Museums Board of Victoria 2019–20 Annual Report Additional Information Contents Awards .............................................................................................. 2 Temporary Exhibitions ...................................................................... 3 Touring Exhibitions ........................................................................... 6 Externally Funded Projects ............................................................... 7 Research Supervision ....................................................................... 8 Honorary Appointments .................................................................. 10 Publications .................................................................................... 14 Lectures and Presentations ............................................................ 26 Awards 2019 Australian Graphic Design Awards Distinction, Exhibition Design for Gut Feelings 2019 Australian Graphic Design Awards Finalist, Wayfinding, Signage and Environmental Graphics for Gut Feelings 2019 RACV Victorian Tourism Awards Winner, Qantas Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism Award for Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre. 2019 Victorian Premier's Design Awards Finalist, Communication Design for Gut Feelings 2020 Australian Interior Design Awards Shortlisted, Installation Design, 2020 for Gut Feelings 2020 EdTech Awards Finalist in two categories, Video Based Learning Solution and Product or Service Setting a Trend for Road to Zero 2020 Melbourne Design Awards Winner, Gold Award for Pop-Ups, Display, Exhibit and Set Design for Road to Zero 2020 Time In Awards Winner, Are We There Yet Award for Favourite Online Content for Kids for Museum at Home 2 Temporary Exhibitions Location Exhibition Dates Description Bunjilaka Midawarr: 4 April to 19 A collaboration between artists Mulkun Harvest July 2019 Wirrpanda and John Wolseley, Midawarr: Harvest explored the plants of the Dhubi- Djapu lands of East Arnhem Land. Mulkun Wirrpanda and John Wolseley met every Midawarr (‘harvest’ in the Yolŋu matha language) for five years to research and document the useful and delicious plants that, for centuries, have sustained communities in this unique part of the continent. Midawarr inspired us to think about the way we use, connect, value and understand our environment. Bunjilaka River of 28 June to 13 As part of 2019 NAIDOC week Language October 2019 celebrations, River of Language celebrated the role of language and how it embodies all that we know and do. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Language and explores Victoria’s Living Aboriginal Knowledge Systems. Through sound and images, visitors encountered and experienced the vibrancy of our living languages. Bunjilaka Manggan – 16 August The first national touring exhibition of gather, 2019 to 26 contemporary works by award-winning gathers, January 2020 artists from Far North gathering Queensland's Girringun Aboriginal Arts Centre. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity for Melbourne audiences to engage with the distinctive Aboriginal rainforest art traditions and culture of the Girringun region. Bunjilaka Two Strong 22 February Featuring over 38 works on display from Sisters 2020 to 31 celebrated Victorian Elders and artists Connected January 2021 Aunty Eileen Harrison and Aunty Rochelle Patten. Two Strong Sisters Connected is a journey through the stories of the artists, sharing matriarchal cultural knowledge, passed down from mothers and grandmothers for thousands of generations. 3 Location Exhibition Dates Description Melbourne Top Designs 30 March to Celebrating the innovation and creative Museum 2019 14 July 2019 problem-solving of Victoria’s youngest designers, Top Designs 2019 showcased the works of outstanding VCE and VET design students, with content spanning the breadth of furniture, fashion, graphic and product design, set, prop and costume design, film, print, photography, animation, mechanical, electronic and web design. Melbourne Revolutions: 26 April to 6 The late 1960s were a moment when Museum Records and October 2019 youth culture drove optimism and Rebels idealism, motivating people to come together and question the establishment across every area of society. Revolutions explored this significant cultural shift using film, music and objects to consider the seismic changes of the 1960s and the impact the period had one the way we live today. Developed by the Victoria and Albert Museum, Revolutions toured exclusively in Australia to Melbourne Museum. Melbourne Mini Mega 7 December Exploring why humans are fascinated with Museum Model 2019 to 11 the world of miniaturised objects both big Museum July 2021 and small. This exhibition features over 300 models from the museum’s own collection, with some dating back to the museums founding from 1854. Melbourne Top Designs 20 March Top Designs 2020 showcases some of the Museum 2020 2020 to 31 brightest VCE and VCE VET students January 2021 from across Victoria. This exhibition features 88 works which offer a glimpse into the future of Australian design. Due to the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19) and our museums closure, Top Designs 2020 was taken online where visitors can take a virtual tour of the exhibition, watch interviews with the exhibitors and view the works up close. 