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The Museum's core collections feature historical objects
and photos, information on immigration schemes, oral
recordings and personal stories. Recognising the previous
ownership of this country, the Museum also endeavours
to relate the impacts of immigration on indigenous
peoples. Interactive computer devices are also used
to present information on the settlement patterns
and population statistics of Australia's diverse communities.
Currently information on 48 immigrant communities
is featured in English and a second language. Overall,
the museum aims to recount the many experiences of
immigration to Australia and its impact, rather than
developing the history of culturally specific groups
or presenting the history chronologically.
Melbourne's Immigration Museum also houses the Sarah
and Baillieu Myer Immigration Discovery Centre, a
library on migration and cross-cultural issues, with
Internet access and workshops to assist with genealogical
research; and the Tribute Garden records the names
of people who have travelled from all over the world
to make Victoria their home. Designed by Melbourne
artist Evangelos Sakaris, the first stage of the Tribute
Garden features names engraved in granite, over which
a constant stream of water flows, symbolising the
passage over water all immigrants must make to reach
Australia.
A key project which the Immigration Museum is developing
with the Melbourne Museum, with a view to increasing
participation levels in the arts of audiences from
culturally diverse communities, is the three-year
national programme entitled the Multicultural Audience
Development Strategy (MADS). Victoria is the most
culturally diverse state in Australia, with one fifth
of Victorians over 5 years old speaking a language
other than English at home. In some municipalities
this figure rises to over 50% of the population. There
was an overwhelming preference amongst museum research
participants to undertake leisure activities with
their fellow compatriots and in their native language;
a common language and a common migration experience
bonded them together. In response, the Melbourne Museum
has commenced a pilot museum guided tour for Italian
speakers.
Outside Broadcasts have also been successful in bringing
a culturally diverse public to the museums: the Special
Broadcasting Service (SBS Radio), a national multilingual
radio network broadcasting in 68 languages, brought
their mobile unit to the Museum to broadcast a special
programme. Journalists from the Tongan and Cook Islands
brought their own unique perspective to bear in an
interview with museum professionals from the Museum's
Pacific Islander Gallery "Te Pasifika". In the case
of the Russian Programme, due to the large number
of new arrivals, a different strategy was adopted:
listeners were earlier issued with promotional tickets
to visit the museum, whereupon they reported on their
impressions during the Russian programme. Hence the
Melbourne Immigration Museum, in addition to the wealth
of information it displays, provides the framework
for diverse communities to participate actively, bringing
their own language and cultural background to the
Museum.
Immigration Museum, Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666 E, Melbourne, Vic 3000
Tel. (61 3) 9927 2700. Fax (61 3) 9927 2728
Email: immigration@museum.vic.gov.au
http://www.immigration.museum.vic.gov.au
Articles
around the theme:
 EXCHANGE
- Key
to memory
INNOVATION
- Cyberspace
Communities: MUVA, the Virtual Museum Of Arts El País
DEVELOPEMENT
- A
model community museum in a village in the High Atlas
INTEGRATION
- Celebrating
Australia's multicultural history
PARTICIPATION
- A
community regulates its own heritage
Articles
published in: "ICOM News", Volume 54 - 2001
N°1
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