Unlike the small and state or national museums sector, which nimbly adapted to closure with many and varied online offerings, our priorities shifted to getting the house in order. UNE (University of New England, Armidale) recently developed a university-wide policy to support museums and collections governance. 2020 became the year to implement the policy and put theory into practice. The experience has been very rewarding. Working across campus with collections staff, who tend to work independently of other collections in the University, has been a highlight of the year. Despite enormous differences in the use, focus and impacts of the collections that we care for, our shared purpose and motivation have had significant impact within the University. Concerning innovation: It would be preferable if good action was not driven by a crisis. But this year, circumstances forced us to focus on implementing a new database for the N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium at UNE. Over the past three years Herbarium Director Prof. Jeremy Bruhl had been advocating for change, but the database transition was not considered a sufficiently high priority to justify the investment — or it was perhaps just too massive a task to face implementing. A number of issues recently converged, which imposed a deadline of December 2020 to migrate to a new database system. Despite the sudden pressure, this gave us the positive impetus to move forward. With staff from various areas of the University working together, and a near impossible deadline, miracles can happen. ■

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Unlike the small and state or national museums sector, which nimbly adapted to closure with many and varied online offerings, our priorities shifted to getting the house in order.

Narelle Jarry is the Associate Director, University Collections, at the University of New England, Armidale, NSW. A professional paper conservator with a career focused on modern and contemporary art, Narelle worked for many years in international art museums including MoMA (New York), SFMoMA (San Francisco) and LACMA (Los Angeles). Her current job is her first in a university. Citation: Narelle Jarry, ‘CAUMAC responding to COVID impacts on university collections’, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 29(1), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, Summer 2021, pp. 65–67.

left

Narelle Jarry undertaking an item-by-item audit of the UNE Art Collection, Armidale NSW. Photo courtesy Mollie Jackson, UNE.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

State Branch Victoria: Surviving through a viral lockdown Sarah Morris

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Many months on from the initial lockdown, Victorian museums, galleries and community collecting organisations are now adjusting to the ‘new normal’. This has required a focus on the challenges of planning a return to work and reopening while maintaining the health and wellbeing of visitors and staff; and ensuring immediate sustainability and longer-term viability. During lockdown, we have found that parts of the sector adapted innovatively behind closed doors. While staff and volunteers may not have been permitted onsite, some pivoted their programming to online delivery, or have taken the opportunity to undertake vital collection management work, or turned to improvement/maintenance works that could be achieved without a visiting public. For other colleagues the adaptations have been more challenging. In many cases, small organisations have not had the resources either to convert their programming to electronic delivery or to digitise their collections; other colleagues meanwhile lacked any internet access or online platforms to adapt and maintain public engagement offsite. While the Coronavirus might have highlighted strengths and opportunities, it has also underlined historical deficiencies regarding equity and access, which need to be addressed by all levels of government. As a state branch, the Victorian office of AMaGA has been advocating strongly for the needs our sector throughout this year — through lockdown, to reopening, and addressing long-term sustainability into the future. Of particular focus are concerns regarding mental health and community connection, along with ongoing financial sustainability, equity and access, and reliance on largely volunteer staff who fall within the vulnerable worker category. We are all navigating challenging circumstances. But there is much to admire in the spirit and determination of Australians, including those in the creative arts sector who, while having suffered greatly through the pandemic impacts, have continued to create and inspire others through their work. In recognition of these significant achievements, we added a new category to our annual Victorian Museums & Galleries Awards to include ‘Innovation, Adaptation & Resilience’. This category proved to be the most popular. The award winners, announced on 8 December 2020, are available at <www.amagavic.org.au> We are very mindful of the social impacts of the closure of museums and galleries as community spaces, especially for young families and seniors, and look forward to the role we can all play in helping communities to reconnect and recover as most reopen. ■

above

Sarah Morris. left

AMaGA-VIC state team celebrating National Volunteer Week, 2020.