4 Location Exhibition Dates Description Immigration Our Bodies, 24 May to 6 An exploration of self-expression and Museum Our Voices, October 2019 cultural connection through tattooing, Our Marks featuring contemporary artists chosen by Exhibition Stanislava Punchuk. Documenting the Series: Body considered the stories our bodies tell Documenting and presented local and contemporary the Body: perspectives on tattooing as it intersects Curated by with themes of immigration, journeys, the Miso body, heritage and identity. Immigration Our Bodies, 24 May to 6 Tatau showcased the work of traditional Museum Our Voices, October 2019 Tatau masters alongside that of younger Our Marks practitioners and artists who are adopting Exhibition Tatau motifs and styles for new media and Series: Tatau: art forms. Tatau are significant in Samoan Marks of culture and help Samoans and other Polynesia Polynesians living abroad stay close to their identity and heritage. Immigration Our Bodies, 24 May 2019 An exploration of the artistry of traditional Museum Our Voices, to 2 February Japanese tattoos as well as their history Our Marks 2020 and influence on modern tattoo practices. Exhibition While tattooing is largely seen as an Series: underground activity in Japan, it has Perseverance persevered and is now internationally renowned for its artistry, lineage, historic symbolism and the skill of its practitioners. Scienceworks 2019 David May to July Display of spectacular, award-winning Malin Awards: 2019 photographs of the night sky from the last Winning Sky 24 months as judged by world-renowned Photos astrophotographer Dr David Malin. Scienceworks STEM 1 October This exhibition showcased the winners of Videogame 2019 to 2 the Australian STEM Video Game Arcade February Challenge. Each game was designed and 2020 produced by students from year 5 through to year 12 and were accessible for the museums visitors to play and engage with. Scienceworks Air 14 December Air Playground is designed for primary Playground 2019 to 28 aged students to explore and breakdown February the complex nature of air. Using various 2021 interactive hands on displays that use STEM skills to challenge children to think about what exactly air is and what it can do. 5 Touring Exhibitions Location Exhibition Dates Description Migration British 22 February to Developed by Museums Victoria and Museum, Migrants: 22 November currently on display at the Migration Adelaide Instant 2020 Museum, Adelaide, British Migrants: Instant Australians? Australians? examines the post-war boom migration of nearly 1.5 million Britons using digital animation to tell the stories and experiences of these migrants. 6 Externally Funded Projects The following projects received external funding and commenced during the year under review. Australian Government (Australia Council of the Arts) International Arts Strategy Outcomes Fund: to support development of the To Draw Water exhibition (in partnership with Winnipeg Art Gallery in Canada and Pataka Museum+Gallery in New Zealand). Australian Government (Australian Trade and Investment Commission) Supporting Australia’s Exhibiting Zoos and Aquariums program: to assist with animal welfare activities during the period of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions. Australian Government (Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment) Parks Australia and Director of National Parks: support a Bush Blitz (a partnership project between the Australian Government, BHP and Earthwatch Australia) in the Little Desert, north-western Victoria, October to November 2019. Australian Government (Department of Communications and the Arts) Indigenous Repatriation Program: support through the 2019–20 Museum Grants to support repatriation of Ancestral Remains and Secret Sacred Objects. E.W. Cole Foundation: for the project “Enriching the Legacy of E.W. Cole with Museums Victoria”. The Ian Potter Foundation: for the project “Impacts of fire on reptiles and invertebrates in the Little Desert: developing evidence­based management strategies”. Private donors – Lost World of Bayside Fossils project: donations to fund-raising campaign organised by Museums Victoria with the support of the Sandringham