Material Histories:
Objects as Sources?
Date: Friday 30 May 2008
Time: 9am – 4.30pm (8.30am registration)
Venue: Visions Theatre
National Museum of Australia
FREE
Image above: Military jacket and sword. Faithfull Family collection. National Museum of Australia
Museums are full of objects with stories to tell. Often the object illustrates a story gleaned from other sources such as books, documents, memories and photographs. But can the objects themselves be regarded as evidence of the past and, if so, how might we use them to create new interpretations of Australia's past? How can 'material history' inform our understanding of the past? What challenges might it pose? What benefits might it bring?
The National Museum of Australia's annual Collections Symposium is this year devoted to exploring the ways we might use museum objects as sources. It will open with short keynote papers (by an archaeologist, a curator, a historian and an anthropologist) reflecting on the way disciplines have approached physical evidence. Keynote speakers include Professor Fred Myers of New York University, Ms Margaret Anderson of the History Trust of South Australia, and from the National Museum of Australia, Dr Mike Smith and Mr Guy Hansen.
Two sessions of the symposium are devoted to a series of short 'showcase' papers in which speakers discuss the way they have used items or collections as evidence. Speakers include staff of the National Museum of Australia, Museum Victoria and the Powerhouse Museum.
The symposium has been structured to include many opportunities for discussion during and after the brief presentations. It will conclude with a panel and audience discussion at which Professor Graeme Davidson (Monash University), Associate Professor Paula Hamilton (University of Technology, Sydney), Mr Guy Hansen and Dr Maria Nugent (National Museum of Australia) reflect on the ways in which collections can be used to interpret the past, and the issues and problems faced in doing so.
Participants
Attendance is free and participation is encouraged. It is possible that the symposium will be filmed and recorded for broadcast on the web.
The symposium will interest museum professionals, students of material culture and museology, and anyone interested in understanding and explaining the past through new approaches and techniques arising from museums.
Student subsidies
In order to encourage participation by students, the Museum will subsidise the attendance of four students of material culture or museology from universities outside Canberra. Applications will be sought through the course convenors.
Organisation and queries
The Collections Symposium 2008 is being organised jointly by Mr Guy Hansen, Senior Curator, Collections Development and Dr Peter Stanley, Director, Centre for Historical Research, at the National Museum of Australia.
Program queries should be directed to
p.stanley@nma.gov.au
and questions about the organisation of the symposium should be directed to Ms Anne Faris, Centre for Historical Research
a.faris@nma.gov.au.
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> View Program
> View Synopses and biographical notes