Sarah Morris joined the Victorian Branch as Executive Director in 2019, and has worked in the arts and cultural sector for more than 20 years, serving in state and tertiary institutions, local government, and as a consultant. Citation: Sarah Morris, ‘State Branch Victoria: Surviving through a viral lockdown’, AMaGA Magazine, Vol. 29(1), Australian Museums and Galleries Association, Canberra, Summer 2021, pp. 66 – 67.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

Submission Spotlight An important part of AMaGA’s role is to prepare evidence-based submissions and advice on significant national, state and local policies, programs, proposals and enquiries. All our national submissions are available to read on the national website. Along with keeping members informed of our advocacy activities, the data and arguments are there for members and other organisations to draw upon for their own advocacy and communications. The spotlight for this issue of the magazine is on AMaGA’s Submission to the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts Inquiry into Australia’s Creative and Cultural Industries and Institutions, submitted on 22 October 2020. The following extracts are the specific recommendations and key comments which address each of the five Terms of Reference. Reports and data to support these claims are at the end of each Term of Reference. For links and references please see the complete online version at <www.amaga.org.au/policies-submissions>.

Terms of Reference 1.

The direct and indirect economic benefits and employment opportunities of creative and cultural industries and how to recognise, measure and grow them

Specific Recommendations: 1.1. Include relevant questions in the Census and improve the Australian Bureau of Statistics datasets that inform the Cultural and Creative Satellite Accounts. 1.2. Support the establishment of a Centre for Cultural Value that brings together researchers with expertise in areas such as education, employment, health and community regeneration, with cultural organisations, historians, artists, audiences, participants and local communities. It would collaborate to advance understanding of the value of Australia’s creative and cultural industries and their potential and develop rigorous evaluation of the benefits. 1.3. Use the inclusion by Infrastructure Australia of social infrastructure: arts and culture as key components of national, state and local integrated infrastructure planning to prioritise, fund, measure and grow the economic benefits of the creative and cultural industries.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

1.4. Investigate the feasibility of a new nationwide Vocational Education and Training (VET) scheme focused on the creative and cultural industries, with, for example, collaborations to help more artists upgrade their skills for management and business entrepreneurship. Key Comments:

TOR 1 links to supporting information: 1. UK Centre for Cultural Value, <https:// www.culturalvalue.org.uk/>. 2. A New Approach, Insight Reports One to Five, <https://www.humanities. org.au/new-approach/reports/>. 3. Australia Council for the Arts, Domestic Arts Tourism: Connecting the Country, 2020, <https:// www.australiacouncil.gov.au/ research/domestic-arts-tourismconnecting-the-country/>. 4. P S Seet and J Jones, ‘Indigenous art centres that sustain remote communities are at risk. The VET sector can help’, The Conversation, 5 August 2019, <https://theconversation.com/ indigenous-art-centres-that-sustainremote-communities-are-at-riskthe-vet-sector-can-help-121179>. 5. National Public Galleries Alliance, Australian Public Galleries Snapshot, <https://mgnsw.org.au/wp-content/ uploads/2020/06/AustralianPublic-Galleries-Snapshot.pdf>. 6. Infrastructure Australia, Australian Infrastructure Audit, 2019, <https:// www.infrastructureaustralia. gov.au/publications/australianinfrastructure-audit-2019>. 7. American Alliance of Museums, Museum facts and data, <https:// www.aam-us.org/programs/aboutmuseums/museum-facts-data/>. 8. Darren Henley, The Arts Dividend: Why investment in culture pays, 2016, 2019. 9. Crossick & Kaszynska, Understanding the Value of Arts & Culture, AHRC, UK 2016.

