M&G of NSW - Regional Stakeholder Forum 2015

This year’s forum will bring you up-to-date on issues affecting the regional heritage sector; discuss regional tourism and museums, crowdfunding and the role of consultants; and how the arts can ‘activate’ and energise your museum.
As always, this annual event is presented by MAAS, Regional Arts NSW and M&G NSW.

Download Stakeholder program (467.7 KB) 

Download Speaker profiles (1.2 MB)

Museums Australia conference - May 2015

Here are a few highlights from staff of Museuns & Galleries of NSW:

Tamara Lavrencic, Museum Programs and Collections Manager

A definite highlight for me was Lindsay Farrell’s presentation on social inclusion through art and museums. His paper reported on a research project with homeless and marginalised groups in Brisbane. One program run over 12 weeks involved homeless people visiting The Australian Catholic University art collection and the Queensland Art Gallery/GOMA. At the end of the program each participant gives a presentation about a particular artwork. Farrell showed an image of a homeless man standing in front of a 17^th Century Dutch painting. The contrast between his poverty and the almost gluttonous display of food was marked.

Samantha Hamilton, a conservator with Museum Victoria gave an illuminating paper on a collaboration initiated with Gupapuyngu clan Elders from Arnhem Land in 2011. The project aimed to involve traditional owners in the decision making process about conservation treatment options for bark paintings in the Donald Thomas collection. Initial discussions with Jo, a Gupapuyna Elder indicated that Western concepts of preservation were foreign to them; deteriorated barks were normally buried and replaced by new ones.

Samantha made a film for the community explaining each treatment option for the bark, which was translated into their own language by Jo. This helped broker trust between Samantha and the Gupapuyna clan, who had initially expressed reluctance for a female conservator to work with the bark, along with their preference for a Gupapuyna man to repaint it with white pigments.  Through this process the community decided that Samantha had the appropriate skills to clean the barks, consolidate the flaking paint and support the bark by applying an aluminium splint.

Madeleine Brady, Gallery Programs and Touring Exhibitions Coordinator

Xerxes Mazda, Deputy Director, Engagement at Royal Ontario Museum, was a clear highlight for me with his keynote presentation addressing the need for museums to construct powerful narratives.

By utilising the basic principles of the dramatic arc, Mazda proposes that museums can create a full sensory experience, allowing viewers to connect with exhibitions and ultimately lose themselves in the narrative. 

The dramatic arc is a simple device behind all successful Hollywood films and consists of five parts: the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and finally, the denouement, or 'resolution' for those of us with unconvincing French accents. Mazda argues that we need to actively address each of these stages during exhibition development.

When considering the flow of an exhibition, the interpretive materials, object placement and audience interaction, museums should be constantly assessing an exhibition against the criteria of the dramatic arc.

Mazda also stresses the need to interlink each stage of an exhibition with a cause-and-effect relationship. Museums need to ensure that viewers are being drawn from one object to the next, and consequently through the entire exhibition. Mazda quoted the British novelist, E.M Forster, stating, “The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then queen died of grief is a plot.”

The beauty of Mazda's keynote presentation was the pure simplicity of the concepts presented. And while it was ultimately aimed at museum exhibitions, I found it particularly interesting to consider how the power of the narrative could be applied to contemporary gallery exhibitions. Mazda challenged the audience to harness the universal concepts of storytelling in exhibition development and I will most certainly be taking him up on the challenge.

Steve Miller, Aboriginal Sector Programs Manager

The Indigenous Reconciliation session began with a reminder of a recommendation from the previous conference: that Indigenous people should be considered as foundational rather than a special interest group of Museums Australia.

It ended with a recommendation for an audit and evaluation of the level of engagement of Australian Indigenous people in museums and galleries. This followed earlier discussion around the uncertainty of the true impact of MA’s long standing policy Continuous Cultures, Ongoing Responsibilities, now a decade old.

Peter White, Senior Manager Indigenous Connections & Programs of the National Sound & Film Archive, did a great job chairing the session which was dense and diverse in its discussions.

Nancia Guivarra, Head of Communications with the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence opened the session by linking notions of excellence to Reconciliation. Genevieve Grieves reiterated the points from her earlier presentations about deep listening, cultural diplomacy, inter cultural work and generational vision. She also said that museums as institutions often don’t follow cultural protocols which causes tension when working with communities. The burden of this often fell on Indigenous staff.

