MUSEUM-O

from The Australian Orienteer – June 2006

by Orienteering Australia

2005 AUSTRALIAN RANKINGS

Orienteering takes to the great…INDOORS?

Carolyn Rigby (Newcastle Orienteering Club)

IT really was a great sight – several Orienteering families amongst around a hundred Museum visitors and a sprinkling of local government officials at the opening of a Museum exhibition - Paper Worlds: the art and science of mapping. Newcastle Regional Museum is possibly THE first museum to mount an exhibition featuring Orienteering. The idea originated from the Australia Day Maze-O activities conducted by Newcastle Orienteering Club in 2005 and 2006. The Museum team was about to set up an exhibition of antique maps dating from the 1400s. In addition, Newcastle Council’s new multi-layered three-dimensional mapping of the city was on show as a backdrop to an array of instruments used in map-making. But the “oomph” factor of an interactive element was still missing. A section of the exhibition would feature maps in sport, so Newcastle Orienteering Club was allocated two display cases. We could also set up a Maze in the exhibition – indeed half the exhibition floor space was taken over by the Maze. A map of the Maze was produced and we could publicise Orienteering all we liked. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. The Museum staff was more than happy with the Maze concept – white plastic bollards and plastic chain formed the walls of the Maze. Control sites were marked by an Orienteering flag sticker on a bollard with a traditional 9 pin punch. Participants weren’t timed (no running in the Museum!) though one prominent Orienteering family did take their splits (some habits die hard) as they walked very quickly through the Maze. Believe it or not they also compared route choice! Part of the exhibition was given over to the history of Orienteering at local, national and international levels. A colourful section was the display case showing clothing, shoes, equipment and a selection of trophies. I don’t know how many people would be attracted to the sport if the Street Series Trophy is a highlight – it is a piece of road base – but it did prove to be a talking point with the visiting public. A four-metre long case showing the steps in making an Orienteering map also proved to be a focus. Thanks to Peter Cusworth for helping with photography on the main text panel. Promotional material (stickers, magnets and flyers) soon disappeared after the many school group visits and one school from central NSW requested help to set up Orienteering as a sport. Club member Carolyn Rigby (who happens to be the Museum’s Education Officer) ensured every school group heard the words “Orienteering” and “fun” as part of their visit to Paper Worlds. Perhaps Newcastle Orienteering Club has added a new form of the sport – move over Foot-O, BikeO, Ski-O now it’s Museum-O and the chance to see an exhibition on Orienteering in a cultural institution in Australia.