Australian Museums & Galleries Association Conference

📍Newcastle Town Hall

📅 May 2023

The Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) is the national association and peak advocacy body representing museums and galleries. They encompass a wide and diverse range of national, state, regional and community museums, galleries, historic sites, botanic and zoological gardens, research centres, Indigenous cultural centres, and Keeping Places across Australia.

I was able to discuss the role of museums in the future of heritage protection, through research I completed as part of the Found a Fossil project. This research revealed that the Australian community would trust information disseminated by museums considerably more than information disseminated by government departments. Working at the Australian Museum as an Education Presenter myself, this was a great opportunity to showcase some of the incredible work that museums are already doing in this space.

Conference Theme: Discomfort. Brave conversations and new connections in changing environments 

Session Subtheme: Emerging Professionals 

Title:  Tell us what you really think: incorporating community perceptions into heritage conversations 

Natural and cultural heritage material, from fossils to Indigenous artefacts, are not always found by scientists or archaeologists. More often, they may be found fortuitously by farmers, bushwalkers, beachgoers, and beyond. Yet, the perspectives of these groups are often left out of the conversation. Who might these people tell if they discovered something? Would they bother telling anyone? Who would they trust with their finds? Who do they distrust, and why? In 2022, the Found a Fossil project released an online survey to see how Australians would answer these questions. This interactive discussion will use online quizzes (i.e., Kahoot) to see how your knowledge and perceptions compares with the rest of the Australian community, and to explore what that can tell us about the future of heritage conservation discourses. The Found a Fossil project has started a conversation about how we can acknowledge uncomfortable truths, dark histories, and tense relationships, whilst amplifying local voices, and exploring solutions proposed by the Australian community. This session is open to all, from community members to experts in the field, to have an open discussion about how amplifying local voices and concerns can lead to renewed trust, and locally inspired solutions to heritage conservation. 

Takeaway: Heritage conservation is not just up to museums or governments, but the Australian community too. Without them, we likely wouldn’t have many of the wonderful collections we have in our museums today, and their voices and ideas will be a key to protecting our heritage material for future generations.