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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-21 Daily Xml
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South Australian Museum

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Arts. Is the minister able to provide certainty to the community about the future of any of the existing galleries or collections at the South Australian Museum? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Information provided to staff last week, and referenced this morning with Sonya and Jules on ABC Radio Adelaide in an interview with the Museum director, David Gaimster, suggests that a number of the Museum's existing exhibits could be removed or dramatically changed under the new restructure.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (14:56): I thank the member for Morialta for the question. I think what is important is actually what an exciting time this is for the Museum. For members who aren't aware, the Museum appointed a new director in the middle of last year, Dr David Gaimster. He has come in and is looking at the Museum with fresh eyes, and I think it is a really exciting time for the staff and also for the community.

What the board, Dr Gaimster and the leadership team at the Museum are doing is looking at what the new strategic vision is for the Museum: what do we want our Museum to look like in 10 or 20 years' time? On the radio this morning, I think what was touched on is that there are certain parts of the Museum that have remained very static for a very long time. I know some of those areas are favourites of many of us. The member for Morialta, I am sure, is passionate about the Egyptian room; unfortunately, that hasn't changed since the 1940s.

What the Museum leadership with Dr Gaimster is doing is looking at a new, reimagined museum that is really going to engage with the community and teach our community, young and old, about South Australia and South Australian stories. From our First Nations cultures for 65,000 years—we have the largest collection of First Nations cultural items in the world and we need to show that better. We need to tell the stories of South Australia better.

That's really what the leadership of the Museum is doing right now. They are consulting on what the Museum ought to look like for the future and focusing on the curatorial aspect: making sure the Museum physically is displaying the best that it can, potentially getting exhibitions from around the world and also digitally, with our incredible collections, how can we better serve the community in terms of exposing people to those collections digitally using new technologies. All of that work is happening. There is consultation at the moment with staff, which the member referred to. I think there will be public consultation commencing in the next few weeks. It is a very exciting time for the Museum and I am excited to see what it will look like in the next few years.

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