Transcript
Craddock
Morton, Director: Hello everyone and welcome to the National Museum of Australia. I am Craddock Morton, the Director of the Museum.
On your visit today you will see some changes. We are in a process of redevelopment. Museums need to change: They need to keep abreast of technological development; they need to tell the stories you have told us you want to hear; and we need to show objects that you may not have seen before.
The Australian Horizons gallery is being changed. When it reopens in late 2008 it will be called Australian Journeys and it will tell stories about voyages of discovery and the settlement of Australia.
The Circa theatre is undergoing an extensive transformation right now. What we will be doing there is providing you with a better introduction to the Museum so that you will have more of an understanding of how the Museum is comprised. When it is finished, it will combine images, places and objects to provide a new view of Australian history and to better explain how we have got to where we are now.
You will still be able to see those objects that you love: Phar Lap's heart, the Holden and you will still be able to explore the spaces you have become used to, whether it is Kspace, the Garden of Australian Dreams or even our wonderful main Hall.
If you have any questions, ask your friendly hosts. They are there to help you and they will have all the information you require.
Freya, Visitor Services Host: The Horizons gallery is undergoing a massive redevelopment. When the new exhibition reopens in late 2008 it will be known as Australian Journeys. The new exhibition explores voyages of discovery, exploration and the settlement of Australia. It will trace the journeys to and from this great land and explore how the movement of people and objects has created connections between places here and overseas.
Graeme, Visitor Services Host: Australian Journeys will look outward from our shores, considering how people imagined life in Australia and how we have understood our place in the world. Journeys will reach out across the continent connecting urban, regional and remote places here with places overseas. Through the colourful stories of these cultural landscapes, the gallery will demonstrate how the nation's history and experience are influenced by global forces and conditions.
Freya: You will be able to see our collection of convict love tokens; smooth coins engraved with a message or an image and left behind with loved ones in England to keep their memory alive.
Graeme: And you will even find out how Rolf Harris discovered the wobble board and see the Stairway to Heaven wobble board that Rolf used from 1961 right through to 2004.
Freya: So if you would like any more information about our gallery development, check out our website or come and ask one of the friendly - and knowledgeable - visitor service hosts. And remember there are still so many reasons to visit the National Museum of Australia.
Craddock Morton: We hope you enjoy your visit to the Museum and I would love to see you back here again soon. Thank you.
