University of Queensland research has delved into the continuing controversy of the National Museum of Australia.
Dr Christine Dauber, whose research was part of her PhD thesis, said when it was opened in March 2001, the museum became embroiled in a controversy that threatened to engulf it in a “history war” that is still being played out today.
“Everything about the museum was challenged – its architecture, its installations, its selection of exhibits, even its chronological scope,” she said.
“The central issue of this very public fracas was the Museum’s revisionist approach to previously accepted readings of the Australian past – most specifically the Aboriginal past – and how these interpretations, identified by their detractors as ‘black arm band history’, affected concepts of the national.”
She said the many of the issues were politically charged and led to an escalating cultural drama, which finally resulted in the Federal Government’s intervention by way of review of the National Museum.
Dr Dauber said the controversies surrounding the National Museum had clouded its mission.
“Since the late 18th Century, when the great museums of the world opened their doors to the general public, museums and the development of the nation state have been intimately connected,” Dr Dauber said.
“So much so that museums have been described as one of the fundamental institutions of the modern state.
“As such, they have enjoyed a respected and authoritative position within the societies which they served.
“But the storm of controversy surrounding the National Museum indicates that this position is under threat.”
Dr Dauber was supervised by Professor David Carter and Dr Melissa Harper from UQ’s School of English, Media Studies and Art History, and she hoped to publish her research as a book in the near future.
Media inquiries: Christine Dauber (0416 217 629) or Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (07 3365 2802 or 0433 364 181).
