Category Archives: Wonder

A museum of collective vitality

What are museums for? One answer to this question comes toward the end of Orhan Pamuk’s epic novel, The Museum of Innocence, as the anti-hero Kemal visits thousands of museums in Europe, Asia and America. He’s planning to open his … Continue reading

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All quiet on the GLAM-wiki front

Two months on from the groundbreaking GLAM-wiki conference, where cultural workers and wikipedians met to consider mutual benefits of a partnership (I blogged about it here), I have been gathering some thoughts on the recommendations – and will post them … Continue reading

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Memorable moments of the MA conference

So… Museums Australia conference 2007 has happened. For me, the bloodrush of the session-to-session dash was a welcome relief after sitting still for an hour and a half, so I enjoyed the multi-venue approach. And how good was it having … Continue reading

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Wondrous art

Donna Ong, 2006, Secret, interiors: chrysalis This artwork makes me wonder. Is it a childish experiment, like giving your doll a haircut, not knowing that in her case it’s forever? Or is it more sinister – a cruel act of … Continue reading

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A good exhibition is…

What constitutes a good exhibition? Last week I attended a seminar on this topic presented by Stephen Foster, an adjunct professor at the Australian National University, and former general manager with responsibility for content at the National Museum of Australia. … Continue reading

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History Summit in cloud-cuckoo land

Over the weekend, I read the transcript of the Australian History Summit that Education Minister Julie Bishop convened after Prime Minister John Howard criticised school history as ‘fragmented stew of ‘themes’ and ‘issues’. The summit agenda was to revive the … Continue reading

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Idle and disorderly namesake

At work the other week, my friend Kate was glancing over an index to the Argus newspaper, 1870–79, when she spotted my name – Catherine Styles – in relation to a court case involving Catherine and four Chinese men. The … Continue reading

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A collection of secrets

If you haven’t seen it, or even if you have, look (again) at this evergrowing collection of secrets and learn about and from the: amazingness of people goodness of simple ideas

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On ambiguity and conflict

Further to my last post on a story in the February 06 issue of the Museums Australia mag… The same issue also contains a review of a book on visitor learning at museums, and there is some nice resonance between … Continue reading

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The space in between

I’ve just read a paper from the first mostly-online Museums Australia mag. (See the members section of Museums Australia.) Orbs at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. Photo by Huro Kitty. I have never been to the Museum Of Jurassic Technology … Continue reading

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