Australia’s museums and galleries are part of a significant cultural and creative sector which is a $111.7bn industry that employs about 600,000 people. There are well over 2,500 museums and galleries throughout the country. The sector is diverse, with distinct segments, comprising: — the 22 state and national institutions — the 250 or so public galleries and museums operated by local governments, both regional and metropolitan — over 70 university-run art, historical, archaeological and science museums — over 100 Indigenous art centres, mostly in remote regions — over 2,000 volunteer-run, community organisations acting as community anchors and custodians of Australia’s distributed national collection spread across regional and rural Australia. Since 2014, economic and employment data on arts and culture in Australia — which included a specific focus on our galleries and museums — has not been collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The sector has been calling for this to be rectified for some time. The Federal Government’s Office for the Arts provides data on the impact of the national cultural institutions — for example in 2018/19, there were 649 initiatives which strengthened ties with other countries, directly and indirectly creating economic benefits. Other economic data on, for example, the multiplier effects of research and visitation, is not available. The National Public Galleries Alliance recent snapshot of regional and local art museums and contemporary art, design and craft spaces, shows that local government provides the greatest level of government funding, and that each of these public non-commercial galleries employs an average of 4.5 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff. Australia Council research shows that arts tourism by Australians tends to align with travelling further, staying longer and spending more.

‘Arts tourists are high value tourists.’ This is particularly evident in and important to regional and remote areas. Indigenous art centres provide meaningful employment opportunities, especially to Indigenous women who make up about 70% of the artists. The Australian Infrastructure Audit 2019 recognised the immense value of social infrastructure: arts and culture by including it in the national priority plan for the first time, alongside such infrastructural requirements as transport upgrades and telecommunications.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

The non-economic benefits that enhance community, social wellbeing and promote Australia's national identity, and how to recognise, measure and grow them

Key Recommendations: 2.1. Support the implementation by museums and galleries of the relevant goals, strategies and performance measures set out in the United Nations’ Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 — which is endorsed by the Australian Government. Australia’s cultural collections sector has identified particular priorities in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. See https://bit.ly/35bv8UP 2.2. Support the promotion and implementation of the 10-year Indigenous Roadmap for reconciliation with museums and galleries: First Peoples: A Roadmap for Enhancing Indigenous Engagement in Museums and Galleries (2019). Key Comments: An increasing body of evidence shows that ‘museums can bring benefits to individual and community health and wellbeing in their role as public forums for debate and learning, their work with specific audiences through targeted programmes, and by contributing to positive wellbeing and resilience by helping people to make sense of the world and their place within it…’ (Dodd and Jones, 2014) Most museums in Australia are small, volunteer-managed community organisations that are embedded in their local communities and provide a range of social and economic benefits, including a sense of belonging to their community, and of contributing to society. These museums are generally significantly under-resourced. One of the most useful and cost-effective actions that governments at all levels could take for enhancing social cohesion and inclusion is to provide professional advice and an adequate level of funding support for these organisations. In the UK, there is significant support for public investments in social participation and inclusion through the arts. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing carried out an extensive inquiry in 2016/2017. The three key messages from that inquiry were: — ‘The arts can help keep us well, aid our recovery and support longer lives better lived. — The arts can help meet major challenges facing health and social care: ageing, long term conditions, loneliness and mental health. — The arts can help save money in the health service and social care.’ (APPG Inquiry 2017). There is growing interest, as well, in the efficacy of the arts on the prescription/social prescribing model. Evaluation of a pilot program in the UK in 2015/16 found that ‘benefits of attending [the workshops] included improved reported mental health and wellbeing; increased physical activity, and an increase in social activity. A social return on investment conducted as part of the evaluation found that for every £1 invested in the programme, £11.55 was returned in social value.’ (Whelan, 2016) Similarly, the work of GLAM Peak (the network of Australian peak bodies in the galleries, libraries, archives, historical societies and museums sectors) over the last three years has revealed the power of digital discoverability and access to collections for increasing participation and social connection by people with a range of capabilities. Strategies and support for the digitisation of collections in regional and

