FNQ’s museum community is always a hive of activity … and as the MDO for the region, I can assure you there’s never a dull moment. Over the last three months, I’ve been kept on my toes juggling a few different projects and visiting a number of communities. Here’s a brief snapshot to keep you in the loop:
BACK TO COOKTOWN
It was great to finally get back to Cooktown to catch up with old friends and meet some new faces. Apart from enjoying the region’s culture and history, I also appreciate the drive – up the Byerstown Range, through the Palmer River goldfields, past Black Mountain (Kalkajaka) and over the Annan River (Yuku-Baja-Muliku). First stop was Natures Powerhouse to meet the Vera Scarth Johnson Association committee. The new cast of friendly volunteers were keen to chat about display refreshment and collection challenges. I have to admit to being a little bit in love with Vera’s story so I am always interested to see what this group are up to.
I spent a morning at the Cooktown History Centre with Bev Shay and Marge Scully. They continue to manage a vast collection – but now in a fully airconditioned building! That’s gold… particularly during the summertime. I also got to do some hands-on work and to help Bev refresh displays in the John Hay room. Almost next door is the Waalmbal Birri Heritage and Culture Centre. It was my first time visiting their new building and I was lucky enough to chat with five members of the team, including founders Loretta Sullivan and Alberta Hornsby. Listening to them talk about developing the centre was inspiring – they have a great message to share.
The National Trust of Australia’s (QLD) Cooktown Museum was my final museum stop. The old convent building never fails to stop me in my tracks – it has such presence in the landscape. I met up with site manager, Bev Grant, and staff, chatted about the collection and had a look at the museum’s new interpretation. On the way home, I also stopped at Lakeland to look at the new sculpture park – some great pieces of art made from recycled materials – make sure you stop if you’re driving through!
OUT AND ABOUT: TABLEANDS AND YARRABAH
Driving across the range to Yarrabah Arts Centre is always a treat. This time I was joined by Aven Noah Jnr, curator at Northsite, who was keen to visit the centre with me. Simone Arnol (centre manager) and Bernie Singleton showed us the amazing work being done to upgrade their displays and also discussed their aspirations to enhance the collection management and build skills through training. Great, too, to see the gatehouse building showcasing artworks made on site by Yarrabah’s talented resident artists.
Mareeba Heritage Centre has a new manager, so I thought I’d stop in for a chat. I worked with Sandrine Gloton previously in Croydon – it’s great to have her back in the museum sector. I discovered a few new additions, including their audio tour. I also loved seeing the volunteers in action – juggling an army of school children through different stations at the museum – I’m not sure who was having more fun!
In mid-October 20 people gathered at Atherton’s Old Post Office Gallery for the Tablelands Heritage Network meeting. This is a great group, always keen to learn and share. I ran a significance training workshop first and volunteers then showcased some of the artifacts they had brought along. It was an engaging morning – and highlighted the enduring effectiveness of a good old show and tell session!
Proposed Chinese Culture and Heritage Centre, Cairns
Over the last few months, I’ve been working with exhibition designer and photographer, Michael Marzik, and the team at CADCAI on plans for the proposed Chinese Culture and Heritage Centre. As well as working with architects to determine the layout and fixtures, we’ve visited the Hou Wang Temple in Atherton and the Chinese temple in Innisfail. We are in the process of creating a curatorial concept brief and storage overview with a small volunteer working group. The symbolism and significance of the Lit Sung Goong Collection is mesmerizing, and it’s a such a pleasure to work with and learn from this passionate group of volunteers.
“STRAIT” INSTALLATIONS – ART AWARDS & MURUYGAW NGULAYG / AU LE IRA PADAR EXHIBITION
In July, Ewen McPhee and I travelled up to Thursday Island to run exhibition training workshops with the staff at Gab Titui Cultural Centre and help prepare for the 2023 Gab Titui Art Awards. We used this as a chance to develop an exhibition brief for a new display in the Ephrain Bani gallery (the cultural maintenance gallery). Lead curator, Leitha Assan, went on to develop the exhibition, Muruygaw Ngulayg / Au Le Ira Pardar (Wisdom of Our Elders) and, with her team, coordinate the Art Awards.
Ewen and I returned in October/November to help with the installation of both the exhibition and the awards. We were joined by freelancers Michael Marzik and Aven Noah Jnr. As always, hands on training during the installation made the process fun and engaging. It’s a joy to work with the team at Gab and learn about the culture being maintained and produced by contemporary artists. To cap it off, we got to attend the awards night and see the spectacular dancer team from Erub Island.
The Cardwell Bush Telegraph recently opened a new exhibition focusing on cyclones that have impacted the Cassowary Coast Regional Council. They have many to choose from.
