Humanities Research Journal Series

CONTENTS 1 Caroline Turner Editorial: Tomorrow’s Museums 5 Iain McCalman Museum & Heritage Management in the New Economy 17 Dawn Casey Case Study: The National Museum of Australia 25 Elaine Heumann Gurian What is the Object of This Exercise?: A Meandering Exploration of the Many Meanings of Objects in Museums 37 Howard Morphy Seeing Aboriginal Art in the Gallery 51 Paul A. Pickering Conserving the People’s History: Lessons From Manchester and Salford 59 Dorreen Mellor Arterfacts of Memory: Oral Histories in Archival Institutions 68 Future Shots: Prominent Australians Share Their Thoughts on Museums of the Future 71 Ralph Elliot Book Review: Remarkable Occurences, The National Library of Australia’s First 100 Years, 1901–2001 Vol. 8 No. 1, 2001 ISSN: 1440-0669 contents 3/3/03 5:07 PM Page 1 editorial: tomorrow’s museums CAROLINE TURNER An aerial view of the new National Museum of Australia on Canberra’s Acton Peninsula. Source: Ashton Raggatt McDougall, Robert Peck von Hartel Trethowan. Architects in Association t the beginning of the twenty-first with the future of museums as cultural heritage A century museums worldwide are coming institutions and are both involved in research under increasing scrutiny as public institu- projects and partnerships with museums and cul- tions. They are taking on new roles and using tural institutions, nationally and internationally. new means of communication with audiences. Museums in our contemporary globalised Two volumes of Humanities Research — this world are far more than repositories of the his- issue for 2001 and the first volume for 2002 — tory of “nations” or single national narratives. will be devoted to this subject. The Human- They reflect culture in its broadest sense and ities Research Centre and the Centre for diverse community concerns as well as Cross-Cultural Research at the Australian transnational ideas. Their mission statements National University are both vitally conerned are as much concerned with education as with 1 contents 3/3/03 5:07 PM Page 2 Humanities Research Vol. 8 No. 1, 2001 preserving objects. The move away from the The modern museum is a by-product of traditional focus on objects (artefacts, docu- social changes which saw private collections ments, books and art works) of significance to opened to public use and the creation of individuals and societies is a theme taken up national museums. The Louvre, one of the by Elaine Gurian in her seminal article in this first modern museums, is an example of a volume. More and more, however, as other museum as a national focus for bringing contributions in this volume indicate, muse- together a nation’s history in times of great ums and other heritage institutions such as social change. Its early collections embraced, libraries, have also become forums for public not only those of the former Kings, but collec- debate, broadly based classrooms, memorials tions of material from buildings, memorials, and places of mourning, sites of social interac- churches destroyed in the Revolution and tion and creative encounters, and even zones were magnificently, if controversially, aug- of spiritual experience and places for healing mented by the imperial conquests of of community trauma. Old and new technolo- Napoleon and colonial expansion. Although gies are generating new ways of seeing and ostensibly a museum devoted to all human experiencing. The new inclusiveness in many civilisation, it was ultimately the national museums of minorities, especially Indigenous museum of France. In the US, the circum- groups, and the presentation of multiple stances of the eighteenth-century revolution- perspectives and issues of controversy offer ary war against Britain necessitated preserving new directions for the future. knowledge of the nation’s birth and the Thus museums today can be seen as critical communication of “core” values, resulting in to a nation’s understanding of itself in the almost a national obsession with museums of future, of potential enormous significance to history. The national parks commemorating subaltern groups within societies and to human- nineteenth century Civil War battle sites ity as a whole. New types of museums and her- completed from the 1930s to the 1960s are an itage sites have emerged, including those, such example of national mourning and healing by as ecomuseums, which emphasise sustainable commemorating the bravery of both sides in economic development for local communities, one of the most bitter of civil war conflicts cultural tourism sites to share natural and which sometimes literally pitted brother material heritage with visitors, or “keeping against brother. What the battlefield parks places” for objects sacred to Indigenous cul- tended to ignore in this equation was the issue tures which cannot be shared with others. In of human slavery and it has been left to more some museums today the emphasis is on pre- recent US museum developments, including serving the culture of a particular group, in Afro-American museums to fill this gap. other cases it is multifocussed inclusiveness In Australia, science, history and natural and in yet other cases the concept is of envi- history museums, libraries and art galleries ronment or heritage belonging to all human developed in each of the nineteenth century beings (i.e. the debate over the destruction of colonies as part of initiatives to create a the Afghan Buddhas). A redefinition of the “civilised” society. National museums have functions of museums to include contributions been largely a product of the second half of the to cultural survival and revival of subaltern twentieth century and we lacked a national groups as well as dominant ones, poses new social history museum until the opening of the and complex questions for those charged with new Museum of Australia in March 2001. The administering these institutions. Some of these Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the critical questions are reserved for our 2002 vol- national consolidation of a deep need for ume, which also has a special focus on new memorialising the sacrifices of war was, like developments in museums in the Asia-Pacific the “Digger” memorials put in place in every region. small town after the first World War, a com- 2 contents 3/3/03 5:07 PM Page 3 CAROLINE TURNER Tomorrow’s Museums munity response to incredible trauma. Until museum and its educational authority is the opening of the new National Museum of diminished. Tomorrow’s museums will reflect, Australia, the War Memorial could indeed be one hopes, new partnerships between muse- described as the national history museum for ums, universities and other educational Australians. Interestingly this was a concept of institutions. Some partnerships, and their nation forged in international conflict, begin- scholarly and popular results, are described in ning with Gallipoli. It is still one of the most this volume, and suggest ways forward. visited museums in Australia. The new Museums in Australia today are more and National Museum is more focussed on more presenting and examining issues of con- Australia’s domestic history. troversy — two, or more, sides to a story espe- In Australia today, museums, art museums, cially that of Indigenous contacts with heritage organisations, libraries and archives Europeans. What is going on in Australian are facing considerable challenges. They may museums today may be a redefinition of be valued contributors to society, including Australian culture and society. Australian through knowledge enhancing research and museums reflect what has been occurring in cultural tourism, but they are also expected to this country for the last fifty years. Many are raise varying proportions of their own revenue developing programs which interact with very and to justify what they do in quantitative large numbers of people and many, including terms related to the national economy. They the National Museum of Australia, emphasise are also part of new attitudes to culture in this the personal stories of ordinary people. There country and must address new approaches to is more emphasis on women, on preserving the history. Iain McCalman and Dawn Casey environment, on Indigenous issues, and on discuss some of the challenges in important the rich variety of migrant experiences that go contributions to this volume, first delivered at into the make-up of our multicultural society. a major summit on Australia’s future Undoubtedly, this points to a redefinition of convened by the Academies of Humanities Australian culture and society. The widening and Social Sciences. In this volume also community involvement in museums today Howard Morphy, Paul Pickering, Doreen can, as Dawn Casey, Director of the National Mellor and Ralph Elliott, together with a Museum of Australia puts it, promote partici- variety of Australian museum professionals, pation amongst those sections of the commu- discuss critical issues for the future of museums nity “… who have typically been excluded or as well as new approaches to culture and alienated by conventional participation and history and to researching and communicating communication processes.” Nevertheless, as knowledge. we know, cultural interaction is not always on While museums have always needed to be equal terms. A new conservatism has emerged research based institutions, one controversy towards history in some museums overseas and emerging today in Australia is whether the similar pressure may be exerted here. Let us economic pressures and programming hope that the new inclusiveness

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