Collaborating for Indigenous rights: A 50-year retrospective exploring the history of black and white Australian activism, 1957–1972
Partners: Monash University, State Library of Victoria, National Archives of Australia
From 1957, black and white Australians collaborated in lobbying for Indigenous rights. At the beginning of this period, there was a concentration on civil rights, but by 1972 a new set of rights was sought, based on the specific circumstances of Indigenous Australians. This project explores the history and background of this movement for civil rights and the emergence of the more radical proposition that other rights be accrued to Indigenous Australians due to their original occupancy of the land and subsequent dispossession.
Australian Indigenous collectors and collections
Partner: Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University
This project looks at the contemporary and historical roles of Indigenous people in shaping private and public collections, and at the history of ideas of communal ownership and responsibility that influence the stewardship of many cultural collections today. It reverses the usual emphasis on Europeans as collectors of Indigenous objects and explores the extent to which Indigenous people were active players in building public collections, rather than the passive subjects of museum collecting.
Studies in the degradation of dyes and pigments in ink on paper, in photographic media and on painted surfaces
Partners: University of Canberra, The Australian National University, Australian War Memorial, National Archives of Australia, The National Film and Sound Archive, National Library of Australia
The degradation of written documents, film, and painted surfaces within national collections has become a matter of great concern to collecting institutions. Although much research is being undertaken worldwide, a strong need exists for Australian conservation scientists to investigate the causes of deterioration and to understand thoroughly the physical and chemical state of collections for which they have responsibility. The project studies the effects of environmental factors, including light levels on dyes in and on fibrous materials. It analyses the process of degradation that occurs in dyes, pigments and on the substrates bearing them.
Increasing visitor frequency: An approach to understanding and forecasting how cultural-attraction visitors respond to various incentives to increase visitation rates
Partners: Powerhouse Museum, Australian Museum, Museum Victoria, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Maritime Museum, University of Sydney
Museums have been steadily losing visitors over the past decade. While current research indicates that this may be due to greater competition for leisure activities, little is understood about how people make choices to visit or not to visit cultural attractions. The aim of this project is to develop, demonstrate and test a random utility theory-based modelling approach allowing managers of cultural attractions to understand and predict the likely visitation consequences of potential initiatives. It models visitor choices in order to help museums identify specific strategies for increasing the frequency of visitors.
Bronze Age textiles from Dong Son coffins in Vietnam
Partner: School of Archaeology, The Australian National University
The project involves archaeologists and conservators in collaborative research to identify the most appropriate archaeological excavation techniques for the conservation of prehistoric textiles. The aim is to develop conservation and excavation techniques which enhance the condition and long-term preservation of ancient textiles. The focus of the project is on a field project in northern Vietnam where Bronze Age textiles are being recovered from Dong Son coffins.
The Australian Dictionary of Biography online and emerging national information systems: Networking research capability
Project partners: The Australian National University, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, Macquarie University, University of South Australia, Griffith University, Monash University, National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia, National Archives of Australia
The Australian Dictionary of Biography online and emerging national information systems project will link the dictionary's scholarly biographical articles with the resources of national cultural institutions, making available to researchers an unprecedented number of sources for the lives of historical figures and a much larger volume of contextual information about them.
New literacy, new audiences: A model for cost-effective Australian content generation and multiplatform publishing via co-creation and multi-site distribution
Project partners: Queensland University of Technology, Powerhouse Museum, Queensland Museum, Australian Museum, State Library of Queensland, Qpix, Australian Centre for the Moving Image
User-created media content, as opposed to professional broadcast media, has traditionally been regarded as amateur and unsuitable for broad appeal. New technologies and the popularity of interactive media offer new possibilities for low-cost but professional-quality user-created content. Our industry partners are seeking new ways to engage their users and consumers, and to share their content-rich sites with each other and the public at large. The project will connect institutions such as universities, museums and libraries with individuals trained in digital storytelling and aims to develop a new multiplatform network for Australian programming.
Migration memories: An analysis of representations of Australian migration histories
Partner: Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, The Australian National University
This project looks at the representation of Australian migration histories in museum exhibitions. The investigation process has three critical ingredients: storytelling through material culture; regional locations as sites of research to provide a comparative perspective on the migration experience; and the creation of small exhibitions locally and in a national setting as a method of research into the migrant experience. The regional locations offer the opportunity to explore less well-known experiences of migration and cultural interactions as well as the particularities of place and individual relationships with place.