The MDO program was heavily involved in the response, recovery and rebuild of Cardwell after Cyclone Yasi. This exhibition is located in the newly called weather room within the heritage listed Bush Telegraph. It looks at how cyclones are formed, named and the forecasting of them. It also documents a selection of past cyclones and how they impacted the community, told through their stories, and the impact on the natural and built environment.
Cardwell has a heritage precinct made up of the Bush Telegraph, the J.C. Hubinger Museum, the old court house, gaol and shire hall. There is also a Visitor Information Centre in the museum, with up-to-date information on the Cassowary Coast region and nearby regions, including other museums and heritage places.
Ewen and I are coming to the end of our MDO odyssey – while the jokes are getting worse, the welcomes we receive and the sights we are seeing make it all worth it. We departed Eromanga after a quick return to the Natural History Museum for Belinda and Corey’s excellent coffees and hit the road to Windorah. Along the way we stopped at my very first outback sand dune, where I marvelled at the colour and thought I found a wild watermelon. Turns out it’s an invasive species which was very disappointing.
Windorah was abuzz with preparations for the opening of their new display hangar, showcasing one of Windorah’s most beloved families – the Kidds. After having the opportunity to purchase back Sandy Kidd’s Cessna 172 from its most recent owners, Cath and Ross, the Windorah community acquired funding to buy the plane, store it safely while a new display hangar was built, and then move it down the road from the airstrip to the hangar to its final home. The stories the plane can tell are truly amazing – Sandy pioneered aerial mustering in Australia, as well as used this little plane to provide emergency support and transport during flooding events in Windorah and surrounds. The hangar also displays a buggy, the bones of which were found on a local station and then carefully restored by a team of local enthusiasts.
Prior to the official opening ceremony and event on the Saturday, we made a pilgrimage to Sando’s Sandhill, a spectacular series of red sandhills named after Sandy Kidd, where we watched the sunset over this glorious outback landscape. We also befriended the dogs from the local pub and managed not to embarrass ourselves too terribly playing pool!
As the opening event grew nearer we made ourselves useful by giving the Cessna and the buggy a careful clean, which was a real privilege. Jo Wills and I have had the pleasure of putting together the interpretation for both the plane and the buggy, and it was a really lovely experience to be up close and personal with a plane that has so many stories and local memories associated with it, and which shows its history through bumps and marks, dents and bends. We also were able to talk to the plane’s most recent owners, Cath and Ross, who told us of their adventures flying it across Australia with Cath as the pilot. The enormous spider which had taken up residence in the wing was deeply unimpressed as we evicted her and her cobwebs.
The event itself was such a pleasure to attend and we both feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to meet the community who have worked so hard to make this space a reality. Lovely speeches and memories of Sandy and his family were shared, including by Bill who taught Sandy and other locals how to fly! The hospitality was incredible and we were very impressed by the local lads and ladies showing off some amazing dance moves. The MDOs will not be taking questions at this time about their dancing skills.
Many thanks to Amanda, Peta, Matt, the whole Simpson family and the Windorah community for making us so welcome and putting together a wonderful celebration.
From Windorah we started the journey back east, watching the landscape gradually change as we passed through Quilpie. We met with the team at the Charleville Historic House where we were treated to fresh scones with jam and cream on a very, very cold morning! It was lovely to catch up with the team and find out what they have been doing, and were able to provide some thoughts on collection management nitty gritty like loan forms and other important collection tasks. The ABC has also opened a Western Queensland office in Charleville, and along with Gabrielle Wheeler, the Historic House’s Treasurer, we shared our thoughts about museums and heritage in the West. Emus were mentioned, and I’m not sorry.
And now we are in Roma, finishing up what has been a true adventure. We have:
Many thanks to the communities, volunteers, council members and museum teams who welcomed us in and showed us their places, objects and stories. We are so privileged to do the work we do and the communities we work with make it all possible.
Next stop, Toowoomba and Townsville, where Ewen might finally defrost and I might need to buy a new fridge to put my magnets…
With the weather now well and truly glorious, Ewen and I departed Thargomindah for Quilpie, a two hour drive through scenic country, unusually green after so much rain. I was unreasonably excited by many emu sightings including a family group poking about by the side of the road – simple joys for this city slicker.
For our first night in Quilpie we stayed at the Shearer’s Quarters at The Lake, a cattle and goat property. The owners recognised the need to diversify during long-running droughts and set up some truly lovely accommodation, including a top-notch MDO office on the verandah. A little bit chilly in the early mornings but the view was well worth it.