Frank Howarth, speaking from the floor, said smaller museums were still afraid of making mistakes when presenting Australian Indigenous cultures and needed to stop ‘walking on eggshells’.  The audience reflected that a similar situation exists with Indigenous staff in major institutions who are equally afraid of making mistakes; that the building of trust took considerable time; and that one Indigenous worker per institution was not enough. Indigenous staff often wanted to work with remote communities in their state which did not necessarily translate into the desired exhibition outcomes for institutions.

Dr Robin Hirst, Melbourne Museum’s Director of Collections, Research and Exhibitions, suggested imagining what we’d like to see in ten years’ time. I replied that 10 years was a worthy objective but in a history of 40,000 plus years, it was not very long. I was concerned about the ‘thought bubble’ discussion when the industry is retracting – regional Aboriginal cultural centres in NSW are closing – which raises questions about how the sector can develop greater depth of Indigenous engagement. It would be good to think beyond conventional exhibitions and public programs, to create a long term legacy reaching into communities and involving them in development including technical skills, as our own Travelling Places program seeks to do.

The suggestion to audit the entire museums and galleries industry arose early in the discussion but it was Margo Neale, Principle Indigenous Advisor to the Director at the National Museum, who moved it as a recommendation. With this adopted, the session drew to a close. It was encouraging to see that the audience of more than 50 people felt the discussion significant enough that nearly all stayed until well past the 5pm listed finish

Museums Australia National Conference 2015

For full details about the Conference and Bursary Applications click here.

State History Conference 2013

The conference will examine place and landscape; museum collections; new family history resources; society management and commemorating the past. The conference highlights includes:

•   Pre-conference State Records visit

•   Welcome drinks from 5.30pm hosted by Blue Mountains Historical Society at 5.30 pm Friday 1 November a historic Hobby’s Reach, 99-101 Blaxland Road Wentworth Falls

•   Presentations by local and specialist historians

•   The awarding of RAHS Certificates of Achievement

•   Sales tables for the sale of local histories and member publications

•   Announcement and presentation of Arts NSW Cultural and NSW Heritage grants

•   Opportunities to network with other historical societies around NSW

Choice of Saturday Afternoon Tours at Katoomba and Conference dinner Saturday night

To view/download full details and booking form click here.

RAHS E-News - 4 Oct 2012

Welcome to this edition of the RAHS e-newsletter. As usual, there is a lot happening at History House and in the history community, and we are happy to share that news with you.


If you receive this newsletter as a representative of an RAHS affiliated society, we encourage you to share this with your members via email or at your meetings, as we seek to provide information of interest to all members of the history community.




Dr Susan McClean, Chair of the Affiliated Societies Committee, has contributed a new article with updates about the State History Conference, which is fast approaching on the weekend on 20-21 October. If you have not yet reserved your space at the conference, we encourage you to do so, and if you have been unsure about attending, download the draft conference program to see what an exciting weekend of events the Committee has arranged.


State History Conference News

Affiliated Societies Committee members rear (L to R): Brian Madden, Leonie Knapman, Susan McClean (Chair), Judith Dunn, Robert Hutchinson; front (L to R) Carol Liston, Lesley Gent, Angela Phippen. Absent David Craddock.

Above is your hard working Affiliated Societies Committee which is bringing you the RAHS State History Conference in just 2 weeks time! Registrations are coming in considerable numbers. Don’t delay as your bookings need to be in by 14 October. You can download the Registration Form here or fill out the hard copy posted with History. The draft schedule of events and speakers is now available and you may view it here. 

For full e-newsletter click.

State History Conference Registrations Now Open!

Photo: Australian Sugar Company's Works, Canterbury, [ca. 1842 / watercolour by Frederick Garling] (Image: Dixson Galleries, State Library of NSW – DG SV1A/13 )

As you probably know by now, the theme of the conference is "Saturated With Filth and Corruption": NSW History? The title is derived from an 1883 New South Wales Legislative Council Noxious and Offensive Trades Inquiry Commission referring to any industry that created a stink, especially if it was associated with offensive waste. The conference looks at the good, the bad and the ugly of NSW local history.