TOR 2 links to supporting information: 1. AMaGA, Submission to the Senate Inquiry into Nationhood, National Identity and Democracy, 2019, <https://www.amaga.org.au/sites/ default/files/uploaded-content/ website-content/SubmissionsPolicies/ amaga_submission_to_senate_ inquiry_into_nationhood_ national_identity_an.pdf>. 2. AMaGA, Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Mental Health, 2019, <https://www.amaga.org.au/ news/amaga-submission-pcinquiry-mental-health>. 3. AMaGA, Submission to the Commonwealth Department for Communications and the Arts on renewing the National Arts and Disability Strategy, 3 December 2018, <https://www.amaga.org.au/ news/mga-submission-nationalarts-and-disability-strategy>. 4. AMaGA, Submission to Parliamentary Inquiry on Canberra’s national institutions, 2018, <https://www. amaga.org.au/sites/default/ files/uploaded-content/websitecontent/SubmissionsPolicies/ mga_submission_to_inquiry_ on_canberras_national_ institutions_may_2018.pdf>.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Most museums in Australia are small, volunteer-managed community organisations that are embedded in their local communities and provide a range of social and economic benefits, including a sense of belonging to their community, and of contributing to society.

5. Telling Australia's story - and why it's important: Report on the inquiry into Canberra's national institutions, 2019, <https://apo.org.au/node/228746>. 6. AMaGA, First Peoples: A Roadmap for Enhancing Indigenous Engagement in Museums and Galleries, 2019, <https://www. mgaindigenousroadmap.com.au/>. 7. All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing Inquiry Report, Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing, July 2017, <http://www. artshealthandwellbeing.org.uk/ appg-inquiry/Publications/Creative_ Health_Inquiry_Report_2017.pdf>. 8. Shane Breynard, pers comm 2019 9. Jocelyn Dodd and Ceri Jones, Mind, Body, Spirit: how museums impact health and wellbeing, 2014, <https:// www2.le.ac.uk/departments/ museumstudies/rcmg/publications/ mind-body-spirit-report>. 10. Kerry Wilson and Gayle Whelan, The Art of Social Prescribing, 2015, <http://iccliverpool. ac.uk/?research=the-art-ofsocial-prescribing-informingpolicy-on-creative-interventionsin-mental-health-care>.

community galleries and museums would be an invaluable contribution to Australians’ social engagement as well as historical understanding. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) draw on a number of activities and targets that are central to museums and their roles as outlined in this submission. AMaGA, as co-convenor of GLAM Peak, has identified and adopted key focus areas and targets within the SDG for Australia’s museums and galleries to work towards over the next decade. Museums and galleries provide valued and safe spaces to promote national identity, exploring Australians’ connected experience and aspirations, as individuals and as members of communities and the nation. Operating as spaces of civic trust, museums ‘promote historically informed discussion of national ideas, and strive for a fundamentally inclusive understanding of the many facets of the Australian story’. As such, ‘they largely avoid the accusations of populism and self-interest that have come to plague contemporary political fora’. (Breynard, 2019) The significance of this work is recognised in the Australian Parliament’s report Telling Australia's story — and why it's important: Report on the inquiry into Canberra's national institutions (2019). This Report acknowledges that our best institutions are able to nurture civic engagement because they are maintained as places of civic trust. As in other democracies around the world, this has much to do with longmaintained institutional cultures of independence, concern for impact, honest inquiry and equity of opportunity. (Breynard, 2019) Another important step is the development and adoption of AMaGA’s 10-year Indigenous Roadmap, and a revised policy for the sector. After several years of consultation and research, First Peoples: A Roadmap for Enhancing Indigenous Engagement in Museums and Galleries was launched in May 2019. It is being adopted and implemented across the country, and promoted world-wide. The Roadmap is about helping to build more respectful and trusting relationships between museums and galleries and Indigenous peoples. It was developed for the sector in consultation with the sector. Built on 5 Key Elements for Change, there are numerous action options and critical pathways to success. Implementation of the Roadmap will be crucial for breaking down barriers and improving the engagement of Indigenous individuals and communities with our museums and galleries. The participation and representation of Indigenous Australians in this sector is crucial to securing reconciliation between first and settler Australians and enabling a maturing sense of national identity.

