Blog Archives
Fashion-able collections…
What goes around comes around, as they say… And Cairns Museum has been delighted by the recent request to loan its collection of hats made by the Cairns Country Women’s Association for use in a RetroVintage Fashion show at Merrylands Hall in Atherton on August 19th. Cairns Museum Manager, Suzanne Gibson, has noticed a growing interest in retro fashion and feels museums with fashion collections are well placed to appeal to younger audiences interested in fashion. Local resident, Di Singh, who is helping the CWA in Atherton put together the show, agrees and has noticed an increased interest in millinery as well. Whilst visiting the museum to view the collection, Di shared her memories of how the hats were created during the 1980s. Her stories have greatly enhanced the museums understanding of the hats’ provenance and significance, and breathed new life into their potential for display and interpretation.
Suzanne Gibson, Val Schaupp and Di Singh with hats from Cairns Museums’ CWA hat collection.
Jo’s Diary: Embroidered Cloth a Menmuny Treasure
During a recent training workshop at Menmuny Museum, QM curator Trish Barnard and I found one of their treasured items – an embroidered cloth. The embroidered cloth depicts stories from Yarrabah families and residents. Each piece has been hand stitched and combined to create a kind of ‘memory cloth’ or quilt (though it has no backing). It is a powerful and evocative object, one with the capacity to explore stories about place, mission life, belonging and families. As part of the project we are working on with Menmuny Museum, we hope to work with staff to find out more about the item, and to ensure it is preserved for future generations.
Trish Barnard (Queensland Museum) and Bradley Higgins (Menmuny Museum) examine the embroidered cloth.
Bronwyn’s Diary: Tambo Teddies beyond the Black Stump
Recently I visited Blackall and Tambo to help the Blackall-Tambo Regional Council and the Tambo Heritage Group identify future directions for two key heritage collections. First stop was RamPark in Blackall. This is a Read the rest of this entry
Mackay’s Heritage Collections
Alan & Rosalea from the Mackay & District Holden Club with their 1973 Holden Torana.
A week in Mackay working on the BHP BMC sponsored ‘Significance Assessment’ project began with Bronwyn, Helen and I enjoying the glorious sunshine and the array of heritage displays at the annual Mackay Heritage Fair at Greenmount Homestead. The event showcases many of the heritage organisations in the Mackay and Isaac regions as well as the historic Greenmount homestead and its contents. With around 7000 people in attendance, its great to see the local community supporting cultural heritage in the region. While there we interviewed 6 organisations about their collections and met many interesting people.
Vicki interviewing Alec from the Pioneer Valley Machinery Preservationists Society.
Then it was off to the Mackay City Library’s Heritage Collection and the Mackay Family Historical Society for Helen and I to conduct Significance and Preservation Assessments. At the Heritage Collection we found some gorgeous glass plate negatives of Mackay’s flora and fauna and aerial photographs of Mackay taken from a Boxkite. Boy they were keen back then!