The weekend is full of activity (including pre and post conference events). Highlights include:

* Keynote speaker Professor Peter Spearritt, author of Sydney’s Century: a history
* Insights into methods for researching local history and heritage, as well as addressing management issues for local historical groups
* Presentations by local and specialist historians
* Welcome Drinks at 5.30pm, Friday 19th October at History House
* The presentation of RAHS Certificates of Achievement
* Announcement of Arts NSW Cultural Grants and NSW Heritage Grants
* Pre-conference oral history workshop - conducted by Oral History Association of Australia (NSW) on Friday 19th October at History House 

* Post-conference 'Managing Your Collection' seminar conducted by State Records Sales tables downstairs for sale of local histories and member publications

* Sales tables downstairs for sale of local histories and member publications
* Opportunities to network with other community-based historical societies around New South Wales

* Social events – Welcome drinks at History House (see above) and conference dinner on Saturday night at Rowers  on Cooks River

* Display at the Rowers on Cooks River of drawings of the building project proposed for History House

Do note the need to book in early for events and opportunities - in some cases there are limited spaces and it will be a matter of first come first serve.

As usual, Affiliated societies will be able to reserve a table for the sales of publications. There is no charge for table space, but reservations are mandatory (I was very impressed with the healthy vigour with which some societies defended their tables last year from those who had not had the foresight - a bit like the maidens in the bible who had no oil for their lamps and were left in the dark...you get the metaphor).

The State History Conference is a highlight of the year for the NSW local history community, and I highly recommend you attend.

We are very keen for our regional members to attend - and to assist you with planning your week(end) This information will be put onto our website and will be updated with via the eNewsletter.

Kind Regards,
Maria Walsh, CEO
(02) 9247 8001 or executive@rahs.org.au 

Register Online Today

Registration forms will be mailed to members with the September History magazine, but you may reserve your space today by submitting an online registration form, which can also be found on the RAHS website which includes details of Pre and Post Conference Events. 

If you prefer to register by mail, you may also download the full registration form here.

State History Conference: Activities, Grants and Certificates of Achievement

Planning for the 2012 State History Conference in Wolli Creek (20-21 October 2012) is well underway. As you will have seen in a previous RAHS e-news, the keynote speaker is Professor Peter Spearritt, and a full schedule of talks and events is being prepared by the Affiliated Societies Committee. In addition to marking your diaries for the weekend, now is the time to plan for the following conference components.

Pre-Conference Workshop

As an added benefit for those who are considering making the trip to Sydney, we have partnered with the Oral History Association of NSW to present the popular "Capturing Memories: Oral History in the Digital Age" workshop as a pre-conference event on Friday 19 October. Conference delegates of Affiliated societies and RAHS members will be given priority registration.

Cultural and Heritage Grants

One of the highlights of the conference is the presentation of the Cultural and Heritage Grants. Applications are open until 20 July. If you have a history or heritage project that could get off the ground or benefit from additional funding, we encourage you to consider applying for one of our grants. Click here to read more about each grant, and email grants@rahs.org.au with further questions.

Certificates of Achievement

Also awarded at the conference are Certificates of Achievement. Has one of your members made an outstanding contribution to your historical society over the last year? Certificates of Achievement recognise the work of your valuable members to the larger history community. Nominations must be in writing showing comprehensive evidence of achievement and/or the extent and quality of service and/or significant benefaction. Candidates for the award must be nominated at a general meeting of their society and signed by the presiding President and Secretary (or other appropriate person).

Your nomination should comprise a letter and supporting information (there is no nomination form to be completed). For questions and to make a nomination, contact admin@rahs.org.au.

Ref: RAHS E-News

At The Frontier 2011 - Digital Stories

The “digital frontier” is an important theme of At The Frontier 2011 conference and whilst the conference itself will focus on the why’s and where fore’s of the production of such material, it is important to showcase the end product, which is designed for the audience to see. What better way to do this than on a big public screen?

Anna Crane from Jäger Studio has curated a program of the vast range of digital material produced and presented by museums, galleries, interpretive centres, natural heritage, historic sites, digital artists and curators.

 

View here the daily program for Digital Stories:

Download PDF Digital Stories Daily Rundown

Regional Stakeholders Consultation Day

Re         25 November              Regional Stakeholders Consultation Day
9.30 am – 4.30 pm      Target Theatre, Powerhouse Museum, Harris Street
          
The Powerhouse Museum will be holding our annual Regional Stakeholders Consultation Day on Friday 25 November 2011 in the Target Theatre.

