APRIL 20 session

Plans have changed - we cannot go to the moreland annexe until the 4th of May - but that gives you all time to get the books and posters plans together - and to get your research well underway.
So meet as per usual at 9.30 on friday @ rmit - we can spend some time on reflecting on your writing, do the books /posters and then go on a small excursion.
See you then

session four: Establishing Significance

"Significance" is a simple method of assessing and constructing the historical significance of an object - the method is an long established one - but it has been carefully communicated in a training pack put together by the Heritage Collections Council of Australia - and can be down loaded in full as a PDF from AMOL.






This week you will need to develop a statement of significance for your two case study objects.



These statements will form the basis of the text on the posters and will help you to form the key points for discussion and research in your case studies. Each statement needs to be roughly 150-250 words and it needs to :

• Introduce the artefact
• contextualize the artifact
• make claims of it's significance (eg: cultural, social, technological, economic, intellectual, sentimental, material, utilitarian, ephemeral value)
• It needs to discuss it's origin
  

Esssentially these statements set the scene for your case studies.

You are to post your statements on the blog with an image and the MOV registration number if you have it. spend some time reading eachothers statements and leave comments.

Session Two

Next week – 16^th of March we are visiting

Museums Victoria Moreland Annexe: 10 Cameron Street, Coburg.

You need to be there at 9.30 sharp – we will not wait for people.

How to get there:

By Tram: Catch the North Coburg tram from Elizabeth Street / Royal Parade / Sydney Road – take it to just past the Moreland Road intersection. Get off and walk west. Cameron Street runs parallel to the train line.

By Train: Catch the Upfield line Train pass Anstey station and get off at the next station - Moreland station – walk east and the Annexe is directly opposite the station.

What is the Moreland Annexe?

Essentially it is an enormous warehouse where Museums Victoria (the governing body of all Victorian Museums) stores, catalogues and conserves the tens of thousands of artefacts that are in the collection and are not on public display.

We will mainly be looking at the domestic technology collection, but will see other aspects of the collection.

What you need to bring:

• A digital camera
• A visual diary / journal
• A pen

What you need to look for:

You will be looking for a “designed” artefact that catches your interest. This artefact will form the basis of your “ingenious” case study. We will return to the archive later in the semester so that you can more closely examine you object. You will have to take notes, photos and do quick sketches.

We will spend about two hours inside the collection – and then return to RMIT for the afternoon Community Lecture

Things to between now and then:

1. LEARNING CONTRACT: I need you to think about the tutorial / course and write a ONE page Contract that outlines your level of commitment and aspirational grading (pass, credit, distinction, high distinction)

This must be typed and printed and have your full name, year level and student number – Bring it next week.

2. Go to another museum and look for the ways in which artefacts are used to tell stories about a particular historical and social context / phenomenon. Think about what perspectives are left out of or included in the narrative – who does the object “speak about”?
3. Watch “collectors” on ABC TV Friday evening at 8pm. Go to the program website and explore: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/collectors/
4. BOOK TEAM: Find examples of book design that you think are interesting.
5. EXHIBITION TEAM: Find examples of poster design that you think are interesting.
6. LIBRARY TEAM: Find a good text (chapter /article) that opens up “marginal” histories – women, migrants etc. Photo copy and bring next week. (meet me on Wednesday to do the photocopying)

Session One

Things to do for next week:

1. Go to a museum and look for the ways in which artefacts are used to tell stories about a particular historical and social context / phenomenon. Think about how the value of artefacts is altered by being taken out of the everyday world and placed in a museum context.

2. Find an artefact in your family that carries significance in how everyday life has be done. Talk to your family - Parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles – about how the artefacts is / was important and why. (This is the start of your first project).

3. BOOK TEAM: Find examples of book design that you think are interesting.

4. EXHIBITION TEAM: Find examples of poster design that you think are interesting.

5. LIBRARY TEAM: Find a good text (chapter /article) that opens up histories of everyday life in Australia. Photo copy and bring next week.