How Does the Immigration Museum Present the History of Cultural Diversity in Australia - Example

HOW DOES THE IMMIGRATION MUSEUM PRESENT THE HISTORY OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA? Name Institution Professor Course Date Executive Summary Scores of people have travelled from all corners of the globe and have made Australia their domicile. There are numerous reasons why people have moved to Australia. Their moving tales are presented at the Immigration Museum along with how they got and found in Australia. The Immigration Museum re-establishes the experience of the migrants through stories, audio, memorabilia and displays. The Immigration Museum presents the history of cultural diversity in Australia through moving experiences and thought-provoking means. Drawing on careful note-taking, a general sense of experience and extensive research from relevant academic sources, this report underlines how Immigration Museum present the history of cultural diversity in Australia. 1.0 Introduction There are two major Museums dealing with migration in Australia, one in Adelaide in South Australia and the other one located in Melbourne, Victoria. The two Immigration Museums function towards the enjoyment, understanding and preservation of Australia diverse cultures. The Museums offer people the prospects to discover diverse identities of people of Australia via communities and individual tales. The Museums provides stories of humanity and courage besides helping people discover why and how people came to Australia. The Museums collect and exhibit the cultural material of certain ethnic groups and offers a history of migration. These Museums pursue their interests in presenting migrant cultures principally via application of exhibitions, audios, films and displays created through cooperation in diverse ethnic groups. The Immigration Museums instigates a powerful celebration of the cultural diversity in Australia and an apparent message that the country’s ethnic groups needed to be included in the country’s story. This report focuses on Immigration Museum along Flinders street in Melbourne. The museum presents tales of persons from all corners of the world, who have made Australia their domicile. The museum helps people to discover and share immigration stories, Australian identity and cultural diversity. The Immigration Museum in Melbourne present the history of cultural diversity in Australia through displays, exhibits, audios and films that present how and why diverse people migrated in Australia. 2.0 Immigration Museum According to Sebastian (2007, p.151), immigration is a crucial feature in the modern Australia. Beginning from the World War II, nearly six million persons have immigrated to Australia. One in every four Australia’s nearly twenty million populace was born abroad. United Kingdom and New Zealand are biggest source nations for migrants. As a result, the Australian community is and has always remained diverse. From its antique indigenous origin to international immigration and British colonisation, Australia has obtained a diverse and rich cultural and ethnic inheritance. The Immigration Museum in Melbourne, Victoria, works together with linguistically and culturally diverse communities around Victoria to collect, document and present experiences and tales of diversity and immigration. The Immigration Museum in Melbourne is a societal history Museum situated in Melbourne along Flinders Street. The institution opened in November 1998 was a government initiative. According to Sebastian (2007, p152), the museum was established following studies that took over a period of about ten years and widespread lobbying from diverse communities to establish a museum that would celebrate and validate the cultural diversity in Australia. Victoria is considered one of the country’s most culturally diverse regions with nearly a quarter of the state populace born abroad. The people living in Victoria have their origin in over two hundred nations, speak over one hundred and eighty dialects and languages and follow over one hundred and ten religious faiths (Sebastian 2007, p.152). Most people living in Victoria came to Australia as migration with a significant number coming as refugees displaced by World War II. Others were refugees from war tone regions such as South-East Asia, Indochina, Yugoslavia, Africa, Afghanistan and the Middle East. 3.0 Immigration Museum and the History of Cultural Diversity The experience of immigration concerns leaving, expedition and arrival. The Immigration Museum investigates every component of leaving one place and settling in another place. The Museum programs call upon stories, emotions and memories that help in stirring up the immigration experiences (Sebastian 2007, p.153). It is understood that these experiences are understandable via localised and personal stories which mirror bigger interactions and trends besides challenging mainstream historical stories. The Immigration Museum depicts immigration as an issue of departure, leaving people and things behind and bringing cultural diversity instead of physical baggage. The Immigration Museum in Melbourne via the methodology and content of its programmes, unearth unheard voices, challenge persistent assumptions concerning ethnicity and race and redress past imbalances. The museum helps the people of Australia to acknowledge and value their diversity and promote an inclusive society (Sebastian 2007, p.153). The Immigration Museum present the history of Australia’s cultural diversity through discussion, presentation and organisation of data including opinions, objects and facts for visitors to create meaning and value to comprehended. The procedure of establishing and presenting community displays within the Immigration Museum leads to meaningful cooperation and comprehension of the significance of personal items in the formal documentation and protection of the history of Australia. The worth of these items calls for consideration as a portion of in progress documentation and recording of the diverse and rich cultural diversity and immigration experience. Community displays support the material culture that emanates from communities as crucial within the history of Australia and contributes to its heritage assets. According to Gourievidis (2014, p.232), cultural diversity in Australia did not only start during the post-Second World War period, but it also started with the introduction of the assimilationist policy which anticipated novel migrants to become Australian through taking British values. Cultural diversity was also promoted through multicultural policies which naturalised cultural diversity as a portion of the social fabric. The Immigration Museum provides a collection and exhibition of cultural materials that offers migration history