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

The best mechanism for ensuring cooperation and delivery of policy between layers of government

Key Recommendations: 3.1. Initiate the development of a confident and aspirational national cultural framework that sets aims and priorities, delineates roles, undertakes research and enables funding for implementation. As with other national policy making (for example in regional or social policy) a national cultural policy both demonstrates the public value of culture and provides a structure for strategic investment and impact. The Framework should: — set out a coherent Roadmap for Recovery and future Resilience that understands and supports the interconnectedness between industry policies/programs such as tourism, regional development, health and education — link with recommendations and decisions coming out of the Bushfires Royal Commission and the Senate Inquiry into the Impacts of COVID-19 — include cross-governmental strategies and programs — support local/community/place-based recoveries as well as investment in touring — provide new and expanded grants programs to help with adaption to any 'new normal' that arise from COVID-19 impacts — have sustained, strategic investment over the next decade including doubling the funding available to the Australia Council for the Arts and expanding its remit to include museums and galleries — support massively increased digitisation of collections and public programs — include a public campaign to state the value of Australia’s culture and to rebuild confidence — engage with and support associations and peak bodies to deliver services, advice and support. 3.2. Provide Commonwealth funding directly to local governments to enable them to ‘increase its involvement in the support of local, regional and community museums and historical societies’ in line with the Australian Local Government Association’s Arts and Culture Policy Position (2020). In addition, include full local government representation on Ministerial Councils for arts, heritage and culture. Key Comments: At the Commonwealth government level, the lack of a national cultural policy framework and inadequate associated resourcing, data management, strategic planning and support for cultural infrastructure has significant negative effects across the country. There has also been, until several pandemic-prompted rescue packages, a generally piecemeal and under-funded approach in most states and territories to their own cultural institutions and activities. Some states have recognised this — South Australia has a well-argued but underfunded Arts Plan for 2019-2024, and Victoria and Queensland have Creative Industries Plans. In several states, some local councils are picking up the slack for their own communities, with overall per capita expenditure by Australia’s local government on culture increasing by 11% over the last decade.

TOR 3 links to supporting information: 1. AMaGA, Submission to the Australian Infrastructure Audit, 2019, <https://www.amaga.org. au/sites/default/files/uploadedcontent/website-content/ SubmissionsPolicies/amaga_ submission_to_infrastructure_ australia_31_october_2019.pdf>. 2. A New Approach, Insight Reports One to Five, https://www.humanities. org.au/new-approach/reports/ 3. NAVA, Submission to the COVID19 Senate Inquiry, 2020, <https:// visualarts.net.au/advocacy/industryadvisory-note-covid-19-response/ navas-submission-covid19-senate-inquiry/>.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

At the Commonwealth government level, the lack of a national cultural policy framework and inadequate associated resourcing, data management, strategic planning and support for cultural infrastructure has significant negative effects across the country.

The think-tank, A New Approach, found that there have been unsettling significant shifts in publicexpenditure on arts and culture: ‘Without strategic and co-ordinated effort across all levels of government, Australia risks deterioration in its cultural fabric and a loss of the benefits it provides’. Australia’s cultural infrastructure is a wellspring of creativity, imagination and innovation — it is in the national interest to support it with coherent long- term investments. This includes both capital and capability investment in the national institutions and joined up strategies and programs with the states and territories, which includes more support for local governments and their communities. 4.