Louise, the owner of the property, and James her son kindly allowed us to feed the orphaned kids and lamb, much to the embarrassing excitement of the aforementioned city MDO. Marilyn the pig was the grateful recipient of our apple and pear cores.
From The Lake we headed into Quilpie proper, where we met with Karen and Jess at the Quilpie Visitor Information Centre. The Quilpie Council manages a number of sites around the Quilpie Shire, including the Railway Museum and Quilpie Museum in town, and the Adavale heritage precinct. They also assist with the Eromanga Living History Museum which we will get to later! Ewen was blown away by the work Jess had done in the Quilpie Museum after he and Mel visited a number of years ago. The space is now arranged by theme, with amazing photographs framed in a way that allows easy changeover, and objects which help to share the local stories from the Shire. While on site we worked with Karen and Jess to move the Railway Museum’s original station bell and lantern into a display case and talked through some options for other projects in the area.
The next day we headed an hour up the road to Adavale. Once a bustling regional town, the extension of the railway to Quilpie rather than Adavale meant the population drastically reduced. On the drive we were treated to sensational views, with deep blue skies making an impressive contrast against the red roads.
Along the way Quilpie Council had developed a star gazing platform with an amazing view – sadly too much sun around to make the best use of it!
In Adavale we explored the Shire Hall and the information panels about the town, and assessed the old police cell with the view to providing some recommendations for preservation and interpretation to Quilpie Shire Council. There are extensive records of the police service in Adavale available with some great quirky stories, as well as some more modern tales as well – Adavale still has its own police officer.
We also assessed the meat safe, the only remaining structure where Adavale town used to stand. The building was likely a part of the Green Gates Hotel which stood next door. Quilpie Council plan to stabilise the building and tell some more stories about both the meat safe specifically, as well as about Adavale’s history more generally, a project I’ll be looking forward to assisting with! We also suggested that the two flood boats displayed outside the meat safe were moved back to shelter at the Shire Hall for their long-term protection. Small plaques illustrate where the town buildings used to stand, including banks, pubs and general stores.
Rather unexpectedly, Adavale is home to a patisserie, the Elegant Emu (does anyone sense a theme?). We enjoyed a very luxurious morning tea on the verandah.
After a restful night in Quilpie, we headed off to Eromanga, home of Australia’s largest recorded dinosaur – Cooper, Australotitan cooperensis, thought to have been 30 metres long! The Eromanga Natural History Museum has been a project a long time in the making, since 14 year old Sandy Mackenzie discovered an unusual rock just outside the town of Eromanga in 2004. The ‘rock’ turned out to be part of a fossilised dinosaur, and since then the team have unearthed many internationally significant dinosaur remains, as well as creating a stunning museum experience for visitors and an incredible laboratory set up for fossil preparation and research work. We were very lucky to hear about the museum’s journey of development from Robyn, Corey and Jo, and loved meeting more of the team as part of the guided tour.
Unfortunately due to ongoing flooding in the Diamantina Shire, our planned visit out to Birdsville wasn’t possible so we’ll have to come back when the waters recede! This did give us an extra day to enjoy the beautiful landscapes around Eromanga, as well as a good look at the Eromanga Living History Centre.
Situated on the main street, the centre explores some of the stories and objects relating to Eromanga’s social history. The object theatre display was a quirky look into some of the stories of people who call this place home, from Indigenous communities to opal miners to pastoralists and more.
Next we will head to Windorah and Charleville – the final leg of this western trip is rapidly approaching! Unfortunately for Ewen my delight at emus appears not to be approaching any sort of finality.
The rain had set in as we departed Cunnamulla for Thargomindah, with road closures and flooding causing havoc for tourists all over the Outback. Luckily for us the highway out was unaffected. It’s been amazing to see the landscape so green and lush – I gather I am seeing the Outback looking very different to the last few years!
After 45 minutes of careful driving we arrived in the little town of Eulo. Our first stop was to the large sculpture of Kenny, the local friendly diprotodon. The largest marsupial to have ever lived, in 2012 scientists including those from Queensland Museum found the fossilized skeletons of up to 40 diprotodons at a site in Eulo. The name means ‘two forward teeth’ and we were both very fond of Kenny’s wee grin.
Eulo is also renowned for a very interesting local – the Eulo Queen, after whom the pub is named. Isabel Grey was a clever businesswoman and a mysterious individual, who may have been born in England but alternatively suggested she was from Mauritius. She was married three times, and her love for locally found opals meant she engaged in all manner of nefarious dealings to obtain these beautiful stones. After a tumultuous life, she died in poverty in Toowoomba, but is fondly remembered in Eulo. We also enjoyed discovering the site of the Eulo lizard races and a rather epic town sign. The local flood truck was also lovely to see – raised high on its axles, it ferried food, supplies, mail and passengers across the Paroo River in flooded conditions between 1990 and 2017.
