From State Library of Victoria News No. 27, November 2004 - February 2005
One of the State Library of Victoria’s roles is to be a custodian of Victoria’s memory. Much of its collections record and reflect upon the people, the places and the events that have shaped life here from the time of first contacts between Europeans and Aboriginal people through to today.
From November this year, the Library will progressively open a new, permanent exhibition in the Dome, with the aim of bringing these stories to light. Titled The changing face of Victoria, it will open in two stages: phase one in late November, followed by phase two in early March 2005. |
Since its establishment in 1854, the Library has developed one of the largest and most significant library collections in Australia. In addition to its books, newspapers and journals, the Library houses photographs, drawings, prints, paintings, letters, diaries, maps and artefacts. While these have always been available to all Victorians, and have been intensively studied by researchers and writers from Redmond Barry’s day through to ours, the current redevelopment of the Library is providing new opportunities to share these riches in new ways. The changing face of Victoria aims to bring together an intriguing selection of Victoria’s memories with many objects on display for the first time.
The November opening will feature the early years of European settlement, daily life in rural Victoria as witnessed by the camera, and the events and mythology surrounding that most famous Victorian, Ned Kelly. Items on display include key artefacts such as the Batman Deeds, the last notes of Burke and Wills, Ned Kelly’s armour and some of the earliest known photographs of Aboriginal people in Victoria. In addition to such iconic pieces, viewers will also discover less well-known stories and objects. These include a series of ambrotypes (an early form of photography) which form a fascinating portrait of the town of Dunolly in the 1860s. The little-known story of a unique partnership between two women pastoralists in the 1840s, Anne Drysdale and Caroline Newcomb, is revealed through a display of diaries, architectural drawings and an exquisite brooch of gold and human hair.
These exhibitions have been put together through the collaborative efforts of a broad range of staff and reveal the expertise of specialists in collections, conservation and exhibitions through to buildings staff and school services. The Library was also assisted by staff of the Koorie Heritage Trust and by the History Advisory Panel – a reference group formed by the Library.
We invite you to use The changing face of Victoria as a springboard to your own journeys of discovery, and to continue to uncover new stories upon return visits.
Clare Williamson
Exhibitions Curator
[The second Dome exhibition, Mirror of the World: the world of books, will follow in late 2005.
Illustrations:
Left: Edward Snell, Diary 1849-59
Right: Unknown photographer, Group of cyclists standing outside Swan Hill Cash Store, c. 1900-06 |