The impact of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural industries

Key Recommendations: 4.1. Following consultation with the sector, the Commonwealth government to invest in a culture/creative-led recovery as part of the overall Government response to the crisis over the longer term. 4.2. Establish a new Commonwealth grants program for volunteer/ community museums, galleries and historical societies to facilitate their survival and post-COVID-19 re-opening and recovery. These organisations are in every electorate and local government region. 4.3. Provide exemption for the national cultural institutions from the Efficiency Dividend. 4.4. Provide new or additional support to national and state arts and heritage services and professional organisations, such as AMaGA, to enable them to provide informed and targeted advice and support to different segments of the cultural and creative sector. 4.5. Investigate the USA model of the Heritage Emergency National Taskforce to protect cultural heritage from the damaging effects of natural disasters and other emergencies, and establish and resource a similar public/private partnership of museums, galleries, national service organisations and government agencies. See: <https://culturalrescue.si.edu/>. Key Comments: The impacts of COVID-19 upon Australia have been and will continue to be extreme. The pandemic has also created a destructive cumulative impact on those organisations, regions and communities who are reeling from the bushfires and extreme weather events in late 2019 and early 2020. In Australia, along with the tourism industry, hospitality and higher education, the cultural and creative sectors are the most affected by the current coronavirus crisis. Museums and galleries — of all types, sizes, funding sources and governance arrangements — are no exception. Data from AMaGA’s Membership Surveys in May and August on COVID-19 Impacts shows that: — 86% of organisations have been or anticipate to be financially affected — through loss of income (events, visitation, rent, donations, sales, education visits, sponsorship and budget cutbacks by the funding organisation). — When organisations were asked whether the Commonwealth government’s economic packages were available to them, 67% replied No to Job Seeker and 66% replied No to Job Keeper.

—

— —

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

When they were asked whether the amount of government assistance was sufficient, 53% said they did not qualify, or were unclear at this stage, while a further 26% said No. Only 21% replied Yes. Most museums in Australia are small, volunteer-managed community organisations which are embedded in their local communities and provide a range of social and economic benefits, including a sense of belonging to their community, and of contributing to society. Thus it is no surprise, but deeply troubling, that in May 77% of responding organisations were concerned by their lack of engagement with the community (for example, through cancellation of events/exhibitions or no online engagement), and in August, over a third of the respondents stated long-term sustainability would be an issue for them. When asked what support they needed now and over the next 6-12 months, the standout was immediate and ongoing financial support, along with public statements of their value. For many museums and galleries at all levels, uncertainty about their future operations and viability is a consistent concern. 75% asked for AMaGA to provide skills development at this time. This we have done through a greatly expanded national webinar program — funded by members, not government.

During this period, many organisations are also recognising opportunities to rethink business models and operating processes, and experiment with new modes of community engagement. 66% of surveyed organisations highlighted increased online content as a key adaptive strategy. The national and state museums and galleries have demonstrated great flexibility in re-purposing programs to deliver experiences and education online, as well as developing new materials, such as virtual tours. Those smaller regional and metropolitan galleries and museums who have retained professional staff in their primary roles are undertaking a range of innovative public programming (both digital and offline) as well as managing their collections and supporting artists and their local communities. Their resilience and creativity is contributing to community health, wellbeing and continuing education during this extended period of stress and disruption. The community/volunteer museums, galleries and historical societies continue their unsung roles.

‘We are a small, rural based, volunteer run, Historical Society and were burnt out before this, it is hard to remain positive at times, then I look at one of our brilliant 10,000 digitised glass plate negatives, think of all that hard work and take a deep breath and start again.’ Longer-term impacts A critical concern is the loss of young, early-career museum and gallery workers through the lack of job opportunities. They are the future of the industry. Artists have also been hard hit and many may leave their profession. National cultural institutions will be dealing with static or shrinking operating budgets as the government manages its way out of a year-long recession. The removal of the mis-named Efficiency Dividend would bring some relief, and is well overdue. Research has long shown how damaging it is for these small Commonwealth government agencies.

