A national framework for managing malignant plastics in museum collections. A national framework for managing malignant plastics in museum collections. This collaborative project between three universities, four museums and an art gallery aims to discover how to predict and increase the lifespan of malignant plastics or polymers by studying their identification, deterioration and conservation. 5 to 80% of museum collections, composed of growing numbers of plastic or polymer-based materials, need ....A national framework for managing malignant plastics in museum collections. A national framework for managing malignant plastics in museum collections. This collaborative project between three universities, four museums and an art gallery aims to discover how to predict and increase the lifespan of malignant plastics or polymers by studying their identification, deterioration and conservation. 5 to 80% of museum collections, composed of growing numbers of plastic or polymer-based materials, need better preservation. Conservators do not have much expertise in preserving plastics, which are contemporary and have a relatively short life expectancy. This project intends to provide museums with a model for prioritising and effectively allocating resources to preserve a vulnerable group of collections for future generations.Read moreRead less
Archiving Social Movements & Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age. This project aims to investigate how the history of social movements has been collected, catalogued and curated by archives and museums. It is significant because it will make these histories available to form an equitable and inclusive civic culture. An expected outcome is an interdisciplinary approach producing new knowledge about citizens’ roles in shaping private and public collections, and about the use of these co ....Archiving Social Movements & Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age. This project aims to investigate how the history of social movements has been collected, catalogued and curated by archives and museums. It is significant because it will make these histories available to form an equitable and inclusive civic culture. An expected outcome is an interdisciplinary approach producing new knowledge about citizens’ roles in shaping private and public collections, and about the use of these collections to shape memory and generate wider historical literacy. Benefits include providing insight into inclusive physical and digital collecting practices, which enables the project to address UNESCO’s goal of achieving greater access to decision-making about culture, heritage and the formation of social identities.Read moreRead less
Transforming the early modern archive: the Emmerson Collection at SLV. In 2015, State Library Victoria (SLV) received the bequest of the Emmerson Collection: a national treasure of over 5000 early modern rare books and manuscripts, the first and only early modern archive of scale to be held by an Australian institution. Bringing together experts in early modern studies and the digital humanities with specialist library staff, this project will uncover the contents and scope of the collection and ....Transforming the early modern archive: the Emmerson Collection at SLV. In 2015, State Library Victoria (SLV) received the bequest of the Emmerson Collection: a national treasure of over 5000 early modern rare books and manuscripts, the first and only early modern archive of scale to be held by an Australian institution. Bringing together experts in early modern studies and the digital humanities with specialist library staff, this project will uncover the contents and scope of the collection and promote its international scholarly significance to the wider world. In doing so, it will develop new digital tools designed to unlock the value of this unique public resource for a wide range of end-users.Read moreRead less
Heritage of the air: how aviation transformed Australia. This project aims to generate new understandings of how aviation has transformed Australian society over the last hundred years, and how the technology of global mobility has shaped people, cultures and communities. Whilst aviation has transformed Australian society over the last hundred years, its heritage is under-appreciated and at risk. The project will build a partnership between the aviation industry, community groups, museums and a ....Heritage of the air: how aviation transformed Australia. This project aims to generate new understandings of how aviation has transformed Australian society over the last hundred years, and how the technology of global mobility has shaped people, cultures and communities. Whilst aviation has transformed Australian society over the last hundred years, its heritage is under-appreciated and at risk. The project will build a partnership between the aviation industry, community groups, museums and a multidisciplinary academic team to develop fresh insights from under-utilised sources of aviation heritage, communicate their unique stories to the public through innovative exhibitions and publications, and help conserve it for future generations. As a result, the project will make an important contribution to culture and society by enabling community access to neglected and at-risk sources of aviation heritage, and engage the public’s fascination with aviation through new interpretations of its extraordinary social and cultural impact.Read moreRead less
Reuniting cargoes: Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Maritime Silk Route. Beginning in the mid 1400s the Maritime Silk Route witnessed the largest known expansion of global trade. But the legacy of artefacts retrieved from this time has not been appropriately understood because the objects were mostly salvaged and dispersed without recording the archaeological details of their find-spots. Our multilateral consortium aims to discover the cultural value of the largest Southeast Asian ceramic col ....Reuniting cargoes: Underwater Cultural Heritage of the Maritime Silk Route. Beginning in the mid 1400s the Maritime Silk Route witnessed the largest known expansion of global trade. But the legacy of artefacts retrieved from this time has not been appropriately understood because the objects were mostly salvaged and dispersed without recording the archaeological details of their find-spots. Our multilateral consortium aims to discover the cultural value of the largest Southeast Asian ceramic collections in Indonesia and Australia with archaeological science. By employing and enhancing international conventions, the project will generate new knowledge about this decisive epoch in world history and build capacity to preserve the underwater cultural heritage of our region for future generations.Read moreRead less
