Queensland Museum & Community Collections

Author: Dr Jo Wills

  • International Museum Day: Museum collections making connections

    Every year, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) celebrates International Museum Day on or around the 18th of May. The theme for 2014 is: Museum collections make connections. This year’s theme aims to promote the way museum’s contribute to the development of society through the use of shared memory, community…

  • MDO’s in Coen post Cyclone Ita

    Almost a month after Cyclone Ita threatened communities along the Far North Queensland coast, it is great to see museums in the Cook Shire back in business and getting ready for the tourist season. The museums and collecting groups in the region did a great job with their disaster preparedness…

  • In Times of War: FNQ remembers WWI

    Cairns Historical Society’s photographs manager, Pauline O’Keeffe, has been working on a WWI exhibition called “In Times of War: FNQ Remembers WWI”. The goal of exhibition is to present stories about Far North Queensland, and the impact war had on the local community, rather than focus on battles in the…

  • Leather turtle miners caps – material evolution…

    When we look at modern day miners, all of their protective head wear is made from plastic or other more stable materials. But it wasn’t always the case. Early miners wore canvas hats with brackets for attaching lights and peaks to keep the dust from their eyes. Following WWI, an…

  • Now and THeN … using Skype to link community museums and education specialists

    With learning programs playing an important role in the contemporary museum sector, organisations need to have an understanding of the Australian Curriculum. But for many volunteers and non-education specialists, the process of wading through the curriculum can be overwhelming. To help museums and interpretation centres on the Atherton Tablelands de-mystify…

  • Clothes Tell Stories: An online costume workbook

    Do you have a question about clothing and costumes in your collection? Should they be hung, rolled or laid flat? How should they be displayed in exhibitions? And how can we best use them to tell stories and explore the myriad of different cultural and social expressions that they represent? …

  • Recycled Brass Band exhibition a hit at Yarrabah

    In mid July, MDOs Ewen McPhee and Dr Jo Wills worked with Bradley Higgins, archivist from Yarrabah’s Menmuny Museum, to install the “Blow ‘Im: The Yarrabah Brass Band Story” exhibition in time for the Yarrabah Band Festival. In just over three days, the museum space was reinvigorated, whilst maintaining the…

  • Volunteers bring Cairns’ Chinese heritage to life on Vimeo…

    For those of you not familiar with Cairns’ Chinese heritage, here is a chance for a sneak peak into CADCAI’s (Cairns and District Chinese Association Inc) collection rooms and activities. Recently, four volunteers from CADCAI – Julie, Jackie, Ann and Emma – participated in a video making workshop run by…

  • Reinvigorating FNQ’s museum workers and volunteers

    Museum workers and volunteers from a range of FNQ museums have been involved in three different workshops over the past six weeks. Workshops offer participants an opportunity to acquire new skills so that they can care for and promote their collections and museums. But it’s important not to overlook the…