From Eulo we continued westwards in the rain to Thargomindah, on the banks of the Bulloo River. This little town punches above its weight when it comes to exploring heritage, and we spent a wonderful day in the sunshine exploring the heritage buildings and trails. Thargomindah’s claim to fame was its adoption of hydroelectric power – it was the third place in the world to switch on lights powered by hydroelectricity, after London and Paris! The heritage sites in Thargo are accessed by a swipe card from the visitor’s centre, and connected by lovely walkways through town, making a 5km stroll. Each site – the old hospital, the jail and the hydroelectric plant – contain a mix of photographs, audiovisual content and actors telling quirky and moving stories of each place’s history. We particularly enjoyed some of the stories of the hospital where quick thinking and ingenuity was required to save lives, and of the town bore being used to cook corned beef!
Our final stop was at Leahy House, the oldest house in Thargomindah. Made of local mud brick, the house is open to the public at all hours. After a great chat with the team at the Visitor Information Centre we’re hoping the MDO team will be able to assist with maintaining this iconic Thargo location. We also really enjoyed finding out all the ways the Council are working to make Thargo a wonderful place for locals and tourists alike to live and visit, including new housing, schooling options and lovely leisure activities.
Next up is Quilpie, where we discover a new appreciation for pigs and goats…
Since heading out from Goondiwindi on Wednesday morning, the on-the-road MDOs have headed further west into cotton country, with the first stop Thallon. This little community boasts a supersized art presence, with the grain silos dominating the horizon painted with dazzling murals. William the northern hairy nosed wombat was also popular with one MDO in particular, although she’s still looking out for the real thing…
From Thallon we spent the night in St George, a relaxed town along the mighty Balonne River. The river is running especially high at the moment but as we discovered, that was nothing compared to floods the town has suffered through in earlier years.
After a catch up with the friendly team at the Visitor Information Centre and finding out a bit more about some of the cotton growing that powers this region, we wandered to a St George icon – The Unique Egg. Run by Stavros (Steve) Margaritus and his daughter, The Unique Egg displays Stavros’ incredible emu egg carving skills, which he picked up after moving to St George from Greece in the 1950s. Now in his late 80s we enjoyed meeting the artist himself.
From St George we headed west to Cunnamulla in the Paroo Shire, home to Slim Dusty’s Cunnamulla Fella. Ewen has perfected the layering technique required to stay warm despite the sunshine, sporting the combo of beanie plus sunglasses to fulfill both warmth and glare requirements.
On our way to Cunnamulla we stopped in the small community of Bollon, where we very unexpectedly had French crepes and eclairs for lunch, made by two French chefs living in the town! We also were able to visit the Bollon Heritage Centre and discover a bit more about this beautiful part of the world, in particular the importance of bush nurses to these rural communities.
We also marvelled at the increasingly spectacular landscape, including some picture postcard-level stock mustering happening along the highway!
Once in Cunnamulla we headed to the Cunnamulla Fella Visitor Information Centre, where we met the lovely Carmel who showed us the features of their facility. The VIC also includes the town’s museum, which was a brilliant mix of thematic displays, local stories and audiovisual experiences. We loved some of the moving and quirky stories behind the collections, including the town band who came out and played at the railway station for every returning serviceperson in World War Two, and the stories of the local boxing gym and legendary coach Bill Johnstone, complete with miniature boxing ring. The museum also included an audiovisual experience exploring the artesian basin and opal mining, with associated audiovisual experiences looking at shearing and wool, and the largest cattle station in Australia – Tinnenburra. The collection of king plates from local First Nations leaders were also special to see.
Of particular interest was the original starting gate for the Cunnamulla & Eulo Festival of Opals Lizard Race, complete with winner’s sash and medal. We will return to lizard racing once we get to Eulo as Elspeth may have discovered a new curatorial passion…
We had a really great meeting with the Paroo Shire Council team, looking at ways the MDO programme might be able to assist with new heritage developments and with managing this amazing Cunnamulla collection. From there it was time for a wander around the centre of town, a couple of Cunnamulla Fella photos, and a camel burger for the road.
Next stop Eulo and on to Thargomindah – tune in next time for more giant animal sculptures, reptilian tales and why the tagline for Thargo is London, Paris, Thargomindah…
A new permanent exhibition has opened at the Maritime Museum of Townsville – Rise of the Port City.
The exhibition showcases the Port’s contribution to the development of North Queensland through a series of interpretive panels detailing events by using a timeline approach.