TOR 4 links to supporting information: 1. AMaGA, Submission to the Senate Select Committee on COVID19, 2020, <www.amaga.org. au/policies-submissions>. 2. AMaGA, Submission to the Bushfires Royal Commission, 2020, <https://www.amaga.org.au/ news/amaga- submission-royalcommission-recent-bushfires>. 3. Heritage Emergency National Taskforce, <https:// culturalrescue.si.edu/hentf/>.

AMaGA Magazine Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021

Many volunteer-run community organisations are likely to lose their workers and possibly not re-open at all if there is not careful and targeted support and safety for them to return. AMaGA and the Federation of Australian Historical Societies (FAHS) have proposed a collaboration to administer a new Commonwealth funding program for these organisations, to cover shortfalls in income and stimulate new commitment, projects and accessibility. In all these cases, if unaddressed, there will be inestimable damage to the mental health of individuals, to the institutions, and to Australia’s cultural industry and cultural life. These sorts of disastrous events will recur. National co-ordination in disaster recovery for cultural organisations will be required. A proven model is the United States’ Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF), which is co-sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Smithsonian Institution. It is a partnership of 60 national service organisations and federal agencies. Ramped up investment in this type of national co-ordination is supported by the Disasters – Cultural Response Roundtable – National Service Organisations which was established by AMaGA in January 2020 in the midst of the rampant bushfires season. This unfunded Roundtable provides advocacy, information-sharing, communication materials and support through the Australian disaster season on behalf of the cultural and creative arts sectors. Since March, it has also focused strongly on the impacts of COVID-19 and the compounding effects of loss and stress, while now preparing for the next season of natural disasters. 5.

Avenues for increasing access and opportunities for Australia's creative and cultural industries through innovation and the digital environment.

Key Recommendations: 5.1. Develop and resource a National Investment Plan for digital access to cultural collections. A Plan would include: — strategies and funding for the Digital Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at tertiary level, new collaborative research infrastructure through the Department of Industry, and steady support for Trove — the adoption of national, state, territory and local government digital access to collections strategies and plans, which link to the new collaborative research infrastructure plan — initiatives to help build the capacity of smaller cultural institutions — dedicated funding for digitisation and digital access at every level. Key Comments: The work of GLAM Peak (the network of peak bodies in the galleries, libraries, archives, historical societies and museums sectors) over the last three years has revealed the power of digital discoverability and access to collections for increasing participation and social connection by people with a range of capabilities. Strategies and support for the digitisation of collections in regional and community galleries and museums would be an invaluable contribution to Australians’ social engagement as well as life-long learning.

It is important to note that ‘Australia has always been one of the leaders in this area, from Australian Museums On Line (AMOL) in the late 1990s to the National Library’s Trove and, for natural history collections — the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) — collection sharing and collaboration has been a part of the cultural sector’s digital innovation here for well over 20 years hampered by uneven funding and national network connectivity.’ (Seb Chan, ACMI 2017) Providing digital access is the most effective way of ensuring access to Australian arts, scientific collections, and heritage. There are many stories about the positive impact digital access has had on the lives of individuals and there are a number of examples of how digital access has led to important scientific and policy outcomes. National and state galleries and museums are strong leaders in this arena. The National Portrait Gallery has an award-winning application for school visitors using iPads, and has largely digitised its collection. Questacon is collaborating with CSIRO’s Data 61 on gamification of research in biodiversity and Australian stories. Questacon has also taken a leading role in boosting the teaching of STEM in schools across Australia through the Smart Skills Initiative which delivered online as well as hands-on inquiry based workshops as well as virtual excursions. Innovative use of new technologies such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are also used to achieve heightened emotional responses in museums around the world and in Australia. See for example, the ground-breaking Dome Lab — Travelling Kungkarangkalpa — developed as a digital sanctuary for the National Museum of Australia’s award-winning Songlines exhibition <www. niea.unsw.edu.au/research/projects/domelab>. However, the cost of innovation in the digital environment and maintaining a vital online presence does not come cheap, and it needs more regular major renewals than, for example, permanent exhibition fit-outs. As a sector, it is not simply collections access that is facilitated by digital delivery. The role of galleries and museums in the visitor economy is predicated on giving visitors and tourists timely, appropriate information and responsive service, which increasingly means through provision and engagement with sophisticated digital tools across multiple agencies (such as media, transport infrastructure, and tourism marketing). Drawing on the extensive work of GLAM Peak, we support the development of state-wide Digital Access Plans for each state’s cultural collections. The development of digital accessibility to collections nation-wide must be led and funded in a coherent and efficient way, following the national framework. This is best done at state and territory level, through policies, plans and funding programs, guiding and supporting local initiatives, and feeding into a national picture. Currently, NSW, WA and Tasmania are developing plans, which should be given long-term infrastructure funding support. Digital technology is also at the centre of the transformative research infrastructure that is required for Australia’s research sector to develop new knowledge and applications. Next generation technology platforms and research infrastructure have the power to drive transformations in the way researchers discover, access, curate and analyse social and cultural data, as they have with the sciences. Museums and galleries hold a wealth of knowledge in their collections. A longer-term investment in helping museums, galleries and historical societies to provide digital access would power a wave of creativity, new research, and innovation. ■

