We’ve joined in Museum Week this year and today is about Museum moments. Working from home and spending time away from the very museums we love and adore, has made us all very reflective (as well as a little emotional we don’t mind admitting). Watching our amazing new Museum grow from afar made us think about our favourite museum moments. So here is a little bit from each of us.
We would love to hear yours.
My biggest thrill in our New Museum was the opportunity to see the famous Blue Whale hanging from the ceiling of the Stan Perron Treasures Gallery in Hackett Hall – he looks as though he is about to dive deep and the sheer size of this magnificent creature was thrilling. All those who have seen ‘’Ötto” were equally as thrilled and impressed with this huge feat of seeing how this giant of the sea could be hung from the ceiling in Hackett Hall. This exhibit will be a favourite with all who see it but especially for those who remember the Blue Whale fondly from the old museum. How lucky are we to have been able to see “Otto” come to life again in our fabulous New Museum and the story told to our children and grandchildren.
Jenny Allen – CEO
My love of Museums grew out of a love for history. Which was cultivated by the most amazing high school history teacher. She was so charismatic and would dress as the characters she taught us about and was known to jump up on the desk and roar triumphantly in true Napoleon fashion as she got caught up in the stories. Her favourite quotes were always, “those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it” and “we are not makers of history, we are made by history”.
Juanita Allison – Admin & Events Officer
My love of museums started with a mummy. and an open coffin … from the tomb…. A toe. I thought I could see through the bandages. Egypt. Where my grandparents met during the war transported to me. There. Now. Never forgotten.
Melissa Callanan – Project Director FameLab
I love that museums are able to vividly capture our histories, environment, culture and human evolution over time. Always enthralled by the live-size and realistic exhibit of extinct animals such as the woolly mammoth and dinosaurs especially the T-Rex.
Soo Lim – Executive Assisant to the CEO
I love how Museums give life to otherwise inanimate objects, how those objects hold stories with multiple perspectives and how you connect with those stories on a personal level. Seeing Azaria Chamberlain’s black dress at the National Museum in Canberra for the first time, moved me. A simple child’s dress – evoked so many feelings.
Kylie Aitkenhead – Fundraising & Sponsorship
Growing up I never really liked museums but I was regularly dragged along by my Grannie – I thought they were cold and boring and you could never touch any of the stuff! But as a grown up, and working for the Foundation for the WA Museum, I’ve learned new respect for Museums: you always have a different experience each time you visit: I wish I could take a step back in time and visit the New Museum with my Grannie!!
Museum events can be so fabulous! Not only is it a pretty cool venue and very exclusive, but museums host great parties and galas and fundraisers that are incredibly fun to attend. I can’t wait for the New Museum to open in November so we can all experience some of the events that are planned to celebrate the opening!
I love Museums because they support local economies: not only are they are good for tourism and generating revenue for our City, but they employ so many different professionals – from Curators, administrators, tour guides to scientific researchers and anthropologists, they are so much more than simply exhibitions and artefacts.
I love Museums because they often help spotlight the marginalized in our society and the forgotten in our history. Not all stories are ‘happy ever after’ – Museums help us understand what has been, and what is, important in our cultural development.
Denise Cheir – Executive Manager, Business & Communications
I visited the Edinburgh National Museum a few years ago and was struck (mind the pun!) by the amazing Millennium Clock Tower. It was a dark history lesson, a provocative performance and a piece of art all in one. I loved watching the clock and the history of the twentieth century come to life each hour.
Hannah Rule – Project Officer FameLab
I loved history from a very young age, reading my entire family history before I turned ten – and there are many generations in there! After finding out that my family named Southern Cross and helped build railways through WA, I was hungry to find out more.
So I have to say my favourite museum moment was standing in the house at Port Arthur where my convict ancestor lived and started a young family. There was something magical about that place and that moment. I developed a whole new level of respect for the people who research and restore our culture and natural world. If I can do something to help more people experience a moment like that, sign me up.
Carly Willcox – Donor Relations & Communications