There are also a series of virtual reality experiences that were developed especially for the exhibition that tell the story of how the Port operates.
The exhibition also has a large touch and play table, a ship simulator that allows users to navigate ships around the world, a live vessel tracker providing information about ships arriving at the port, videos and model ships, artefacts, and objects.
The MDO for North Queensland, Ewen McPhee, worked with the Museum and the Port of Townsville to plan, develop and install the new exhibition. The Seafarer Gallery was repainted by volunteers and the original exhibition was moved to other galleries and exhibition furniture put into storage.
The Maritime Museum has had record visitation last financial year and continues to break all records in the second half of 2021. The Museum has a strong link to local schools and the exhibition has been popular with both primary and secondary schools.
I recently came across an object when working with Proserpine Historical Museum that made me think of a project that I was involved in seventeen years ago for the Queensland Museum. It was entitled “Old salts, alternative life-stylers and beach bums”. The goal of this Queensland wide project was to record people who had a long association with the sea and/or maritime practices, individuals who had chosen a lifestyle that was perceived to be alternative, and individuals who had chosen to drop out of society and live on islands or the coastal fringes of Queensland.
The object in question is the crown from the Great Barrier Reef Coral Festival that was presented to the Coral Queen. This crown was won by Thora Nicolson, formerly of Linderman Island and donated to the Museum. The fascinating full story of the festival and its transition can be found here, here and here through the Museum Facebook page.
Additional research has identified similar festival material culture such as crowns, gowns, sashes, photographs, movies and stories in museum collections throughout Queensland. It would be interesting to look at how these festivals originated, changed and their eventual demise.
My interest however was sparked by the makers of the crown – Leena and Bill Wallace from Coral Art on Dent Island. It is worthwhile to watch this short YouTube clip found here.
Leena and Bill lived on Dent Island and carved out a niche market for themselves selling painted coral arrangements. Bill, formally in the US Navy, was the collector, and Leena the artist. They lived on Dent Island for over 10 years and were some of the early pioneers in tourism in the Whitsunday region. They shipped their painted coral around the world and it was used to promote the Great Barrier Reef through the Queensland Tourist Bureau.
As the area opened up to cruising yachtsman in the 1960s, passing sailors, such as John Gunn, documented them in his 1966 book Barrier Reef by Trimaran
“A married couple live in an idyllic setting on a cleared area of land behind the beach on this northern tip. With tremendous enterprise they have pioneered a business for themselves. The husband dives for coral pieces, and the wife applies delicate shades of colour to them, to make them look like the living corals…One may not be enthralled by this kind of tourist art, but it is popular. And the life that the two have carved out for themselves on their own island is one that many of us would love to have…”
Other painted coral business also sprang up in the Whitsundays such as Mandalay Gardens at Mandalay Point across from Airlie Beach and collections of painted corals can be seen at the Bowen Museum and Historical Society.
Leena and Bill fit into the category of alternate life-stylers and it would have been great to record their story in full. Please contact the Proserpine Historical Museum if you know more about Leena and Bill.
The Museum Development Officers (MDOs) are currently engaging with their communities while working at home. This unfortunately means no workshops, display installation, oral histories, conservation, community meetings or any work that does not allow for adequate and safe social distancing. The MDOs will continue to assist by phone, email and depending on resources, video calls.
Although Melanie (Mackay) and Jo (Cairns) are used to working alone, Lydia (Toowoomba), Josh (Ipswich) and Ewen (Townsville) are all based in the Queensland Museum campuses which have now closed their doors to the public and encouraged staff to work from home.
Self and community isolation may be new to many people but the MDOs have all worked with remote communities who are used to isolation either by distance or by natural disasters such as flood. The MDOs have documented School of the Air radios, cleaned Flying Doctor objects, researched stories about Afghan traders servicing isolated pastoral stations, documented rural and remote health practices, researched quarantine stations on islands, and recorded the events of returning First World War soldiers and the Spanish Flu.
These objects and stories show resilience, innovation, adaptation and community spirit. They are in these museums because they are valued by the community and underscore their shared values and their desire to document what to them is often everyday life.
The MDO blog has recently added a new page with links to “how to videos”. Although these are designed as a basic introduction to a topic they may be useful if you need to undertake some work while your museum is closed or you have time at home. Please contact your local MDO if you need further information.
Nov 7
This gallery contains 17 photos.
The Bowen Museum and Historical Society are working on their significant maritime collection with the support of North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBP). NQBP have engaged Ewen McPhee to work with the Museum to refresh their maritime display and to train the volunteers in exhibition research and design. The maritime collection consists of photographs, objects […]
Queensland Museum & community collections 