Today marks the end of the first International Museum Week on twitter. Let’s just say it has motivated me to start this blog – a long time in the making.
I haven’t really blogged before (just did another little one) but I want to commit myself this time. Outside the family home and various educational institutions the vast majority of my life has been spent in museums. Probably my earliest memory is of being in the Queensland museum freaking out over a whale exhibit. Since those days I have been to museums all over the world – Europe, the Americas, Asia and, most importantly, Australia. I have never walked through the front doors of a museum without a smile on my face. They bring me joy and I hope they bring you joy as well!
From time to time I have tried to explain why I have this passion and what is motivating me to study the humble museum and hopefully, everyone cross their fingers, curate my own one day. I have put it down to two main reasons: 1. You can literally see a vast amount of human history right in front of you and 2. Museums remind me how important history is and why it must not stay on the page, but, come to life.
For these reasons I have pretty much dedicated myself since 2010 to helping museums as much as possible. I currently volunteer at the Commissariat Store Museum, Queensland Police Museum, MacArthur Museum and Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology. What I have learnt from these experiences has only motivated me to pursue my interests further. I’ve dabbled in everything from writing condition reports to researching objects, taking museum tours, working with technology to create exciting new projects and curating my own little exhibit. Words cannot describe how nerdy I feel when I get excited over examining the condition of an object.
In July this year I’m moving to Sydney and beginning a very exciting stage of my life – a postgraduate degree in the area I love the most. I don’t want to forget this experience, so I want to put it on the internet and share it with whoever else wants to listen. My posts are hopefully going to cover a whole lot of areas. I plan on writing my first couple on what I’ve done to-date. Brace yourselves for the Australian Dress Register and Napoleon.
What I hope to achieve out of this exercise is a social online portfolio where I can catalogue my experiences and try to communicate them in a blog setting.
Curate Your Own Adventure 