Vol. 29(1) – Summer 2021 AMaGA Magazine

A longer-term investment in helping museums, galleries and historical societies to provide digital access would power a wave of creativity, new research, and innovation.

TOR 5 links to supporting information: 1. GLAM Peak, GLAM Peak and Digital Access frameworks, <http://www.digitalcollections. org.au/framework>. 2. GLAM Peak, Six case studies in developing digital access to collections, 2016, <http://www.digitalcollections. org.au/case-studies>. 3. GLAM Peak, GLAM Peak Guidelines for Developing State and Territory Digital Access to Collections Plans, 2020, <http:// www.digitalcollections.org.au>.

We are specialists in: • Facilitating Change in Organisational Culture • Indigenous Education • Community Development

• • • •

Cultural Capability Inter-cultural Environments School Leadership Engoori in the Classroom

MurriMatters has a faultless reputation for delivering a unique program both on the national and international stage, and has enjoyed over 15 years of experience in delivering eﬀective online and face-to-face leadership programs to organisations such as Beyond Blue, National Indigenous Australians Agency and the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.

Strength-based Approach A common focus on ‘problem thinking’ and ‘can’t do’ restricts organisational development and constrains eﬀective implementation. We believe that the source of solutions lies in the existing knowledge and capability of your organisation’s greatest asset — its people.

Engoori MurriMatters draws upon new approaches to organisational change, strengthbased pedagogy, complexity, and conﬂict resolution processes through an authentic Indigenous approach to collaboration termed Engoori. Traditionally Engoori® was used by the Mithaka people Far Western Queensland, as a set of diplomatic protocols to create and maintain robust challenging cultures that embrace diversity to enable forward movement on the big issues impacting on local communities.

Engoori harnesses client strengths to enable you to formulate local and sustainable strategies to achieve your objectives.

Telephone : 0427 022 139 Email : murrimatters@hotmail.com

www.murrimatters.com

Countering Deficit Discourse Engoori provides an effective strength-based process to counter the dominant discourse of deficit that pervades thinking about Aboriginality and Aboriginal issues. Deficit discourse adds another layer of complexity to challenges in the inter-cultural space.

The Australian Showcase & Hardware Company

South Australian Museum Biodiversity Gallery

National Anzac Centre Albany Photo: Lee Griffith

South Australian Museum Biodiversity Gallery

Shrine of Remembrance Galleries of Remembrance Photo: Vlad Bunyevich

Australian Journeys Gallery National Museum of Australia

Shrine of Remembrance Galleries of Remembrance Photo: Vlad Bunyevich

E tashco@tashcosystems.com.au P 03 5274 1133 A 124-128 Broderick Road Corio VIC 3214

www.tashcosystems.com.au

Showcasing Australia for over 40 years