Category: Jo’s Diary
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Proserpine Museum: open for business
Today, volunteers at Proserpine Museum opened the doors for business for the first time since Cyclone Debbie. With many local businesses still closed and undergoing repairs, this reopening is great news for Proserpine. Volunteers report that the building held strong during the cyclone. Although a small of amount of water got…
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恭喜發財 – Gong Xi Fa Cai! CADCAI creates a fresh display to celebrate Chinese New Year
As many museum followers know, Cairns is home to a nationally significant collection of Chinese artefacts known as the Lit Sung Goong temple collection. Cared for by the Heritage Group at Cairns and District Chinese Association Inc. (CADCAI), this collection tells the story of early migration and settlement, of business…
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In aid of Belgians… the Kingsborough autograph cloth
Earlier this year I was contacted by a woman who was wondering whether a cloth that had belonged to her husband’s grandmother held any interest to the collecting organisations in far north Queensland. The description of the item reminded me at once of the autographed signature cloths that we have…
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Exploring the value of First World War projects at the SLQ Heritage Leaders Forum
At the recent Q ANZAC 100 Heritage Leaders Workshop held at the State Library in Brisbane, I was asked to participate in a forum about community involvement in First World War Projects with three other speakers. This gave me the opportunity to discuss a few of the projects I have worked on as…
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Adaptation and collaboration: creating the gallery for “Cooktown’s War”
Like many museums across Queensland, James Cook Museum received funding from the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. Designed to showcase the museum’s First World War collections, the grant also included time for Ewen and I to provide onsite advice, reconfigure the gallery space and install the exhibition. When Kate Eastick…
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“Evolution: Torres Strait Masks”- MDOs working with Gab Titui
Apart from the disaster recovery work in Winton, the MDOs have been working on numerous other projects. One of these, “Evolution: Torres Strait Masks”, has been with staff from Gab Titui Cultural Centre on Thursday Island. At the end of last year, Jo Wills and Ewen McPhee traveled up to…
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Edmund Jarvis and his amazing cane beetle displays
It’s not often I get called to look at natural history or entomological collections. And, when I was contacted by staff at Meringa Research Station near Gordonvale to come and assess the condition of some old display cases, I must confess to being a little skeptical. Imagine my surprise, then,…
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Follow up from Cyclone Nathan, FNQ
After two weeks of watching and waiting as Cyclone Nathan carved an erratic path back and forth across the Coral Sea, it finally passed over the FNQ coast on Friday/Saturday between Cape Flattery and Cape Melville. This more northerly crossing meant that the museums in Cooktown were spared the worst…
Queensland Museum & Community Collections 