from the settlement of Europeans. The museum creates temporary exhibitions formed in collaboration in diverse ethnic groups. Besides temporary exhibitions, the museum permanent displays depict the chronology of immigration in Australia. According to Sandell (2003, p.142), the Immigration Museum establishes greater responsiveness of the cultural traditions that subsist and contribute to the rich cultural diversity in Australia. For instance, in 2011 the Museum opened an exhibition titled’ Identity: yours, mine, ours’ that showed children’s rhymes and songs as a means of underscoring the daily racism and name-giving that is a portion of children’s culture. Other displays include children’s activities and play object aimed at promoting transmission of indigenous playlore for children Smith & Pascoe 2013, p.44). The immigration Museum takes visitors on expedition to ascertain the scores of dimensions of the migration experience from 1800s to the present day (Sebastian 2007, p.151). The Museum located in Customs House allows visitors to acquire comprehension of their own traditions and the country diverse and rich cultural heritage. It present the country’s history of cultural diversity through festive, programmes, community exhibitions and school and family activities, documentation and sharing of stories and forums about exploration of a multicultural society issues (Horn 2006, p.79). One of the latest permanent exhibition found in the museum document the immigration policies that have shaped the country since 1800 (Horn 2006, p.90). The organisation of this permanent exhibition details immigration policies since 1800s and how the policies have been a crucial aspect in forming the national identity of Australia. While visiting the immigration Museum, one goes through three levels. The ground floor holds a small library when visitors get information about family tree. The second floor offers visitors the entire expedition of people migrating to Australia. One can take photos; take English test and interviews besides viewing the accommodations that diverse people lived during their expedition to Australia (Horn 2006, p.79). There are video clips showing what immigrants went through during their journey. The Museum also allows for interactive walks via ships from 18th century to contemporary day liners. Some of the permanent displays help people to understand the reasons that made individuals to move to Australia, how they lived after settling in Australia, the sea expedition between 1800s and 1900s and how immigration has influenced Australia and its culture. Present in the Museum are artefact that immigrants donated. The Museum holds a huge artwork entitled, the ‘Tribute Garden’ that holds names of Immigrants. 4.0 The Organisation of Displays The Immigration Museum uses multimedia to enable visitors to experience that long expedition to Australia from European Settlement to modern day. The permanent displays explore Australia immigration history via international motivations for leaving native homes, personal tales of immigration from diverse nations and time, the ship expedition and Australia history of immigration processes and policies. Latest displays explore the personal identity intricacies and how diversity holds and informs the present and past experiences of immigrants. These displays are presented in numerous means, objects; audio visual presentations; image displays; immersive experiences such as the atmosphere in the ships, Museum website; computer data outlets and interactive theatre. The museum displays numerous objects regarding migration, transport technology, popular culture, quarantine and customs and cultural diversity. The migration collection hold about six thousands objects which detail the experiences of immigrants since 1800s and the long antique of cultural diversity in Australia. The collections and displays are developed through involvement of diverse communities, organisations, families and individuals. The organisation of displays helps visitors in creating meaning and value besides helping them understanding the entire history of cultural diversity in Australia. The organisations allow visitors to feel a sense of communication with diverse cultures. Conn (2000, p.6) asserts that museums are viewed as a way of seeing the world. As a result, visual communication holds as much significance as linguistic communication. Museum curators spend a lot of time worrying about their cases and resources in order to perfect their displays. Through good organisation and shape of museum spaces, visitors are encouraged to observe objects from too much distracting context and case. The curatorial process applied in the Immigration Museum allows visitors to look at objects and consider them first on their own terms and then relate them to following objects (Conn 200, p.8). Good organisation of objects is intended to convey a story and clear understanding of the issue presented by the displays. 5. 0 Conclusion The Immigration Museum in Melbourne forms one of the two museums in Australia committed to investigating the importance of the migration experience and the consequential cultural diversity in Australia. The Museum fosters understanding and respect besides educating and informing citizens concerning the history and benefits of difference and diversity. The museum helps in linking with communities and mirroring the diverse society of Australia. In addition, the museum acts as forum to sell the advantages of diversity and migration. More importantly, the museum presents the history of cultural diversity in Australia. It offers a forum for learning the past and comprehending how the past constantly contributes to present Australian society. The museum records and interprets the experience of immigration of people to Australia besides celebrating and promoting the country’s cultural diversity that results in identity of Australia. The organisation of displays in the Museum acts as a tool of communication that creates value and meaning that promotes understanding of the history of cultural diversity in Australia 6.0 Reference List Conn, S 2000. Museums and American intellectual life-1876-1926. USA: University of Chicago Press. Gourievidis, L 2014. Museums and migration: History, memory and politics. UK: Routledge. Horn, B 2006’ Barriers and drivers: Building audience at the Immigration Museum, Melbourne, Australia’, Museum International, Vol.58, No.2, pp.151-160. Sandell, R 2003. Museums, society and inequality. UK: Routledge Sebastian, P 2007, ‘ Mobilising communities and sharing stories: The role of Immigration Museum in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the World’, Museum International, Vol.59, No.1/2, pp.151-159 Smith, K & Pascoe, C 2013. Children, childhood and cultural heritage. UK: Routledge. Read More

