Newsletter – February 2014

Bursaries for Territory members & non-members to attend National ConferenceThe main reason for this newsletter is to alert you to the Territory bursaries available to assist in attendance at the Museums Australia National Conference to be held in Launceston 17th to 19th

May with a Community and Regional Museums Day prior on 16th May. There will be two to three bursaries available for $1000 to $1500 each.

Above: Jared Archibald

The bursary is available preferably for first-time attendees who may or may not be current members of Museums Australia. Successful non-member applicant[s] would be expected to take up MA membership prior to the Conference. Applicants must be residents of the Northern Territory, and working [paid or unpaid] in some aspect of the Northern Territory museum industry or currently undertaking museum studies. Successful applicants will be expected to write a short report of the conference for this newsletter.

Applications close @ COB Friday 11th April and should be addressed to: Janie Masonat PO Box U95, CDU NT 0815 or emailed to janie.mason@cdu.edu.au

MANT committee 2013The rules for MANT require us to have an AGM and second yearly elections for MANT Council. The next AGM is due in April this year. Unfortunately most of the members who stood for the NT Council in 2012 have since left. At the 2013 AGM, a couple of members were seconded and the current Council from April 2013 has been:

President: vacant since January ‘13Vice President: vacantHon. Secretary: ] Janie MasonTreasurer: ]Council Members: Jared Archibald

Dianna NewhamChristine Tarbett-Buckley

MANT Council manages the members’ money and there is the occasional phone around to confirm decisions about how this is used. Over recent years we have used it for bursaries for study/workshops/special conferences or to attend Museums Australia national conference. There have also been occasions when the Council has discussed submissions to government.

Above: Christine Tarbutt-Buckley

Annual General MeetingThe next MANT AGM will be held in April 2014 and elections will be held for all positions. Do please consider standing. The work is quite minimal but we do need to keep the organisation going so that we can ensure that what moneys are raised can be used for Territory members. Our funds come from membership of Museums Australia and the occasional donation.

It is also useful to have MANT for the occasional voice concerning museum issues in the Territory and MANT has ensured commentary is submitted in recent reviews of Territory museums and on various issues as they have occurred.

Dear Members, do please consider offering your time for one or two short telephone meetings per year and these are usually around an annual meeting and the occasional call to approve spending money. In the past decade, our spending has been only for bursaries. Thus not an onerous commitment!

Treasurer’s Report to membersThe year 2013 opened with $4866 credit and MANT awarded two bursaries [$2272] to Joan Ivinson and Christine Tarbutt-Buckley to attend the Canberra national conference in May 2013. With quarterly payment of membership funds, the account at the end of January 2014 stands at $3975

Above: Janie Mason

Wallace: the rEvolutionary manWallace Exhibition till 22nd June at MAGNT

“All my originality, whatever it may amount to, will be smashed”. What shocked Charles Darwin enough to pen this?  You  will find the answer in the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory’s newest exhibition Wallace: the rEvolutionary Man.

To  commemorate the 100th anniversary of eminent naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace’s passing, this exhibition showcases Wallace's exploration of the tropical jungles of Southeast

Asia and New Guinea, and his ideas on Evolution by Natural  Selection and biogeography. The exhibition includes specimens of butterflies, beetles and birds of paradise, as well as prints of drawings and maps by  Wallace.

Common Green Birdwing (Ornithoptera priamus), male, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

“I trembled with excitement as I saw it coming majestically towards  me .... and was gazing, lost in admiration, at the velvet black and brilliant green of its wings” [AR Wallace].

Bombing of Darwin Remembrances - 2014Wednesday 19 th February 2014 8.15 to 9.00am USS Peary Gun Site Memorial

The Esplanade9.30 to 10.30am Bombing of Darwin Service,

Darwin Cenotaph, The Esplanade.

Thursday 20 th February 2014 10.00 to 10.40am Ecumenical Service,

Adelaide River War Cemetery

After the bombing 19/2/1942 [Chivers Family 1940-2 Collection, CDU’s Nursing Museum]

International Nurses’ DayCharles Darwin University’s Nursing Museum will be holding its annual celebration for International Nurses’ Day on Monday 12th May. This is Florence Nightingale’s birthday and this year aside from acknowledgement of Florence with a storyline, there will not be an exhibition. Instead, there will be a book launch.

Above: Evelyn Stansell, John and Jenny Bloomfield – past and present members of Museums Australia NT and one time MANT bursary winners. They are here at the CDU’s Nursing Museum International Nurses’ Day celebrations in 2013

Janie Mason has been researching the story of ‘nurses stepping out’ with particular focus on the Territory story from Darwin Community College to Charles Darwin University [CDU]. The book will probably be titled Hospital to University – a Northern Territory nursing story. This is the year of various anniversaries for CDU – 40 years since Darwin Community College started, 25 years since NT University and 10 years since CDU. The book will be part of the 2014 anniversary year and has been supported by a grant from the CDU anniversaries committee.

National Tertiary Education UnionAlso as part of the Charles Darwin University’s anniversaries celebrations in 2014, the National Tertiary Education Union [NTEU] will stage an art show during May Day celebrations. This Union

has coverage of academics and general staff and last year celebrated 20 years since amalgamation of various occupational unions in 1993 to become an industry–based union for Australian universities and some TAFE colleges. The show will feature many past May Day posters and photographs of personalities from the Union over the years.

The show will be held in CDU’s Nan Giese Gallery and opened by Paul Henderson on Saturday 3rd

May. It will run from 3rd to 10th May. Visitors are welcome in University hours and access is by contacting Heinz Schmitt on 8946 7231.

Above: May Day march 1990 – NTEU led by Trish Crossin and Janie Mason and banner carried by Steve Shanahan and Dallas Elvery

Don’t forgetI hope to see you at the National Conference in May in Launceston and do apply for a bursary to assist in getting there.

And what about thinking about MANT Council – Please nominate for the Council and ensure MANT continues to be an active lobby for our Territory collections and supports local people to participate in the museum world and inform themselves for their own museum practice.

[Janie] EA MasonHon. Secretary/TreasurerMuseums Australia NT