This meeting aims to share current work at the Powerhouse Museum and other State Cultural Heritage Institutions and provide opportunities for regional heritage organisations to give feedback and discuss planning for 2012. This will include a forum in the afternoon and will be open to all who are interested.  We hope it will support better planning of outreach programs offered to regional organisations and more collaboration and integration of programs across the sector in 2012 and beyond. Apart from the Powerhouse staff there will be representatives from Australian Museum, State Library, Historic Houses Trust, State Records, Museums and Galleries NSW.

You are invited to attend and take part in the discussions. The program will include four panel sessions designed to encourage discussion and the topics to be featured are

Protocols and policies for working with Indigenous communities and collections
Touring regional product, collaboration, and exhibition and program development
Research and interpretation for school and community engagement

Please advise Einar Docker, 02 9217 0412 or email einard@phm.gov.au  if you are wish to attend. There is no cost but bookings are essential.

If you would like further information you can contact myself on 1800 882 092 or by email rebeccap@phm.gov.au.

Yours sincerely


Rebecca Pinchin
Regional Services

Phone 02 9217 0220
Free call 1800 882 092
rebeccap@phm.gov.au

Keeping Places & Beyond: building cultural futures in NSW

Keeping culture strong through communities was a central theme of the M&G NSW organised Keeping Places & Beyond: building cultural futures in NSW summit, held at CarriageWorks on September 19/20 2011.

In bringing together, for the first time, over 150 people from across the Aboriginal arts, community & professional organisations, NSW cultural institutions, government agencies, the education sector, small business, Elders groups and individuals, the summit’s main aim was to discuss and shape the future for NSW Aboriginal cultural practice, local knowledge, heritage and language. This blackfella/whitefella meeting has been hailed a huge success by nearly all who attended.

People traveled from throughout NSW. Those who arrived on the Sunday could sample Barani Barrabugu, the city’s new heritage walking trails of significant Aboriginal sites or use their complimentary entry to the Australian Museum. Many travelers caught up with the city mobs at the welcome BBQ, put on by the City of Sydney, at Redfern Community Centre in the evening.

The Smoking Ceremony and Welcome Dance in the CarriageWorks main foyer started proceedings on Monday morning. Uncle Max Eulo conducted the ceremony which was followed by a culturally strong performance from the Doonooch Dancers, Yung Nooky (on didj) and boys from the East Nowra Public School. The dancers then led delegates into the meeting place. Delegates were welcomed to country by Auntie Millie Ingram, from the Wyanga Elders Group, Redfern. The cultural program was threaded throughout the two days, with a boomerang demonstration by Laddie Timbery, and performances by The Stiff Gins, Yung Nooky and Emma Donovan and her band.

As for the summit program, it featured presentations from a range of authoritative and informative speakers including; Professor Bob Morgan, Russell Taylor, Djon Mundine, Keith Munro, Beryl van Oploo, Phil Gordon, Dr Sandy O’Sullivan and artist, Jenny Fraser among others. Bob Morgan spoke about cultural identity and emphasized a theme that was to run through other presentations and conversations - that of the importance of self determination, of Aboriginal communities being sufficiently empowered to perform their own cultural maintenance, art form development and dissemination.

I certainly appreciated the opportunity to sit and listen as did many others. Those engaging or looking to engage in the sector made many useful contacts and like-minded approaches to build partnerships. A range of recommendations and suggestions to progress and build on momentum were discussed and agreed upon in the final sessions. They ranged across areas such as Heritage, Digitization, Art & Design, Community Engagement and ongoing connections to Government and other stakeholders. The summit’s reference committee will now give some further thought to these and their final report to Arts NSW will prioritise and chart a way forward. I do think it’s a great testament to the value of the conference that participants were keen to develop an ongoing network to continue to explore the ideas and opportunities raised over the two days, and that there was an expressed desire to meet again in a couple of years time to re-thread the picture with the work and developments in the interim.

The summit was organized and convened by Museums & Galleries NSW with core funding from Arts NSW. It was supported by Aboriginal Affairs NSW and NSW Aboriginal Land Council.


All Photos by Mervyn Bishop

Source: Museums and Galleries NSW- Alert! 28 September 2011