Kia ora,
Just in case you missed the weekend headline news, Te Papa is planning to work with Auckland Council and other Auckland institutions to develop a new centre in Manukau. You can read the government press release here. Te Papa advise that the next step is to work with MCH on a business case, which they expect to present to government in November. They will also “develop a plan to consult with stakeholders over the coming months. This is likely to have several layers or phases, as the project planning takes shape.” We look forward to the sector being involved, and to exploring the potential of this bold collaborative proposal.
Last Friday around 70 ‘GLAMorous’ folk from around the country gathered in Wellington to discuss the future. Actually, the standard of dress wasn’t the topic – it was the history and future of collaborations across and between Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums. The scene was set by Eric Ketelaar, Emeritus Professor of Archivistics at the University of Amsterdam, who discussed perspectives on collecting and making meaning of collected objects. He sees both similarities and differences in the various GLAM perspectives, which mediate meaning for the user in their own ways. Other speakers included:
- Conal McCarthy, VUW – ‘practice theory’
- Chris Szekely, Alexander Turnbull Library – ATL’s role as archive, library and exhibitor of mātauranga Māori, and the possibilities of a ‘GLAMāorious’ future
- Rebecca Rice, Te Papa – historical fluidity and competitive collecting between national institutions
- Brenda Chawner, VUW and Katherine Howard, QUT – shifts in focus from librarianship to information management, the development of core curriculum, and convergence in education for GLAM professionals
- Shannon Wellington (VUW), Virginia Gow (MCH) and Mark Crookston (ATL) – discussion on building GLAMour through built, digital and organisational infrastructure
The day ended with a lively panel discussion in which National Librarian Bill Macnaught, Chief Archivist Greg Goulding, museum consultant Ken Gorbey and Eric Ketelaar agreed that each different strand of GLAM has something to contribute, while not going quite as far as merging. It seems that ‘convergence’ may not be as useful a concept as ‘synergy’ and ‘harmonisation’.
According to Scoop, New Zealand will host 121 cruises in the 2013-14 season. Cruise NZ forecasts the season will generate $311 million and account for 5361 jobs. Their website has information on what ships will be where – we hope that the cruisers will enjoy visiting our museums and galleries.
In a recent guest blog I gave a brief introduction to four First World War museums on the ‘Western Front’, two in France and two in Belgium. They’re all aware of the service and sacrifice of New Zealanders in their localities in that war, but none more so that the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917. The museum is planning to take a travelling exhibition to Canada, Australia and New Zealand in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and is after help in two areas — provision of New Zealand content for the exhibition, and supporting/hosting the travelling exhibition in 2017. If you’re interested, please contact the chairman of the Passchendaele 1917 society, Freddy Declerk.
Andrew Matheson, Director, First World War Centenary programme