History and identity - News and events

Events | Featured projects | Call for entries | Announcements

Events

Megafauna - Prehistoric Giants from the Darling Downs - Toowoomba

Until 13 July 2009

Developed by Queensland Museum, the Megafauna - prehistoric giants from the Darling Downs exhibition is based on research from local Darling Downs sites which are some of the most well-preserved and extensive in Australia. Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to experience the patience needed by palaeontologists to uncover their discoveries at a pseudo-fossil dig. Cobb + Co Museum.

Living Democracy: the power of the people - Canberra

From July 2009

Living Democracy: the power of the people offers insights into how Australians can participate in the running of their country. The exhibit asks: are you the one who's going to stand up and be counted? Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.

Blue Jeans and Jungle Greens: Revisiting the Sixties and Seventies - Adelaide

19 February 2008 – 21 August 2009

Blue Jeans and Jungle Greens: revisiting the 60s and 70s explores the political and social complexity of the Sixties and Seventies. The exhibition examines both the conflict in Vietnam, including the part played by South Australians in the war, and the anti-war campaign on the home front. The History Trust of South Australia.

Black(s)town - Sydney

26 June - 29 August 2009

Black(s)town is an exhibition of established and emerging artists exploring the origins of Blacktown through its historical and contemporary Aboriginal identities. Inspired and informed by the stories of the original Blacks' Town settlement, this project acknowledges and celebrates Aboriginal heritage and contemporary practices within Blacktown, while exploring issues central to the identity of the region. Public programming for the exhibition will include educational workshops by selected Aboriginal artists, guest lectures from Darug and local elders and local historians. Blacktown Arts Centre.

Great collections - New South Wales and Victoria

12 December 2008 – 30 August 2009

Great Collections  is an exhibition of national significance, offering an unprecedented display of over 115 of the rarest items from the some of the oldest and most significant collecting agencies in the country. Many important items in the exhibition have never been displayed publicly before. Most have never travelled outside their metropolitan homes until now. Great Collections will provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for audiences across New South Wales and Victoria to glimpse the wealth, diversity and extent of all of the great NSW cultural collections for the first time in a single show. Various locations.

History and the Meaning of Things 2009 Seminar Series on History and Material Culture - Melbourne

11 March – 14 October 2009

The History and the Meaning of Things 2009 Seminar Series on History and Material Culture are held on the second Wednesday of every month. Melbourne Museum.

Journeys of Enlightenment - Perth

17 October 2008 – 30 October 2009

Journeys of Enlightenment celebrates the dramatic and often tragic journeys of 18th and 19th century French explorers and scientists who ventured into the relatively unknown to extend man's knowledge of the world. The Western Australian Museum is continuing the work of these early scientists in the exploration of biodiversity and documentation of new species. The records and collections from the French expeditions are invaluable in helping to identify loss of species, habitat and changes in the environment. Western Australian Museum - Maritime.

Barks, Birds & Billabongs: The American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land 1948 Remembered - Canberra

16–20 November 2009

In 2009 the Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia will commemorate this anniversary by hosting the Barks, Birds & Billabongs symposium that will investigate the expedition's significant, and often controversial legacy around three core themes: histories, legacies, and methodologies. National Museum of Australia.

Featured projects

Immigration oral history project

June 2009

A partnership between The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and the National Library of Australia to produce an oral history project focusing on immigration to Australia after World War II has delivered its first live interviews, photographs, memorabilia and video presentations.  About 20 Chief Migration Officers (CMOs), who now retired - including Ron Metcalf, Harold Grant and Lionel Mead - are participating in this joint project.  Many of the officers were posted to far flung locations around the world, such as the Middle East, South-East Asia and South America, very often with minimal resources and having to rely on their own wits, skills and training to get the job done.

Q150: Queensland turns 150 - Queensland

June 2009

In 2009, Queensland celebrates the 150th anniversary of its independence from New South Wales. Celebrations will run from January to December 2009. The 12 month program of events and celebrations will engage Queenslanders to recognise past achievements, current opportunities and future directions.

Dianne Wolfer, Lighthouse Girl

May 2009

Lighthouse Girl is a book telling the story of Fay who lives alone with her father on bleak, windswept Breaksea Island, near Albany, Western Australia . Her isolated life takes a dramatic turn with the outbreak of World War I. Fay collects the morse code messages of departing soldiers heading to the front line in Egypt and Gallipoli. After their departure, she follows their fortunes and continues her long distance conversations with letters and postcards. Based on the true story of Faye Howe.

Letters of a nation

May 2009

Since 1788, the letters of our nation have carried the thoughts, feelings and aspirations of Australia and Australians. Now, the Lettters of a Nation project is extracting these letters from desks, cupboards and files all over the country and bringing them together in an interactive timeline and archive. So, if you have an interesting, moving or historically significant letter, we'd love to share it with the nation.

