I’ve been working at the museum for over 18 months now and, though I’ve become accustomed to the building’s rabbit warren-like layout and (sometimes) pokey rooms, one place that has continued to pique my interest is the room where we keep our office stationery.
For several years in the late 1920s and 1930s, before the opening of the Australian War Memorial, the provisional Parliament House (now the Museum of Australian Democracy) was the focus of Anzac Day ceremonies in Canberra.
We recently attended two conferences—The artefact, its context, and their narrative: multidisciplinary conservation in historic house museums and Interpretation—future challenge. Two conferences, different themes, yet we came away thinking about a common idea—’spirit of place’.
I’ve been asked to tell you about my favourite object or space in the museum. Where to start? There are so many wonderful objects and rooms in this beautiful museum that I am spoilt for choice.
Visitors often ask our volunteers and visitor experience staff about the bronze ventilation ducts in the House of Representatives and Senate chambers. These were installed during construction of the building (1923–1927) as part of the original air conditioning system. A lot of people are amazed to learn that air conditioning even existed at that time, and wonder how elaborate it could have been.
Do you enjoy messing about with sample pots of paint and mixing in just a touch more white or black to get the shade just so? If you answered a resounding yes then the Members’ Dining Room was your idea of heaven during January.
The care and preservation of our collections and the building itself often occurs at the micro level and during climatic, seasonal changes. During this time a particular range of threats emerge—pests.
A week is a long time at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House…especially when you are scraping paint off walls while the rest of Australia is lazing about on the beach, watching the cricket, playing with Christmas presents and feasting on leftovers.
We are currently undertaking a refurbishment of the Members’ Dining Room so that the space meets the requirements of a contemporary function venue, yet protects, reveals and communicates the rare and significant historical features.
The first thing I wrote in my notebook when I attended the recent Museums Australia Conference in Adelaide was ‘I feel large, small, different’. Was this going to be an Alice in Wonderland experience? From the opening ceremony to the closing plenary the conference encouraged me to reflect on this museum and its place in the museum world.
In September, the museum, in association with 666 ABC Canberra, hosted a competition to find our 300th oral history recording. Fantastic submissions were received from individuals who had worked in the building when it was home to the federal parliament however there can only be one winner.
The museum’s Schools Learning team have recently undertaken a significant refresh of one of our most popular onsite school programs—Franklin River Debate: 1983.
This month we are celebrating the 150th birthday of John Smith Murdoch, the chief architect for the Commonwealth of Australia who designed Provisional Parliament House, the magnificent building that houses our museum.
The release last week of Jenny Hocking’s second part of her two part biography of Australia’s 21st prime minister, Gough Whitlam has re-invigorated debate around the events of the dismissal of Whitlam’s government on 11 November 1975.
And in the ceiling and the paint work looks quite rough too. Why doesn’t the museum fix this corner?
Recently a 10 cm split was detected in the carpet on the floor of the House of Representatives. What should we do? The split was in a prominent location and this area was subject to heavy foot traffic.
As Old Parliament House celebrates its 85th birthday museum curators have taken the opportunity to shine a spotlight on one of its collections, which features attractive images of the building. This collection of Canberra travel posters, generously donated by Canberra resident Peter Graves, presents the Provisional Parliament House (later Old Parliament House) as the central Canberra feature.
In the mid-1920s, construction of the Provisional Parliament House meant that Canberra provided job opportunities for hundreds of workers and tradesmen from around the nation. Indeed, some say it was the largest construction site in Australia at that time.
Have you ever been in the presence of a highly revered museum object, such as Ned Kelly’s iron suit of armour or champion racehorse Phar Lap and felt the urge to reach out and touch it?
MoAD is thrilled to present a FREE family-friendly theatre experience as a part of the Enlighten Festival for eight nights from Saturday 3 March to Saturday 10 March 2012.