3.0 Immigration Museum and the History of Cultural Diversity The experience of immigration concerns leaving, expedition and arrival. The Immigration Museum investigates every component of leaving one place and settling in another place. The Museum programs call upon stories, emotions and memories that help in stirring up the immigration experiences (Sebastian 2007, p.153). It is understood that these experiences are understandable via localised and personal stories which mirror bigger interactions and trends besides challenging mainstream historical stories.

The Immigration Museum depicts immigration as an issue of departure, leaving people and things behind and bringing cultural diversity instead of physical baggage. The Immigration Museum in Melbourne via the methodology and content of its programmes, unearth unheard voices, challenge persistent assumptions concerning ethnicity and race and redress past imbalances. The museum helps the people of Australia to acknowledge and value their diversity and promote an inclusive society (Sebastian 2007, p.153). The Immigration Museum present the history of Australia’s cultural diversity through discussion, presentation and organisation of data including opinions, objects and facts for visitors to create meaning and value to comprehended.

The procedure of establishing and presenting community displays within the Immigration Museum leads to meaningful cooperation and comprehension of the significance of personal items in the formal documentation and protection of the history of Australia. The worth of these items calls for consideration as a portion of in progress documentation and recording of the diverse and rich cultural diversity and immigration experience. Community displays support the material culture that emanates from communities as crucial within the history of Australia and contributes to its heritage assets.

According to Gourievidis (2014, p.232), cultural diversity in Australia did not only start during the post-Second World War period, but it also started with the introduction of the assimilationist policy which anticipated novel migrants to become Australian through taking British values. Cultural diversity was also promoted through multicultural policies which naturalised cultural diversity as a portion of the social fabric. The Immigration Museum provides a collection and exhibition of cultural materials that offers migration history from the settlement of Europeans.

The museum creates temporary exhibitions formed in collaboration in diverse ethnic groups. Besides temporary exhibitions, the museum permanent displays depict the chronology of immigration in Australia. According to Sandell (2003, p.142), the Immigration Museum establishes greater responsiveness of the cultural traditions that subsist and contribute to the rich cultural diversity in Australia. For instance, in 2011 the Museum opened an exhibition titled’ Identity: yours, mine, ours’ that showed children’s rhymes and songs as a means of underscoring the daily racism and name-giving that is a portion of children’s culture.

Other displays include children’s activities and play object aimed at promoting transmission of indigenous playlore for children Smith & Pascoe 2013, p.44). The immigration Museum takes visitors on expedition to ascertain the scores of dimensions of the migration experience from 1800s to the present day (Sebastian 2007, p.151). The Museum located in Customs House allows visitors to acquire comprehension of their own traditions and the country diverse and rich cultural heritage. It present the country’s history of cultural diversity through festive, programmes, community exhibitions and school and family activities, documentation and sharing of stories and forums about exploration of a multicultural society issues (Horn 2006, p.79). One of the latest permanent exhibition found in the museum document the immigration policies that have shaped the country since 1800 (Horn 2006, p.90).

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