Nuclear Nation: a contemporary archaeology of Australia's atomic heritage. The history of nuclear science in Australia is of growing interest to scholars, however the physical remains of this controversial legacy are yet to be investigated. This interdisciplinary project would bring together leading academics, curators, scientists and First Nations researchers, using innovative contemporary archaeology approaches, to generate new understandings of the significance of Australia’s atomic heritage ....Nuclear Nation: a contemporary archaeology of Australia's atomic heritage. The history of nuclear science in Australia is of growing interest to scholars, however the physical remains of this controversial legacy are yet to be investigated. This interdisciplinary project would bring together leading academics, curators, scientists and First Nations researchers, using innovative contemporary archaeology approaches, to generate new understandings of the significance of Australia’s atomic heritage in global context. Expected outcomes include improved capacity for heritage management, and new resources and methods for understanding and interpreting Australia’s role in the Nuclear Age. This should generate substantial benefits for the Partner Organisations, and for Australia's tourism and cultural sectors more broadly.Read moreRead less
Excavating MacGregor: re-connecting a colonial museum collection. Sensing the impacts of colonisation, the first Administrator of British New Guinea William MacGregor made a significant collection of objects specifically for its future citizens. This comprehensive legacy of 13 000 objects did not remain in the country but was dispersed to three Australian and six overseas museums. Our aim is to re-assemble and re-connect this material by 'excavating' its private and official components. This res ....Excavating MacGregor: re-connecting a colonial museum collection. Sensing the impacts of colonisation, the first Administrator of British New Guinea William MacGregor made a significant collection of objects specifically for its future citizens. This comprehensive legacy of 13 000 objects did not remain in the country but was dispersed to three Australian and six overseas museums. Our aim is to re-assemble and re-connect this material by 'excavating' its private and official components. This research aims to focus on the makers and traders to disentangle the social relationships embedded in the objects. Using material-centred, assemblage-based archaeological approaches, we aim to investigate how indigenous groups used objects to negotiate with the new colonial government.Read moreRead less
Archiving Australian Media Arts: Towards a method and national collection. The early years of Australian digital media arts heritage are at risk. Australians were significant contributors to the development of media arts internationally, as well as making and exhibiting work nationally, yet only a tiny portion of the digital artwork by Australian artists has made it into institutional collections. Deteriorating disks and reliance on obsolete hardware and software mean that innovative digital pre ....Archiving Australian Media Arts: Towards a method and national collection. The early years of Australian digital media arts heritage are at risk. Australians were significant contributors to the development of media arts internationally, as well as making and exhibiting work nationally, yet only a tiny portion of the digital artwork by Australian artists has made it into institutional collections. Deteriorating disks and reliance on obsolete hardware and software mean that innovative digital preservation and access solutions are needed if these artworks are to be saved. Working with key cultural institutions, this project will conserve key media art case studies from the archives of media arts organisations, and develop a best practice method for the preservation of our digital media arts heritage.Read moreRead less
Mobilising Dutch East India Company collections for new global stories . Australia has a rich legacy of archives, art and artefacts, including 4 shipwrecks in WA, from its history of encounters with the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Through comparative research in Australian and overseas museums and archives we aim to situate Australian collections in a global context, creating new stories about Australia as part of the VOC global network. An interdisciplinary team will train 3 ECRs and 7 HDRs ....Mobilising Dutch East India Company collections for new global stories . Australia has a rich legacy of archives, art and artefacts, including 4 shipwrecks in WA, from its history of encounters with the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Through comparative research in Australian and overseas museums and archives we aim to situate Australian collections in a global context, creating new stories about Australia as part of the VOC global network. An interdisciplinary team will train 3 ECRs and 7 HDRs and forge partnerships with the Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Africa, strengthening national capacity. Our analysis will enrich the value of collections, provide narratives for museums and sites, and revitalise content for international and domestic tourism markets.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200197
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$183,144.00
Summary
Seeing yourself in Australian digital cultural heritage. To ensure that Australia's museums, galleries and archives reflect what is important to all of us as we move into the digital age, we need to increase accessibility, participation and ownership for all Australians. We therefore aim to discover and test best practices for engaging diverse members of the general public in the creation of digital cultural heritage. Outcomes will include engagement of new visitor groups and increased accessibi ....Seeing yourself in Australian digital cultural heritage. To ensure that Australia's museums, galleries and archives reflect what is important to all of us as we move into the digital age, we need to increase accessibility, participation and ownership for all Australians. We therefore aim to discover and test best practices for engaging diverse members of the general public in the creation of digital cultural heritage. Outcomes will include engagement of new visitor groups and increased accessibility to collections. Cultural institutions will gain access to new digital practices for telling a wide range of lesser-known stories. This will bring cultural and social benefits as well as economic benefits by putting our cultural sector at the forefront of cutting edge international digital practice.Read moreRead less