Call for entries

Country Viewpoint - national

Ongoing

Country Viewpoint is a site for anyone who lives outside our capital cities, or perhaps has a connection to rural or regional Australia, who wants to share an experience, place or idea that is close to their hearts. Country Viewpoint has been airing on ABC Radio National's Bush Telegraph program for almost a decade, but has now expanded to the greater community via the internet. Country Viewpoint invites the expressions of views about anything funny, serious, topical or trivial in your backyard.

Announcements

Quarantine Station at Point Nepean, Victoria to become part of National Park

8 June 2009

The Commonwealth Government has handed over the certificate of title for the 90 hectare former Quarantine Station at Point Nepean to Victoria.  Located at the end of the Mornington Peninsula, Point Nepean is the site of two historic, 19th century landmarks: the fortifications and the Quarantine Station, defending the Colony of Victoria against foreign attack and providing protection from disease. The Point Nepean Defence Sites and Quarantine Station were included in the National Heritage List in 2006.

Japanese midget submarine M-24 declared an historic shipwreck

31 May 2009

The Japanese midget submarine M-24 has been declared an historic shipwreck under the Commonwealth Historic Shipwreck Act 1976 on the 67th anniversary of the attack on Sydney Harbour during World War II. The announcement was made by Federal Heritage Minister Peter Garrett and the New South Wales Minister for Planning, Kristina Keneally.

Welcome Wall names mark migrant journeys

31 May 2009

Arts Minister Peter Garrett unveiled 900 new names in a Welcome Wall ceremony at the Australian National Maritime Museum. More than 18,000 names from more than 130 countries are inscribed on the Wall, and the museum conducts an unveiling ceremony twice a year.

$2m helps conserve and restore Old Government House

7 May 2009

Federal Heritage Minister Peter Garrett announced funding of more than $2 million to support important conservation and restoration work at the National Heritage–listed Old Government House in Parramatta. Old Government House is the first site in New South Wales to receive funding support from the $60 million for heritage funding under the Government's Jobs Fund.

A world of value in Heritage

7 May 2009

A report into the economic activity of Australia's World Heritage properties released by Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, highlights the value of these universally significant places to Australia's national, regional and local economies.

QANTAS Hangar joins National Heritage List

2 May 2009

One of Australia's earliest civil aviation sites, which is also the birthplace of QANTAS operations, has been included in the National Heritage List, Minister for Heritage Peter Garrett announced in regional Queensland. Mr Garrett joined Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, QANTAS executives and other special guests at Queensland's Longreach airport to celebrate the listing of the QANTAS Hangar.

Jobs Fund boost for our first National Heritage Listed place

29 April 2009

Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape, the first place included in Australia's National Heritage List, will be the first place to receive part of the $60 million in heritage funding under the Government's Jobs Fund.

Protection for a significant piece of wartime history

28 April 2009

The World War II shipwreck Florence D is now protected under the Commonwealth's Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 after its discovery was confirmed in waters off Bathurst Island, following important work by a Territory Government department. The maritime archaeology team from the Heritage branch of the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport played a key role in confirming the discovery of the ship earlier this year by Darwin fisherman Wayne Keeping and diver Jim Miles.

National Cultural Heritage Account helps secure a major collection for the Powerhouse Museum

27 April 2009

The Powerhouse Museum's latest acquisition is the Bruno Benini Photography Archive (1950–2001), purchased with assistance from the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account.

New Chair for the National Museum of Australia

3 April 2009

Federal Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett, congratulated Mr Daniel Gilbert AM on his appointment as Chair of the Council of the National Museum of Australia (NMA). Mr Gilbert has over 30 years experience in commercial law, specialising in technology and corporate law, as well as an extensive background in social justice issues and the arts.

Key online resources

• Australian History (Project Gutenberg of Australia)
• Australian Literary and Historical Texts Online
• Mitchell Library Online
• Digital Resource Finder - educational videos
• Convict Creations

Collection resources

• Australian War Memorial
• Australian National Maritime Museum
• Documenting a Democracy: Australia's Story
• Collections Australia Network
• Picture Australia
• Picture Queensland
• George Raper Collection

Institutions and government organisations

• Australia's Heritage
• Australian Cultural History research links
• History Council of NSW
• History Council of Victoria
• History Council of South Australia
• History Council of Western Australia

Peak bodies and associations

• The History Teachers' Association of Australia

People

• Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
• The Dictionary of Australian Biography (Project Gutenberg of Australia)
• South Land to New Holland
• Joie de vivre!
• Ben Hall
• The Macarthurs and the Merino sheep
• Ned Kelly
• Charles 'Moth' Eaton

Featured websites/projects

• eGold: Electronic Encyclopedia of Gold in Australia
• Despatches from Gallipoli - Scenes from a Remote War
• Treasures of the State Library of Victoria
• South Seas: Voyaging and cross-cultural encounters in the Pacific (1760-1800)
• Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?